The Camp (14 page)

C
hapter
F
ifteen

Liam stopped immediately. His facial expression completely fell as he grabbed my elbow and pulled me next to him as our eyes darted from CL to camper to CL.

“Shit. It’s back at the camp,” Liam said, his
voice just under a yell. “Do not run for the camp. Stay with me at a calm pace.”

Liam didn’t let go of my arm the entire time we
cautiously walked down the trail. He scanned up the trail and down the trail, looking for any evidence of the bears following us, or killers waiting for us.

By the time we
stopped just short of the outskirts of camp my heart was pounding so hard my ears hurt. I understood Steph’s vacant expression now. She had lost hope and wanted out, but there was no way to get out. She understood that and I finally did too. I scanned our group quickly, realizing I didn’t even know which guys had stayed behind. Seeing Caleb, Dave, Mark, Brady, Paul, Vince, and Fulton, I tried to place who was missing. I looked back at Vince and saw him staring behind Caleb. I followed his gaze, but didn’t see anything. Maybe I was just imagining things. Vince was probably just in shock like the rest of us.

“
We need to find Cory, Parker, Luke and Marty,” Liam said in a hushed voice to everyone, letting go of my elbow. “That’s who we’d left behind.”

I looked over at Caleb whose eyes were completely guarded, and I watched Vince who was next to him, tighten his grip on the machete, but his hand was trembling. None of us knew what to expect, or what we’d find inside the confines of the camp, but the only way to know was to start looking.

Liam took the first step toward the camp
, and we all followed closely behind. My eyes zipped from one structure to the next. The shed looked like I last saw it, still locked. The yurt’s window had been replaced. I could smell the smoke of the fire. But I saw no one.

“Marty,” Liam called. “Hey, Marty.”

“Luke?” Brady said, scanning inside an open tent.

My skin began crawling with the realization that all I had to do was check to see if anything ha
d been left behind for me. Then we’d know.

“Let’s check inside the yurt,” I told Liam, catching
a flicker of doubt in his eyes.

“Okay. Let me go in first,” he muttered.

I followed him to the yurt, climbing the steps slowly and quietly. Liam flung open the door, ready to fire if needed but there was no one inside. My eyes dipped to my pillow where the raven had been placed, but no new ravens had been left.

“Let’s go check the other tent,” I said
quietly, forcing the terror back down my throat. “Then we’ll know whether we can expect to find them… or not.”

We made it down the stairs and over to the tent we had originally planned on overnighting in. Liam gave the zipper a fast tug
, and I poked my head inside. There were no new ravens. Maybe Marty and the guys were just out as a group together and ran into a bear or something.

I heard Caleb shout Liam’s name
, and my heart dropped at the sound, knowing I was obviously being delusional. We couldn’t be that lucky. I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly as Liam zipped the tent back up.

“Think he’s by the campfire,” Liam said. “Let’s go.”

We wandered through the maze of tents in the direction of the fire pit to find the group congregated around Caleb. There was a low murmur running like an electrical current through everyone. I already knew the answer before I even saw them.

The fire was smoking heavily
, and I pushed back the tears, wishing I could blame them on the air not the fear running through me. The crowd parted as we arrived to expose Caleb, holding four ravens and another note. There was an extra rifle lying on the ground — Marty’s. Was he able to wound the person or was it used against him? My eyes canvassed everything, looking for any signs, and there were none. There were no signs of a struggle and no signs of blood. Maybe it had been a warning shot from Marty, alerting us that something was going down. But why wouldn’t he have been able to stop it then? My mind was on a continual loop, but Caleb’s voice broke me free.

“This is for you,” Caleb said, pushing the note to me.

I looked up at Liam whose face was impossible to read and nodded to him to grab it for me.

“How do you know it’s for me?” I asked.

“You’ll see soon enough,” Caleb whispered, dropping his gaze to the ground.

“Shit,” Liam hissed. He was holding the paper so tight
ly his fingernails turned white as he read it.

