Page 109 of Hide And Seek

“Closer,” Simon insisted. “If something happens, we need to be able to reach each other.”

“If something happens, we’re all screwed anyway,” Garrett muttered, but he still shifted his mattress an inch closer.

Across the room, someone dropped a stack of pillows and flinched at the noise, like even that was too loud now.

No one laughed.

Grace sat off to one side, knees pulled to her chest, a blanket draped around her shoulders even though it wasn’t cold. Marenhovered nearby, staying close enough that she could reach out if she needed to.

Caitlin stood near the center for a moment, hands on her hips as she scanned the setup. Then she clapped her hands, sharp enough to cut through the low murmur of voices.

“None of us have eaten since this afternoon, so I’m going to the kitchen to grab a few things,” she said. She gestured to a table that had been pushed up against the edge of the room. “I’ll leave it there. People can grab whatever they want when they feel like it.”

“You can’t be serious,” Sutton said. “You really think anyone feels like eating right now?”

“Of course not,” Caitlin replied. “But we need to keep our strength up so we can try to fight back if…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “You know what I mean. We can’t just give up.”

“You honestly think we can fight back at this point?” Jensen said, eyes narrowing. “Whoever this motherfucker is, he’s always twenty steps ahead. He’s thought of things that took us fuckingagesto even consider. Like the river. That bomb trap was probably there for days, like Jesse said.”

Zach nodded. “He’s blocked every possible form of escape,” he said, throwing his hands up. “We can’t walk, swim, drive, or boat out of here without getting shot, slashed, or blown up. So what’s left at this point? Flying?”

Caitlin sighed. “I’m still getting food. Eat, don’t eat. It’s up to you.”

“I’ll help you,” I said, stepping forward.

Jasmine joined me, along with a couple of others, and we headed to the kitchen. No one spoke much as we grabbed whatever was easiest. Protein bars. Trail mix. Fruit. Things that didn’t require effort.

When we came back, we dumped everything onto the table Caitlin had pointed out earlier. No one rushed for it.

Unsurprisingly, the conversation hadn’t moved on from our dire situation.

“A piece of Logan could’ve survived that explosion, right?” Stevie was saying. “Like… a foot. Or maybe just a finger. It might wash up somewhere downstream, and then the cops can trace it back up here. And then we’ll finally have help.”

“Did you miss the part where he got completely vaporized?” Jensen shot back. “There are no fucking fingers washing up anywhere. And even if therewassomething like that, do you have any idea how long it would take for it to lead back here?”

“No shit,” Garrett muttered. “We’d all be dead by then.”

“Whatever,” Stevie said, shrinking back slightly. “It was just an idea.”

Wren pushed to her feet and snapped her fingers. “Look, guys, Caitlin was right earlier,” she said. “We can’t just lie down and wait to die. There has to besomethingwe can do. We just need to think outside the box.”

“Exactly.” Caitlin nodded and moved away from the table to stand beside Wren. “There are no bad ideas right now. Even if something sounds stupid, it might spark a good idea from someone else.”

“Well… how about this?” Zach raised a hand. “When it’s light again, we drag a bunch of bright stuff into the clearing and make a huge SOS sign. If anyone flies overhead, they might see it.”

The room quieted as everyone considered it.

“I don’t know,” Jesse said after a moment. “I don’t think many planes or choppers fly over here. And even if someone notices the sign and reports it, the authorities will probably assume it was left there after a camp activity. Like, a survival game or something.”

“Yeah, the chances of it being taken seriously are pretty low,” Wren said. “But I think you’re on the right track, Zach. We need to get attention from the outside world.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Chris said. “What if we start a fire? A massive one. Out in the woods. Smoke like that would be visible for miles, and fire crews would have to respond. And we might even flush out the killer from wherever he’s hiding.”

“Are you serious?” Sutton snapped. “You want to set the forest on fire in the middle of summer?”

“It could get out of control in minutes,” Tamsin said. “Then it could spread to the camp and destroy our shelters. We might not even be able to outrun it.”

Chris’s jaw tightened. “I thought there were no bad ideas,” he muttered.