Everyone for Themselves

Chapter 18

February 5th, 1991 

Chapter 18-

Everyone woke up the next morning with heavy hearts. Today was worse than most days, but as always, the cause of it was Trent. He had come on the announcements last night and given everyone a 'hint' about the challenge.

"This is taking much longer than I thought." he had announced gravely. "So tomorrow, each one of you are going into the forest... And only some of you are coming out."

So as the campers unspiritually got dressed and ready for the challenge, their eyes were full of tears rather than hope. Serenity squeezed Gwen's hand as they walked slowly to the clearing where the stumps to sit on were waiting for them. It was awful for her. It felt like a funeral, and in their case, it might has well have been one. They sat on the stumps they had sat on countless times before, knowing that the next time, there would be a lot more empty places.

"Alright, campers!" Trent exclaimed as he walked into the camp cheerfully. "Are you ready?"

There were no replies.

"I'll take that as a yes," he muttered. "The objective is to get to the flag and back without dying! There'll be a lot of obstacles... So watch your back! And the murderer may be out there too, so good luck! On your mark, get set, GO!"

Serenity gasped and struggled to her feet. Like last time, she was the first one, and she got a flying head start as she glided towards the forest, but not before she heard Trent mutter, "I don't get paid enough for this."

***

Silence, Serenity thought. Silence is the key.  

That was all that Serenity had been thinking for a while. There was nothing else to think. She turned around at the slightest noise, the moving of a tiny bug. To find there was nothing there made her even more jumpy. She had, unfortunately, lost Gwen a little while back. And now she was all alone.

What DID surprise her was that the flag was only about 5 miles away, and nothing had happened yet. Was something supposed to happen? Trent had said there were obstacles. The scream in front of her made her jump. A girl's scream, mixed with pain, but no fear. Who could it be?

Serenity dashed through the bushes and burst into a small clearing. Chrissy was dangling upside down from a long piece of thread. Thread? Was that what Chrissy, the bravest kid in camp, was screaming about? Somehow, Serenity didn't believe it. There had to be something else.  

And there was. She didn't see the huge black thing moving towards Chrissy. The thing that had made the thread, and the thing that Serenity hadn't seen. Maybe if she had, she would've known what it was. Maybe if she had, she could've saved Chrissy. Maybe if she had, she wouldn't of just stood there in horror while Chrissy screamed for help. The web. And in a flash, Chrissy was gone. It didn't take very long. She guessed the spider was rather hungry.

Screaming, she fled from the clearing, her hair flying behind her, her body trembling with fear. She could not believe what she just witnessed... The murder of Chrissy?! By a giant spider?! Stopping in her tracks for a moment, she wondered if she had just imagined that. I mean, it's not possible for a giant spider to have killed the bravest girl in this camp... Serenity thought frantically. Right? But as she heard the noise, the mixture of a growl and a bark, something made her change her mind.

And even as she whirled around, she knew that what was casting the shadow above her... was a gigantic dog. And she was right. Matted, brown fur clung to the huge, muscular body, and pointed, yellow teeth jutted out from the large mouth, which was open in a menacing snarl. Its eyes were blood red, and its claws were so big, that if Serenity hadn't turned around and started running, it would've killed her in an instant.   The fabric on her shirt and her long, blonde hair blowing behind her, Serenity dodged trees and branches as the dog's thunderous barking followed. Its paws slammed against the ground, kicking up dirt as it went. She didn't see Hunter until it was too late.

She ran right past him; she didn't even stop, but if she had considered what would happen if she did that, she would've immediately changed directions. But she didn't. She didn't realize that the dog had changed its prey until she heard the barks were far behind her. Although, now screams were mixed into it.

"Poor Hunter..." she whispered to herself, tucking her hair behind her ear as she realized what she had just done. "Now it's two down, eleven more to go."

Now, she took off towards the flag, leaves and twigs cracking under her feet as she ran. I've got to get there quickly, she thought. I know that it's not a race, but I need to get out of this forest before I die, too! She reached out and tapped the flag with her pointer and middle finger, then turned and began running back.

The campsite was about 10 miles away... 9 miles away... 8 miles away... 7 miles away... Until she was only about a half a mile away from her destination. And that's when she saw it.

The murderer.

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Trent's Comments: Serenity isn't the murderer. I have cameras on this island 24/7. You should know that I'm telling the truth... Maybe. I don't know. I can be a liar.

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A/N: Sorry that it's so short! I just can't get it to sound right. :/