I grabbed it from him and recognized the pasted words from the last note
, except this time my name was used with single letters he pasted up top.

Emma,

I remember
peering into your soul,

Dreaming of the
answer,

I heard you
,

T
he darkness

S
tartled me,

T
hrilled me

The demons sent me
for you

A
nd you opened the door

My hands trembled as I realized it was me that this person wanted. Whoever it was, wanted me. Everyone else was to send a message, to terrorize me.

I looked up at Liam, opening my mouth but
I had no voice. I scanned the note one last time and walked to the fire pit, releasing it into the flames. I watched the edges of the paper ignite as I thought about what I needed to do. What we all needed to do.

“We won’t become like the others,” I whispered, the tears coating my eyes.

“So we’ve all been through hell because someone’s been after you?” Brady said, his voice full of anger. “People are dying because of you. Why didn’t they just come and get you?”

“Enough,” Caleb said. “We don’t know that anyone has died.”

“Oh, please. Isn’t it obvious? I’m not gonna keep playing like everything’s going to work out just fine, because judging by my calculations, it’s not,” Brady said.

“Keep your voice down,”
Fulton whispered, grabbing Brady’s shirt collar, pulling Brady toward him. “If we’re being watched, we can’t afford to have whoever it is hear. Got it?” Fulton’s eyes were blazing to match his voice as he shoved Brady away.

“We’ve gotta get this shit figured out, dude,” Vince whispered,
rubbing his temples with his fingers. “This can’t be happening.”

“Our little princess apparently does have baggage,” Brady seethed, slowly walking toward me.

I glanced at Liam and saw the fury building deep inside of him. I hoped Brady wouldn’t do anything stupid because it didn’t look like Liam was going to have the patience for it.

“When did Steph say the next plane was coming? Two weeks?” Vince asked.

I nodded, knowing now wasn’t the time to say that was no guarantee. I watched the movements of everyone in the group stiffen as Brady kept coming toward me. This wasn’t going to end well.

“She’s here if you want her. I’ll help
you get her, if you’ll leave me alone,” Brady hollered into the air, and before I could stop anything Liam had tackled Brady to the ground. Punch after punch landing on him.

“You think that shit’s funny?” Liam
growled. Caleb and Dave were attempting to haul Liam off of Brady, but Liam’s strength was proving to be too great.

I ran over to him and bent down.

“It’s enough. It’s enough,” I whispered to Liam. “It’s okay.”

I glanced down at Brady whose bottom lip was split open and his cheekbone
was already red. Liam stopped as soon as he heard my voice and stood up quickly.

“We’re all human, not animals and no one is going to be sacrificed on my watch,” Liam snarled, adjusting his shirt.

Caleb reached his hand down to Brady who accepted it, and he stood back up, stepping away from the group.

The group was fracturing
, and if we didn’t get a plan in place for survival, none of us would be leaving here. I glanced around the camp, trying to understand where the person could be hiding. I scanned up the trees to the platforms and over to the brush, looking for anything that would give me a clue.

Liam walked over and grabbed Marty’s rifle.

“Liam, can I talk to you in the yurt?” I asked.

He nodded and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. The tears quickly evaporated as anger filled me instead.

“We’ll get this figured out,” Caleb said from behind, as I walked with Liam to the yurt.

I pulled on the door and walked into the yurt, letting out a long breath.

“Whoever this is wants me, but they are obviously going to pick off every single person until they get to me,” I said.

“If they wanted to pick you off first, they would’ve,” Liam agreed. “They want to watch you suffer before…”

I nodded. “I’m sure whoever is doing this expects that we’ll stay together as a group. Normally, I’d say that’s a good idea, but I think we should split up and stay away from the camp. I’d rather take my chances with the bears.”

Liam let out a huge sigh as he sat on the desk, leaning back
. He didn’t say anything for a while. He just stared at the floor.

“Four were taken out this time. Four. We’re going to have no one left. Whoever’s doing this is either getting impatient or bold and
neither will lead to good things.”

