My buddies both get slapped with overtime at work for the whole weekend, busted up everything we were going to do. I'd had this camping trip planned for over a month, and even bought some new stuff just for it. I had decided nothing would ruin it for me, and that I would go by myself anyway. Camping's camping, right? I'd get a little time to myself, get some fresh air, get that wilderness-survival feeling, it'd be pretty swell. I slimmed down my supplies to just a backpack and tossed it in the back of my truck and headed out for the woods.
I had been driving offroad for several miles trying to find a good area when the dirt fell from under my front wheel and the truck went skidding down the side of a steep hill. I didn't think it was so bad until the very end clipped a large tree trunk and tipped the car ever so slightly...just enough that the downhill momentum carried it completely sideways...I froze and held my breath for lack of anything better to control the situation. My truck slowly began to tip and with screeching metal against the tree trunk and my window shattering, it landed completely upside down near the bottom of the ditch with an enormous crash.
My head slammed into the dented roof of the cab and the rest of my body followed when I undid my seatbelt. I gripped the steering wheel and weakly grasped for the handle on the door, giving it a tug and popping the it open. I squinted as bits of glass fell from the frame and kicked it out with my leg. The door swung open and banged on the extent of its hinges. I crawled out onto all fours, rolling into the dry leaves and twigs on the ground. My head was pounding and I felt dizzy. I reached over to scratch a tickling itch on my shoulder, only to find a hearty scrape soaking small spots of blood into my shirt. I rested my head back onto the ground. I rolled my head and looked up through the tree branches. Little rays of sunlight beamed into my eyes so I closed them and rolled over.
I woke up I guess a few hours later, the sun was no longer pestering my eyes and I had to blink a few times until they adjusted to the darkness. The sky wasn't completely dark but it was well on its way. I sat up, rubbing my head and arms, trying to friction off the chill, looking around, not really remembering why I was sleeping on the ground. I turned and saw my truck.
"Ahhw ...shit." I just stared at it for a minute, as if it might magically right itself at any moment.
With a small wave of relief I remembered my cell phone and got up onto my knees to pull it from my pocket. 7:48, I read on the front display, and flipped it open with my thumb. I was looking at the fact that I had no bars. I was getting no bars at all. No service. Great.
I gathered myself after a moment and shakily got to my feet. It was getting darker by the minute so I decided I needed to find my backpack as quickly as possible.I spied it a few feet up the hill where it had flown out of the truckbed. I crunched up through the leaves and lifted it, brushed it off, and slung it over my shoulder. Deciding there was nothing more to be done at this spot, I walked a ways towards an area where the trees thinned.
Looking up, I saw mostly cloud cover with a few of the brighter stars shining through. I really had no idea how this view was going to help me. I'm not some grizzled sea captain or hardcore outdoorsman who can navigate by stars. I stood still for a minute, hoping that maybe I could hear the hum of traffic in some direction. Drove too far from the roads, I realized. The crickets drowned out anything I could have heard anyhow.
I headed back to my truck and began to climb the incline that felled me in the first place. This was really the only part of any plan I could formulate at this point. I figured at the top I'd just sort of start walking in the vague direction I drove up from. This seemed like a better and better plan of action as I neared the top of the slope. I encouraged little Rambo flashbacks as I brushed through the leaves, trying to feel as tough as possible in hopes that it would grant me a navigation system. I felt stupid, but I didn't want to let myself start to panic, as it was getting colder and darker all the while. I pulled my jacket tighter.
I stepped out on the top and mumbled things out loud to myself concerning geography and which way the sun was setting, in basically a manlier version of eeny meeny miny moe, and started walking.
After a decent hike I came to a stream. I hopped a couple rocks to cross it safely without getting wet, which would have been really bad, because with no one around I could admit to myself that it was really, really freaking cold out. I huffed a little to see my own breath in front of me, one of those little things that has always amused me somehow. As I started to turn and keep walking, I noticed a rather light shape by the water through the cloud of my breath. I took a step and leaned to see what it was, as it didn't look like any of the rocks around or anything.
I squinted though the dim light and saw that it was a shirt. A load of bricks landed on me as I realized it was not only a shirt, but someone inside it. A girl. I hurried over cautiously and squatted next to the small figure, my shoes squishing in the mud. I didn't know what to do.
"Hey!" I nudged her shoulder. No response. I gripped her shoulder and shook gently, trying to wake her up. Shit, her skin was like ice. The thought struck me that she might be dead and my heart sunk. I listened closely and detecting her breathing, very shallow, slow, ragged. My fingers went to her throat and found a pulse, which I somehow needed as confirmation even after hearing her breathing. Ok, she was alive. But geez.
I rolled her onto her back and brushed her damp hair from her pale face. I was rather surprised to find that she was pretty. Very pretty. How in the world did she get here?
I felt her arm again and got a chill. The water from the creek splashed onto her ankles as she lay in the mud. I guess she had fallen in or something, because her clothes were all wet.
I pulled her arms up and hoisted her up onto my shoulder, her freezing wet clothes soaking through my shirt and hurting my shoulder. I just had to get her dry. Warm and dry. I glanced around and decided this small open spot would have to do, because I couldn't go wandering around in the dark looking for a better place to settle down. I set her down in the grass, and her arms fell limply at her sides.
What to do now? I had a lot of things but couldn't decide what to start with. First things first, I said. I clicked on my flashlight and quickly snatched up a few sticks from the ground nearby. I flung my backpack to the ground and fumbled for the zipper, and pulled out the box of matches. I struck one and set the end of some twigs going. I kicked a little hole into the dirt and laid them on top, then quickly tossed a handful of fallen leaves and whatever I could find onto it. I spied a healthy-sized fallen branch several feet away and rolled it into the fire with my foot. Within a couple minutes I had a decent fire crackling.
Turning back to the girl, I remembered her wet clothes. They'd have to come off, I realized. I got a little nervous, thinking what would happen if she were to wake up to find some guy in the process of pulling her pants off. I had to, though. She might die. Almost surprised at how much of a gentleman I was being when she wasn't even awake, I tugged off her clothes relying mostly on peripheral vision. I took my jacket off and put it around her shoulders.
I pulled my sleeping bag and blanket out of my pack and rolled it out on the ground, spreading the blanket inside. I gathered her in my arms again and moved her on top of the blanket, and then wrapped it tightly around her. Finally I zipped the bag around the bottom and up the side. With that done, I sort of had nothing else planned and just stared blankly for a moment. I tended the fire absently, trying to build it bigger.
