My heart began to pound in my chest, unintentionally I ground my teeth together. The anticipation of the unknown was something I couldn’t seem to cope with out here in the world. I had spent most of my life that I can recall in the safety of the Laboratory, the same four walls and small single bed was what I was used to. I stood frozen in my post for a moment trying to calm myself, I was still blind and needed to rely on my other senses to help me, I couldn’t do that if I was too fearful.

Get it together girl! Slow down and just breathe. You need to survive this and the only way to do that is by getting a grip on yourself. The Professor’s voice rang true in my mind as I nodded.

I took a few more deep breaths, as cliche as is was it seemed to work best for me. I grounded myself in that exact moment. I allowed my toes to curl into the ground, centering myself as best as I could. I refused to move until I calmed my entire body, the stiff movements I had been doing weren’t going to help me. It took a few moments before my heart rate seemed to finally slow, my tense body relaxed a little.

“Okay, nice and slow Adrielle.” I whispered.

Each footstep I took was deliberate never faltering as I knew that I needed to be trust myself to be able to endure whatever was to come. I had let myself get used to the idea of being held in captivity for too long, I had been studied and tested but never had I been left to be free. Like an animal that had spent its entire life in a zoo only to be released into the world after knowing nothing more than what the zoo had “taught” it.

As the smell of burning wood grew stronger, perfuming the air around me, I slowed my pace. I knew that the wind seemed to be carrying the smell to the northeast, which meant that I needed to widen my direction. I didn’t want to just waltz into some unknown camp, leaving myself so vulnerable. I crotched low, incase the fire was larger than I expected and cast light onto me.

The time seemed to sleep pass me with ease asI seemed to between the trees. The confidence that I had needed to begin with flowed through me now. I knew that the moment that it wavered I would be screwed and unable to take care of myself. “Keep going Adrielle, nice and slow.” I whispered encouraging words to myself. I paid attention to the temperature around me, I knew that once I get close enough the eat of the fire would carry itself towards me.