Episode 3 · Mara Vale, Young woman, Fleeing man
In the foggy wetland, the young woman finds pale wild mushrooms on a log. Mara warns her, but the girl tastes one and says she is fine. Back in the stone cabin, Mara drops the mushrooms into boiling water. A burst of smoke explodes from the hearth, forcing the girl to open the shutter. Mara scolds her while packing the leftovers away. At the window, both women watch wolves prowl across the sunlit plains.
In the foggy wetland, the young woman checks pale mushrooms growing along a fallen log. Mara tells her not to taste strange wild food. The girl ignores the caution, tries a piece anyway, and insists she feels fine.
Inside the stone cabin, Mara drops the collected mushrooms into boiling water over the fireplace. The pot triggers a sudden burst of thick smoke. The young woman rushes to unlatch the wooden window shutter to clear out the cabin.
Mara packs the rest of the mushrooms into a sack. She confronts the young woman for failing to mention that boiling them was completely untested. The girl sits down with her notebook and sketches the mushroom instead of arguing back.
The young woman looks out the cabin window across the open plains. She spots a pack of wolves walking through the daylight fields. Mara steps beside her to look, and both women realize that something unnatural is happening outside.
“That's not the same as safe.”
“I knew it didn't hurt me raw. I didn't know what heat would do.”
“Next time, say the part you don't know first.”
“Something's wrong.”
Mara stands next to the young woman by the cabin window. Together, they watch wolves travel across the sunlit fields in broad daylight, aware that this behavior is unnatural. What force or predator is driving the wild pack into the open fields so early in the day, and will the cabin keep the two survivors safe?