By noon it had become clear to Scott that he wasn't going to make it to the house. Traversing across the lawn was taking longer than he expected. If he hadn't had to worry about predators he might have made better progress. At least the ants ignored him. By two in the afternoon he'd decided it was better to set up camp and move on the next day. He wouldn't be just setting up the tent, that wouldn't do at all. He needed protection.
Scott chose a spot to pitch the tent. A flat stone which wouldn't be comfortable, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about anything crawling up from underneath. He Hoped not anyway. Once that was done, he fortified by collecting whatever he could find and building up around it. Stones, bits of leaves, insect parts, whatever he could find. He heard the Bus, looking past the grass he could see the three children he encountered earlier walking back up the walkway to the house. Even from where he stood, Scott could feel the foot falls vibrating through the ground. He mused that if they were aware of him they might help him. Then again the expectation might clash with reality. The reality was, as they thundered past him to the front door of the house,that he would not be finding out any time soon.
He didn't see them for the rest of that day. By the time the sun was starting to set Scott was secure inside his make shift shelter. He had placed debris in front of the entrance and zipped up his tent. Even with the bedding he had placed in the tent and the sleeping bag on top of that, he doubted he would get much sleep. He just hoped his camp would be look unappealing to a night time predator.
As it grew dark Scott could hear voices from within the house. The voices of the kids and the mother, but no father it seemed. Either he was away, or she was divorced or widowed. They were probably having a hot meal while he lay in his sleeping bag eating a protein bar.
As he had predicted, Scott didn't sleep very well. The night time noises were almost as loud as the daytime. Once he though he heard something crawling up along the side of his shelter. His imagination immediately brought up the vision of a huge centipede. A scary thing to think about.
eventually though Scott did managed to sleep. He was awaken the next morning to the ground shaking and the sound of footsteps. At first he thought maybe it was just someone walking up the walkway, but then he heard the crunching of grass underfoot. Scott sprung out of the tent not caring about predators. Predators could be crushed underfoot just as easily as he could. He looked about and then his eyes focused on
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