chapter 42

ELARA

"Elara!"

"Liezl!"

"Thea!"

"Vina!" we screamed when we saw each other.

It's been five months after the pandemic happened in the country.

We hugged each other and checked one's lives while we enter Liezl's dormitory where she currently stays.

"It looks like all of you gained weight. Few months has passed but look at me, I never gained weight!" I said and sat on the vacant bed while putting my belongings onto my lap. Thea sat beside me while the two faced us.

"We gained weight? All of our fats transferred on our arms and stomachs. It would have been better if it was chest and ass. "Thea complained and we laughed.

"You really have no filter on your mouth!" Liezl replied.

"Why? That's the truth!" Thea responsed.

"Anyway, Liezl, why did you told us to pack some of our clothes? Are we having a sleepover?" Vina asked her.

"Before I tell you, did you parents permitted you to go here?"

"We won't be able to come here if we are not allowed to, right? "Thea sarcastically answered.

"I don't have any parents to ask for permission." I added.

The atmosphere went silent. 

Okay. Awkward.

"Hey, don't stare at me like I'm a pitiful person!" I laughingly said and throws some pillows on their faces to end the awkward situation.

"Sorry about that!" Liezl responded making us giggles.

No more akward silence.

"Back to the topic, what stupidity are you planning?" Vina started.

"Did I heard it right? Stupidity? Isn't Thea is the one who plans stupid things in the first place?! Anyway, I thought about going on a vacation through forest camping to treat ourselves since two months from now, we are going to enter college life again." Liezl informed us.

Forest Camping? Sounds nice.

"Camping for how many days? When? Where? How about the transportation?" I asked.

"I have already created a plan for this. I'm always ready! Here. Check for yourselves!" she said as she excitedly shared her plan.

Where: Forest of Life

When: Tomorrow morning (2 days and 1 night)

Transportation: Rented Camping Van

Budget: $2,500.00

Food: Depends

Activities: Depends on us

"It looks like you planned everything." Vina said as we agree on her statement.

"Wait. Did I see it right and clear? $2,500 for the rent of camping van? How will we supposed to acquire that? That's too pricey!" Thea complained.

I immediately nodded my head agreeing on her statement when the three of them suddenly look at me with grins on their faces.

No way. I know what they're thinking of me right now.

"I only have money enough for us." I stated but they keep staring at me like that like I'm some kind of food.

"Are you sure?" Vina teasingly asked me.

"Yeah. I'm sure and about the rent fee, I think we should do contributions to be fair."

"Are you sure?" she repeated it. I sighed.

"Fine. I have extra money right here."

They acted like they've won a jackpot after what I've said.

"Who will drive the van anyway?" I added and Thea raised her hand.

"I'm not the one who will drive but my father will. He will drives for us there and will also drives us home but he will not stay with us because he might spoil our vacation." Thea said and we all agreed.

"Just text him a message if we want to go home."

"I want to see the camping van if it's worth it." I blurted out.

"Me too! I want to see how big it will be so that we can buy the things we will use for tomorrow." Vina added.

Liezl and Thea both stood up making us confused.

"Why?"

"I thought you want to see the van? Let's go. I know the location." Thea replied and we leave the building.

We rode on a bus and it took ten minutes for us to reach the destination. We followed them until we stopped in front of car rental shop. We let Lieazl and Thea talked with the dealer until they go back to our place with a middle-aged man.

"This is Sir Jose, the one who allowed us to rent a van. Sir Jose, these are my friends, Vina and Elara." Liezl introduced us. We greeted him politely as an exchange. He guided us and passed by many types of vehicle until we stopped in front of a black van.

"Take a tour of the van first and see if it fits your taste. Don't worry about the things you will use here because the equipment in the van is complete. I will leave you first." Jose informed then left us.

We entered and we were amazed at what we saw. Complete with accessories. The bathroom has a shower. Two pairs of double-deck beds. There is a mini kitchen and living room although the space is small which is kinda reasonable since it is a camping van. The van has a modern theme. I turned to them and thumbs up.

"I like this! It's cool." Vina said and showed us five stars for the rate. I smiled and gave them the money to pay Jose. After visiting the van we headed straight to the convenience store and bought some food.

"What food are we going to buy? "Liezl asked us.

"Chips!" 

"Chocolates!" 

"Instant noodles!" 

"Softdrinks!" 

"Alcoholic drinks!" I shouted but they hit me right away. 

"You have the courage to say it but you are always the first one to vomit! How dare you! I hate you for throwing out your puke into my favorite blanket!" Liezl retorted.

"Poor! Weak!" Thea pisses me off.

"I'm sorry but I'm not weak! I didn't eat before drinking!" I explain.

"Whatever bitch." Liezl jokingly said.

We immediately took the groceries to the counter and paid before going back to the dormitory. We spent the rest of the time preparing and relaxing. 

I hope we will enjoy this camping tomorrow.

Early in the morning we got ourselves ready and boarded the camping van. It took four hours for us to arrive in the forest. We arranged everything and prepared our lunch. We walked around the forest and agreed to hike until we reached the top of the mountain. We took some pictures and enjoyed ourselves before going down the mountain to rest.

When we got into the van, they went straight to their seats and rested while I cooked dinner. I sat down first while waiting for the food to be cooked and watched the sunset. 

Sunsets makes me calm and relaxed.

"Something is burning!" Liezl shouted so I immediately ran to the kitchen. 

See, seeing sunsets made me forget about our dinner. Hehe. 

"Sorry." grinning I said and stared at the burning hotdogs. Thea took a fork and ate it. We were shocked at what she did. 

