We started to hike uphill when I thought I heard a noise behind us. I turned to look, but saw nothing. But, as we continued walking, I heard a noise again, like a shoe crunching over branches. I stopped and looked around again, but still didn’t see anything. It could be a bird or other animal, I figured.

The third time I heard it, I was certain it wasn’t my imagination. I strained to listen as I took each step. I watched both Grant’s and my feet as we walked and as soon as I heard another crunch, I was positive it wasn’t made by either of us. Grant didn’t seem to notice, so I slowed my pace just a bit and took a quick glance over my shoulder. Then I saw it. As soon as I had looked, something black dodged behind some bushes. I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t specifically been looking to see if anyone was behind us somewhere.

I did my best to pretend I hadn’t noticed. I reached my arms up above my head and stretched casually, and then sped up to Grant.

"Someone’s behind us," I whispered.

Grant didn’t stop moving. We kept the same pace.

"How many?" he whispered back, trying to hide his lips from moving.

"I only saw one, so I’m not sure," I answered.

Grant picked up his pace a bit and I rushed to keep up.

"You have your knife, right?" he asked.

"Yes," I whispered.

"Okay," he huffed. "When I say so, we’re gonna run, got it? Run straight ahead and see if we can hide or lose them."

"Alright, I’m ready when you are," I told him.

My heart was already pounding. I could tell by Grant’s voice that he was breathing hard and was nervous. I gripped my knife in my pocket.

Grant took a deep breath in and once he exhaled, he glanced over at me and whispered, ’Go!’

I sprinted after him as fast as I could. Grant was fast and my legs burned, but we couldn’t stop. Running uphill, we both tried to look for someplace to hide. There was nowhere for us to go. The higher we went, the less options we had, as we had quickly gotten to a path with one side as a cliff that was only growing deeper. I was afraid to look to my right; the cliff’s edge was only a few feet away from me. This path had to lead somewhere, I hoped as we both kept moving.

I quickly glanced over my shoulder again. The figure I had seen ducking into the bushes before was now clearly on our tail. I could see him; short and stocky, dressed in all black and wearing a backpack. His eyes were focused directly at me like I was his one and only target.

"He’s gaining on us!" I whispered over to Grant.

He looked over his shoulder, too. His eyes narrowed with a look on his face that I’d never seen.

"Don’t stop!" he barked at me.

I was breathing so hard, I didn’t even respond to Grant. I couldn’t have, even if I’d wanted to. My throat was dry and my heart was pounding. All I could hear is the sound of myself huffing and puffing. There was a clearing up ahead and I aimed my body toward it.

Grant got to it and I was only steps behind him. I was pushing my legs so hard, my muscles twitched. My side ached with a deep stabbing pain that I tried to shut out. Just as I was almost there, I felt something grab me by my hair and yank me backwards. I flew back and hit the ground.

Instantly, my hands reached up above me and found the hand that was gripping my hair. I screamed and dug my nails into his wrist. He shouted out in pain and only gripped me harder. I was kicking my legs and trying to rip his hand off of me. As I opened my eyes, I saw his face. He had to be close to my age. For some reason, up until that moment, I had assumed the people following us were adults, like Dean and Gina. I didn’t expect kids my age.

My eyes widened as I saw his face and blinked in confusion. Why would another teenager be on this island?

"Let go!”  I screamed up to him as he started dragging me by my hair.

He didn’t answer me and I tried to look down, but he was holding my hair too tight. I wasn’t able to clearly see the second person who had jumped in front of Grant, having been hiding up there, waiting. She was much shorter than Grant and looked past him for a split second. She seemed to be trying to look at the guy who had me by my hair.

"Steven!" she screamed. "We need to switch!"

She was circling around Grant. The guy standing above me was pulling me toward the cliff and I tried to plant my heels into the dirt. We got closer and closer. He wasn’t going to stop until we were at the edge of the cliff. My eyes grew wide and I tugged at his wrist.

"Now, Steven! We need to switch! You come take this guy and I’ll take her!" the girl shrieked as Grant took a step toward her.

He tore off his backpack and tossed it up in her direction, but it hadn’t landed close enough for her to get it.

