There was dead silence. The five teens looked at each other in fear, not daring to say anything to break the tension. Liam creeped over towards Talon, attempting to grab her in the quietest way possible. Sparna-seeing how frightened and scared Eira was-crept over to her and grabbed her hand, using body language to calm her down. Eira nodded to what Sparna said, but she was still shaking. And so was Sparna.

Their best friends had been taken by that, that thing. It was something that had left a huge impact on them. Anyone could see that.

"Go," Liam mouthed, and without a second thought, they did. It was difficult to try to run fast without making noise, but they did their best. Eira wanted to go to the others, but she knew that that would just put them in danger, and they couldn't do that. They'll meet up with them later, but for now, they needed to both guide the monster away from the other group and stay safe.

Suddenly, there was a crack. Elliot froze, looking down. A broken stick laid under her feet, the sound echoing through her brain. Shit.

Without thinking, she started sprinting past everybody, going as fast as she could away from where she heard the noise. Leaves rustled under her shoes, more sticks breaking. "Elliot!" Liam yelled, making Talon jump by his sudden speech. "Stop!"

But she didn't listen. She was too scared to think straight.

And then, Sparna stopped, confusing Eira who still holding her hand in fear. Out of the corner of Sparna's eye, she saw a small figure of a strange shape, running at full speed into their path. Her eyes widened, and she screamed, "Elliot!" right before it ran right into the girl, pinning her up against a tree.

Elliot cried, reaching her hand out for someone to help her as the monster bit into her shoulder. Liam was about to, but Talon told him not to, since there was no way he could. Also, it would put them in more danger.

"I'm sorry," He whispered, small tears forming in his eyes as he watched Elliot's light brown hair mix with the red of her blood, her body lifelessly falling onto the ground and the monster gladly helping itself to what she had given it.

"Liam, you need to run!" Talon said. Sparna grabbed his hand pulling him to the left as they turned around. While he ran, the image of Elliot's slaughtered body stained his thoughts, a tear falling down his cheek that he was unable to stop. He considered himself brave, a daredevil, but this was just too far.

It was his first time seeing somebody die, and he would never forget the way he felt the life being drained from her body and how he didn't do anything to help. He knew she had no chance, but it still felt like his fault.

Then, out of nowhere, a blur sped across their path, almost making Liam drop Talon.

"I thought it was over there!" Talon said.

"Liam, Eira, go," Sparna said without thinking. What was she doing? She couldn't die!

"But Sparna-" Liam started.

"I'm not asking you. Go! Now!"

"I am not standing by and doing nothing again!"

"Go!" Talon cried, slapping him on the back. Sparna pushed him, and finally, he agreed, Eira shortly behind him.

The monster gained its control again, stampeding towards Eira and Sparna. Sparna searched the ground as fast as she could, picking up a sturdy stick that was a few feet away from her feet. Eira-who was slowing from exhaustion-screamed, trying her best to stay away. Her feet got twisted with each other, and she was sent to the ground, crying as it came towards her. But before it got to Eira, Sparna stepped in front of her.

"Go to hell!" Sparna yelled, smashing the branch into the monster. It screeched and was flung backwards, just enough time for Eira to run away with Liam and Talon. But Sparna didn't move. She was going to kill it.

"Try me!" She said to it. It turned its head directly at her, and as she saw its eyes she swore she could see four sparks in them, each of them another live it took. It was hard to look, but she stood her ground, even if she was shaking.

It growled at her, its hideous teeth taking up most of its face. "What are you waiting for, huh? Huh?" She asked, getting into position. "I'm not scared of you!"

She was absolutely petrified.

Then, out of nowhere, it put away its teeth. Sparna raised her eyebrows as it looked towards her feet, sprinting past her before she could even look down. When she did, she didn't understand what it was that caught the monster's attention, but after looking further down the woods trail, a chill was sent up her spine.

Leaves were delicately laid out in a path that was infinitely long, or at least it seemed infinite, and easy to make out. Each leave seemed so perfectly placed that it couldn't be natural. It was man made.

The others were leading the monster right to them.

***

"We found it!"

Everyone was ecstatic, running towards the stream. Marisa stopped them, telling them that it might not be safe and she should try it first. Surprisingly, it was fresh. All of the water was mostly clean, the light at the peak of dawn shimmering in it.

