Trail

Carson hugs Misty, finding comfort in her touch. He always had.

“A cook, huh?” He gives a short sigh. “I guess former assassins can’t be choosy. I’ll see what comes up. If there’s nothing else, I’ll ask down there. ‘Course…it might be asking a lot to work for the parents of a woman I tortured.”

Shaking his head, he releases Misty and straightens. “It’s getting kinda chilly out here with the sun down. How about we call it a night?”


Scott follows Katie’s directions the best he can, heading out of town. His leg bounces nervously, his anxiousness growing. Was it hot in the car, or was it just him?

He reaches over to take Katie’s hand, but sensing that he’s doing no good at all, his frustration just grows.

The drives feels like an eternity. Scott knew Jason and some others had taken off camping, but he hadn’t known it was this far. Several hours away was quite a trip, and one that took them into the late evening hours, well after dark.

Finally they pull onto a lane that leads to a lot where cars could park, and where there was a small shelter. Scott sees a familiar pickup and knows they’re at the right place. He trusted Katie, but this was just confirmation.


Kyle tries to catch his breath as he reaches the shelter, throwing his backpack onto the floor. Still breathing heavily and wet with sweat, he goes for the phone, only to stop as headlights blind him through the window.

A thought strikes him. Could it really… Going to the door, he sees two figures get out of the car and his heart skips a beat. “Thank you, God.”

Forgetting about his backpack, he bursts outside. “Katie…Scott!” He stops for a moment, blinking, seeing how nicely they’re dressed. “Well this was great timing, wasn’t it?” He gasps for breath. “It’s bad, Katie, real bad. I was gonna try to call you and see what you wanted to do.”

He points up the trail. “It’s going to take a while, but we have to hurry. Phil and Camryn are with him.” Kyle makes haste, going back inside to grab his pack, stopping for a moment at the truck to grab a cell phone, then aim for the trail again. If Katie couldn’t get Jason out of his nightmare, he was calling 911.

Scott takes Katie’s hand again, quickly following behind Kyle. It was strange…no questions were needed…no answers were needed. They knew exactly what was going on, and knew to the best of their ability what might help their friend. And desperation won out.

The trail is dark and winding. Kyle easily leads, now knowing exactly where to go, despite the little help from his flashlight. He tries to take it a little slower for Katie’s sake, but hurries nonetheless. His fear had intensified, his nervousness had grown. He didn’t like this feeling of being out of control.

It takes longer than liked to finally reach the campsite. All are hot despite the cool night air, and breathless.

Phil is there to greet them, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise at seeing Katie and Scott. But he needs not ask questions either. Instead, he ushers them into the large tent.

Camryn is still kneeling beside Jason, her face wet with tears and strained with worry. “Katie?” Her voice quivers. “How…”

Another scream from Jason cuts her off and makes her jump in fright.

Jason writhes under the blankets, his desperation growing. There was a light…somewhere…somewhere….a doorway…some way to get out… there had to be… He takes another blow from Alex. He cringes again at the officer being gunned down. He feels himself being shoved into that car.

His pulse was racing and his sweat had begun to soak through the blankets as he shook. He was trying…trying so hard…it was dark…lonely…frightening…