<MC POV>

I almost died again.

It was the first thought I had after waking up in the morning. My left hand hurt, my face hurt and my chest hurt. I had some pretty big bruises after checking and my bones ached.

Those guys had some serious strength. I wonder if they will chase me, they seemed pretty aggressive.

Why am I thinking about that? I can not control it, I will just go southeast for now and if they chase me then I will handle it then.

Now, I almost died again and I think it was because I did not control myself. I didn’t even think before popping out and approaching those bastards! I was too naive!!! Why would they accept me warmly? This world must be a world where strength is everything! 

I can’t show weakness! I must be strong! I can’t trust people or anything immediately!

I confirmed my thoughts and basically decided to be more cautious and to work harder. I knew I could not trust strangers and I was frustrated with my stupid self that almost died again. I only had 2 bullets left, I was angered by this thought. 

I sighed.

I then got up and began to move for the day. I had some jerky and some reserve packets and could grab some berries on the way. 

I then spent the whole day traveling. I decided to eat inside a tree that was dead. It was hollow and had a rock covering most of the entrance. I didn’t make a fire because I had not got any meat today. I laid my bags and went to sleep. 

I woke up in the morning when the light was beginning to grow, ate some breakfast and began to head south. I went up the hill and just turned around to check things. I do this from time to time, especially when I take a look at where I slept the night before. 

I was surprised, no I was shocked. I saw a man, a group of men. They seemed to be approaching where I had stayed the night before. 

I quickly hid behind a nearby tree. I then pulled out my monocular and watched them. 

They were certainly a group similar to the men from yesterday. They were now a few 10s of yards away from my tree, and they seemed to be looking around cautiously.

Are they looking for me? 

I was starting to panic but then I stopped myself.

Let us assume they are looking for me, if I am wrong I lose almost nothing but if I am right then I might save myself. 

What to do?

I was wondering if I should hide, fight or flee. Fighting was quickly thrown out since I saw at least 20 of them. I thought that they must be more experienced than me and stronger than me. I was coming up dry on any ideas of what to do. I was not sure if I could hide from them and I was not sure if I could get away from them. 

Could I scare them?

I didn’t think so. Maybe a gunshot could but I only had 2 bullets and using 1 just to scare them was wasteful. 

They had finally reached my tree and were looking around. They seemed to be looking for the place I stayed.

Could I somehow get something else to kill them? Like a different monster? But what monster? and where? I do not know this area.

They found my tree and they started to be less cautious it seemed. Maybe the knew I was gone so they were being less vigilant. 

What if… what if I started another fire?

I didn’t want to burn the forest down, but one thing I had learned was that it did not rain a lot here. It was a strange forest because the trees were kind of dry but the hair between trees had some humidity and so the bushes tended to get water. Maybe it was not enough water for the trees. So I knew that if I started an effective fire, then it would burn until it rained again. 

I am not sure if I have a choice, but the question is will I be fast enough to start an effective fire that will block them?

I knew it was time to act. I quickly turned and ran down the other side of the hill. My stamina had gotten better but I knew it would be hard. 

I ran  for a long time, hours maybe, but I took time to stop from time to time to bury myself in dirt to hide my scent and I would try to step in places that would not leave tracks. Such examples were rocks and fallen trees. 

I was looking for a good spot to start a fire. 

I finally found another dead tree that had its dead branches touching nearby trees. 

I quickly approached it. I gathered some dead branches nearby and made a small pile at the base of the dead tree.  I broke one of my lighters to pour oil onto the pile. I then pulled out my last lighter. I then lit the oil. 

It quickly caught on fire and spread. The dead wood started to catch too. I watched for a bit to make sure the fire would get bigger and it did. It started to spread. Soon it was bonfire size. 

I then turned and began to run south west. Even though my stamina had gotten better. I was soon panting and I was certainly tired. 

I decided to make a somewhat drastic decision. 

I looked and saw the fire getting bigger in the distance. I found a nearby tree. I quickly dug a hole. I tried to be quick but it needed to be somewhat big. 

After a few minutes, I had my hole. I then hesitated for a few seconds before putting my stool, wallet, sketch book,  and compound bow into the hole. 

The compound bow was somewhat heavy and awkward. I knew I would never make good arrows for it, at least not anytime soon. I buried it because I hoped I could return to get it if I deemed it useful in the future. 

I then began to run again a bit  lighter. 

I ran for nearly an hour before I was huffing and puffing. So I took a seat on the root of a tree as I tried to calm my breathing and rested my feet.  I looked and saw that the fire was getting bigger.

After a few minutes I got up and ran once more.

I kept fleeing all day. I ate the rest of my jerky. 

I guess I will need to hunt eventually but maybe I can survive on berries for now. I am not only running from those guys anymore but also the fire.

Finally evening came and I found a place to sleep. 

As I was sleeping, I woke up to the sound of thunder. I then frowned because I also heard the sound of rain.

This deeply frustrated me.

“Thanks for ruining that plan!!!” I shouted in anger at the sky.

I was angry but decided to try to go back to sleep.

It took a while but finally I managed to get some shut eye. 

When I woke up in the morning it was still raining, but now it was not as heavy as it was before. I knew I would have to move in the rain. I wondered if it was a good idea to put on my poncho, since the rain hitting its surface made quite a bit of noise. Eventually I decided it was better to stay dry and risk it. 

I put on my poncho and prepared for the rain. It was a bit cold.  I then set out again. 

I had no idea that today would be a very eventful day.