Michael's POV
Phoebe's hand was grasping mine tightly as we manoeuvred through the trees. We had a mission; find our friends and then get the fuck out of here.
I swallowed the bile in my throat every time we passed a body, and we stopped behind a bunch of trees.
"Ok," I whispered, taking Phoebe's face in my hands.
"We are going to circle around one last time... if we can't find them, we escape and we go straight to the police."
She nodded her head, a tear falling down her cheek, and I leaned in kissing her forehead.
"We're going to be ok, baby." I whispered, and raised myself up ever so slightly, to peer around before we started off again.
But, even before I could make a step, there was a noise that broke through the trees. It was loud and scratchy, and I couldn't make out what it was.
"What's that?" Phoebe whispered, her free hand grabbing my upper arm.
My eyes scanned the area we where in, until my eyes were glued to a tree beside us. This was where the sound was the loudest, and my eyes travelled up the trunk until they landed on a spot just under one of the branches.
There was a small, black speaker, that was hidden amongst the leaves, and my heart plummeted into my stomach.
There was a crackling, static filled noise that came from it for another few seconds, and then a voice spoke through the silence.
"Michael and Phoebe?" The voice from the speaker called out, and I swallowed, not daring to take a breath.
"We know that you have been looking for your friends." The voice that I didn't recognise called out.
"We have them."
With that, my breath caught in my chest, and I was finding it hard to catch it. I closed my eyes, and focused on trying to breathe normally again, but all I could manage was short gasps. Phoebe saw my discomfort and rubbed my back, then she came into my vision, placing her hands on my face, and trying to get me to copy her breathing pattern.
"Michael, please... baby take deep breaths." She whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.
I forced a shaky breath into my mouth, held my breath for a few seconds, then breathed out slowly.
"All we want in return is for you to turn yourselves in - if not we'll kill all of them, then come kill you. You have an hour."
Then, the voice disappeared.
My throat released another shaky breath and I glanced upwards and saw that the sky was starting to lighten. Phoebe's gaze followed mine, and then she smiled.
"What?" I said, and she nodded her head.
"Dawn... survive the night. Michael, they said if we survive to dawn..." she started but I cut her off.
"You really think they are going to let us go like that?" I said, and she bit the bottom of her lip.
"No, but... what other plan do we have? Do we still go for the car?"
I shook my head.
"We can't put the others in danger like that."
"Then what to we do?" She whispered, and I placed my head in my hands, pulling at the ends of my hair softly.
"I don't know," I replied softly, and I felt another warm tear roll down my cheek.
"But we need to think of something... and fast."
