Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hastening through the woods, five people were running for their lives. Engel is in front holding Bubble, Lana is holding Abbie while he breaks down in tears, and Kevin, although always calm, is now at his breaking point, scratching his hair and biting his nails in distress
.
From what Engel sees, they are not out of the woods yet. During the chase, the screams and threats of Miss Circle, Thavel, and Bloomie reached their ears.

“Better run while you can!” Miss Circle said, with a sadistic tone that shivered down their bodies. Once the teachers catch them, it’s complete hell.

A comment came from Miss Thavel. Saying, "You don’t know what I’ll do to you with this ruler.”

And the last message, from Miss Bloomie, “I’m gonna rip off your arms and punch you in the face with your own fists!” (If you know the reference, thank you)

As a result, Abbie went silent. He didn’t break down in tears anymore.
Instead, he had a long stare of shock and distress, realizing how fucked he and the others were in this situation.

"We should hide!" Engel muttered under his breath in desperation.

All of them except Abbie nodded, finding something to keep them safe and quiet while they ran.

During the run, their legs ached as their chances of escaping grew smaller.
Abbie began losing hope, and so would the other members until Kevin said something.

“Cave on the left, cave on the left!”

All five looked to their left. Just as Kevin said, a cave, located downhill, is there for them to hide. With no time, All five went to the cave. The downhill was full of rocks, so they had to be careful.
They moved carefully to the cave, staying as quiet as possible while not causing a rockslide.

In the end, they succeeded with minor injuries. They all go into the cave, waiting until the teachers leave.

After a while, the footsteps of the teachers reached the students' ears, making them stay as silent as possible. The teachers reached near the cave, making all of the students gulp in anticipation.

Instead, the teachers continued the path, stepping twigs and leaves along the way.

All five students sighed in relief, as they survived the chase. Abbie, with a stare of distress and shock, puts his arms around Lana as he lets out a few tears. Lana didn't mind this as she was stressed as well.

For the other three, they decided to stay here for a while to rest and recover.

At least for a while, they were safe.

Chapter Text

“Where the hell are they?!” Miss Circle said. The 5 escapees were nowhere to be found. In front of the three teachers, only the path of the woods is seen.

“We should go back. The other students will think of escaping as well if they find out what we’re going to do to them.” Miss Bloomie said.

Miss Circle raises her eyebrow, looking at Miss Bloomie with skepticism. She then rebuts by saying, “They’re idiots. Look at their test scores. They barely passed them.”

Before the two teachers can insight an argument, Miss Thavel catches their attention by slamming her ruler onto a tree trunk.

The two teachers looked and raised their eyebrows at Miss Thavel, wondering why she did that. Then, Miss Thavel said, 

“Look, 5 students escaped but what are they going to do? They’re deep in the woods. Best case scenario, they survive on eating beavers and probably losing their sanity and murder each other. We have many more students in Paper Camp.”

Miss Circle just sighed, closed her eyes, and leaned her head down. She can’t believe both of her teammates are disagreeing with her. In her mind, she was deciding to either hunt for the 5 students, or go back to Paper Camp to prevent more. After a while of thinking, she made a decision with reluctance in her voice.

“Okay. Let’s go back.”

Miss Thavel and Bloomie nodded as all three went back to where they came from.

Later that day, Engel woke up in the cave his group slept in. Engel woke to find some rays of light reaching him, most covered by the leaf entrance of the cave. The first thing he felt were the rocks he laid his head onto then the chase from yesterday. He contemplates and says in his mind,

“Yesterday was the worst day of my life.”

Indeed, it was. Even Claire’s chase and subsequent disappearance was nowhere compared to what they experienced yesterday. Speaking of Claire, no one, not even Δlice, knows where she is. She hasn’t been to Paper School nor Paper Camp. The last sighting of her was her going to a forest. Everyone doesn’t know how she is now, but the chances of her surviving are bleak.

Engel got up and heard the chirps of birds, the beavers munching, and the nearby river flowing. As he exited the cave, he cleaned his clothes by using his hands which dirtied from the cave’s environment. As he leaned his head down to clear the waste, one of the things that reached his eyes led to him dropping his jaw and widening his eyes.

A centipede; one of his biggest fears.

Engel let out a scream and his breathing became rapid, backing slowly to dispose of the centipede. He grabbed the centipede and immediately threw it to the trunks, leaving Engel alone. Engel sighed in relief and thought about their current situation again. 

