Hello lovelies.

Sorry for not updating in a while. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it.

• • •

The fire flickers, casting strange shadows on the faces of everyone surrounding the fire. The only person missing is Mae. She's sitting high up in a tree, reading a book with a flashlight. I don't have the heart to scold her for wasting batteries, especially seeing as she carried that book all the way out here.

Everyone looks to be trying to figure Flynn out, except for Aaron, he's lighting a stick on fire and trying to attract moths.

"So what exactly have you been doing out here by yourself?" I start, trying to get some answers out of Flynn.

I mean, yeah, he did save my life, but maybe Noah is right to be suspicious of him.

His eyes flick to me briefly, before studying the fire. "Same as you guys, I guess. Just trying to survive."

I nod. "How did that work out for the rest of your group?"

His eyes widen, shooting to me accusingly. "How do you know about them?"

"I'm not stupid Flynn, I know who you are. You were on the archery team, captain of the hockey team, great at chemistry, but fucking terrible at English. I overheard a conversation that you guys were coming up here camping. I guessed that you were the only one left."

"If you know me, then how come you had to ask me who I was?" He responds, the fire reflecting in his eyes. He looks almost as if he's holding back his anger. Maybe bringing up the past is too much for him.

"You do look a little different than the last time I saw you," I reply. It is the truth. I didn't recognise him, in fact, I still don't recognise him. His hair which was once cropped short, now sweeps over his forehead. His face is gaunt, and he no longer looks like a teenager, he looks like a man who has seen terrible things. I guess we all have that look. Except for Aaron, I think he will always be an innocent little petal.

"No food tends to do that to you," he adds, looking closely at me. "So how come I don't remember you?"

I snort. "Because I had no life outside of schoolwork and track."

He frowns, darkening his features in the light from the fire. "Wait, I do remember you!"

"Would you look at that, miracles can happen."

"Yeah, you were the girl with the hot older sister."

Thanks dude, that was inspiring.

"And your dad was the coach of the track team, right?"

I swallow, feeling a lump in my throat. "Stepdad," I quickly correct.

"What happened to him? He disappeared didn't he? Just wandered off in the middle of the night?"

I nod, biting my thumb nail. "Yeah, they found him at the bottom of a ravine. They still don't know if he jumped or just fell, but his face was pretty smashed up by the rocks. My mom had to go and ID the body, it destroyed her."

I feel a hand on my shoulder, and look to see Noah trying to comfort me. I shoot him a small smile, which he doesn't return.

Of course he doesn't smile. He never smiles.

Flynn seems dumbfounded by this new information. "I'm so sorry, I didn't even know that he was-"

I wave a hand dismissively. "The day I found out he was dead was the best day of my life. He was the biggest asshole I'd ever met, and a shitty replacement father to us kids."

Noah removes his hand from my arm, noticing that I probably don't need to be comforted about the oh so tragic loss of my stepfather. "Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine?" He mutters to himself.

I roll my eyes. "Well yeah, I honestly thought you had figured that out already."

He shakes his head at me, scratching his forehead before he clears his throat. This catches the attention of the rest of the group. "Alright, so I know that most of us have never been in this situation before, but we really need to stop fucking around. Today was the first real taste we've had of this new threat. If Clover didn't step up, then we'd all be dead, and if Flynn didn't turn up, then the group would be at least two members short right now. I'll admit, I was a little slow off the mark, but I put myself in the line of fire." He gazes harshly at the remainder of the group. "The same cant be said for the rest of you."

"What happens when there is more than one of them? Or if Clover isn't here to save out asses?" He looks around the circle. "Cassidy? Stan? Care to comment?"

They both shrug, averting their eyes.

"Of course you don't," he grumbles, looking up again. "We need to start working as a unit. We are a team, whether you like it or not, and if we don't start acting like one, we're not going to last long out here."

"I don't want to be part of your team," Stan mumbles under his breath.

Noah eyes harden, narrowing to slits. He stalks over to where Stan sits, harshly grabbing his shirt with one fist. "If you don't stop with that shitty attitude then I'll kill you myself. I always offer two options. One: you play your fucking part in this team. Two: you leave, and you die." He shoves Stan away, finding his seat again. "You choose."

Everyone remains silent for a few moments, until Stan abruptly stands up and walks away from the fire. He sits back down at the base of a tree trunk, a fair distance from the fire. Cassidy scurries after him. Flynn announces that he's going to sleep, and Garrett and Patrick soon follow.

There are only three of us left around the fire, which is starting to go out. Aaron stares blankly at the dying flames, his eyelids drooping every once in a while before he is jolted from his daze. It's almost as if he's trying not to fall asleep.

"Hey Aaron," I whisper, gently patting his shoulder.

He blinks sleepily at me. "Huh?"

"Maybe you should go to sleep," I suggest.

He sighs. "Mhmm, okay."

He stands up, almost tripping in his own feet as he wanders past us.

"G'night Noah's ark," he mutters as he passes Noah. Noah shakes his head but replies with a 'goodnight man' as Aaron departs.

"Do you ever wonder what goes on in his brain?" I ask, watching as Aaron flops down into the ground.

Noah's eyes follow mine to where Aaron is already starting to snore. "All the time."

I lean towards the fire, placing my hands a safe distance from the flames, but close enough to feel the warmth on my palms. Fire is weird. So beautiful, yet so dangerous.

"You and Flynn seem to get along," Noah casually states.

"He's a dick," I reply firmly, with a nod of my head.

He raises an eyebrow, but seems oddly pleased. "Is that just an observation or do you actually have facts to back up that claim?"

