Chapter 19
942words
"Keep going! Don't stop!" Lucas yelled, gripping Zee's waist to support her failing strength.
Alex, limping but still quick-witted, grabbed a box of matches from his soaked pocket. He struck one, tossing it into the dry brush just off the trail.
Flames roared to life, catching onto the surrounding trees and then spreading like fury to the camp’s main cabin. The heat lit the sky in a wild orange glow, casting the figure’s silhouette in a flickering, monstrous light.
They ran. Ran until the trees blurred, until they could no longer hear their own screams or the fire’s roar. Until the masked figure was no longer behind them.
They collapsed near a broken road sign at the edge of the woods.
Zee dropped to her knees, her arms trembling, her mouth filling with blood again. Lucas knelt beside her, his hands shaking as he pressed down on her wound.
"Please, please stay with me," he whispered, voice raw. "I can’t lose you."
A scream tore through the still air.
"ALEX!" Ben shouted.
The three turned to see Alex struggling, the figure having found them again and driving a blade into his hand. Zee’s vision was blurry, but her voice cracked, tears falling.
"STOP! WHY?!" she sobbed. "What do you want from us?!"
Ben and Lucas launched forward. They fought tooth and nail, fists and screams, but both were wounded—Lucas in the leg, Ben across his palm and forearm.
Zee, barely able to hold her body up, spotted a thick log nearby. With everything in her—rage, pain, will—she dragged it across the dirt, lifted it with a roar, and slammed it down on the attacker’s head.
The figure collapsed.
Unconscious.
Breathing hard, Lucas dragged the body to a tree and tied it up with a belt and torn cloth. His hands trembling, he peeled the mask off.
"No…" Zee whispered.
The camp director.
"Director Aida?" Ben’s voice cracked.
Zee’s body buckled. Her brain refused to accept it.
"You? It was you? Not the counselor?"
Aida’s eyes flew open, lips twisting in fury. "They ruined everything," she hissed. "No one was supposed to survive. For six years I’ve done this—perfect, clean, beautiful. And you little bastards messed it up."
Lucas held Zee tightly, whispering to her, while Ben’s tears streamed silently. Alex trembled as he picked up the knife.
"You killed everyone. My friends... the kids... Sam," he said, voice cracking.
"You don't deserve to breathe."
He stabbed her.
Again. And again.
They left her body tied there.
Dragging themselves through the woods, they reached a dusty roadside. Lucas carried Zee, her eyes barely open, lips cracked.
Then, a scream—
The camp director, barely alive, had clawed her way to them, blood trailing behind.
She lunged for Zee again.
Lucas and Ben tackled her.
Alex joined in, stabbing again.
"JUST DIE!" he yelled. "PLEASE, JUST DIE! WE'RE TIRED!"
Her eyes finally went still.
They burned her body.
Lucas carried Zee through the dark. Their clothes were soaked with blood—not just theirs, but all the lives lost.
A car's headlights finally appeared.
The man stopped, horrified. He helped them in.
Zee's breath slowed. Lucas held her hand tightly.
"Stay with me, baby, please."
Ben and Alex sobbed beside them.
Zee opened her mouth. "I love you..." she whispered. "Ben... take care of Alex..."
Her eyes closed.
Zee coughed.
A sharp pain tore through her chest like a knife. Her throat was dry. Raw. Her head throbbed like it had been cracked open and barely sewn back.
Then she opened her eyes.
White light. Beeping machines. Clean sheets. The overwhelming scent of antiseptic.
She blinked slowly, each breath shallow, like her lungs were scared to believe she could breathe again.
Everything felt... distant.
Until she saw him.
His head rested on the bed beside her, his hand wrapped tightly around hers like a lifeline. His hair was a mess. His face—sunken, bruised, pale. Eyes swollen, lips cracked. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
Zee barely moved her fingers.
Lucas flinched. Lifted his head.
And froze.
Tears slipped from his eyes instantly.
Her lips parted, but no words came—only a soft wheeze.
He leaned forward, cupping her face, sobbing now, body shaking.
“You’re alive… oh my God, you’re alive…”
His voice cracked, broke—he buried his face into her neck, holding her like she’d vanish if he let go. Tears soaked her hospital gown. He kissed her forehead, her cheek, her hands, over and over like a prayer.
The door burst open.
Ben and Alex.
Ben stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide like he’d seen a miracle. Alex’s hand flew to his mouth. A strangled sound escaped him.
“Zee?” Ben whispered, barely able to speak.
Zee blinked again, more tears falling. She raised her arm—weakly—towards them.
Alex bolted forward and crashed into her arms, sobbing. Ben followed, his arms wrapped around both of them.
“I thought we lost you…” Alex gasped.
“You scared the hell out of us,” Ben whispered, kissing her temple.
Lucas pulled them all in. Four of them. Broken, bruised, bandaged—but together.
The door opened again.
Their parents.
Gasps. Cries. More arms. More warmth.
Aida’s horror was behind them.
The blood. The fire. The deaths.
But this moment?
It was theirs.
Zee cried. Not from pain. Not from fear.
But from relief.
“You stayed,” she whispered to Lucas.
“I’d follow you through hell,” he said. “I did.”