A mix of questions went around his head. Most of them went something like this:

“Why did I even run?”

“Will my family be in danger?”

“Will the families of others’ be in danger?”

“Why didn’t I call the police?”

“Why didn’t I-”

Engel was interrupted by a touch on his back. He went forward slowly and turned his head to see… Bubble.

“E-Engel? What happened?” Bubble said.

Bubble yawned after saying that. Her eyebags and forward leaning posture, almost looking like she was about to fall, caught Engel's eyes. Engel said to her,

"Before I say the answer, lean to the trunk. You're almost gonna fall."

Bubble nodded and leaned onto the trunk behind her.

Engel sighed and said to Bubble, “Okay. We’re on the run and probably fucked.”

Back in the cave, Kevin woke up from an uncomfortable sleep. He took the glasses he placed on the floor and got up, at the same time using his hands to clear the debris from the cave's environment. As he got up, he leaned on the cave's walls to keep balance. He looked around the cave with a smile to see its environment. The stalactites, stalagmites, the fungi, the grasses, Abbie sleeping on Lana's body...

Hold up, Abbie sleeping on Lana?!

Kevin went to them and moved Abbie's shoulder to wake him up.

"Hey, Albert, get up."

Abbie didn't wake up at first. He was still deep asleep. Kevin then decided to wake up Lana instead.

"Hey, Lana, get up."

Unlike Abbie, Lana woke up. She shuffled her hair at first and used her hands to clean her eyes. She looked at Kevin with one eye almost closing and said,

"Kevin? Why do I feel something on me? Why am I here?"

Kevin just sighed and said, 

"Okay, we escaped Paper Camp because it was just an excuse for the teachers to eat us students. And also, look down."

Lana's eyes widened as a response to both the first and second answers. She looked down to see Abbie on her chest, with his face completely submerged into her shirt. She startled at first, then with a bit of shaking. She decided to move Abbie and try to wake him up. Just like Kevin, she moved Abbie's shoulder and said,

"Abbie, wake up."

This time, Abbie woke up. With shuffled hair and a good sleep, he got up immediately. Kevin's eyes widened at that immediate response but didn't mind.

All three students went out the cave, with Abbie and Lana clinging on to each other behind Kevin. They went out to see Engel and Bubble, just sitting down on a rock and staring into the rocky floor.The three had nothing in mind when they saw the two. Why were they there? Kevin went to them and touched Engel's shoulder to catch his attention. Engel moved his head up to see Kevin asking him, 

"Why were you… staring like that?”

Engel just said, “Our situation is more dangerous than we actually thought.”

That answer made Kevin grit his teeth and raise his eyebrows. Abbie and Lana widened their eyes when Engel said that.

“Why?”

Engel said to him,

“Our families, our futures, our safety, our classmates…”

Engel’s answer made everyone rethink what they’ve been through for the last few days. The planning, the getaway, now, the jeopardy of everything they’ve loved.

“There’s barely anything we can do. We can search for help and bring Miss Circle and her goons to justice. Or, we can surrender.”

Everyone couldn’t believe it. Engel, the most optimistic and determined person in the group, has just almost given up.

But, Bubble says something that might bring their hopes up again.

“Smell that?”

Kevin smelled the atmosphere, going back and forth to identify it. After a while, Kevin said,

“It’s wood smoke.”

“That’s right,” Bubble said, “Not only wood smoke but laughter too.”

“Which means there is a camp nearby. And it’s not Paper Camp; they use electric fires. If we can reach there…”

Kevin completes her sentence by saying, “We can get rescued!”

“I’ve read a camping book that says camps are commonly settled near rivers. We can use the river to find the camp and get help!” Kevin said.

What Kevin said ignited hope within the group. Engel got up with a slight smile on his face.

“We can find it using the river.”

All in the group nodded and went to the river to find the camp.

In the camp, three adults were talking around the bonfire and roasting the food. 

“W-Wait, wait, wait, wait! Yo- You’re saying THAT’S the reason your bully is now your wife and… mother to your child?!” Oliver Lewis said.

William Wordmule replied with, “Yep. And now she’s riding my- Oh heeey Richie!”

Richard Rhode appeared behind William, with more food and sticks to prolong the fire.

“Hey…. Do you hear something?”

