The campground was now about 500 feet away. Lara hid behind another grouping of young oaks and peeked to see where each vehicle was parked. She saw a number of vans, trailers, and motorhomes. It seemed to be a busy time at the campground.
She spotted the trash dumpster up ahead. She walked inside the tree line until she reached the closest point to the dumpster, about forty feet away. She reasoned she could easily sneak up to it without being detected. However, she wanted to make sure no one was about.
She remained patient, taking the time to make sure no one came around.
Lara finally felt good. She took in a breath, and emerged from the woods, walking nonchalantly, trying to minimize her movements towards the dumpster.
Peeking inside, she was amazed at the sight at how much trash there was. She saw several plastic bags seemingly bursting with contents. There had to be plenty here.
She raised her foot up and found the sleeve that was used to help lift the dumpster up into the air. She planted her foot into it and lifted her body inside. Immediately she began tearing open bags.
There were numerous empty water bottles, but some half full. She found bags of chips, a jar still half-filled with pickles, even some strips of cooked, yet uneaten bacon. But she knew she needed to get more. She needed to stock up with provisions to carry her through Winter, and knew she would have to repeat this everyday. But there was only so much she carry in her blanket, and only so much weight she could haul.
Lara stood up to peek out of the dumpster to make sure no was around.
In other trash bags she found cardboard containers with french fries still left in them. There was a plastic bag with the two ends of a bread loaf, unwanted. There seemed to be a bounty here! How was she ever going to be bring it all back to her cinder block house?
She had an idea.
Lara loaded up her blanket as much as she could, then carried it into woods, and proceeded further about another fifty feet. She laid it all out on the ground, then went back for more. She would eat everything that wasn't in a container of its own, while leaving the rest hidden in the woods. She would have to carry everything back to her house one load at a time. It was a plan.
She went back inside the dumpster. Lara felt an urgency to get everything quickly before people spotted her. To her amazement, she found a bulk package of small cereal boxes, about eight of them, still sealed. How could people throw away such food she wondered? Lara filled up another blanket full, climbed out of the dumpster, and carried it back to her hiding place.
With haste, she went back for more. There was an sealed bottled of Coke, a half a bag of shredded cheese, a few slices of baloney inside a plastic wrapper, and a box of fried chicken with two uneaten wings. One more trash bag to rip open, she dug her fingernails into it, pulling the plastic apart to see what bounty lay inside.
To her joy, she found a package of hamburger buns with four buns left, and a full package hot dog buns. There was a jar of olives and Ziploc bag containing two weenies that had been grilled. Further down into the trash bag, she found a Styrofoam container of uneaten coleslaw. Lara began placing the items into the center of the blanket, hurrying to tie it together so that she could haul it back to the woods.
"What the Hell?" She heard a loud man's voice.
Lara was startled and looked up.
She stood frozen looking at a man looking down at her with an angry appearance.
"What the Hell you doing in there?" He said in an aged, gruff voice.
Lara's heart was pounding. Adrenaline raced through her, yet she remained frozen.
"Get out of there! Come on!" He demanded.
But Lara had remained frozen, in shock. So many thoughts flooded her synapses. Her mind was still focused on getting all the food she could carry. Her mind didn't know how to process this.
"I said get the Hell out of there! Now come on!" He yelled.
Lara was finally snapped out of her trance. She blinked her eyes and began climbing out. The man grabbed her hand and helped her down.
"The Hell are you doing in there all naked?" He asked.
Lara stood afraid. Her arms clung to her side and her head tilted down. She did not answer.
"Do you hear me? Who are you and what are doing naked out here?" He yelled louder.
Lara winced at the sound of his loud voice. She closed her eyes, brought her hands up to her face, cupped them around her eyes, and kept her arms close to her body. She made herself small, yet did not answer.
"Hey, come on look at me. Are you OK? Are you hurt?" He asked in a more gentle tone.
Lara looked at his eyes, peeking through her cupped hands. She remained frightened. Her body began to shake. She responded only by raising her shoulders, as if to answer that she did not know.
The man looked to be in his middle age. He had graying hair, a thick but well groomed beard, a large upper body, and muscular arms. He wore clothes typical of hiking and camping, with a wide-brimmed hat that shaded his face.
"Well look at you. You're all dirty and smelly. Do you live around here?"
Lara again looked at him with fear and submission. She nodded her head to answer yes."
"You do live around here. Do you live in town?"
Lara shook her head to say no.
"Are you not able to speak?" He asked out loud.
Lara raised her shoulders, suggesting she did not know.
"Well, are you from around here?"
Lara nodded her head yes.
"OK. Do you have a house you live in?"
Lara nodded her head yes.
"Oh, good. So you live in a house. Do you have any family, or friends that live with you?"
Lara shook her head no.
"You live by yourself."
Lara nodded her head yes.
"OK. So you live around here, you have your own home, you live by yourself, but you dig in trash cans naked?"
Lara didn't how to answer. She only shrugged her shoulders.
"Does anybody know you're out here?"
Lara shook her head no.
"Well, are you hungry?"
Lara nodded her head with an emphatic yes.
"Well then let's get you something to eat, how about that!"
The man motioned her to follow him. Yet, she felt reluctant. A part of her wanted to go back into the woods, but another part figured if she did, he would follow her or report her to the police. And she knew the police wanted her.
She reluctantly followed him.
