"BURN IT ALL"
AKA; TRUE KILLERS & RED DAWN

The further we went into the night, the bigger the forest seemed to get. Maybe I had zoned out during the tour earlier, but the foliage seemed to go on and on, which isn't how I remembered. It felt like forever when we finally reached the archery targets near the edge of camp. Meaning we were almost at the washroom.

I was trailing behind Chet and Trevor as we walked along, the former trying to be as quiet as he could with his heavy steps. I could see him flinch and wince in front of me every once and a while, but he kept silent, trying not to get us caught.

Attempting to keep up with their longer strides, I chewed on my bottom lip until it was in shreds. I couldn't stop replaying every thing that had happened in the last few hours over and over again in my head.

Which is why my thoughts went straight back to Tommy the minute a pair of gunshots rang through the trees. He was the only one I knew of that had a gun here, and the first logical explanation I could think of.

"What was that?" Chet wondered to Trevor, who's been supporting him as he limped along this whole time.

"Margaret." Trevor replied, and I quickly breathed in relief, "She said she had a gun."

My lips lifted in a hopeful smile, "Maybe she got one of the killers." I said, earning nods from both men.

I wasn't sure how good Margaret was with a gun, but I did know that Jingles only had a knife, so she had a leg up at least. Despite all my complaining about her, I did not wish her, or anyone else dead; Especially not after tonight.

The bushes behind the archery began to rustle, putting the three of us alert once again. I glanced past the leaves where the noise came from, trying to see anything that might be hiding but came up short.

"What is that?"

"Shhh." The man hushed.

Trevor pushed Chet in my direction, leaving me to support him while he took two abandoned arrows from the nearest target to use as a weapon. I slung an arm under my boy's shoulders and took us a step back just in case there was a fight.

I looked up at Chet's face- god he looked sickly- and grinned again, hoping it was reassuring enough.

Holding the sharp arrowheads over his shoulder, the man braced himself for whoever was behind the trees. They neared us, the rustling sound growing louder with each second until someone walked through the gap between two targets.

Trevor reeled back the weapon and got ready to attack before the three of us registered who it was. Our crazy haired blonde friend- without Ray, just as predicted.

"Whoa!" She exclaimed at the sight of Trevor ready to puncture her with an arrow.

He briskly retracted and took a deep breath, relieved it was only her. "Oh, Jesus, Montana." He breathed before stating, "You look fucking gorgeous."

I groaned at the remark, but decided not to say anything this time, and instead went straight to business, "Where have you been? Where's Ray?"

"I've been looking for Brooke. We got separated" She said, ignoring my question about our other friend. He must've ran then, and pissed her off.

Bitch.

"Did you hear those gunshots?" She asked the three of us, earning nods from Chet and I and a response from Trevor.

"Yeah." He told her, "I think Margaret's in trouble. I got to go back for her."

"Woah-" I interrupted, "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, she didn't want to come before, and probably still doesn't. That or she's already dead." I reminded once again.

We had to hope Margaret's gunshots had worked to defend her, but we couldn't be sure.

"She's a tough lady. Little weird- but tough. Don't worry about me, just head to the car. I'll meet you guys there, okay?" Trevor informed.

I sighed but bobbed my head anyway, Montana following my actions as well. As he headed in the direction of Margaret's cabin, she even blew him a little kiss, and let him know she was going to miss him.

I laughed genuinely for the first time since this whole nightmare began. "He couldn't have been that good." I joked, referring to their rendezvous earlier that night.

She smirked, "He was that good."

We both giggled a bit before I gestured for us to keep going. Montana took a good look at Chet, taking in his obvious injury, and probably noticing how sick he looked too.

"You look like shit." She stated, putting a hand on his shoulder above the hole.

He glared at her playfully, "Well, I've never felt better."

I grinned too, before looking to Montana, "Xavier and Bertie are gonna meet us at the car too. It's behind the washrooms."

She furrowed her brows, "Who's car? Fake Rita's?"

I shook my head, "No. Some guy with the something in his eye." I explained, unsure of who the car belonged to myself. I didn't remember meeting a guy with the stake through his eye.

We all flinched when an explosion sounded not to far away. Actually, it came from the exact direction we had been heading in. I glanced past Chet and shared a look with Montana as she silently signalled that we needed to speed up.

Chet seemed to get the message too, and we all quicker our pace to get to the car faster- or at least as quick as Chet could go.

