17 Bullets: becoming the Werewolf Queen

Chapter 2: Wolfsbane Berries

60 BULLETS

My heart pounded in terror and I squished over the seat, bringing the seatback forward because no effing way was I stepping foot on that ground again and I needed my hunting rifle. The awkward position reaching for the case with me stuck butt up in the air pressed painfully into my bruised front, but that didn't matter now. With a full-on lunge, I grabbed the case and brought it up, quickly putting the pieces together and fitting on the scope. I only had five bullets in the case, the rest in the tool bin in the bed. My eyes scanned the darkness, my headlamp doing the bare minimum for viewing. Five would have to be it because that door was not opening ever again. I gulped, ready for a long sleepless night.

My rifle flew to my eyes at every sound during the night and twice my headlamp lit the glowing eyes of forest creatures. But as the sky began to light, I knew I had survived.

One night down.

My fear somewhat diminished as the area began to light and I turned my headlamp off with a groan of relief. Now that I could see, maybe predators would be less likely to attack. I'd finally rest my eyes for a few moments.

The sun was high in the sky when my so called few moments were up.

I jolted awake, my rifle already clutched in my arms, trying to get a sight of something, though I couldn't hold it correctly in the cramped area. I scanned the surroundings a full minute before I sat the gun across my lap and rubbed clammy hands across my face.

Taking a glance at my cell, I leaned over and turned it on. Still no signal. No. Would it ever get signal again? Was this real? Was I on some other planet? I bent to peer out the window at the nearby plants. Yep, they all looked so foreign. And last night. Those stars and those planets? Was it a dream? This was all a joke right?

Maybe I got in a car crash on the way home and this is me hiding in my brain, in a coma somewhere?

Right?

Right?!

Please let that be it.

I felt up and down my arms, hands continuing to my face and I sure did feel awake. A pinch confirmed that I felt pain, but to be honest I still wasn't one hundred percent sure. I mean, who drives down the road and ends up on another planet?

That was seriously messed up.

Either way, there was a more pressing issue at hand. I needed to relieve a very full bladder. That meant stepping foot outside this cab. I surely couldn't do it. Looking around the cab, I tried to spot anything that would help my situation. An old paper drink cup? I even thought about my cooking pot from last night, stored safely in the back cargo bed. Though I wasn't sure I was desperate enough to relieve myself in a pot I'd later need for meals.

"Okay Eleanor. You have done emergency preparedness for ten years now. On your own for the last six. You take care of a whole farm. You can shoot an elk at three hundred yards and field dress it yourself. You have a hundred and fifty thousand subscribers. You can't let them down that you were too afraid to even pee in an emergency situation."

A glance outside the window, showed I was still scared.

But what kind of emergency situation is waking up on a different planet?

I growled to myself, continuing my pep talk. "Do it! Do it now!"

And I cautiously opened the door, letting fresh air fill the cab. I took a deep breath and the air smelt beautiful. Even being out in the country, there was always still something in the air that hinted at the pollution coming from big cities. This air was different, all spice and earth, rich and full. The way you'd imagine Earth to smell like a thousand years before factories. And well, hey, if I'm breathing, I guess this place has oxygen. Maybe that's a little of this feeling too. I lived at a fairly high elevation. When I've been to sea level it felt like this, almost easier to breathe. This place must have more oxygen, even though I'm on some mountain somewhere. What would it be like at their sea level? Would they even have a sea level?