signal | fillie

chapter four

A STRANGE NOISE

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the loud roar of what seemed to be beating drums echoed in their ears as they ran.

their feet crunching every leaf in its path, their heart racing at a million miles per hour.

something was chasing them, they knew. they ran as fast as they could, their breaths ragged as they hopped over multiple thrown logs and scattered vines, trying to get as far away from that camp as possible to find home base.

they did not even know where they were going, they just ran as soon as someone or something had spotted them.

"you know what, i think boy scouts paid off!" gaten yelled over at caleb as they ran, caleb made a weirded out face as he glanced over at gaten for a split second, not wanting to trip over anything in his path.

before it saw them, gaten tried using his phone to take a picture.

"dude, what are you doing?!" caleb whisper yells as gaten's eyes were still focused on the what seemed to be tribe. they danced around a bonfire, chanting haunting words as they did strange dances.

"shh, i'm just going to take a picture. our friends will think we're crazy if we tell them about this without evidence."

"—who says we're going to tell them? this will freak them out even more, right?"

suddenly, gaten raised his phone slightly to aim it at the dancing figures. the fire was just enough light to capture the image.

although, if gaten known—he wouldn't have done this—

a quick flash emerges from his camera light, flashing at the strange face painted figures as it lit up the camp area along with a loud, virtual camera click. gaten's eyes widened as the bongos stopped playing.

the tribe stopped dancing, a few of them looking their way. gaten and caleb were quick to duck their heads, hiding behind the bush as they squeezed their eyes shut, praying to god those people didn't see them.

they didn't seem friendly.

"i told you!"

"shh!" gaten shushes caleb.

"on three, we run?" he asks quietly, caleb thought for a moment before nodding firmly. they needed to be brave to get out of this situation.

"three!" gaten yelled, causing caleb to jump up quickly. they both ran like their lives depended on it—which they probably did.

so they ran and ran, not looking behind them for one second. a single glance was all it took for one of them to lose balance.

after for what felt like hours, they stopped running. they paused, resting on their knees as they were panting heavily.

"we need to keep going."

"just give me a minute."

suddenly, in one quick flash, jacob appeared to be running too. he ran straight into the back of caleb, both of them getting knocked to the dirt with a harsh thud.

"ow!" caleb yelled, realizing he was under jacob before wiggling out from under him aggressively. jacob was breathing hard as he looked up at the two, getting up from his hands and knees. he looked as if he had seen a ghost.

"jacob?" they both ask in unison, confused glances wiping over their faces. jacob sat there, his hair was all tangled and partially covered in dirt, so was part of his face.

"where the hell did you come from? we've been looking for you for the past hour or so!"

"yeah, if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have to come out here!"