"We should hide." I half-whispered to Steven.
It was supposed to be a whisper but the sound reverberated in the cave. As the sound bounced off, we scrammed behind stalagmites.
Neil's head perched up and looked throughout the cave. "What was that?" he said.
"What did you say?" Karen shouted from the ceiling mouth of the cave.
"I heard something."
"Maybe it's just a bat. Hurry up down there. My sweet baby pie is getting cold."
"Alright. Pull me up."
And with that, they were gone. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"I thought you were going to eat that guy." Steven said. Maybe that's what he's expecting me to do. Even if I want to, I can't.
"That girl from the ceiling has a gun and a radio on her hips. If she calls her base about a monster that just ate his friend, B.E.G. would swarm the whole cave."
Steven never replied. He just made a face of sudden realization. He looked at me one more time and nodded at the norther direction. As I should, I followed him. It would take another few hours before we reached the end of the cave. And by the time we were out, the sun has set by a good few hours, replaced by the moonless night.
"Where now?" I asked. I look around and it's all trees.
"There's a small town by the lake. And by small, it's really small. We could camp there."
I followed him beyond the treeline and above a winding hill. The leaves crunched at our footsteps. From the air, I could feel that winter is closing in. I know that I can withstand bullets. But I can't last long in the frigid cold. The ice makes my tentacles solid and they break off like ice. I need to find a warm home fast.
We reached a town half the size of a football field. The side that faces the lake is a Park Ranger HQ while the middle houses two store establishments, both of which are closed. The surrounding area is where the houses stand on. Most of which are compromised by trailer parks. Beyond the outskirts are a trail of campfire smoke. From what Steven told me, campers stay there before they delve deeper into the forest.
From the areas, I chose.