A warm aura had embodied the forest, spiking my concern even more than it'd been before. It was bright orange, and the closer we approached, the hotter the air got. Which is why I wasn't surprised to find a car, behind the showers, caught on fire.

All the air left my chest, and my shoulders slumped in defeat. I probably would have collapsed too had I not remembered I was supposed to be helping Chet stay on his own feet.

Speaking of, his head had fallen so it was leaning against the top of mine, and I could hear the sounds of his heavy breaths. He sounded just as tired as I was, and equally disappointed that our escape had gone up in flames.

"Fuck." Montana mumbled, letting go of his shoulder and approaching the fire, albeit she didn't get too close- Just in case.

I lifted my chin, pressing a quick kiss to my boy's cheek before I slipped my arm away from him and followed the girl's actions. My eyes darted around for any sort of bucket, or some container we could hold water in to put out the fire, but I saw nothing. It wouldn't really matter in the long run though. I doubted a scorched car would run anymore.

The heat tickled the tops of my cheeks, another cruel reminded of our situation- But at least I wasn't cold anymore. "We're dead. We're all gonna die." I whispered, a loose tear stinging my warm face.

I gasped when the ground behind us crunched, signalling someone was coming. I looked over to Montana, who seemed just as alarmed as I was. I quickly returned to Chet's side, letting him lean on me again.

Thankfully, it was only Margaret, and she seemed to be unscathed. I expected to see Trevor just behind her, and was confused when there was no sign of him. I immediately assumed she left her cabin before he got there, and was probably headed back again.

"Margaret, hey." I drawled, "You okay?"

She nodded, studying the three of us- and boy was there a lot to look at. Between my blood crusted hair, our bloodshot eyes, and Chet's gaping wound, she probably had a lot of questions.

Before she could ask any though, Brooke and Xavier joined our little group at the unwanted bonfire. I gazed at them quickly, then did a double take at Xavier. Glancing towards him again I noticed his skin was just as charred as the vehicle.

"That was our way out." He muttered in disappointment, making me feel sorry for him. I didn't know what had happened to him since we split up, but it obviously wasn't good.

"Where did you go?" Brooke questioned Montana, her voice just as shrill as when the night started.

Montana shook her head, "I'm so sorry. I went back to get you, but you were gone."

Brooke managed a light smile, "It's okay." She then glanced between Chet and I, just as Margaret had done, most likely making the same observations.

It was then I realized this was the first time I had seen her since before I fell asleep. I wondered what she had been through since the terror had insstilled, but didn't bother to ask. We had bigger fish to fry.

"What happened?" She inquired, gesturing at the flames that grew with every minute.

I sighed, my vision blurring from the light as I stared into the bright embers. "It was on fire when we got here. Killer must have gotten to it first."

Margaret turned to face all of us and said, "It was so awful. Jingles was attacking me. I thought I was dead. And Trevor-"

I noticed Montana's face lifted in my peripheral vision, immediately intrigued by the sound of his name. I hoped whatever news about him was good- I couldn't handle anymore death.

"He was so brave. Jingles killed him."

I closed my eyes at the news, reaching the arm not tucked around Chet to pull Montana into a side hug, leaving the three of us in an odd embrace.

The night had been long- way too long. I just wanted to go home, but now we couldn't even do that.

It was as if the weight of our situation had fallen on every single one of us in that moment. Chet, Montana and I clutched together in the weakest embrace ever. Brooke with her shoulders dropped looking sadly into the flame. Xavier, eyes wide and chest heaving. The only one who seemed normal was Margaret, but I supposed this wasn't her first rodeo with Mr. Jingles.

"It's not big enough." Xavier said, cutting the sharp silence, "No one can see it. We need to build a signal fire. Big enough for a plane to see! The cabins, the trees we have to burn it all!" He started rambling.

Every feature on my face fell in sympathy. I wanted out just as bad as he did, but at least I wasn't panicking, nor was I injured. His skin was scorched and red, and knowing him, that had to be a hard sight.

"We're not burning shit, okay?" Montana snipped, "We need to find an exit plan."

Brooke bowed her head in agreement, "Yeah, she's right. Xavier, you need to relax. Just breathe." She suggested gently, hoping it'd alleviate some of the obvious stress he was under.

"You want me to breathe?" He muttered before raising his voice, "I have breathed the fire of a thousand white-hot suns!" He exclaimed.

His gaze fell to the grass below our feet, coming across a sizeable branch that must have broken off a tree. He stumbled towards it and bent down to pick up, heading straight for the fire again once he had it in his grasp. The blond dropped the top of the stick into an ember, catching it on fire. He then swung it around and faced us all again.