Finally, they could drink.

They all ran towards the water, some shoving it get to it. They slurped it down, water dripping down their chin. But they didn't care.

"Hallelujah!" cried Zeke, cupping his hands as he picked up some water and chucked it Orion's way. He silently shrieked, shaking his head as he tossed some water back and Zeke barely missing it. Zeke laughed, throwing some more water his way. A few more people joined, chucking as much water as they could at the others. Marisa and Nico laughed as they both threw some onto Zeke at the same time, Zeke letting out a large laugh.

"Guys, we shouldn't be playing with the water," said Jayed. "What if we need it?"

"Well, then, there is always more!" said Zeke, grabbing some more water and aiming for Marisa, but it went right past her and right onto Naya, who was trying to peacefully enjoy her drink of water. Zeke put his hands to his mouth, holding back a laugh. Naya glared, her eyes burning a hole in Zeke's.

"Oh, you're dead, Blaze," She started, but something stopped her. Nico. He was looking around his surroundings, as if he could hear or see something they couldn't.

Suddenly, Nico lost his balance, grabbing on the nearest person's shoulder for support, who happened to be Marisa. "Whoa, you okay?" She asked, but he didn't answer. Instead, he just clutched his head, holding on to Marisa with his other hand.

Everybody turned to Nico and stopped playing with the water, forming a circle. Ty-who was out near the edge of the group at the time-went back to see what was the matter, but couldn't see anything between Orion and Zeke, whom were both keeping them back and blocking their view.

"Something's wrong with him," Marisa said. Him? Ty thought. Who's him?

"Nico, what's wrong?" They gasped. Nico.

Ty pushed Zeke back a little to the point where they could see their friend a little bit. Nico's breaths turned short and choppy, his cheeks and forehead paling. Ty watched in horror as Nico's eyes rolled back into his head and closed, Marisa struggling to hold him up. He fell onto the ground all of his skin completely white and pale. She checked his forehead and pulse, eyes going wide as she was unable to speak.

"What is it?" Ty asked, trying to shove past Zeke and Orion, who tried to keep them back.

"Let me through!" They ordered, punching Zeke's arm that held them. "Let me through!" They repeated, but they still did not listen. Finally, they got past the boys, running towards Nico and sitting down before they even stopped running. "Get away," They ordered Marisa, and when she didn't listen, they raised their voice.

"Get. Away!" They shouted with a volume they had never used before, shocking everybody, including Marisa. She got up as fast as she could, wondering if she could trust a shy kid with an unconscious fourteen year-old.

Ty rolled Nico gently towards them, holding his chin up as he checked for pulse again. That's what Marisa was worried about. His pulse was way too low, barely even there.

"Nico?" Ty shook their friend to try to wake them up, but nothing happened. "Nico, goddammit, wake up!" Still no result. What was that? Why did he just pass out?

Without thinking, Ty tipped his head back again, pinching his nostrils and opening his mouth as they pressed their lips to his and blew. They heard people gasp in the background, but they ignored it, releasing their lips as they did it again.

It had to work. It just had to.

Every few breaths Ty had to check for a pulse, but every time it was the same. Almost nothing.

Two more breaths. Check pulse. Two more breaths. Check pulse. It felt like forever, but they weren't going to accept defeat. Thoughts flashed through their head, telling them that they were going to succeed, but they didn't pay attention to them. For the first time, they weren't looking at the negative.

Ty gave Nico one more rescue breath before the boy coughed, which made Ty's heart start racing with hope. They shook him a little bit, but he stayed in the same state that he was in before.

Almost everyone stayed silent, too mesmerized and focused on what was in front of them. Almost.

"Is no one going to do anything?" Naya asked, annoyed by everyone's silence. "Get him some water?"

"He's unconscious!" Quinn whispered.

"Yeah, well water would still help him recover! Plus, it might help sooth his fever and possible wake him up." They all looked at her like she was crazy, which made her want to lash out, but she held it back. Normally she would, but in order for her to survive she needed the group to stick together. Otherwise they would all turn on her for getting Ty's stupid pronouns wrong or something. "What?"

Naya walked over to the river, cupping water in her hand and running over to Nico as she poured it onto his forehead.

