midday
Food , now at mid-autumn , was as plentiful as water , and there was nothing he could do about foot protection at the moment , so that made fire his next priority . There were plenty of likely-looking rocks on the streambed ; some , he remembered from a survival course he 'd taken years ago , might work nearly as well as flint . He waded into the stream and selected a handful , putting them on the bank to dry while he planned . It was just past midday , so he had plenty of time to equip himself , even with nothing but a knife to work with . He would n't need much gear ; it was n't as if he was Robinson Crusoe , having to live off the land indefinitely . He 'd be out twenty days , at the most . He would have to have some kind of shoes , though ; his feet were simply too tender for him to walk fifty kilometers barefoot , even through this open , leaf-carpeted forest .