NovelEnglish
Abby
My heart’s practically pounding out of my chest as we park the car, hidden behind a veil of trees. The
forest feels even more thick and suffocating now than it did on the day that we came here to go
mushroom
hunting, now that I know what actually lies behind the mist.
Karl takes a moment to study the map I had s atched from him last night, his fingers tracing the
uneven,
ink-smeared lines.
“Ready?” he asks, his eyes meeting mine.
“As I’ll ever be,” I reply, grabbing my bag from the backseat. Karl locks the car, and we head off,
stepping
into the dense foliage, guided only by the soft morning light filtering through the trees.
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For a few minutes, we walk in complete silence. The stillness is comforting in its own eerie way, but I’m
too focused on our mission to let my mind wander too far.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Okay,” Karl whispers at one point, stopping in his tracks. “We have to be extra careful from here on
out.
We’re nearing their territory. If you want to stop, now’s your chance.”
I’m suddenly aware of every single sound around us, every whispering leaf, every chirping bird, as
though
nature itself is warning us to turn back. But I can’t; not now. Not ever. I shake my head, leveling my
gaze
with Karl’s.
“I want to do this. Let’s continue.”
Karl, after shooting me one last worried look, moves with a stealth I didn’t know he possessed. I follow
closely behind, treading lightly, taking care not to snap a twig or rustle leaves too loudly.
“Cameras, at 2 o’clock,” he hisses, gesturing with his chin. I glance in that direction and see the telltale
signs: small black domes, almost camouflaged against the greenery. My heart sk ips a beat.
“We can skirt around them,” he whispers, taking the lead as we adjust our path. “Keep low.”
I lower my body, feeling the damp earth seep into my jeans. We creep forward, the weight of our every
move amplified by the silence. I hold my breath as we cross the camera’s line of sight. Once past, I
exhale
softly, my breath quivering in relief.
We haven’t taken more than ten steps when Karl abruptly halts. I nearly crash into him. He turns, finger
pressed against his lips, and points. My eyes follow the line of his arm and I see them—guards, two of
them, wearing dark uniforms, patrolling the area. And they have guns.
“Dam mit,” I mutter under my breath.
“We can’t turn back now,” Karl whispers, his eyes scanning the woods, calculating. “There’s a cluster of
bushes to the right. We can use them as cover.”
“Are you sure?” My voice is filled with doubt. The path Karl is suggesting skirts dangerously close to the
guards.
“Do you have a better idea?” His eyes meet mine, a hint of desperation in them.
I shake my head, defeated. “No. Let’s go.”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“That was close,” I whisper.
“Too close,” Karl adds. He glances at me, his eyes softened with a mixture of relief and worry. “You
okay?”
“Never better,” I reply, the adrenaline still buzzing beneath my skin. But I can see the toll it’s taking on
Karl.
His hands tremble as he checks the map again, reorienting us for the next part of our dangerous
journey.
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We continue, each step taking us deeper into a maze of dangers. More cameras. More guards. My
mind
becomes wholly fixated on survival, mapping out escape routes, back-up plans, and points of no return.
It’s disguised well with the greenery, but it’s there. And if we want to get inside, where these truffles
may
be hidden, we’ll need to get down into that ravine.
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