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Nick traveled down the forest road for what felt like hours, growing all the warmer as he traveled. Even though he'd ditched the heavy jacket, a decision he did not regret at all, he had found no sign of freshwater and no sign of civilization. With no way of knowing how much further civilization would be, he needed to reassess his strategy. His clothing once more came to mind.

Losing the vest was no problem, although in the few hours he'd been traveling already, he noticed that his blue shirt felt a bit odd on him. Maybe he'd gained weight...? He felt like it was hugging his waist. Then he realized the most obvious, most realistic explanation: his sweat and the heat had simply made the shirt shrink a bit. It must have been simply the quality of the shirt that it shrunk in heat like this. Not a big problem anyway. He simply unbuttoned a few buttons anyway to help get some breathing in on his torso. His whole body felt warm in this atmosphere.

The pants were a far more complicated question. He didn't want to abandon them; if he went into the nearest town pantsless, then he might have a harder time getting help. They might assume he was just a crazy person. No, he needed to maintain some level of decorum on the chance he did find someone who could help him.

But the long pants, while perfectly appropriate for a winter setting, were wholly inappropriate here. He felt the material in his hand. It actually was also relatively low quality, and he wondered how easy it would be to simply rip some of it off. For a few moments he did mental calculations. How long, and how much energy would it take for him to adjust the pants, compared to just leaving them as they were... would it even save him calories and water in the long run? And what if later he needed something more like the pants he had on if he ended up having to sleep out overnight?

The problem was the heat. Ultimately, he needed a rest anyway, and decided he'd try tearing the pants while he sat down for a bit. To his surprise, the pants tore quite easily--although, looking at his work afterward, he realized he'd gone for a rather high tear. When he put them back on, he found that the pockets were showing. He didn't really care about that though. The high cut felt fine in the heat, and anyway, maybe it just made him look more... European. Germans still wore short shorts, right?

Shaking his head, there was still on more matter to consider. The shoes. On the one hand, in any other situation, taking off your shoes in the forest would be complete madness. Shoes are one of the most important pieces of gear in wilderness survival. But the problem was that he was wearing winter boots, and his feet felt like they were melting. Ultimately, he had to reason that with the amount he was sweating, he was running the risk of serious blisters. There was also the forest path to consider. He tried stepping out onto it in his bare feet, and found that it was actually rather pleasant to walk on.

Was he really considering simply leaving his boots behind? If the path ran out, or if it changed terrain types, this could be a serious problem. This was not a decision to be made lightly. But ultimately, he also had to consider calories at this point. If things kept up and he never found water, the extra sweat the boots were producing could cause him to dehydrate faster.

He decided he would simply have to have faith that either the quality of the path would remain consistent, or he would find civilization. He simply couldn't stand to keep the boots on. And so, barefoot, without his vest, Nick continued on down the forest path, leaving his boots, vest, and most of his pants behind. He would make it out of this forest. He had to have faith.

**
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Description
Nick traveled down the forest road for what felt like hours, growing all the warmer as he traveled. Even though he'd ditched the heavy jacket, a decision he did not regret at all, he had found no sign of freshwater and no sign of civilization. With no way of knowing how much further civilization would be, he needed to reassess his strategy. His clothing once more came to mind.

Losing the vest was no problem, although in the few hours he'd been traveling already, he noticed that his blue shirt felt a bit odd on him. Maybe he'd gained weight...? He felt like it was hugging his waist. Then he realized the most obvious, most realistic explanation: his sweat and the heat had simply made the shirt shrink a bit. It must have been simply the quality of the shirt that it shrunk in heat like this. Not a big problem anyway. He simply unbuttoned a few buttons anyway to help get some breathing in on his torso. His whole body felt warm in this atmosphere.

The pants were a far more complicated question. He didn't want to abandon them; if he went into the nearest town pantsless, then he might have a harder time getting help. They might assume he was just a crazy person. No, he needed to maintain some level of decorum on the chance he did find someone who could help him.

But the long pants, while perfectly appropriate for a winter setting, were wholly inappropriate here. He felt the material in his hand. It actually was also relatively low quality, and he wondered how easy it would be to simply rip some of it off. For a few moments he did mental calculations. How long, and how much energy would it take for him to adjust the pants, compared to just leaving them as they were... would it even save him calories and water in the long run? And what if later he needed something more like the pants he had on if he ended up having to sleep out overnight?

The problem was the heat. Ultimately, he needed a rest anyway, and decided he'd try tearing the pants while he sat down for a bit. To his surprise, the pants tore quite easily--although, looking at his work afterward, he realized he'd gone for a rather high tear. When he put them back on, he found that the pockets were showing. He didn't really care about that though. The high cut felt fine in the heat, and anyway, maybe it just made him look more... European. Germans still wore short shorts, right?

Shaking his head, there was still on more matter to consider. The shoes. On the one hand, in any other situation, taking off your shoes in the forest would be complete madness. Shoes are one of the most important pieces of gear in wilderness survival. But the problem was that he was wearing winter boots, and his feet felt like they were melting. Ultimately, he had to reason that with the amount he was sweating, he was running the risk of serious blisters. There was also the forest path to consider. He tried stepping out onto it in his bare feet, and found that it was actually rather pleasant to walk on.

Was he really considering simply leaving his boots behind? If the path ran out, or if it changed terrain types, this could be a serious problem. This was not a decision to be made lightly. But ultimately, he also had to consider calories at this point. If things kept up and he never found water, the extra sweat the boots were producing could cause him to dehydrate faster.

He decided he would simply have to have faith that either the quality of the path would remain consistent, or he would find civilization. He simply couldn't stand to keep the boots on. And so, barefoot, without his vest, Nick continued on down the forest path, leaving his boots, vest, and most of his pants behind. He would make it out of this forest. He had to have faith.

**
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