Liam bit his lip and began nodding as he slowly connected his gaze with mine. “You’re right. It’s an unexpected move and possibly our only chance.”

“I want to find whoever is doing this before they find me,” I said, bending over and picking up the ravens. “I think we need to split into three groups. You and me in one group to take care of what needs to be taken care of, and Dave and Caleb in two others. We only have five campers left.”

“I think you’re right. I think it’s the
only way,” he agreed.

“I want to find Steph. I want to find the others,” my voice broke off.

“So do I,” Liam said sliding off the table. “Let’s go tell everyone our plans. Have you shot a rifle before?”

“I even have my hunter’s safety badge from when I was twelve,” I said, laughing.

“You just keep getting more perfect,” he whispered, smiling.

“If you think this is perfection, you’re as equally messed up as me,” I said.

“Probably am,” he said as we walked out of the yurt, Steph’s raven in hand.

We explained the plan to the others and since nothing else was working, they agr
eed we should give it a try. All we could focus on from here on out was survival, surviving until a plane decided to come for us.

Everyone began qu
ickly gathering the supplies needed for the short term. We could always come back to the base camp to grab something, but for now the most important things were food, shelter, and a way to stay warm. I was in the yurt with Liam rolling up our sleeping bags tightly as he packed up the daypacks that we’d be hauling with us. I rounded up all the ravens and stuffed them in the bag.

“
We need to get the phone back,” Liam said. “I bet once we find the place the person’s staying, we’ll get the phone.”

“And hopefully Steph,”
I whispered, grabbing the pack that Liam gave me.

“You’re gonna take Marty’s rifle with you,” he said, helping me to secure everything around me.

“All right.”

“Let’s get going,” he replied, giving me one last check before we left the
yurt.

I closed
the door and took a deep breath in, hoping we’d made the right decision.

C
hapte
r
S
ixteen

“Here it is,” Liam whispered.

I’d been following Liam for several hours and even though we’d take
n breaks every so often, I was exhausted. Our first goal was to check out the place where he’d found Tom and here we were, only I didn’t see anything.

“Where should I be looking?” I asked
quietly, scanning in front of me and next to me.

“It’s through the trees over
there to the right,” he said in a hushed tone. “But it doesn’t look like anyone’s been back since we came and grabbed Tom.”

My heart fell a lit
tle. The entire hike up here, I’d been hoping we’d find Steph. I knew it was doubtful, but it was what helped me walk through the burn and fatigue of my muscles.

“I’m still hopeful,” I whispered and Liam nodded.

He grabbed my hand and helped me through the dense vegetation. I finally made it to the shack he was talking about. The place looked in worse shape than the smokehouse that Liam had shown me only a few days earlier.

“He was staying in here?” I asked bewildered. “It doesn’t even look like it would be safe to open the door.”

We walked to the shack and Liam pushed the door in, exposing a cot and a rolled up sleeping bag. I bet if Liam laid down here, his head would touch one wall, and his feet the other. It was that tiny.

“This is really creepy,” I said, peeking my head in.

“We never should have stayed once we found Tom,” Liam said, shaking his head.

“We can’t
start second guessing everything,” I said to him, thinking about the decisions I’d made. “Imagine the downward spiral I could do with that one.”

“True,” he said, exhaling loudly. “I guess we can safely say Steph’s not here.”

His voice cracked slightly, and I reached over and grabbed his arm, squeezing it gently.

“Something tells me she’s still alive and in all honesty, she’s the only one I’ve thought that about,” I told him, catching
the heaviness in his eyes.

“I only hope it’s not just wishful thinking,” he said softly.

Against my better judgment, I stepped inside the tiny box of a shelter and looked around. My stomach growled, and I shoved my fist into my belly to quiet it down when it occurred to me.

“Did you see any food or cooking items when you found him?”
I questioned, kicking the cot to look under it.

He shook his head. “No, actually.”