All 3 stopped what they were doing to hear what Richard Rhode said about. It was footsteps coming to them, but not one’s footsteps, but many.

With no prior warning, a person came to them with other people trailing behind him.

Oliver Lewis fell off the log he was sitting on, simultaneously saying

“What the-”

William Wordmule and Richard Rhode were about to pull out their guns and shoot them until they saw it was children. Not only that, their pants were dirtied and their faces covered in dirt.

William Wordmule said to them,

“Do- Do you need help? What are your names?”

The boy said, “Engel.”

Engel points to the boy with glasses, “Kevin.”

Then to the girl with a boy clinging onto her, “Lana; and Abbie.”

And to the girl behind Engel, “Bubble.”

Chapter Text

Lizzy and Petunia were chatting at Paper Camp about some things in their cabin. One of them being the “disappearance” of some students here. Lizzy says to Petunia,

“Why did Miss Circle send us to our cabins early? Maybe she wanted to keep us safe…”

Petunia says, “Miss Circle caring my ass. Since our nerdy friend Kevin didn’t see our prank, what will we do now?”

“Let’s set up the fire. It’s going to be cold here.” Lizzy said. 

Petunia nodded saying, “Yeah. And I hope the missing students will be safe.”

Lizzy set up the electric fire while Petunia got some hot chocolate to drink. Only the electric fire lights illuminate the cabin as Lizzy turns off the lights. Lizzy and Petunia sat down on the chairs while drinking their chocolate, feeling satisfied at this.

“Cheers to the Paper Camp!” Lizzy said.

“Cheers to the Pa-” Petunia said, then stopped after something happened.

Both of them heard a scream in the camp. Despite this, no footsteps were heard, no doors were heard being opened for people to see what happened, just silence. Pure silence. Lizzy and Petunia both stopped on what they were doing. They set down their hot cocos and looked at the direction the scream came from. 

Lizzy went to the window and peeked through the curtain, using her two hands to create a small yet visible hole between the blinds. 

“Turn off the fire. Petunia. They’ll see us by that light.”

Petunia nodded and turned off the electric fire. She went to Lizzy, kneeling and peeking through the curtains.

Lizzy looked at Petunia and whispered, “Did you hear that?”

Petunia whispered back. Saying, “Of course I did, dumbass…”

Lizzy frowned at what Petunia said. Looking at her after she looked out the window, Lizzy was about to whisper something. But before she could whisper back, another scream occurred. This time, sounds of stabbing and objects getting ripped out, sounding like limbs. 

Lizzy looked back at the window, seeing a faint silhouette of a person near the headlights at the center of the camp. Both Lizzy and Petunia knew it was a student, but they didn’t know which one. This didn’t stop them from being appalled by what the student was doing, however.

The student was on top of another student, smashing the student’s chest and breaking their insides. Because of that, the sounds of the ribcage breaking were enough for Lizzy and Petunia to hear. Lizzy looked at the silhouettes, gulping her hot coco and widening her eyes at the scene. Lizzy said,

“What the fu-”

Petunia stayed silent, but she felt similarly about the scene. The student then got a knife and a marker. They marked the student’s chest and then used the knife to cut the chest open, like a surgical operation. Lizzy and Petunia froze at what the student did. Lizzy gritted her teeth and widened her eyes, looking disturbed at the scene. Petunia’s breathing turned rapid, panicking at what the student was doing.

The student finished cutting. Then, they put their hand into the dead student’s chest, grabbing his heart, and ripping it out of the dead student. The heart was, disturbingly, still beating. The student, while holding the heart, gave out a large smile, feeling satisfied at what they had done. They placed the heart, now motionless, in their pockets and finally went onto the light, revealing who the student was.

"Oliver?!" Lizzy exclaimed. Her eyebrows raised at the revelation. She shut herself up, almost revealing they were watching. Petunia's breathing stopped and stayed motionless, not knowing how to react to this. Oliver wasn't the only person to scare them, however.

A knock had occurred. Lizzy and Petunia turned their heads to see where the sound was coming from. They saw it was from the back window which was curtained. The situation became tense as both didn’t know who was knocking, only knowing it was not Oliver. Lizzy and Petunia looked at each other on what to do.

