Camp 0

Chapter Eight

Poppy, Avery and I walked around, looking for the items listed on the paper. We checked a few things off.

"I wonder what the prize is," Avery said.

"Probably something that none of us want," I said.

"What if I was the prize?" A male voice said behind me. I stopped, turning around. Noah was walking over to us. He smirked and my heart stopped beating momentarily. How long had he been following us? "Sorry, ladies. But I was wondering if I could have Amelia as my partner." P-parter? "You know, since Roland and Leo partnered up, I was left alone. And the woods can be dangerous." No, I couldn't be alone with him. It would be too awkward. I would be too awkward. I needed to decline him for my sake but Poppy answered for me.

"She would love to be your partner," she said, pushing me closer to him. Well, into him. He caught me, letting out a soft chuckle. Oh god, he was so muscular. I felt my face heat up even more than it was before. I had to be as bright as a tomato at this point.

"Wonderful. Thank you, ladies." He let go of me as Poppy and Avery walked away. I heard them giggle from behind me. I was so going to murder them. I stared up at Noah, not sure what to do. I've never really had to talk to a guy that I thought was really cute. But now that I was in that situation, I had no clue what to say. His smile faded slightly. "Are you okay?" he asked, concern on his face. I shook my head.

"Y-yeah. No, sorry. Yeah, I'm fine," I spat out. He smiled again.

"Good. So, what have you found so far?" He looked at my paper.

"Not much," I said.

"You've only found three more things than me," he said.

"But I've only found three things," I said. He smiled, laughing. I then realized. "Oh." I let out a nervous laugh.

"Alright, well, I think I saw this over there somewhere. You wanna go look?" I didn't even look to see what he was pointing at.

"Um, sure," I said. He smiled, walking over that way. I walked behind him a little. He slowed his pace so I would be next to him. It was so awkward. At least for me. He seemed so unfazed. It made me wonder how many times he's done this before.

"So, where are you from again?" he asked.

"Eastside. You?" I replied.

"Oh, you're not too far away from me. I'm from Newport."

"Yeah, that's only an hour away, right?"

"Sure is. Do you go to Eastside High?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. My parents went there before they moved to Newport."

"That's cool," I said. He stopped.

"It was somewhere around here."

"What?"

"The old sign," he said. I looked at the paper. An old sign? I looked around the area, looking for any sign of this old sign. I walked into the brush, thinking I saw something. I walked a little further. There it was. An old sign that said, 'Welcome to Camp-.' There was more but it was too faded to read.

"I found it!" I called out. Noah called back after a second. I looked around. Nothing but trees surrounded me. Just beyond the sign, I saw something laying on the ground. I turned to see where Noah was, but he wasn't in sight. I debated on whether to wait for him to come or if I should go investigate what the weird thing on the ground was. I looked back to see where Noah was, or where he should have been, but he wasn't. I'm sure if he comes this way he will see the sign. I moved forward, ducking under a few tree limbs as curiosity got the best of me. I was getting closer to the object and the closer I got, the more it became clear what it was.

A body...

I screamed.

"Amelia!" I heard someone yell. I stayed where I was, too shocked to move. I stared at the rotten flesh of the man. The young man. Bugs crawled all over him. And in him. I wanted to look away but I couldn't. I felt like I was going to puke. "Amelia!" Noah came running up behind me. He grabbed me, making sure I was okay before looking at where I was staring. He froze just like me. We stayed there for a second, still not sure how to react. "We need to go," he finally said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me away. I looked at him as we ran. Was he crying? Or was it sweat? Or both? I closed my eyes for a brief second as Noah practically dragged me behind him. All I saw was the image of the man. The way he was laying there, so lifeless. So pale, and dirty. The look of horror still written all over his face.

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When we made it back to the camp, Noah ran over to Grace as I stayed at the edge of the woods. I watched as he told her what we found. A look of pure horror covered her face. She glanced over at me before looking back at Noah.

"Amelia?" Poppy's voice sounded from behind me. She moved in front of me. "Amelia, are you okay?" I opened my mouth, not sure what I was going to say. Worry spread across her face. "Did Noah do something to you?" I shook my head.

"There, there was a body. A-a dead body." I stuttered. Poppy gave me a concerned look.

"What?" Both Noah and Grace were running over at this point.

"Amelia, are you okay?" Grace asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, I-I'm just shocked," I said. Grace nodded.

"Are you feeling okay? You look paler than usual." I nodded. She looked over at Noah. "Do you remember where?" Noah shook his head.

"No, Amelia was the one who found it."

"It was near the old sign," I said. She gave me a confused look.

"I don't know where that is. Are you sure that was on the list?" Noah held up his paper, pointing to where it said, 'Old Camp Sign.' Grace sighed. "Alright. You guys stay here. I'm going to go get Jeremy." Grace ran off. Poppy came over to me, pulling me into a hug.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered in my ear. "But that's not the only secret this camp holds."