"It's delicious. It doesn't taste like it's burnt." she replied. 

"There is no word burnt to a hungry one." Liezl added and we immediately set the table.

I just laughed and had a good meal with them. We immediately went to bed and rested when we finished setting the table. We have also cleaned ourselves up. I literally enjoyed this day with them. I hope we are always like this. Drowsiness immediately visited us and we went to sleep.

The next day passed and we decided to go home at dusk. We are currently waiting for Thea's father to pick us up.

"Thea, where is your father?" Liezl said while tapping her fingers onto the table.

"He said he was stuck in the traffic, so he might be here in a few hours." 

"Is that so? All right, let's go inside first and sleep. Maybe your father will wake us up once he's here." Vina said.

We agreed and went into the van to rest. 

"Elara."

"Pst. Elara you need to wake up!"

"Elara wake up!"

I woke up immediately when Thea shook me on the shoulder. My forehead immediately creased up when I realized that they were scared and the van was tightly closed.

"What's up?" I asked.

"There were wolves outside." Vina whispered while peeking outside the windows.

"Wolves as in what I'm watching in the Twilight? You're just kidding aren't you?" I asked.

"We're not kidding! They are really wolves!" Vina exclaimed.

"How come there were wolves out there? Bitch, our place is safe from the wolves! There are no wolves living here ------ oh shit." I cussed as I peeked from the window.

Big bad wolves. 

"Liezl, why there are wolves roaming around?" Thea asked her nervously. 

"I don't know! No one told us that wolves here inside the forest exists!" Liezl replied. "Thea, where is your father?" I asked her who was anxious and just looked repeatedly at her phone.

"Traffic but I texted him already that we're in danger." she replied and I nodded. 

"How many minutes you think he could come before the wolves might attack us?" Vina asked.

"I don't know." she replied.

Damn. 

We just stayed like this until Vina spoke. 

"Are we going to die?"

Am I going to be an angel in heaven?

Are we going to die? 

I grabbed Liezl's shoulder when I felt the van move. 

"What's going on? Earthquake?" I asked.

I grabbed her again as when the van moved again.

Is there an earthquake?

Thea peeked outside to see what was happening. 

"The wolves are bumping with our van!" she said.

"Wait, why are they bumping the van?"

"Are they really excited to taste something delicious? Whatever. We're just all ribs and not chubby. They eat everything." she tried to joke around.

"What are you saying?! You're spouting nonsense!" I complained but she just scoffed.

An idea popped on my mind so I immediately looked for knives inside the van.

"What are you seeking for?" they asked but I ignored them until I could see what I was looking for.

"Here, we should protect ourselves so we'll not die easily." I said and gave them the knives I found.

They just stared at it but touched it as well.

"You didn't even bring a sharpener to sharpen it." Thea complained. 

"Please stop saying complaints." I pleaded.

"So, what's the plan?" Liezl asked.

"We will go out together until we reached to a safe place where we can ask for help and we can meet Thea's father." Vina replied. 

"Do you know the way out?" Liezl asked.

I shook my head and they followed my actions.

Goodness gracious. How can we survive tonight?

"When I open the door, no one will separate. Let's run in what we think is a safe place. We will not allow our bodies to be torn apart and fought by wolves. Right? We need to meet Thea's father and leave immediately." I added. 

"That's a nice plan, Elara." Liezl said.

"Wait, do you have any fireworks?" Vina asked out of nowhere.

"I have! "Liezl replied and searched her bag.

"Why are you carrying fireworks?" Thea asked. 

"I was going to shoot you in the face. Joke. What's the use of fireworks right?" she sighed. 

She took out the fireworks and handed them to her. Vina took a lighter and lit it.

The hell! 

"Open the door!" she shouted.

I immediately opened it and she threw the fireworks where the wolves are. We heard some howls telling us that some of the fireworks had hit them. The four of us immediately got out of the van and ran fast.

"Do you think our path is right?" Vina asked breathlessly. 

"I don't know! Let's just run!" Liezl replied and giggles.

"Stop laughing like a crazy witch! There are four wolves chasing us! Enough for them to have a full dinner!" Thea shouted.

We turned around and stared.

"Let's turn there! I think that's the way out of this forest!" Liezl pointed to the left.

We nodded and went to the left. We stopped when we had nowhere to run.

"Shit. Dead end. There is a cliff behind us. If we jumped on the cliff, we have the possibility to survive because we will fall into the sea!" I explained. 

We stepped back when the wolves are few feet away from us. 

Someone please...save us...

"I'd rather jump onto the cliff than see myself being torn apart and scrambled by the wolves!" Thea cried.

"I don't want to die yet! I don't want to die single!" Liezl roared.

We stepped back again when the wolves started to stepped forward.

"I still want to graduate from college and see my family one last time!" Vina weeped out.

We stepped and looked back. Just one more step and we will meet our death.

"If that was my last supper, then I should have enjoyed it!" I added.

"How could you say that ?! We will all die after this yet you're thinking that you should have enjoyed your supper!" Liezl's complaint.

We could not move when the wolves approached us. 

"Let's end us here. Thank you all." I cried and we held each other's hands.

"If I will not survive after this, I hope at least when I'm dead, Lee Dong Wook is the grim reaper. I will be happy to be with him! I'll just see the three of you in heaven!" Liezl replied with a laugh. 

It hurts but the four of us nodded and decided. We jumped off the cliff together before the wolves could even attacked us. 

I wish I could meet my parents in heaven.

Goodbye...