Petunia said, “Should we…”

Lizzy sat down on the floor shivering. She looked up and said to Petunia, 

“Let’s stay silent and wait… This will be over soon…”

Petunia nodded, not knowing what to do in this situation. Lizzy didn’t bring her phone for the trip, so they can’t call for help. They could go outside and see who it was but could be attacked by them. Petunia sat down and hugged Lizzy with an uncontrollable shake, waiting for this to end.

“I hope Kevin is safe…” Lizzy said with a tear going down her eye.

“I hope so too,” Petunia said.

Both girls cried silently for a while that night.

The atmosphere was confusing. William Wordmule looked at the kids again, deciding what to say after the child “Engel” said their names. 

“We have food and water. Do you need them?” William said.

Engel sighed, slightly relieved that he wouldn't have to explain. He nodded to William saying,

“We need to leave now. People are after us, and they are NOT gonna let us stay alive once they find us.”

William jolted his eyes to Engel as he said that. He understood after looking at the states of other kids. Abbie was clinging onto Lana, Bubble was behind Engel resting on him, and Kevin was there, biting his nails. 

“I understand.”

Lewis got up from the fall, looking at the scene in confusion. He said,

“Understand what?”

William looked at him and said,

“We’ll be getting the hell out of here.”

Lewis looked at William, face blank and nothing in his mind.

“What?”

“Look, 5 kids came to us. They are starving and need help. Also, the Deltas may have been hunting for them.”

The other kids didn’t want to hear their conversation. They were tired of running away from Miss Circle. Abbie and Lana sat on the logs resting, Kevin read his book after biting his nails, and Bubble leaned onto the tree behind her.

Engel said to William,

“We need to go…”

William nodded at Engel. 

“Lewis, let’s pack on getting out. And Engel, we’re heading you to the nearest town.”

Lewis understood after seeing the kids’ condition. He said to them,

“To whoever needs food, come to Richard. I’ll be helping with packing.”

Abbie and Lana went to Richard where he was holding hotdogs that were barbecued.

“Here. Eat it.” Richard said.

Abbie grabbed one of the hotdogs with his bare hands. Lana squinted her eyes and gulped at how Abbie ate. She was disgusted but understood because it’s been two days since Abbie was fed. Lana got one of the hotdogs, biting and removing the burnt parts, and ate the rest.

Engel helped Lewis with packing. Lewis used his claw, an extension of his left arm, to secure. To make sure they were safe, Engel said to William,

“Please use your weapons. They’ll probably catch us.”

“Right, right,” William said.

William used his gun to aim at the forest, which was connected to his right arm. If anyone harmful were near them, he would stab with his knife, the blade an extension of his left arm.

“Should I see if you have a scar on your forearms?” William said to Engel.

Engel looked at William, confusion in his mind. 

“Why did he ask a question that specific?” He thought.

Engel showed his forearms to William. No scars on both left and right, much to William’s anticipation.

“Clear.” He said, “Glad you’re not a Delta.”

“A… Delta?” Engel thought. “What are these called “Delta” and why is it connected to a scar on the forearm?” Engel decided for William to explain what “delta” is after packing. Engel asked another question.

“What’s your name?” 

“Oh… My name is Wordmule, William Wordmule.”

“Wordmule?” Engel thought. “Such an unusual name,” he thought again. He was about to tell him how unusual his name was but thought he could get offended, so he didn’t.

William pointed to the blonde man with black eyes and a bowler hat, the hat worn for camping. William said to Engel,

“That right there is Oliver.”

“Oliver?!” Engel thought. Engel’s entire body jolted at the name. His hands clenched into fists while trying hard to show his angry behavior.

“Oliver who?” Engel said, taking small rapid breaths after. He looked at William deep in his eyes.

“Oliver Lewis.” 

Engel sighed in relief at that clarification. Oliver almost killed his friend, Claire, by luring her to Alice’s door. Engel never forgave Oliver for what he did. 

William pointed to the man holding the container, having black hair, and a Springfield and Remington 870 crossed on his back. William said,

“That’s Richard Rhode. He’s the one to help you the most.”  

Richard wore a medical glove on his right hand, along with medical equipment and a “first-aid” kit on his right arm. He was the guy to come to in case one was hurt.

“He was a medic. Studied in medical school.” William said.

Engel nodded and came back to Lewis to help with packing. William guarded with his weapons, shooting and stabbing anyone harmful.