"He broke up with his girlfriend because she had cellulite on her thighs. I mean, come on, everyone has cellulite on their thighs!" I exclaim, throwing my hand in the air.

"You don't," he says shortly.

I frown. "How do you even know that?"

"I observe."

"Okay, well like I said, I used to run track for hours on end, and now I don't eat, so there isn't really a chance of me storing fat any time soon."

"He doesn't seem like a dick," Noah says, quickly diverting the conversation back to Flynn.

"He is. If you're gonna trust me on something, this is your best bet." I look over my shoulder to make sure he is asleep. It's not he should be able to hear our conversation considering the distance he is away from us, but I'm not taking any chances. "Did you see the belt he was wearing?" I ask.

Noah scrunches his nose. "What? No. Is it illegal for a guy to wear pants that are too big or something?"

I roll my eyes. "No dumbass, not the fact that he's wearing a belt. Did you see what it's made of?"

He shakes his head.

"It's the same wire that the trip wire was made of."

His eyes widen. "You think he was the little asshole who left me hanging in that goddamned tree?!"

I nod, and he narrows his eyes.

"I'm gonna kick his skinny little ass," he scowls.

Oh the irony. Y'know because we're talking about Flynn wearing a belt, and he must actually have a skinny ass...you know because that's what belts are for...get it? Okay, I'll stop.

"Hey," I say firmly. "Nobody is kicking anybody's ass."

He pouts. "Not just a little bit?"

"No," I deadpan.

"Can't I just drown him instead?"

"Jesus Christ, no. You're not killing Flynn. We're not even a hundred percent sure that it was him yet."

"But you're basically sure, right?"

"Well, I have another theory. That trap was never meant for an animal. Why go to the extent of making such an extensive trap, when a simple snare would have done the same job? That trap was made for a person. I think that whoever set that trap is smarter than we're giving them credit for."

Noah sits up. "You know what else?"

I shrug my shoulders. "What?"

"What if the trap was set specifically for one of us to get caught in? What if they knew we were coming and that if one of us did get caught, then someone else would come to save the one in the trap."

I gulp. "Just like when I helped you."

He nods. "Exactly. And what if that was the plan the whole time? To follow us back to camp, and to appear out of nowhere and save the day when we're in trouble."

It starts to dawn on me. "To earn our trust, and get into the camp."

"What if the rest of his group isn't dead?" Noah says with a look of realisation.

"I get the feeling that they aren't vegans either," I reply, anxiously tightening my ponytail.

Noah runs a hand along the stubble on his chin. "You mean, you think they're into cannibalism? Great, this honestly couldn't get any better."

"Well where do you think people ran when the town was being terrorised by killers? They ran to the woods, and if I'm right, Flynn and his friends were up here the whole time. With a few more of those traps that you got caught in, those poor people never stood a chance."

"So basically, they've stumbled upon a patch of wild blackberries," Noah sighs.

"And we're the blackberries."

• • •

I wake to find my head tilted on an uncomfortable angle. I groan, blinking several times in attempt to clear the blurriness in my eyes.

"Ow," I comment to myself as I push my weight onto my elbows. Noah, who doesn't look like he has moved since last night, briefly acknowledges me with a glance, before his gaze returns to Flynn's sleeping form.

A blanket that I have no recollection of ever seeing in my life is draped over me. I frown, looking at it more closely. I hold it out to Noah.

"What is this?" I ask.

"That's a blanket, Princess," he states.

Well obviously.

"How did it get here?"

"You were shivering," he answers as if it was the obvious answer.

I sniff. "Oh, well thanks."

He shrugs. I look at him more closely, noticing the dark circles under his eyes, and his skin looks paler than usual.

"You look like shit," I tell him.

"Thanks Princess," he replies, not even turning to look at me.

"Just saying it how it is," I defend, grunting as I make my way over to the tree trunk Noah is leaning against. I sit next to him.

He eyes me suspiciously. "What are you doing?"

"Why do you always assume that I'm going to try and stab you or something?" I huff.

"Because you could if you wanted to," he replies.

"I only stab the people I don't like."

"So you like me then?" He questions.

I shrug. "There is a small section between like and dislike. You are in that category."

He nods. "Well how will I know if I end up in the 'like' or 'dislike' section?"

"If I end up disliking you, I'll just stab you. Then you'll know for sure."

"And if you end up liking me?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Then I won't stab you."

He shrugs. "Sounds fair."

"I thought so." I subtly stare at Noah. He does look terrible. "Have you slept at all?"

He shakes his head no.

"Why the hell not?" I kind of scold. It's a kind of scold because I'm not actually mad, more like concerned.

He points at Flynn, who is still sleeping and blissfully unaware of the upset that he is causing, or that he is the topic of conversation right now.

"Look, I'm worried about him too, but not sleeping isn't going to help your cause." I look at him sternly. "So go to sleep."

He looks scared to argue with me. I don't blame him, I'm great at arguing.

"You're so bossy," he claims, but yawns, closing his eyes.

You were saying?

• • •

How did you like chapter ten?

Do you think Clover and Noah are over thinking the whole Flynn situation? He could just be a normal kid, but then again, maybe he's not. You'll just have to wait for the next update.

I really hope you guys took my advice at the end of the last chapter, and didn't join the mafia. I know it's hard to resist, so everyone who didn't join deserves a pat on the back. If you joined the mafia recently you have dishonoured this family and I'm sending you to the corner of shame so you can have time to reflect on your actions.

My advice this week is to only eat pizza on five of the seven days in a week. I know it's just as hard to resist as joining the mafia is, but you can do it. I believe in you.

Until next time.