The Ritual

last two,’ Phil said emotionlessly, and looked at the filthy palms of his hands.
    Luke stared at Phil’s tousled head and swallowed. ‘Tell me you are joking?’
    ‘Mate, we’re burning off a lot of fucking calories here,’ Dom snapped. Even this tired and he still had energy for attitude.
    ‘So what are you going to eat later?’
    ‘We’ll need that chocolate,’ Dom said, his face stiffening to a challenge.
    ‘We? You’ve eaten all yours too?’
    Dom nodded, without a trace of shame or regret evident in his expression. ‘And I’m still starving.’
    Luke turned away and stared across the ravine in silence. He could be across it in twenty minutes, maybe less. The idea excited him. And it was the best possible course of action available after
all, he thought, as he resurrected the original strategy he’d discussed with Hutch the night before.
    If he dropped both packs and the tent and put everything he had left inside himself into the hike, he could walk steadily until nine before it became too dark to walk any further safely. That
would still give him another eight hours unimpeded and unencumbered by this pair. He might even make it out of the forest tonight if he was walking in the right direction. He could leave the others
here with the tent, beside a notable feature that would be visible from the air. They had water. No food, but whose fault was that? They would just have to wrap up warm, get into their bags and
take it in turns to keep watch, maybe get a fire going.
    But if they survived tonight, they’d have to spend another night out here too. Because even if he made it out of the forest later that evening, at least one more day of walking would be
necessary to even locate the next minor road or settlement and organize a rescue. Two nights with no food and one of them injured. Would they even get a fire going? They had lighters, but just
about everything around them was too wet to burn. This was the fourth day of constant rain or drizzle; it would take hours to get the most serviceable wood together to keep a fire going for any
length of time. And the gas would be gone by tomorrow morning.
    His thoughts sped from one scenario to another, and then slowed to consider the repercussions of each potential choice. But no matter what he considered and then dismissed, he still knew his own
best chance of survival was to strike out alone.
    ‘So what now? How the fuck do I get across this?’ There was a note of accusation in Dom’s tone of voice.
    ‘Maybe . . .’ Luke said quietly.
    ‘Maybe what?’
    ‘Maybe we go back to the original plan.’
    ‘Original plan? The original plan was to get the fuck out of here as quickly as possible, by the most direct route. Are we not still following the original plan?’
    It was the sarcasm. Always the sarcasm. Would it ever end? Hobbling around on his useless knee, criticizing, always complaining. Luke was his only chance of survival and still he was
contemptuous. ‘You’re not going to like what I’m about to suggest.’
    ‘I’ll fucking put money on it, eh Phillers?’
    Phil looked bewildered. ‘What?’
    ‘He’s thinking of taking off. Aren’t you? And just bloody leaving us here.’
    ‘Look—’
    ‘I can’t believe you’d even consider it.’
    Luke clenched his jaw. ‘If you could walk properly, would you even be here now?’
    ‘What?’ Dom shook his head in disgust. ‘Well, I never. Though I don’t know why I’m surprised. You take over the map and play Hutch all day. Get us even more lost
than we were already. And when we reach this crater, you’re going to just leave us. When we agreed this morning that we would stick together.’
    ‘You said, Luke. You said,’ Phil blurted out with an urgency that filled Luke’s head with confusion.
    ‘It’s not like that.’
    ‘From where I am sitting it fucking is. Every man for himself now is it? Well go on. Fuck off then. Fuck us.’
    ‘Listen—’
    ‘I’m sick of listening. First Hutch’s bright ideas that got himself killed, and now yours. And we’re still fucking here. Fucking lost. So fucking lost.’ His voice
trailed off into a breathy hopelessness that made Luke feel every tired sinew and fibre cry out within his own body for it all to just stop. Please God, just let it stop now.
    Luke stood up. Dom flinched. Phil’s body tensed. They thought he might hit them. Why? He wasn’t like that. Or was he? And was he just abandoning them because they were slowing him