The sunlight's temperature was rising. Kevin, Abbie, Lana, and Bubble went under the RV's canopy. Abbie was growing impatient, stomping the ground a few times per minute. He was struggling to keep his head up, so he laid down on Lana’s lap, resting for a while. The threat of Miss Circle and the other teachers was still looming around them. "What if they find us?" is a thought that was in the minds of the students. Bubble was the first to speak out about this.

"I don't think we're safe, even with the campers we found.”

Kevin looked at Bubble, feeling that Bubble may be right. He said,

“Yeah. Two armed guys aren’t enough. I heard a part of William’s conversation earlier, about a woman riding his dick. This may be ridiculous, but I think Miss Circle’s breast size is enough to make them surrender.”

Lana looked away at Kevin, covering her mouth with her hands and chuckling at what Kevin said. Bubble had the same reaction; she only frowned to hide her amusement. Kevin saw but didn’t care about Lana and Bubble’s response. 

Lana felt the ants crawling up her clothes, her messy pants attracting vermin. She looks down and sees a cockroach on her left shoe, biting and playing with the shoelaces.

“Ew.” She said. She stomped the cockroach using her other shoe. Now, the cockroach’s insides made a mess on her shoes.

Kevin saw Lana’s pants and shoes. He roared to her, 

“Ask Richard for clothes.”

The volume of Kevin’s voice almost interrupted Abbie’s nap. He started to almost wake up on Lana’s lap, which prompted Lana to soothe him using lullabies her mother sang to her. It worked, and Abbie slumbered again. Lana looked at Kevin again, a look of disappointment in her eyes. She said,

“Don’t say that loud, Kevin.”

Kevin scoffed. He never cared about Abbie. Even on the run, he still was rude to him. Kevin hated Abbie for always asking him for help every day, being annoying as he was seated next to Kevin, and never allowing Kevin to read due to Kevin’s nuisance. Now, with Kevin’s friends Lizzy, Petunia, and Cubbie gone, he was more than likely to vent out on Abbie.

“Okay. But make sure CryBabbie doesn’t be a ruckus. Also, ask Richard for clothes again.”

Lana nodded, gently placing down Abbie, and went to Richard for help. She said to him,

“I may need a brush and new pants.”

Richard understood what Lana said. Because of the sudden encounter, he went to the RV and retrieved spare pants.

“Here you go.” Richard gave her a pair of black cargo pants. “Didn’t find a brush, though.”

“Change at the other side of the RV. This RV doesn’t have a bathroom. Also, give the old pants to me if you’re done.” He pointed to the other side of the RV. “This is the only pair. I can’t get more for your friends and your boyfriend over there.” He then points to Abbie still resting, oblivious that Lana already left.


Lana looked at Richard, chuckling silently and getting a tint of red on her cheeks. She got the cargo black pants and said to Richard, 

“Thanks. Also, why would think that?” She said to him, her eyebrow raised in curiosity. She was awaiting Richard’s answer.
Richard didn’t say anything. Instead, he pointed to Abbie sleeping, face-planted on the makeshift bench, hugging the heat in mind thinking it was Lana.


“That’s why,” Richard exclaimed. Lana looked at the scene, a chuckle and smirk occurring. “You’re very observant, you know?” She chirped to Richard. Richard nodded, giving a thumbs up.

But after she shrugged it off and went to the other side of the RV to change. On the other side, she saw the RV parked on a cliff, the cliff overlooking a deep canyon, enough for someone to die from. Lana’s eyes widened, stepping back and shivering with a goosebump traveling on her skin. She looked down, seeing how far the cliff was from the bottom.

“Why would they camp here?” She thought. The getaway from Miss Circle and her goons was something out of a nightmare, but at this point, Lana would have been convinced all of what happened here was a dream.

She shrugged that thought off, focusing on changing her pants and viewing the soothing scenery. The moment she soothed Lana, doing a sigh of relief at the view. Birds fly and chirp in the canyon, the light blue water flows peacefully, and vegetation covers some parts of the canyon.

But one thing stood out of all of them.

Something white was flowing on the river. Lana’s eyes saw it, but couldn't figure out what it was. Lana looked at the white thing flowing, curious about what it was.

Then, another white thing came from the canyon’s fertile bushes. This time, a person. The person saw the white thing on the river and then swam to get it. They got the white thing and swam back to shore. Lana finished changing, laid down on her chest, and looked at the person, having thoughts in mind on what they were doing and why they were here in a vast, vacant canyon. She felt the grass on her chest, the sun heating her back, but she didn’t care. She just focused all her attention on them.

