Baffin Island: Day 10

Word Count: 66,006

Summary of Events:

Prior to setting out after Ryan's near-drowning it was conclusively determined that Ryan had a concussion, and a severe enough one that he was to be carried, which Yukon determinedly helped with despite his sore wrists — having been thrown into a rock by the ocean while looking for Ryan — and ribs. When they stopped for the night they were officially inland, with the ocean quite distant from them. The next morning the wind finally stopped, but Ben's efforts to catch some rabbits were unfortunately futile; he and Yukon, being the only two awake, discussed the possibility of being found by searchers soon, considering it was nearly two weeks since they'd set out . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""In order to do that we just have to keep walking," Yukon said. "And if something comes along and makes our trip easier, that's great, but if something comes along and makes it worse we have to dig in and keep going, no matter how hard we've been taxed or are being taxed. No one knows where we are, no one knows how to find us, the only way we're going to get home is if we get ourselves there."

Ben nodded. "That's actually kind of a scary thought."

Yukon nodded. It'd occurred to him when they'd been deciding whether or not to set out on this trek, and he felt like he might have even shared it then, but thinking about it now, now that they'd left the place people knew they'd gone, made it all the more chilling.

They were literally in the middle of nowhere, and absolutely no one knew where they were aside from themselves. Everyone at home, all of their parents, siblings, other friends, other relatives, grandparents, and anyone else who knew they'd gone on a trip was probably more than sure that they were having a great time doing all those things people did on camping trips.

The reality was, however, that they'd forgotten their food, they'd been hunting and scavenging their way across the tundra, all of them were tired, many of them were injured, and on top of that, at the moment, they were starving.

Not to mention, in most of that time they'd travelled somewhere in the vicinity of four hundred kilometres on foot, all the while at high risk for being spotted and hunted by the savage carnivorous wildlife that called the island home.

When somebody — probably Josh's dad — arrived at the helicopter, the news he was going to bring back would be a sickening shock to everyone at home. The beginning of worry would be instantaneous.

Yukon hated to think of making people worry, but he knew it would happen regardless. Everyone would be frightened, he was sure the government would be called to get involved with the search right away and soon ships would be scouring the coast, planes and helicopters would be streaking the sky, and they might even have some ground crews with dogs that would go around trying to track their trail and figure out where they'd gone.

Considering the likelihood of all that searching commencing — which Yukon was more than sure was off-the-charts high — it would seem the likelihood of being found by helicopters and planes scouring the area would be equally as high, or at least, halfway as high.

If they made it all the way back to Iqaluit on foot, completely unseen by scouring aircraft would be almost disappointing, actually. It would either suggest that people looking for them were blind, or idiots, or that they were hiding from people. The other option was that people weren't looking on the route he'd tracked out with his map."