“I bet the reason for that is that he was close enough to the other people.”

“That makes sense,” Liam said, exa
mining the area I had kicked around.

“I think we’re closer than we realize. It’s only a matter of time.” I said, nodding my head as I looked around one last time before I left the shack.

“My guess is that they used the other place to store all of the food and stuff. It’s gotta be around here,” I persisted.

I followed Liam
back to the trail, watching his deliberate movements as he we searched for any sign of where to look next.

A sudden
movement in the bushes made me freeze.

“Liam to my left,” I hissed.

Liam whirled around quickly and spotted exactly what I was talking about.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “It’s a female black-tailed deer. She’s watching you. Can you see her?”

I shook my head, extending my neck to try to get a glimpse of something nice for a change.

“Move forward a tad,” Liam whispered.

I took a slow step, which allowed me to see the doe’s beautiful eyes. I hadn’t ever been this close to a deer before. She was magnificent, and it gave me the extra reminder I needed about life’s goodness. There were wonderful things out there waiting for us. We just needed to get off this island. The deer blinked at me and bounced off in the other direction, leaving shimmering leaves in her absence.

“That was incredible,” I whispered.

“I had hoped to show you things like that around the island,” he said, pressing his lips into a thin line.

I stepped over to him and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Well
, just seeing her for a few moments did wonders for my spirit. Onward I guess.”

We continued up the
tiny trail when Liam spotted another structure. He stopped and gestured for me to come check it out. It was only about a hundred feet away and my stomach began tightening into knots. This had to be it.

Similar to the other shack, the side of the building was pieced together with all kinds of wood. But on this one there were some green, painted pieces mixed in with the dark brown I was used to seeing. Liam half-turned, looking at me anxiously.

The wind began to pick up around us and I felt a sudden charge. I wanted to find her. I felt she was alive and inside the very building we were staring at.

“Let’s
make this happen,” I whispered.

Liam began hauling through the trees
, and I did everything I could to keep up. Neither of us worried about the noise we were making. We just wanted to get to Steph.

H
e reached the shack first, but I was close behind, panting and attempting to catch my breath. I was most definitely notifying whoever was inside of our presence. The slats between the pieces of wood and siding were easily to see through, but my eyes hadn’t caught anyone or anything inside the building as we walked up to the door.

There was a defined path
leading up to the front door and my pulse zipped through me at the thought of what we’d find on the other side of the door.

Liam’s fingers’ wrapped around the knob, yanking open the door, which created a
high-pitched squeak as the old metal rubbed against itself. The empty room, cobwebs and dust that greeted us told me everything I needed to know.

The tears cascaded down my face as I stepped into the empty shack. Steph had never been inside. No one had been here for a long time
. The room began spinning and the feeling of absolute desperation scared me beyond anything I’d ever felt before. The unyielding amount of doom that continued to crash into my soul was unstoppable. I had reached my end. This was it.

Liam rushed to my side, holding my head to his chest.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he whispered.

“What if it’s not?” I asked. “What if—”

“I know there’s nothing I can say to calm you. But we will get off this island alive,” he interrupted. “But you’ve been holding it together quite well this entire time.”

His
hands let go of my head, and I stepped back. Looking into his brown eyes that were rimmed with wetness, I knew then I had to be strong for him just as he’d been strong for me.

“Let’s find a place to crash and get setup
so we can rest before we start all over again in the early morning,” he said, leading me out of the shack.

We
hiked for about twenty minutes and found a place that had a decent amount of shelter to set up camp. Not that there was much of a camp to set up. Liam had grabbed a single tent and popped it up for both of us to squeeze into. Neither of us could sleep so we talked for hours, but every conversation led right back to Steph, and my heart ached even more by the time the stars appeared.

“I don’t think I can take much more of this,” I murmured,
looking into the beautiful night sky.

“I know, babe,” Liam said, hugging me. “But we’ve gotta fight until the end.”

“That’s what my dad always told me,” I whispered, feeling the tears surface once more.