Chapter 12 - The Test 2

After setting my alarm to wake me up at 4:30 am, I spent the rest of the night sleepless. I was too excited. If I pass the test, I can pretend to be like all of those cool guys in the movies.

When I finally fell asleep at 2:00 am, I could barely wake up from the alarm. Even before the ban, I stayed up to midnight at most. I had barely any sleep.

It didn’t matter much since I was allowed to take drugs. It was my first time drinking coffee, and it was amazing. I feel energised to fight emus and drop bears now. Anyways, my mom told me to wear some jeans and a long-sleeved shirt before going to get something.

My dad leaves for work at 9:00 am, so I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye. I just hopped in the SUV and waited. There was a lot of luggage in the back; is she hiding something like a rifle in there?

Anyways, we began our journey to take the test! I feel so energised and excited!

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After dying in the SUV for 2 hours, we arrived at a random place in the forests. There was a small wooden hut, and that’s about it.

I got out of the car, whilst my mom unpacked stuff from the massive load of luggage in the back. After a few minutes, she came up to me with some things in her arm.

“Your test is to survive in this forest until 8:00 am tomorrow. You have 3 objectives. The first objective; you need to find a cave and take a photo of it. The second objective; you need to hunt and eat at least 5 creatures with photos. And the last objective is to hide from me until the test is over.”

“Okay!”

This sounds like a very complicated game of hide and seek.

“Here’s 3 flare guns, a hatchet, a mini first aid kit, a camera, a pocket watch and a survival guide book. You have 30 minutes to hide. If I hit you, the test will be over. If you encounter an emergency or if the test is over, fire the flare into the sky so I can pick you up. The test starts now.”

I quickly ran into the forest, as my mom entered her car. My first objective was to find a cave, which shouldn’t be too hard-

“Ouch!”

I tripped over a tree root. Wet leaves, mud, and dirt got stuck to my face and clothes. I quickly patted myself down and continued running, but at a slower pace. My hand was likely bleeding since I have a strong urge to scratch it.

From what I have learnt using google, I should clean my wounds to avoid infections. I need to find a stream or something that can wash myself with.

I stopped near a large tree to catch my breath; it was hard to breathe. My body is aching already; my physique is still too weak.

I sat down, leaning against the rough tree. I looked at my palm, and it was bleeding with dirt all over it. I rubbed it against my jeans, cleaning off some larger chunks of dirt. I opened my mini first aid kit; there were 3 band-aids and 1 disinfectant spray.

I heaved a sigh of relief as I grabbed the disinfectant and sprayed it on my hand, before using 2 bandages, one on each hand. I could see quite a few bushes around here now as well. I pulled out my pocket watch and saw that the time was at 7:38 am. I should’ve arrived here at 7:30 am, so I have roughly 22 minutes before my mom starts moving.

My mom likely saw me run straight, so I should take a few turns to make it more difficult for her. She said she’ll end the game if she hits me, so it's a game of tag. I doubt my agility and stamina is better than my mom, but, it should still be much more advantageous for me since I'm small. I just need to hide in some bushes if she finds me.

I don’t have enough energy to run, so I just walked for a while, looking out for anything at all. There were plenty of smaller creatures, like ants. I heard Koalas also live in the forests; when I found them on the internet, I was amazed at how cute it was. The Koala is a bear, with grey fur, like the drop bear. I’m not sure if they’re related, but, it’s likely they’re from the same family.

---

A lot of trekking later; I found a stream. I decided to settle down, and faceplant my head into the water, whilst drinking it at the same time. I’m not sure if the water is safe to drink, but it looked crystal clear.

I washed my hands and feet afterwards, before checking the time. It was 8:04 am already, she should be on the move by now. I took out the survival book to entertain myself a little whilst I take a break.

“What?!”

There was nothing in the thick book; I carried a random, heavy book all of this time without noticing that it’s empty. I was played by my mom. It should be good as firewood, so it wasn’t useless.

I need to remember the stream is here since water is a very important resource. I shouldn’t camp too close the stream either, since it’ll be an easy target. So what should I do...

“Hehehehe.”

I instinctively chuckled as I came up with a genius plan; time to go on the move again. Victory is mine!