I woke up on a branch. It took me a few minutes to remember everything. I quietly got down and went looking for food. I found a prize. Amber jelly roll mushroom found all year round. Has a jelly like texture. I add it to soups. It is found in hard woodsticks and logs. I found tinder fungus I used it carry embers which will smoulder for hours. I can lit it so I won't have to use fire starters for a while. I need to find mature ones which are gray or black. I usually grab one or two during late fall or during early spring. I found them Birch, beech and alder trunk which is either standing or falling. Birch polypore is antibacterial and anti inflammatory. I can peel the skin and use it as an antiseptic bandaid. Remind me to refresh my pantry of these mushrooms. I need to find fish or eggs. I can hear the river gushing. I found soldiers collecting water so I walked in a different direction and found a secluded area where I can get whatever I needed.
After eating I went looking for my friends. I am sure Patrik was going to try and recruit them. We are a seperate group with a different lifestyle. An hour later I found nothing. I looked around and saw mushroom which haven't formed fully. In a few months I can start harvesting lobster mushrooms. As it's name says it tastes like lobster. It can be eaten cooked. If I am lucky I will find beefsteak mushrooms. It looks like raw meat. When I cut it open it has marbling similar to steak. Despite the name it has a citrus taste. Maybe beef bullion bolete. The outside is red with the underside being yellow. It turns blue when it is cut or bruised. It tastes like beef broth. Right now I will have to enjoy cauliflower mushrooms. They resemble noodles and taste awesome in stir-fries. I also found Artist conk to make some tea or tincture. It is closely related to Reishi mushrooms but is too woody to cook. I carefully stored them and sat down to eat.
After making a dakota fireplace I cooked my mushrooms and dehydrated meat in butter. I have to use the water purifier. So I walked over and pulled out a purifier bag and filled it up before adding a packet. I hung the bag and shook the bag for five minutes. Then I hung it for thirty minutes. I clipped the top half and opened the bottom to released the sediment and gunk. Then I clipped it again to get the leftover gunk to the bottom. I clipped the clean water and removed the bottom clip. The dirty water gushed out leaving the clean water. I poured it into a small pot and boiled the water bit by bit. I made sure to pour water into the three liter bottle. I drank some and used the water to wash the pot and pan. I used the river water to wash my clothes. Once they were dry they were folded and stuffed in my bag. I put out that fire and clipped the rest of the water pouch on my bag. I went looking for my friends. I was sure I would find them. But I had a feeling that I was going in circles so I cut off a piece of bark just to be safe.
I found jewelweed otherwise known as touch me not. I can use the stem and leaves as a remedy for skin irritation especially poison ivy rashes. An hour later I found American lotus. Which has round leaves with the seedhead is inside the flower. I noticed the leaves were round and had no notch on it. I cut open the seedhead and peel the skin off the seed before eating. It taste like corn. I can eat it cooked or raw. I found a cluster of beautyberries. They have serrated leaves opposite each other. The berries are at the tip of the branches in clusters. They are purple in colour. I prefer to cook them and they are the last pick on my list. So I went back and grab some jewelweed and American lotus. I was carrying them to my new camp when I found Pete. I saw a man with a gun and remembered Patrik so I decided to stay hidden.
Which was easy all things considered. The birdies didn't expose me either. They winked at me and pointed at the safest place. I found Edible nightshade and I picked a few. They are in clusters and is rounder in shape. The skin is black and matte. There is no shine. The calyxes were smaller than the fruit. The petals on the flowers are white with yellow anthers. The calyxes are larger than the fruit itself. I could say twice as larger. The skin of the deadly nightshade is black and shiny. A look from the side shows the tip is pointy. Their flowers are bell shaped and is dull purple. I got the birdies some edible berries. It started to rain and I used the toilet wax to start a fire so we could stay dry. The defenders managed to take down the Marauders and we left with our stuff. Once we made camp I went searching for food as the sun went down. I saw a mushroom glow in the dark. It was the poisonous Jack-o'-lanterns. I made sure everyone know not to eat it unless they have a death wish.
We hid and watched as the Marauders arrived to drag us back. I saw them rip out the jacko's mushroom. I resisted the urge to stop them. The others did say anything. I got see the bag they carried had death caps. I wanted to puke but I stayed still as they walked past us and walked back to their vehicle looking for a place to lay low. I can tell from reading their lips that they were running out of fuel. They had little ammunition and they just ran out of food. They were cursing their leader for kidnapping us. One was trying to form a coupé. I wished him luck as they took off. I remembered the long beans that one generous lady planted for us in the forest so I went to get some. Virga wasn't far away. He was grinning ear to ear as I walked along the path. He signed that he was happy to see me. They left me behind because Patrik came and they had no choice. He knows I am the forager so he would have hurt the others to nab me. I waved him off as I went along.
A few hundred yards away I plucked some daylily flowers and buds to eat them. They had yellow petal and taste good. He picked a few and ate them too. The leaves are long and are attached to the root. They are longer and are arranged in a flower pattern. Normally I saute the daylily in butter. The true Lily flower is orange in colour and they are toxic. The leaves are attached to the flower stalk and are smaller in size. A few paces away I heard rattlesnakes so we moved in the opposite direction. We found some old friends who like to trade stuff with us in exchange for their stuff. I waved at them before going in the water. I stayed perfectly still and quickly stuck my hand in and pulled out a trout. I threw towards Virga and tried again. After I caught about six of them we waved at the camp and walked back to ours. Virga watched as I collect some wood ear mushrooms on the way back. Then we had to be extra careful since he heard someone yelling.
A couple had wandered into the forest to claim the reward money for finding us gypsies. She accidentally got bitten by a rattlesnake. She was being hauled out by her spouse and they weren't happy. To make matters worse they got nabbed by vampires. We held our breath as we climbed up a tree to not be noticed. We waited an hour before heading to camp. We laid out the goods and Virga warned everyone about the vampires. What most people didn't understand was how these beings were thriving despite being hunted by civilians and military day and night. I pass through a scanner that is used only to detect vampires. Which is why I used it when I go steal stuff from the city. I sometimes visit family who help us and they would give me a bag full of stuff. But to make sure they don't fall on anyone's radar I usually just nab things. Once or twice they have hidden me in their car as they drove out of the city. I have stayed in their houses but not more than an hour.