This was no longer the first time Albert had been brushed across the head by a tree branch.
The first time. The second time. Even the third—none of it had struck Albert as particularly strange.
After all, this was a tropical rainforest. Dense vegetation was everywhere.
But when it happened a fourth time, Albert reached up and caught the leaf that had swept across his forehead, studying its shape.
It was the same species as the tree that had brushed against him about five minutes earlier.
At last, Albert voiced the question that had been lingering in his mind.
"Don't you think… we might be walking in circles?"
Hayes came to a stop, panting heavily from the intense running.
"Something does feel off," he said. "This forest is way too open. Everything along the way looks almost identical—like… no matter how far we run, there's no end to it."
