Camping Tip #5: You will be surprised at the advantages of carrying a small pocket knife. It might just save your sorry ass.

The fish was delicious. None of us had eaten since yesterday and we'd been running all day from bears and wolves so you could imagine just how tired and hungry we were. Once the fish had finished cooking, it was no surprise that the four of us practically inhaled the fish down. 

Since Callie had gathered the wood and Oliver had caught the fish — which I couldn't stop thanking him profusely for because I, honestly, thought I would die of starvation in these Godforsaken woods — it was my job to the light the fire by rubbing the sticks together like my dad had taught me during our camping trips and Jack's job to actually the fish. He was able to set up a make-shift pit roast from branches and rocks, so he could properly cook the fish. The last thing any of us wanted was food poisoning.

It took a little over half-an-hour for the fish to be ready. In that half hour, the four of us just stared at the fish, the smell making our mouths water and stomachs grumble. When it was ready to be eaten, I bit into it faster than the speed of light. I didn't even care that some of the skin was burnt. None of us did. Jack said the lake was freshwater so we could drink some but there was no guarantee that it was completely safe. Me, Callie and Oliver were too thirsty to care, as soon as he said it was okay, we dived to the lake and slurped the water like a bunch of stray dogs. Soon enough, the sun had sunk far into the horizon and left the sky black and dotted with stars.

"We can't keep walking," I said, when we'd all finished eating. We'd agreed to save the rest of the fish for later because God knows we needed food. "It's too dark, and no way am I walking in the woods at night. That's just asking to get mauled to death by those freaky wolves."

Callie nodded in agreement, "Per's right, also, I'm really tired."

"Okay, but where are we going to sleep?" Oliver asked as he bundled up the remaining fish in some large leaves. I'd torn them from the small tree that sat on the edge of the lake.

We were all quiet for a few seconds. I looked around but it was hard to see when it so dark and not to mention, it was getting a little chilly.

"Here," I said, gesturing to the little campsite we had set up. We were all sitting around the fire, between the lake and soft patch of grass a few feet away. "I think the fire should keep the animals away but we can all take it in turns to keep the fire going and watch in case some wild animal comes for us, whilst the rest of us sleep."

"We're sleeping on the floor now?" Callie whined, "Like a bunch of homeless assholes?"

Jack glared at his sister, "Well, we wouldn't be sleeping on the floor like a bunch of homeless assholes if it wasn't for you."

She even had the gall to look surprised, "How the hell is this my fault?"

My eyes widened along with Jack and Oliver. I gaped at her, "Callie, we are all in this mess because you picked up Bosco, that bastard hitchhiker! It was your fault he stole your car!"

"That was Oliver's idea!" she said, pointing an accusing finger at the dark-haired boy who was still wrapping up the fish. "He told me to do it, he said it would be good karma!"

"I...I don't remember that!" Oliver spluttered, "and...and even if it was me, you were the one who stole that bear cub!"

"I thought it was alone!" she said, "I thought its mom abandoned it and...I...I gave it back! But you...no you just had to go and call the bear a little bitch!"

"That's because it was a little bitch!" Oliver cried.

Callie's eyes narrowed, "Kaminski, you heartless bastard, what —"

"Enough!" Jack shouted, making all of us jolt. We all turned to look at him. He sighed and rubbed either side of his head with his fingers. "Goddamn it...just...shut up, will you? You're going attract more wild animals if you don't shut up...whatever, I'm going to sleep, I can't deal with you guys anymore."

He lay down on the floor and turned onto his side so his back was facing us. Oliver and Callie went back to their argument, this time whispering in low, harsh voices but I kept looking at Jack. Our earlier conversation swirled in my mind, it played on constant repeat and his face, the way he'd looked at me after I'd told him I felt I was never good enough for me. I still couldn't believe he thought I was embarrassed of him.

Even before Jack and I started dating, I would always marvel at his intelligence and his serious determination in everything he did. Jack Marshall was probably the smartest person at James Wolfe Secondary, he was certified genius and I just knew that brain of his was going to change the world. Jack Marshall was the kind of person you found in history books two hundred years from now. Jude Sinclair had once told me I was the kind of person you would find plastered on some billboard advertising the swimwear. He then gave me that stupid grin he thought was charming and told me to thank God I was hot because not many people were that lucky.

I glanced at Callie and Oliver who were still arguing and sighed. "Go to sleep," I told them, "I'll keep watch."

Callie frowned, "are you sure?"

I nodded, "yeah."

