The campfire blazed, the firewood crackling. Revis leaned against the wall of a valley, pinching a leaf between his fingers and tearing it into pieces bit by bit.
"One... two... three... thirteen." The shredded leaves scattered across the ground. He raised his head, the silver moon reflected in his eyes.
"Thirteen days, thirteen suns, thirteen moons."
Revis had never imagined he could stay in the wilderness for so many days. Even when undergoing wilderness survival training in the army, he had known where the way out was. But—America was a savage continent, where time itself had gone backward. The last thing civilized people could do here was make active use of their minds, turning civilization's legacy into capital for survival.
The Thirteenth Day
The food rations I calculated can still last another week, but winter is already setting in. Over the past thirteen days, I can feel the days growing longer, while my sense of time grows increasingly blurred.
Halfway through writing, the pen suddenly stopped producing ink, leaving pale scratches across the paper.
"Damn it." Revis cursed under his breath, fiercely shaking the pen in his right hand. After drawing several circles on the paper, he finally managed to continue writing.
He muttered, "In nature, there's no one to talk to. You can only talk to yourself like a lunatic. If you want to sort out your thoughts, the best way is to write them down instead of imagining things in your head."
"That's why I'm talking to myself." Revis shrugged.
"Believe me, if I sort everything out in my mind and convince myself I won't forget it—"
"After walking for several hours, my brain turns into a tangled mess anyway. The monotonous scenery and cold air always make me unable to stop my thoughts from wandering."
It was