“Why are they here?” is a thought that Lana had. The person was wearing all white; the only thing that Lana could describe them. The rest were all unknown. The person then settled the white thing, now identified as a robe, onto a flat part of the canyon. 

Out of all expectations, the person did the most unexpected.

Random chants wailed out of their mouth, a mix of monkey sounds and Latin chants. Lana still viewed the person, squinting her eyes and letting out a “huh?!” at what was going on. 

“What the hell…” Lana said a long pause occurred soon after what she saw.

More people came out of the canyon’s bushes, all of them wearing robes just like the person Lana saw. At this point, Lana just looked at her sock puppets saying,

“What do you think is happening, Mr. Gary?”

The sock puppet said back, 

“It's a freaking drug trip. Let’s get outta here.”

Laan got up, cleared the dirt that touched her clothes, and went back to the others. This day was not only bad, it was the weirdest day Lana ever had.

Lana went back to the others. She saw Abbie still resting and Kevin gave a blank face to her before saying,

“What took you that long?”

Bubble’s eyes were directed towards Lana, stars showing in her eyes as a sign of curiosity.

“Yeah… What took you that long?”

Lana stood silent, thinking about how to say what she saw earlier. She looked at her sock puppet, trying to think how to even say what happened.

“Cults.”

Kevin and Bubble looked at each other, clueless to what Lana said. Kevin said,

“A religious cult?”

“Maybe.”

Then, Richard called on them. Bubble, Lana, and Kevin all looked at him. Richard said,

“We’re done packing. We’re getting the hell outta here!”

Engel gave the four a gesture for them to come into the RV. He looked at Abbie resting. He directed his gaze and said to Lana,

“Wake him up.”

Lana went to Abbie, grabbing his body and carrying him like how a mother carries her baby. Abbie’s face was visible with red marks on him, caused by the heating bench. Abbie woke up, feeling dizzy and confused. He said,

“Lana?”

“Yes, it’s me, Abbie. We’re going now.”

Abbie barely nodded, immediately resting again on Lana’s right shoulder. Lana soothed him by saying random words in a lullaby voice. Lewis looked at the two, smirking a bit and whispering to Richard,

“Looks like she will be a great mother in the future.”

Richard looked back at Lewis, giving a neutral face at him. He said,

“True. Especially coming from a jokester like you.”

All the adults went inside the RV. William was the driver, Lewis sat at the shotgun, and Richard took care of the rest. All the kids went into the RV, seeing its interior. The interior was a surprise to them. The floor was red, there was a kitchen at the back, and there were guns at the ceiling, secured by a black net.

All the kids sat down near the kitchen as the RV started running. This day was already stressful for them. Now, it’s time to rest. All of them sat down apart from Kevin, who was reading his book in the proximity of the kitchen’s lightbulb. 

However, Kevin suddenly thought of what Lana said earlier. The cult in the fertile canyon, and the sheer amount of weaponry in the RV. There’s even an RPG here!

Kevin went and touched Richard’s shoulder which attracted his attention. Kevin said to him,

“Why are there so many guns? This isn’t a hunting trip.”

Richard said back, “Oh- That? Don’t be shocked but those are… those aren’t for hunting animals.”

What Richard said also caught the attention of Bubble. Richard said,

“Those are for the Deltas.”

Engel caught on to the word “Delta”. William had said to him that he’d explain what “Delta” is in the RV. Now’s the chance. Engel said to William,

“What’s a Delta?”

William caught on to that word and said,

“Oh, that? Well, just like what Richard said, don’t be shocked…”

Engel, Kevin, and Bubble looked at William. What Richard said was already shocking, but this time, it may be worse.

“The- Deltas are cult members. I won’t let them get to you. I tell you, they’re gonna do more than physical harm if they catch you.”

Kevin and Bubble looked at each other, keeping in mind what Lana said she saw earlier about a “cult”. Engel asked him another question, keeping in mind something earlier.

“And how is this related to scars on a forearm?”

William stopped the car to save fuel. He said to William,

“That’s their identification sign.”

Kevin out of the blue gave a “what?” to William. He said,

“That doesn’t make sense. They could just… take photos.”

William nodded. “I understand what you’re thinking, but that’s just how we think about why they have scars on their forearms. We got two Delta members, and both got scars on their forearms.”