I couldn't sleep anyway, my mind was buzzing with too many thoughts. It was better I stay up. A little time by myself would let me clear my head.

"Oh cool," Oliver said, linking his hands behind his head and lying down on his back. 

Callie stared at me for a few seconds, looking unsure before she nodded and lay down next to Oliver. "Just wake me up when you're tired," she said.

"Okay."

It didn't take long for them to sleep, in fact they were both snoring within ten minutes and within twenty minutes, they had migrated towards each other so that they were snuggling. I stayed up for about an hour, or maybe it was two, I don't know but it was hard to keep track. I stayed up and looked at the midnight sky, my thoughts circling around Jack Marshall and everything that had happened between us. It wasn't until I yawned that I felt the weight of this horrible camping trip. I scooted over to Callie and nudged her awake. She grumbled something but didn't move, so I lightly patted her cheek.

"Huh? Wha?" she mumbled as she blinked awake. "Peryn? Is Winston back? Is my baby bear here?"

I shook my head, "no, Callie, it's your turn to watch."

She nodded as she slowly pushed herself up, "hm, yeah, okay."

I didn't like the idea of sleeping on the dusty floor, so I placed my head on Callie's lap and I fell asleep to the sound of the crackling fire and the feel of Callie running her fingers through my hair.

The next morning, I was woken up by the sound of Oliver singing in my ear and the sharp pain of Callie kicking my leg. I jolted and looked up at the them. They both grinned. I swear, throughout this trip they had morphed into more horrible version of Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Maybe it was the fact we'd been cut off from civilization and technology for nearly three days now. I heard that drove some people to insanity.

"Wha...What the hell?" I said, rolling over so I lay on my back, "what are you doing?"

"You wouldn't wake up," Callie shrugged.

"Dude," Oliver smirked, "You're, like, the heaviest sleeper."

I grumbled a string of insults as I pushed myself up. I yawned and stretched my arms until I felt some movement slip back into my limbs. I breathed in the spring air that had earthy scent of burnt wood and wild flowers blooming in the distance. Ignoring the fact that we were lost in a national park and completely screwed, it was a beautiful day. I had woken up just in time to see the sun rising in the east and light up the sky with streaks of pink and orange. I couldn't remember the last time I'd see a sunrise. In a big city like Vancouver, it was easy to get lost in the movements of everyday life.

"We need to keep moving," Jack said behind me.

I glanced back at him. He kept poking the dying campfire with a long stick.

 "Do you even know where we are?" I asked.

"Sort of," Oliver said.

Jack said, "I broke my cellphone when we fell into the lake but I managed to fix it, it's water damaged so I can only switch it on for about a minute before it dies. I was able to check the map and it turns out we're actually closer to the town, we're about fifteen miles away now. We just need to keep going south, follow the river and we'll be okay."

"Oh thank God," I said. That must have been the first bit of good news I'd heard since we went on this trip. The river Jack was referring to spewed into a narrow lane from the large lake below the waterfall. It ran deep into the woods, twisting and turning throughout the national park until it met the North Pacific Ocean.

"Who's got the fish?" Jack asked.

Oliver raised his hand and said, "moi."

I saw that he had finished wrapping the last of the fish from last night in leaves. He had bundled them shut with a string he'd pulled from his tattered shirt. I glanced around at all of us and saw, all our clothes were dirty and ripped. To be frank, we all looked like shit.

"Okay, let's go," Jack stood up and stretched his back. He gestured for us to follow him, "It should take four maybe, five hours to get to Linbeach if we follow the Heward River, since it runs straight through the town."

I would ask how he knew all this but the answer was pretty obvious. The perks of being a genius like Jack Marshall meant that you had a photographic memory. All he had to do was see something once and he could remember it.

I hung back with Oliver as Callie jogged ahead of us to walk alongside her brother. We left the clearing surrounding the waterfall and stepped into the dense forest. The earthy smell was stronger here, the smell of wild flowers had gone and in its place was the smell of damp air and pine. The river was nearby, we could hear the rushing water as we walked through the sun dappled woods.

My gaze kept skipping to Jack. He has a somber expression and his answers were short and curt. I wondered if he was thinking about our argument. He probably was, Jack had a tendency to obsess over things and I bet he couldn't stop thinking about our argument either. That was why he hadn't made any eye contact with me since last night.  I sighed. If the tension between Jack and I wasn't awkward before, it definitely was now. Everybody in the group could feel it, it was almost suffocating.

