𝙲𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝙾𝚏 𝚅𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 | 𝚃. 𝙾𝚝𝚝𝚘 𐂃

- Cristine & Willy -

Personally my least favorite chapter, because of you know who has too much screen time already. But this is going to be an important one for the progress of the story. Again: will Cristine ever catch a break? Probably not.

Each step left a fresh, crisp footprint in the ground. It's as if they're the only souls to have ever walked this place, but the tracks of a stray deer proved otherwise.

The group were following a lead, well Cooper and Troy mostly did, the rest followed and were on full alert. Cristine raised her arm, using her sleeve to wipe the perspiration from her forehead. The glare of light peeked between the trees and the wind lay low.

Eventually, the group paused at an intersection of the paths of sorts and Troy gathered the group around with a silent signal. From his tactical vest, he plucked out a map and silently looked at it first before nodding.

"Alright, past these points we'll split up in groups of two. Cooper and Blake will hunt for thebdeer. Willy and Cristine at the end of this path there's a cabin. It belonged to a park ranger." Troy pointed to right and showed the two the map. Apparently in the cabin there were usefulbtools they could take back to the Ranch.

"Aside from the hiking gear, there can be some light building tools and walkies left in the place. I need you two to scout the area. Mike and I will check this path and meet you two there with the truck and jeep after we're done."

Everyone nodded, and the three long range walkies were divided among the group before everyone split up.

-

Cristine felt some sense of urgency as she and Willy got going. It was a sense of nakedness of being so exposed and flanked in these woods without their vehicles, so she concentrated on the task at hand: reaching this cabin and finding the equipment with the hope that someone else hadn't ransacked the place before them.

She really didn't want to be around Willy. Son of a bitch was the last person she'd be at ease with having her back. If she had to choose between these five assholes; her safest bet, which was already saying something. It would be Cooper, Mike and Blake. In that order.

If it was between Troy and Willy, Cristine would rather go solo and figure it out herself. But here she was, with the second psychopath himself. Her thoughts wandered to last night and the oh so fantastic way she was woken up for her shift.

-

During the night, the camp grew still like a spell that's hushed everyone. All the bright airiness of the long day faded, darkness fell like a velvet blanket and all that's left were the low ambers of the campfire that threw a flicker across the night. There's not even a breeze to disrupt the thick shrubbery, but the lightest breath of movement momentarily blocked the faint light. It's the sort of movement visible on the peripherals of vision, the kind that breeds rumors of real life monsters lurking in the dark dragging shadows with them like coattails.

Willy stopped in the shadows, his body shifting back to solid in a dizzying rush of suddenly fleshed out bones and skin. He prowled towards the more secluded spot in the darkness. He strained his eyes, focusing on where the outline of the person rested. Like a predator at night, he began to approach.

She was asleep.

Perched halfway on her side, her left arm curled underneath the makeshift pillow of a jacket and the other over her stomach. From her breathing, she was in a deep enough slumber to block out any outside noise. Willy did his very best to push down the carefree smirk on his face as a callousness swept over him.

Off-guard. Relaxed. Weak. Dead meat. So many words to describe the sleeping woman. He wasn't going to actually kill her, no, he just wanted to spook her. Dark irises from the lack of light perused for any traps. She'd survive alone and sleep wouldn't come so easily, especially not around a group she despised.