Bubble and Engel sat down with this new information. Great, they barely survived Miss Circle’s grasp. Now, they are facing another threat. Engel couldn’t take it anymore. The feeling of being homesick, Claire gone and possibly dead, and now, the jeopardy of his own life has almost broken him. Kevin went back to where he was reading and continued. William started the car once again. 

“This will be a long and bumpy ride, so make sure to secure yourself back there,” William said.

Lewis looked at the state of the kids, feeling pity for them. He looked back to the road, heading back to the town.

As the RV moved along the road, Kevin felt nausea and stress. He was breathing frequently, he ignored the commotion around him, and he couldn’t even concentrate on his book. In his mind, he only thought about his friends, Lizzy and Petunia.

A tear fell on his face as he thought of what would happen to them. Worse, what ALREADY happened to them. He set down his book, looking down at the marble counter of the kitchen and ruminating on the thoughts of his friends. He only hoped that they were safe and alive.

Back at the Paper Camp, Lizzy and Petunia got up after a while of crying. The knock on the back door still kept going, Oliver was still outside, and more screams were heard. Lizzy’s heart trembled and she held Petunia tightly for comfort. Lizzy looked at Petunia, face drenched in tears. She said,

“S-Should we go outside?”

Petunia took a long inhale and looked away from Lizzy. After a moment of silence, she looked back at Lizzy and whispered,

“Look, there’s almost nothing we can do. We can stay and most likely get killed. Or, make a run for it.”

Lizzy set her mind on the latter. Petunia was right, there was nothing much they could do in this situation. She stood up, bracing for the worst. She said to Petunia,

“Let’s go to the back door. That’s our only option.”

Petunia nodded. They both went down to the back door slowly. In their minds, they thought the person who kept knocking would either kill them or do something else malicious.

They reached the back door. Petunia was the one who got the doorknob, bracing for impact. This was their only choice, and they were going to use it to the fullest.

A silence occurred outside the back door.

Lizzy and Petunia were clueless about what happened. Did they leave? Suddenly, the person outside breathed faster than usual. Lizzy and Petunia took a few steps back. Then, a scream occurred right outside their back door. Lizzy’s eyes widened, while Petunia sat down on the floor. The person outside was taken to the front part of the cabin according to the sounds happening.

Lizzy looked down at Petunia. She said to her,

“Now's the time.”

Petunia stood back again. She nodded and held Lizzy and went to the door again. She grabbed the knob again, now opening it and seeing what was outside. 

They sighed in relief as they saw no one outside. It was finally time to escape. There was a forest in front of the back door, so maybe they could see more survivors. They went down the stairs. Lizzy wanted to go to the forest, but Petunia wanted to know what was happening. Petunia peeped at the cabins, looking at what happened. Lizzy whispered,

“Petunia, c’mon…”

Lizzy didn’t receive an answer. Petunia was still looking at the center. However, Lizzy felt concerned since Petunia didn’t even move a single inch. Wondering what made Petunia freeze, she decided to see what Petunia saw as well.

And shockingly, it was worse than what they saw with Oliver.

There was a pile of bodies. Some were decapitated, some mutilated, some even bitten. Lizzy felt the urge to vomit. Her stomach was growling and she couldn’t think straight. She grabbed Petunia, who also had a similar reaction. They both took a while to soothe what they just saw. Petunia said,

“I saw them…”

Lizzy raised her eyebrow, a slight shiver at who was “them”. Petunia said,

“I saw Miss Circle, Oliver, Zip.”

Lizzy’s eyes widened to the fullest. Zip is here?! She clenched her fist, thoughts of punching Miss Circle for what she had done to Kevin swirling. 

Then, a motion occurred at the forest in front of them. Lizzy and Petunia’s eyes were directed to the bushes to see who it was. Lizzy took a deep breath, anticipating who it was. If it was someone bad, she would be punching and running to the fullest.

The bush kept moving, and two cat ears appeared on top. 

Lizzy and Petunia didn’t even need to think twice about who it was. They ran to the bushes and Petunia hugged the person’s fur. She said,

“Cubbie.”

Cubbie stood up, pointing to the deeper part of the forest. He said,

“We need to get out of here.”

Lizzy and Petunia nodded. The three ran to the deeper part of the forest, hopefully meeting more survivors along the way.