Chapter 28: Murder Camp

Day two on the survivor challenge and the girls sat around the camp fire discussing various things. A strange beeping sound drew their attention where Ayesha lay against one of the logs near her tent and they all mocked in annoyance realizing what the sound was.

“I thought you said you didn’t have your cell phone,” Jordan growled watching Ayesha pull out her smart phone and scroll through the screen.

“Well unlike SOME people, I was not about to spend the night in the woods without being able to update my Facebook status. Besides, I like being in contact with civilization! I’m not a Neanderthal!”

“That’s what you think,” Jordan grumbled to herself and listened to the endless beeping of the buttons as the girl shot off a few hundred tweets, texts and status updates in a matter of moments.

“You know if you were a real team player you’d have used that damn thing to order us a pizza or something instead of checking the mindless drivel of people you’ll never meet in real life!” Monika complained as her stomach growled.

Just as they had suspected Rachael left them with little to no food and for six girls out in the middle of nowhere even putting together the ration packs they had amounted to a full days worth of a meal. They had resorted to nibbling on the tiny snack packs and crackers that was in one of the boxes trying to keep their bellies settled. 

Jordan and Christina had found an apple tree on one of their wood excursions but no one wanted to climb higher than a few branches to get the riper ones for fear of falling. So they had just a few slices of three apples remaining for them all. Luckily it was Sunday and closing in on afternoon, Rachael was to show soon and the girls were all anxious to get the hell out of there.

“Mmm I can’t wait to crawl into a nice, hot bubble bath and soak the last two days off my skin,” Erin grumbled as she sniffed the pine in her shirt that had seemingly absorbed into her skin as well.

“Who are you telling? The first thing I’m gonna do is fix myself a giant bowl of Rocky Road ice cream and hop into the soft cushions of my bed and pass out with a smile on my face,” Madison smiled and leaned back. A droplet fell to her forward and she peeked an eye open and held out her hand. Moments later another droplet hit her flesh and she jumped to her feet. “It’s about to rain! Quickly get your stuff rolled up and into the tents before it’s ruined.”

They all joined her gathering up the map and various other items to keep them dry. Just as the last page was zipped inside one of the tents the sky opened up and water belted them hard from above. “NO! MY HAIR!” Ayesha squealed and held her hands over her hoping to keep her curls in place but to no avail. They each gathered inside their tents and decided to wait out the storm.

The infernal beeping continued from next door and Jordan rolled onto her back and sighed listening to it. “I can’t understand the mentality of ‘do for myself while you suffer’ especially when we’re all in the same predicament. I mean really? She couldn’t use that damn thing and get everyone something to drink or even a fucking White Castle burger?”

Christina laughed and fell back onto her bag as well as she thought about Remington and what he was up to. “A burger sounds damn good right now.”

“Yeah right like that was really what you thinking. I saw that smile on your face little Miss Whipped! Remy’s got that ass on lock!”

“Whatever,” Christina laughed and sat up. “It’s not like that at all.”

“No? But you told him about the kiss with you and Evan right? Because you felt obligated to do it?”

“Well yeah of course I told him. I didn’t want him to hear it from someone else and think I was cheating on him or something. And he understood. He knows the things pledges are made to do and I promised I’d never let things go further than a little peck and if I have to again I’ll just refuse.”

“And he was completely ok with that?”

“Well he might have said something about kicking Evan’s ass for trying to make a peck into a full on Frencher but other than that he took it fairly well. I don’t know, maybe I am whipped. He’s really a good guy and I enjoy every moment I spend with him.” A loud growl rattled through the trees near them and everyone jumped up as the sound seemed to echo close by.

“What the hell was that?” Erin gasped and poked her head out of the tent zipper. The rain had started to subside and everyone emptied out of their tents as a tree fell to the ground near the lake. Another thunderous roar shook the tiny campsite and moments later a large shadow appeared beyond the path they took to get through the woods.

“Holy shit!” Monika yelled and pointed. It took just a second for the other girls to recognize the monster that had been tormenting the campus before they tore off towards the other direction. Running as hard as they could through the woods, Madison and Jordan yelled at Ayesha to call for help on her phone. Thumbing the digits for 9-1-1 as fast as she could she held the phone on speaker and continued rushing through the underbrush towards hopefully another clearing.

A cabin came into view just ahead and they hurried towards it. Decidedly forgetting their manners they pushed through the door and slammed it shut after the last person. The girls pushed a sofa up against the door and dropped to the floor out of sight of whoever was after them. Looking around, Christina noticed the place seemed empty; furnished but not occupied. “This must be a rental,” she determined realizing they must have reached the common area of the campsite Rachael had dumped them in. Knowing they had been a trail’s walk away from food, indoor plumbing and cushioned beds made her face burn in anger but she quickly shook the thoughts away as she heard a loud growl just off in the direction they’d run from.