After about an hour of walking, we came to a deep gorge the river ran through. it must have been a fifty foot drop or more. We could see the river rushing between the rocky hills and the only thing that connected them was an old rope bridge that looked like it would fall apart any second.  Did Jack expect us to cross that thing?

I glanced at Callie and Oliver, happy to find they all looked as freaked out as me.

"I know what you're thinking," Jack said, "but we have to get to other side if we want to follow the river."

"Isn't there another way?" Oliver asked, eying the gorge nervously.

"If there was, I would have thought of it," he said.

Oliver frowned, "Well, since it was your idea, you can cross it first."

I expected Jack to argue and maybe call Oliver a moron like he always did, but he just sighed. "Okay," he said, "whatever."

I blinked, surprised at his placated reaction. I caught a glimpse of his expression, it was as still as somber as ever but he looked tired more than anything, like he could sleep for a thousand years but it still wouldn't be enough. I had the sudden urge to kiss him and keep kissing him until he didn't look so beat.

I felt my heart creep into my throat as Jack stepped onto the creaky bridge, he clutched onto the rope and started to slowly walk across it. It wobbled slightly with each step he took. I didn't realise I'd been holding my breath until he reached the other end. He turned round to face us and gave us a thumbs up.

"It's okay!" he shouted, "come on, one person at a time and make sure you walk slowly!"

Callie, Oliver and I looked at each other for a few moments. When no one made a move, Callie gave me and Oliver pointed looks. She shook her head.

"Pussies," she said and stepped onto the bridge. Callie whistled as she walked across it with more ease and grace than Jack had, she didn't even seem the slightest bit bothered that she was walking on a rickety bridge fifty feet above a rushing river.

Oliver shook his head, "there is no way, I'm crossing that thing. It's a fucking death wish."

It seemed like me and Oliver were the only ones who understood just how unsafe that bridge was. I thought I heard a weird sound behind me, so I glanced back. My eyes narrowed as I peered into the woods. I was just about to look away and put down the noise to the wind or just my imagination when I saw a low figure emerge between some trees. I watched with baited breath as it crept out of the shadows and stepped into the morning light. I gasped.

"Oh my God," I whispered. "Oliver."

"What?" he turned around and followed the direction of my gaze.

"Get on the bridge," I told him.

"Holy shit," he said, "did...did it fucking follow us?!"

"Get on the bridge, Oliver," I said as I stepped backwards, keeping my eyes on the bear that crept out of the woods. It was eying us, like it was sizing up, seeing how good we would taste.

"No way," Oliver said, "no way, am I getting on that —" the bear roared, "I'm getting on the bridge!"

Callie glanced back, frowning because she wasn't even half away across the bridge. "What are you doing? Jack said one person at a time!"

"There's a bear!"

"A what —?" she cried and looked behind us. Her eyes widened, "Oh my God!"

"I know!" I shouted as I reluctantly stepped onto the bridge. I clutched onto the rope for dear life and moved as carefully but as I quickly as I could.

Callie grinned, "it's Patricia!"

I paused and looked at her, "Patricia? As in Winston the Bear's mother?"

Callie nodded, "yeah! I know it's her!"

"Stop talking and move!" Jack shouted from the other end of the bridge. "Do you want to get eaten?"

Behind me, I heard the bear, Patricia as Callie had named her, let out another roar. I looked back and saw her stalk towards the bridge. Oh God, she wasn't going to try and cross it, right? Callie had reached the end of the bridge, so it was just Oliver and I, which was a terrible idea because this thing could only support one person at a time.

"Oliver!" I snapped, "Go quicker!" The clumsy way he was walking was making the whole thing wobble and I felt like I was a second away from tumbling over and into the river below. A fall from this height would probably kill me.

"Come on!" Jack shouted,

"Yeah!" Callie joined in, "keep going, you're nearly there!"

I frowned. It was easy for them to say, they were safe on the other side whilst me and Oliver were risking our lives on this Godforsaken bridge. My heart was beating so hard, I was afraid it would explode in my chest. I tried not to look down. I just concentrated on taking careful steps on the wooden boards of the bridge. I didn't look up when I heard Oliver hoot and holler about how he'd gotten across. Jack, Callie and Oliver soon started shouting for me to hurry up like a squad of terrified cheerleaders. I was literally a few inches from the Jack, who stood at the edge of the bridge, when my left foot crashed through one of the wooden boards and I stumbled. I screamed as the bridge started swaying left and right.

"Peryn!" Jack shouted. "Take my hand!"

I looked up at him. He'd leaned down and reached his hand out towards me.