"Xav!" I shouted, "You need to calm down. It's gonna be alright."

"Dude, stop!" Chet joined in as the blond neared us, pulling me back away from the swinging torch.

"Xavier, put that down!" Brooke practically pleaded, hoping he'd listen to at least one of us. Unfortunately, he appeared unreachable.

"Get back! Get out of the way!" He yelled, continuing to throw around the torch without thinking. I swear if one of us got too close and we would have caught on fire too. "Don't you see? It all has to burn."

Margaret wasted no time taking him out with the butt of her hand gun, sending him and the torch to the ground. Brooke gasped, and my eyes widened, both a little taken back by her actions just then.

"Forgive me, but I had to stop him before he hurt someone!" She defended herself, and I couldn't blame her.

He was unruly and obviously in shock. Hopefully this little nap would put his head back on straight so we could work out a plan.

Brooke sniffled, "Let's get him to a cabin."

✗✗✗

I sat at the foot of the bunk, handing a wet wash cloth to Brooke so she could lay it on Xavier's forehead. Even though we had left the fire, he still seemed to radiate heat. I figured it correlated with his burns.

We'd decided on going to the girls cabin since it was the closest to the shower- Something I silently thanked because now I had the chance to grab a coat. We were currently weighing our limited options on how to escape this night.

"We can't stay here." Montana stated, pacing a small portion of the cabin, "We have to rally, go through the woods we'll find help eventually."

I got up from the bed, leaving Brooke to tend to Xavier, and grabbed my bag from the top bunk, "Montana's right. I don't think we're any safer just sitting here."

I took my purple windbreaker from the top of the duffle and swung it around my shoulders so I could slip my arms into the sleeves.

I watched Margaret shake her head in my peripheral vision, "No. Those woods are a maze, we'll be walking around in circles. And don't forget about the traps."

Crossing the cabin floor to sit on the couch next to Chet, I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, "I forgot about the traps." I mumbled, leaning over to lay my head on the boy's unscathed shoulder.

He sighed and laid his chin against my hair, "Jingles could have this whole place booby-trapped, for all we know."

"Xavier can't even walk. We should just stay here till sunrise. There's safety in numbers." Brooke suggested from behind us before reminding happily, "And we have a gun."

Though Margaret didn't seem as enthusiastic at that statement, "Some bad news on that front-" She said, clicking the trigger of her gun to show us it was empty, "I used all my bullets trying to protect Trevor from Jingles. I wish I could have done more."

I raised a brow. The shots came before Trevor went to Margaret, and none sounded after. But I chose to ignore my suspicion from now, my chest heaving again, "So we're basically fucked."

She snuck a quick, and horribly hidden glare at my language before telling us, "There is another option. Yesterday I saw two people camping on the other side of the lake. Two of us could take a boat across."

That piece of information was hopeful, but I stopped myself from getting too excited. I didn't trust Margaret the way I did everyone else in the cabin, and I knew Montana felt the same after what she said about Trevor. Unfortunately though, it seemed to be our only option.

"Maybe they have a car." Brooke beamed, not as naturally suspicious as the other blonde and I. Though if there were other people out there, it was likely they had some sort of vehicle.

"Good idea." Montana agreed, "Chet'll go with you."

I lifted my head off my boy's shoulder and craned my neck to give Montana a funny look, "Are you serious? He's half dead." I stated, referring the blue tinge that had fallen over his face and the sluggish way he'd been walking.

The crazy haired blonde rolled her eyes at me, "Then both of you go, I don't care."

I turned again, this time to share a look with Chet, who appeared just as confused at me. Did I really want to risk both of our lives on the lake to maybe find some campers? No. But I also didn't have a choice.

"Yeah, whatever." I muttered with a downcasted gaze as Chet added, "Sure. I love boats."

I stood from the seat, helping Chet off shortly after. We limped solemnly towards the door of the cabin where the older woman was standing and smiling at the two of us. She still appeared so calm that it was actually kind of freaky.

Margaret breathed in relief at our compliance and placed a hand over her heart. "You're very brave. God bless you."

She opened the splintered door behind her and started out into the night, getting ready to lead us towards the dock.

As I stepped onto the porch with Chet's arm draped over my shoulder I heard Brooke call, "Be careful, you guys."

an
hi! i have an idea for a xavier story if y'all want that. and thank you for 1k reads :)
ps this florence outfit has total oli vibes