Ayesha hung up with emergency and settled on the ground beside Jordan. “OH EM GEE!” she exclaimed and popped up as she received a text message. Christina pulled her down to the floor once more and shushed her pointing towards the windows. Peering up above the countertops she could make out the shadow of someone quickly approaching the cabin.

“It could be the person chasing us earlier,” she sighed and kept the girl as quiet as possible.

They waited and listened for the sounds of whoever was outside to leave or make a sound they recognized.  Jordan switched towards the other side of the cabinet to get a better look out the window and sighed a small relief as she noticed the familiar pink frock and blonde hair. “It’s Rachael.”

The girls got to their feet and unlocked the door letting in their Pledge Mistress. Her face immediately turned up in a scowl as she looked around the tiny room and she glared at them. “This is not a tent! You all fail! And what’s that smell? Someone crack a window, I think something died in here. What did you all forget how to bathe being out here or something?”

“Shut up!” Madison growled and moved towards the bitchy blonde. “You dropped us out here in the middle of nowhere to fend for ourselves and we’ve been through a lot of shit trying to survive. Not only did we get rained on and have to sleep with bugs in the dirt with God knows how many animals nearby, SOMEONE was chasing us through the woods only moments ago and I’m willing to bet it was you! So you shut your mouth and get us the hell out of here!”

Everyone looked on in shock as the normally timid girl stepped up to Rachael. She returned the girl’s look with anger but before she could respond a roar rocked the tiny cabin and they all jumped and hit the floor once more. “It’s here!” Ayesha squealed and hid behind Monika near the dining room door. “It’s going to kill us all!”

“What are you talking about it?” 

“That’s what I was trying to say earlier. Jamie just messaged me. She said they found the Dean’s body as well as President Coleman and they were both killed by the CG wolf. The last time it was seen was a few hours ago leaving the campus and heading…here.”

“What?!” Erin yelled and was instantly silenced again as another rumble rattled the loose dishes and items on the shelves in the kitchen they hid in. “What are we going to do?” she asked quieter and clutched herself  tighter.

Ayesha continued messaging back and forth with her friend back at the school waiting for her to tell her one way or the other what was happening. “Jamie said they’ve started a hunting party for this thing now. That we shouldn’t worry help is on the way.”

“Yeah good luck with that!” Rachael scoffed and chided the girls. “I had you camping in a specified location because that was where we always go. I had a hard enough time getting to you up here and I’m sure so will the ‘help’ that’s on the way! We could be here for hours before they find us.”

“Well I hope not,” Erin swallowed hard listening to the breaking of branches outside as the monster moved tauntingly around them. “I think that thing is hungry and coming inside pretty soon!”

Another beeping sound came from Ayesha direction as she received another message and she gasped and began shaking as she read it. “What’s it say?” Jordan asked waiting for Ayesha to read off her next message.

“Jamie said they think they know who it is.” She messaged in reply and again waited on her friend’s response. “She said the police found blood on the scene of the last murder belonging to someone killed twenty years ago.”

“Twenty years ago? How is that possible?” Monika asked listening to the girl reading.

“It contained an anticoagulant of some kind preventing it from clotting. Police believe someone close to the victim may be behind these killings. They have been questioning alumni and…”

The back wall shook behind them and the girls jumped once again. The sound of the wall breaking beneath the heavy paws of the beast caused them all to gather closer and try to hide away from the creeping sensation that had made a home within their nerves. “We’re all gonna die!” Monika cried and hid deeper within the group.

Checking her phone once again she read the message aloud:

“Monster is coming
for children of the
champion hotdog
eater.”

The group audibly sounded their confusion and Ayesha reread it once more. “Stupid autocorrect, one second I’m messaging her back now.” The beast knocked at the wall again and Ayesha jumped, dropping her phone to the floor and breaking it in two. “SHIT!” 

The wall finally fell and the group was staring into the bright, red, glowing eyes of a monster that towered over seven feet and was as wide as a Buick. They each screamed as he dropped to the ground and started crawling forward slowly. It seemed to be enjoying the scent of fear that rolled off them and it was ensuring they each knew their fate. 

Watching as it scratched it’s long talon across the floor, Madison jumped up and started for the door. The beast howled and she froze in her tracks and dropped back to the floor with the others. Christina said a silent prayer and Rachael gasped as the beast crashed towards them staring directly at her and licking its chops as it prepared itself to bite.

A gunshot sounded interrupted the encroaching animal and it ducked and glowered out the window towards an approaching ranger truck and three men leaning off the back of the pickup. Darting as fast as possible the animal rushed through the hole once more and off into the woods before the men entered the house.

“What the hell was that?!” Rachael exclaimed holding a hand over her heart and breathing heavily.

“Your lucky day,” Jordan replied and unlocked the door for the men to enter.

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