I shook my head, too scared to move. "I can't!"

"Peryn," he said, his voice was softer this time, it matched his expression, "Peryn, it's going to be okay."

 I took a deep breath and snapped left hand up to his. He latched on to it and holding onto the ropey railing of bridge with my right hand, I pushed myself up. Jack yanked me across the last bit of the bridge. We both stumbled and fell and for a horrible second, I thought we'd fallen into the gorge but when I opened my eyes, I was glad to find we'd landed on the grassy ground by the bridge. I lay on top of Jack, who had wrapped his arms around my waist. My heart stuttered in my chest. He stared up at me, breathing hard with his mouth slack and his deep brown eyes swimming with relief. We stared at each other for a few moments, marveling at one another and the fact I'd almost just died. 

 "Are you okay?" he whispered. His adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

I nodded since I didn't trust myself to speak. I watched, slightly entranced as the corner of his mouth quirked upwards in a small smile that had butterflies swirling in my stomach.

"Uh, guys," Oliver said, snapping me out of the trance Jack had cast.

Callie said, "Patricia's crossing the bridge!"

Jack moved his arms off my waist and I clambered off of him. We both stood up and looked over to the bridge and much to our horror, Callie was right. The bear kept growling as it tried to cross the bridge. It was almost half way.

"We...we should just burn the bridge!" Callie said.

"Patricia!" Oliver shouted, "You little bitch!"

Callie punched his shoulder, "Shut the hell up! This is your fault! It probably wants you!"

"Well, it's not getting me," Oliver said as he shoved his hand in back pocket of his trousers and pulled out a gold-plated pocket knife, "I'm cutting this motherfucker down!"

Before we could say anything, Oliver rushed to the edge of the bridge and started cutting through the rope that were tied around the wooden posts on the edge of the rocky hill.

"Oliver!" I said, "Get back!"

He shook his head as he continued to furiously cut the rope. "No way!" he said, "no way am I letting that dumb bear tear me limb from limb and then feed me to its dumb bear baby!"

"Winston isn't dumb!" Callie said and she smacked the back of his head.

"Ow!" Oliver cried, "Can you stop hitting me?"

"Can you stop being a jackass?" she said.

He didn't answer. After another ten seconds of cutting, the lines of rope that held the left side of the bridge snapped off and it all flopped to the side. Patricia the Bear growled, she scrambled as the bridge swayed. Oliver instantly moved to the other side and started cutting.

"Wait, are you're going to kill it?" I said, my gaze skipping to the terrified animal.

"Oliver," Jack said, "if that bridge falls, that bear will die."

"Hell yeah!" Oliver said, "it's going to kill us!"

Callie's eyes widened, "No!"

Oliver grinned, "Yes!"

"Kaminski, you asshole! You can't kill Patricia!" she cried, "then Winston, won't have a mom! He'll be all alone!"

"That's the circle of life, baby!" Oliver said, still cutting away. I could see the rope giving way. If he kept going the bridge would collapse and Patricia would fall into the river.

"NO!" Callie screeched so loudly her voice echoed, "WE ARE NOT BEAR KILLERS!"

She lunged forward and knocked Oliver to the ground. Jack and I watched as the two rolled around on the floor. Callie kneed him in chest groin and smacked the pocket knife out of his hand.  I took that moment to pick up the knife off the ground and throw it to Jack, who caught it with ease and shoved it into his jean pockets.

"Oliver," I said, "I've thrown your pocket knife in the gorge."

Oliver froze. Callie had gripped him in a tight headlock that had turned his face into a bright red. He looked up at me, "You...you what?"

"You were going to kill the bear," I said, "I had to!"

"The bear was going to kill us!"

"I don't care," I said, "we don't kill animals, Oliver, are you crazy?"

"Peryn that pocket knife cost three hundred dollars! It belonged to JFK!" he shouted as he pushed Callie off him and rushed to the bridge. "No! Stanley!"

Callie laughed, "Oh my God, you named your knife?"

Oliver threw her a glare, "So? You name random animals for no reason."

"Why do you have JFK's pocket knife?" I asked.

"That...that's...none of your business, Peryn!"

"Look," Jack said, "it's leaving."

The bear seemed to be freaked out by the swaying bridge, so it had retreated back to the other side. It stayed there for a while, just staring at us before it growled and turned around. It patted back into the woods. Once it was out of sight, I breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Oh thank fuck," I breathed a sigh of relief once it was out of sight "we're safe."

Jack frowned, "Yeah. For now."