Walking down the street, Natalie kept looking behind her every couple of minutes. Troy's earlier perseverance increasing her paranoia to record highs. She was now extremely conscious of her surroundings, to the point where any noise makes her take a look. Unconsciously. She was even giving a wide berth around the few people she passed on the street

     Very few people actually lived here, as it was only people who worked either in one of the stores or in the park that actually had a house here. Most of the town itself was actually just one giant campground. Sadly, that meant it had the same glaring flaws as most small towns. Mainly, ostracize the new people that move there. Since moving here three years ago after post secondary, she had really only interacted with three people on a personal level. Angie, who was newer than she was and spent most of her weekends driving to nearby cities. Bryden, who was her boss, yet around long enough that the locals actually respected him and treated him as one of them. And Troy, who made her life hell, but since he was born and raised there everyone else in town was way more apt to believe him than think one of their own was that deranged.

     Arriving at the general store, she quickly went inside and got simple food stuff, such as jerky, some vegetables, and a couple of water bottles. She didn't feel the need to pack too much food, as she was planning on setting up some traps for some small game. Mm fire roasted rabbit. Stopping herself from drooling at the mental imagery, she quickly paid for the items and left, without having so much as a word between her and the people working there. At least she enjoyed being on her own for the most part. Otherwise, she was sure to have gone insane years ago.

     Leaving the store, she starts back down the street. 'Now, before I go out of town for multiple days at a time, I should let someone know. Only person I trust enough is Bryden, so back to work, and then into the great beauty of nature.' Heading down the street, she gets there quickly, since all of the businesses and offices are in the same part of town. Makes it easier for tourist to navigate, or some shit like that.

     "Honey, I'm home!" Natalie belts out as she walks into her work. All that follows is a crash, some light cursing, and a door opening. Bryden walks out of the door, looking obviously unimpressed.

     "What in the hell are you doing back here? I told you to scram," he says while approaching her. A slight grin peeking through his façade. "You need to take time off, whether you admit it or not!"

     "Don't worry Bryden, I am actually taking time off. Just planning to go do some camping in the brush and get away from it all. Troy is becoming a much bigger issue and I will not take my chances with staying in town as it is."

     "Oh gods no, what did that fool do this time," Bryden inquired, worry starting to colour his face.

     "That piece of shit was blocking my door, deluded himself into believing I got home early because I wanted to be with him, then came at me with the most disgusting look on his face. He thankfully left himself open, so I delivered a quick foot to his family jewels, and moved to step past him." She explains, visibly getting worked up from remembering it all. "And then, as i try to step past him to be able to go home, he grabs me by the ankle, as if to say he wasn't giving up yet. This freaked me out so much I just spun and kicked him in the face. And if that all wasn't fucking enough, after I got inside and locked my door, he slammed on it and threatened me, saying he was gonna make me his bitch and putting his collar on me."

     "Damn rotten swine. He besmirches our town like a stain on a wedding dress. If only everyone else in town was able to see his bullshit, this place would be better off. Want me to submit anything to the cops?"

     "Please? Last time I went to them they just laughed me out of the detachment. It might help if you go to them instead."

     "Alright, I can take care of that for you. Since you are going off the grid, I'll just need to know where you are planning to camp." Walking back to his office, they both come up to the map mounted on the wall. Every time Nat sees it, she is surprised that it still is fully legible, considering that its covered in migration routes, where wild animal territories are, and all the trails that people hike on. Realizing that she hasn't thought about where to actually go, just that she wanted to go, she takes a few minutes gauging where seems like the best place for a couple of days.

      Firstly, wherever it is she is camping, it needs to be fairly far away from any trails or other civilization. The whole point of this trip is to get away. Second, there has to be a decently sized body of water. That way, she doesn't have to make multiple trips back to town just so she can get something to drink. And finally, it needs to be in the general area just in case something goes wrong. Wouldn't want to shoot off a flare looking for help when nobody can see it past the mountain that is in the way. There were a couple of places that stood out as potential.

     Finally deciding on a location, she moves forwards and points towards a spot on the giant map. "I think I will go south of Mount Alderson, and west of Mount Richards. Probably just a couple minute walk away from those two smaller lakes down there."

     Moving forward, Bryden takes a red pin and puts it on the map in that area. "Sounds like a plan to me. I am going to assume that you are bringing your flare gun, so if i see or hear of a flare going off in that area, you know I will be the first one headed out that way. And try not to worry about that filth. If he tries to cause anything, I'll deal with it for ya."

     "Thanks Bryden, you are the best! I need to get going though, if I want to be all set up before it becomes too dark." Waving farewell, she rushes out the door and towards the trail leading into the wilderness. 'Finally, it's time to put all this madness behind me, now its time to enjoy the simplicity of nature!'

Huge thanks to Jake for supporting me and my writing!