17 Beginning the hike (1/2)
Deciding to begin preparing now, Ensen had a decent amount of time to gather all that he needed. Since it was around 10 am now, Ensen knew that he had to leave earlier than usual to make sure he got there on time, after all he didn't want to miss out on the mission because of traffic. Even if traffic wasn't expected to be too busy at this point, it was still good to be cautious.
Quickly heading back inside, Ensen grabbed an old black bag with Grey stripes horizontal across he used to use when he just started out teaching and began filling it with things he believed he would either need or would like to have. He filled up a few water bottles with water and threw them inside the bag, some snacks too.
Figuring that he would need something more than just snacks to satisfy his hunger, he quickly ran into the kitchen and made himself three peanut butter and jam sandwiches. With the elegance and grace of a tired puppy walking up the stairs, he soon finished making them after only a few minutes and minimal mess. Well, if you didn't include when he dropped a piece of bread with the peanut butter side face-down on the floor and had to remake it and clean it up at least.
After finishing the sandwiches, he began thinking of other things to bring. After brainstorming he decided to bring a power bank for his phone, just in case he needed it, a piece of paper, a marker, and some tape for later. He also put a light blue sweater on over his t-shirt to make sure he stayed warm. He then put his jacket on over the sweater.
Deciding that he didn't need anything else, he picked up his light black and Grey bag and made his way down the elevator, returning to his car soon after.
Opening the front passenger's side door, Ensen picked up his phone from the seat and laid his bag on the floor. Quickly making his way around the car over to the driver's door. Opening it, Ensen quickly got inside and closed it to try to retain the little bit of heat that was already in the car.
Looking at his phone, Ensen checked for a response from Jennifer and other notifications but there was nothing. Putting his phone down, he began his journey to the plot of land that was nearly his with around 35 minutes left.
During the travel there, Ensen was met with light traffic but it wasn't too severe. After around 30 minutes Ensen pulled into the road leading to the opening near the lake.
Parking his car just a little ways from the run-down building, Ensen turned off the car but decided to sit in it for a few minutes before starting his hike for the day.
'I hope Jennifer doesn't mind me doing this. This is still her property for now after all.' Ensen thought to himself, although he thought that Jennifer wouldn't mind he never really asked her for permission. Not only did Jennifer own the plot of land he was currently looking at, but she also owned the majority of the forest thanks to her grandfather buying it up to use in the expansion of his school. He obviously got ahead of himself, but it was rather cheap to buy at the time.
Putting that to the back of his mind, Ensen leaned over to grab his bag and opened it, taking out both the paper and the marker. Keeping pressure on the paper against the window, he began writing a message in big letters on the paper.
Looking at the message, Ensen smiled with approval and laid the paper on the dashboard for the moment while he reached into the bag and pulled out the tape, breaking off small pieces of tape and hung them on the steering wheel. Picking the piece of paper once again, he held it on the window with one hand while using his other hand to grab the small piece of tape.
Like this, Ensen began to tape the piece of paper to the window. After around 30 seconds he managed to apply all the pieces of tape he ripped off onto the piece of paper. Removing his hand, he smiled when he noticed that the paper stood still.
Reasoning that it was about time to head into the forest, he threw the tape in his bag and began to zip it up. After it was closed, he opened the door slowly, as if not to disturb the tape.
After exiting the door, he closed the door slowly and stood back, looking at the message taped onto the window.
'Gone hiking. If the car is still here after 24 hours please search and rescue.' Below that message was Ensen's full name as well as the date and time he will start hiking. Although it is unlikely anything bad will happen or he will get lost, it helped with both peace of mind and in the unlikely scenario that he did get lost.
Although people did not normally come to this plot, it would still be eventually found.
Satisfied with his preparations in both hiking and safety, he began walking towards the forest. He decided to explore the right side of the plot's forested area first.