Character is Ian from my latest novel:
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Ian's friend is looking right at him, causing Ian to raise a brow. "What?" Ian says.
"Well," his friend scratches the back of his head and looks around. "Don't you have a plan?"
The words make Ian frown. "Why the hell would I have a plan?" He blurts, still trying to keep his voice low in hopes of not attracting any attention from unwanted visitors.
"Dunno," his friend says. "You're the one who's always watching movies and stuff. I figured you might know something."
"Yeah? This is reality though."
There is a bout of silence before Ian's friend says: "True…"
Ian goes through their belongings. The cell phones are dead. And there isn't much they can use to contact the outside world. "I sure hope you're good with knives…" Ian mutters as he takes out a lighter alongside his sleeping bag.
"Uh, Ian?" His friend takes a step back. "What are you doing with that? And why are you looking at me like you're about to do something really stupid?"
Ian snickers. "Oh, no reason," he says as he sets fire to his sleeping bag and tosses it to the ground.
"No, seriously, why the knife part and what are you–"
"In case the bears find us first. If we're lucky though, someone will pick up on the smoke and call the authorities before that."
"Wow. That might... actually work… maybe... Dude, this is crazy. Where'd you even get this idea?"
Ian averts his gaze and looks into the dark woods. "Movie," he says.
His friend groans. "Ian!" He shakes his head and sighs. "I don't believe you…"
"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I want you to listen because I need your help on this next thing. Also, don't fall asleep, that would be bad."
Ian's friend groans again yet complies nevertheless. "Sure... just, tell me, is this another movie thing? Because if so I–"
"Countless web-browsing on weird Pikipedia pages and documentaries. Satisfied?"
"Sheesh, you have a little too much time on your hands there, buddy."
Ian chuckles. "And you're surprised of this because?"
"Nothing, never mind. What's the plan?"
Ian glances up to the sky, now dark, closes my eyes, and breathes in the fresh mountain air. "First, don't take out any food, it could stir up a lot of shit if an animal happens to smell it. If a bear does find our camp, I want you to take our phones, set them on fire, and throw them at his feet. Also, make a lot of noise. They don't like noise."
"I'm seriously still confused as to what your midnight researches consisted of, but sure..."
"All right, second, don't waste water, and if things get really bad…"
"What?" His friend frowns. "What's with the long pause?"
"I don't know, but I heard some people survived by eating each other, so maybe we should discuss–"
The friendly friend presses a hand to Ian's lips and lets out a tiny panicked scream. "Let's not think about stuff like that, okay?" his friend says. "I really doubt we'll be out here for so long."
Ian shrugs and urges him off. "Whatever you say," he tells him before walking to the sides of trees where tiny branches lay. "Help me pick these up to keep the fire going, will you?"
