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I could feel Javier’s eyes on me as I walked across the tarp and sat down, Camden’s knees on either side of me He wrapped his arm around my chest and pulled ainst his crotch, the back ofsteadily All th of his ar wrapped in a cocoon, a security blanket for the night

"Good night," he whispered softly into ainst rateful for hirateful

"Sleep well, lovebirds," Javier said, his cynical voice echoing into the night

I woke up totickled

I opened iant black spider crawling slowly upthe spider off of s coverwas i at nothing

It was only then that I realized I was coone Everyone was gone

Even Cale started spinning aroundtrees, faces e, darkness in the limbs

What the hell happened?

"Camden?" I cried out "Camden!"

No, no, no He couldn’t have leftaround where we had slept until I found my backpack, the contents strewn across the leaf-covered forest floor Sweat poured downh everything My other gun was still there,I didn’t want to leave behind in the Escalade Whoever raidedWhy?

I needed to think I screaain, then tried everyone else’s names I screamed until my throat was sore and I realized that I needed to shut up If soo or s worse, only calling attention to myself

I branched out in a s around the trees and then around the next ring of trees, always keeping my backpack, which I had placed in the ht Eventually, a yard or two out, I found the tarp Shredded into bits Blood on it

Shit, oh fucking shit

I dropped toabsolutely powerless I was alone in the le, halfway between nowhere and Travis’s co had happened to theone The last thing I remembered was his arone from that to this?

I wanted to cry I wanted to crawl up against the hollow of a tree and close ht After so ive up

But Gus was still out there MyaI would get them

I took in a deep breath and dropped the bloody tarp fro of water from the Camelback that was inside, shoved a tasteless portion of an energy bar in ht out the co in the direction that ere originally headed I wasn’t the best at reading trails but I would do the best I could, to find out where they went and if they were going to the place I both hoped and feared they were

I made it about three minutes before I heard a bunch of macaw parrots squawk above le went eerily silent

Soon, I was running before I even kneas happening

I kept going, leaping over tree roots,as fast as I could Breathe in, breathe out, keep going

I ran until I collided into what I thought was a tree

It wasn’t

Hands dug into my upper arms

I screamed

"Ellie!" Caht hiet away and looked up at the man who held me there, in the middle of the forest floor It was Caash in thered into his eyes, but it was hiod!" I cried out and i him to me "Camden, Camden, what happened?"

"I don’t know," he said I could feel hiainst ether until ere breathing as one Then he pulled away, holding th and peered at me "Are you okay?"

"I’ you were dead! I found the tarp, it’s all ripped and there’s blood, Camden, oh what the fuck happened? Why was I left behind?"

"I don’t know," he said, his forehead scrunching, which then brought out a wince of pain fro Maybe an hour ago? It wasn’t light out yet but birds, birds were singing I heard soot up and I could see these lasses and in the dark I couldn’tI knoas hit over the head with sole I wasn’t unconscious but I couldn’t do anything I couldn’t ed or what Then, they started yelling at each other"