They had each gotten the wrong one of us, I figured out. The girl was supposed to fight me and the guy yanking my hair, Steven, was supposed to have fought Grant. And now, the girl was scared. For a brief second, his grip on me loosened just enough for me to wriggle on hand free.I reached into my shorts pocket and grabbed one of Gina’s injections, held it up to my mouth, and bit the cap off. I threw my arm over my head and plunged it into his arm. Struggling to break free, I watched as he stumbled sideways. I jerked down and pulled his hand from my hair. Rolling over, I jumped up and rushed toward Grant. Grant and the girl had both turned to watch the guy trip over himself as I broke free.

She let out a scream and I turned to look behind me, just as the guy stumbled too far back. He slipped off the cliff, his leg going out from under him. I gasped as I watched him disappear. I turned to look at Grant and realized the girl was still staring at the cliff.

"Grant!" I yelled.

He blinked and then grabbed her, taking her down in one swoop. She screamed and tried to claw at him, but he leaned back and grabbed her arms. I reached down and picked up the backpack. Grant was straddling her, but she was trying to fight him off. He threw her arms down to the ground. As I got to his side, I grabbed another injection and stabbed it into her upper arm. She stopped screaming and fighting, her body’s movements slowing. Grant held her until she was unconscious.

I pulled Grant up by his forearm. He was staring down at the girl in shock. I flung the backpack over my shoulder and tugged at him.

"Grant!" I yelled. "We need to go! Now!"

He stumbled up, his eyes wide, and braced himself for anyone else. I kept pulling him until he finally turned and ran along with me. We rushed along the flat part of the ground and ducked behind some rocks. Grant peeked out and we waited a few minutes before we spoke.

"Are you okay?" He stared at me.

I nodded, my eyes filling with tears. "That guy...he fell. Is he-?"

Grant grabbed my hand. "He would’ve hurt you or worse, killed you."

"I know," I agreed, trying to swallow back my sobs.

He reached out and hugged me. I hugged him back, my body shaking. He rubbed my back and whispered in my ear, "It’s okay."

I tried to control my breathing. I wiped my face with my hands and took a deep breath.

"I’m okay." I looked up at Grant.

He nodded and put his hand on my shoulder. Leaning in, his forehead bumped up gently against mine and he stared into my eyes.

"We’re going to get off this island. We’ll be alright," he told me.

I nodded, his hand still gripping my shoulder as he lifted his head from mine.

"Are you sure you can keep going?" he asked cautiously.

"I’m sure," I assured him, even though I felt nauseous.

He took another long look at me before turning around and walking back to the path. I squeezed my eyes shut as tightly as possible, the last of my tears flooding my eyelashes. I opened them and focused straight ahead. No matter what happened, I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t afford to have a break down now. I’d have to push those emotions deep down where I couldn’t find them and just keep my eyes focusing straight ahead without feeling.

We walked in silence, but Grant would take random looks over his shoulder at me. After grabbing some food out of our bag, we took a break at another clearing. I also used that opportunity to go through the backpack.

I dumped everything out and Grant and I both just stared at the pile. There was a black t-shirt, rope, a large knife, a lighter, some snacks and bottles of water.

"What am I missing?" I asked him. "Is this typical stuff a guy packs for camp?"

He looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Were they campers?" I asked him. "I know it sounds stupid, but they were both around our age, I think. But so far, we’ve been chased by a handful of people and if they’re all teenagers, why are they all so violent? They have all tried to come after us."

Grant shook his head right away. "I don’t think they were campers, Ry."

"Then who were they?" I shrieked.

"I’m not sure," he sighed. "I mean, maybe there is some sort of facility for violent teens here. But I doubt it’s a summer camp. It has to be more like a cult or group."

"That’s super weird. Who would even join a group like that?" I wondered.

"As soon as we get off this island, I’m hoping we’ll get answers because I have a ton of questions," he told me.

I nodded in agreement, lost in my thoughts.

"Let’s go a little higher and find a spot safe enough for the night," he suggested.

My body ached as I stood up. I rubbed my sore scalp and winced at the reminder of what had just happened. Grant was watching me again, looking worried. I gave him a weary smile. We hiked uphill until finally coming to a clearing that was wide and full of trees. We took advantage of the shade and got out of the hot sun. 

Next Chapter: Twenty Eight