"What the heck do you do that for?" Marisa exclaimed, but they all ignored her. Ty backed up a little so it didn't get on them, and was a little bit shocked to see Nico's late reaction of water being poured on his head. But his reaction was quite big, shooting up from the ground and panting, Ty having to stabilize him by grabbing onto his shoulder. After a few seconds, he fell back down and laid on the ground like he was before, his head resting on a wet spot on the grass from the water.

"Ty," He said weakly, looking to his friend.

They nodded their head. "Yeah?"

"Weak. Need...rest..." He told them, eyes fluttering and barely staying open.

"I know," They said in response. They smiled a tiny bit, rubbing his shoulder a little with their hand before Nico's eyes closed again, and even after, just to comfort him. At least, that's what Ty told themself.

"Well, we better get going," William said.

"Why?" Jayed asked. "We just found water."

"Duh! We need to tell the others!" Zeke said.

"No, idiot," Hedi said. "to find food. I'm starving!"

"Yeah, we know," Naya replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Her "nice and caring" charade didn't last long.

"Actually," William said. "I meant what Zeke said but now that you mention it, we do need to find food. Or else we'll die before that thing can get us."

"See?" Hedi said. Now Dylan was rolling his eyes.

Ty looking at Nico, decided what they should do. William offered to hold him, but Ty shook their head, telling him that they were going to do it. Sure, they were nowhere near as strong as William was, but there was no way they were trusting anyone else to look after Nico. Not after everything that happened to him. For all Ty knew, William could sacrifice him to the monster if they encountered it, or he could drop him and hurt him.

"Are you sure?" William asked. Ty glared. William bit his lip. Was he really letting a scrawny fifteen-year-old kid carry a boy less than a year younger than them?

By the look on Ty's face, it looked like he had no choice.

Ty dug their hands underneath Nico's lower and upper back, trying as hard as they could to lift him up. It was almost impossible at first, even if Nico was very light, because of the angle Ty was standing in. It took a few tries before they could even lift him off of the ground.

"Ty-" Nico started quietly, his eyes still mostly shut, but Ty interrupted him.

"Shush," They whispered. But Nico didn't listen.

"Ty...don't," He said. "I...can walk." He tried to open his eyes all the way, but Ty could tell it was an impossible task.

"No," They said.

"Yes," He argued, his voice still deep asleep.

"No, you can't. Now go back to sleep, you idiot."

They didn't necessarily mean to add the last part, but it was effective enough to convince Nico, making him drift back to sleep without a moment's hesitation. They did wish that Nico had the strength to walk, but he didn't. And they weren't going to make him.

Zeke and Orion walked side by side, Orion keeping his focus forward and trying not to look Zeke in the eyes, fear of how he himself would react to that. After a minute or so, Zeke quickened his pace and caught up with Marisa and started a conversation with her.

This is what happens when you ignore him, Orion, He thought. He was the slightest bit annoyed with himself.

Then, his mind drifted elsewhere. At first he thought that he was going crazy, but Orion swore that he heard yelling in the distance, cries and screams that begged for his attention. He couldn't exactly tell who it was, but it sounded feminine, with a small bit of masculine in there as well.

There were only five other people on this island.

Panicked, Orion tapped Zeke's shoulder, but he didn't turn around and continued talking to Marisa, swatting away Orion's hand. Orion slapped a few more times, but still no response. Orion couldn't take it anymore, and-despite what his instincts told him-he shoved Zeke, trying as hard as he could to make any sound with his lungs, even if it was just a whimper.

Nothing came out of his mouth. But his shove didn't fail to catch Zeke's attention. Marisa put her hands to her mouth in shock. "What?" He snapped, but Orion didn't care. He had other things to worry about. Orion pointed, but Zeke still looked confused.

"Um..." He trailed off, trying to understand Orion's gestures.

Completely impatient, Orion signed screaming to Zeke, pointing again and making Zeke's mouth drop.

"Everybody be quiet," Zeke ordered.

"Wh-" Dylan started, but Quinn covered his mouth. There was complete silence among everybody, and finally they could make out the cries.

"Run!"

"It's coming!"

"Can you hear us?"

"It found us!"

"Run!"

Dylan gasped. "Holy shit."