Chapter 32: Putting Pen to Paper

With that newfound discovery fueling our thoughts, the six of us briskly walk through the camp, Code saying, "The letters, the numbers, the markings, they've all been here since the beginning. Since the day we woke up here.”

Falcon asks, "Which means they're all connected, right?"

I hold up a finger, "Sort of, but not exactly. We can at least assume that they all hold major significance based on their appearance alone."

Forest interjects, "Okay, so what do we do now? We don't have a riddle to help us out this time."

In response to his question, Code gestures as he explains, "That's right, but we can still start by doing the same thing we did last time."

Back at the campfire, Code picks up the notebook and pen he left on his seat, "And we start by jotting down everything that we know."

Taking a seat and flipping to a new page, Code begins drawing as the notebook rests on his lap, "Scar. Could you run over and grab the compass for me, please?"

“Yeah.”

While I walk over to the supplies, Code points at the middle of the page with emphasis, the group recognizing a circle has been drawn. Inside the circle is the word 'CAMP' in all capital letters. Looking around, Code describes his thoughts as I return and hand the compass over.

"This is us right now. This is our camp. Flora, Grace, you guys… you all saw different things in various locations, so..."

Refocusing on the notebook, Code continues drawing, "If you look at camp from a bird's eye view, you'll see there are six different paths that leave camp. Two leading toward the North, two toward the South, one toward the East, and the last toward the West. Think of a hexagon, or more specifically, each of the six vertices that a hexagon has. All six paths sprout off in different directions from their own starting point, or in this analogy, their own vertex. So far, we have gone down the path exiting from the Northwest part of camp three times. Once on the first day, the second was Ace's group, and the third was the day before the trial, where we saw the aftermath of what happened. Because of that, we know the stream is pretty close up north. Going west once you arrive at the stream will bring you to the waterfall if you walk further. From that point, various rivers and streams stem out further west.”

Code continues to draw, the picture of their environment slowly being shaped, "Ember, Hunter, Falcon, and Forest. You all took the path exiting from the southwest part of camp. And in that direction, you said you found a cave after walking for a while. And from how you described the path the other day, I'm going to assume it looks something like this. The path stays relatively straight, going directly south for a while before a sharp cut to the west. After a little more, it wraps back again, going relatively south. A few minor turns later, you arrive at the cave. The main difference between your group and Ace's is that your group went almost directly south. At the same time, Ace started North before changing directions to the west.”

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Forest looks over Code's shoulder, "That looks fairly accurate from what I remember."

The pen resumes inking the page as Code further explains, "Good. Now, back on the topic of nearby landmarks, we got the hill pretty close by, being directly south of us. It also splits apart the two southern pathways. The hill's summit is more toward the east and provides a good vantage point."

Code draws a little archway just below the camp box and then begins to draw straight lines with scribbles at the top, resembling trees to fill in some gaps.

"And then there's a large forest, or, if you prefer, woods, pretty much everywhere else. Of course, we haven't taken four of the six paths yet, so we don't know what those could lead to. Lastly, we know the general location of where both Flora and Grace died. Flora died to the north just beyond the stream, and Grace died off to the northwest."

Drawing two skulls, Code sets down the pen and holds the notebook against his chest, showing the map he's drawn, "Not everything is to scale, but I believe this covers almost everything we know so far."

As I stood there studying the map, I couldn’t help but feel ignorant. I wish there was some pattern here, but we haven't explored enough around us to determine if there is a connection between anything.

Looking down at the map, Code points a finger at the cave, "How exactly do we get back here?"

Losing interest, Ember says in a monotone voice, "The path.”

"No shit, but how are we going to get there without that monster thing coming back."

Ember clicks her tongue, "Look, can we drop the whole monster thing? Can't we just call whatever that's trying to kill us an actual name? It'll make things easier."

Thrown off, Code starts to stutter, "That's… random but, okay… yeah, I guess it'll be easier to reference. What do you have in mind?"

Ember shrugs, "Why not 'Crow'? It's the other thing Ace warned us about, right? We've been focusing on the trees this entire time, but I'd gamble that this killer is somehow associated with crows. So that's the name. Crow."

"I'm good with that," says Hunter.

Falcon concurs, "Same here."

Forest nods as Code takes a deep breath before resuming, "We'll need to distract… Crow… if we want to make it back to this cave."

I chime in, "Not necessarily…"

Confused, Code looks at me, "What do you mean? If we don't, he could kill us before we ever get the chance to see what's there. Then we'll be really screwed and–"

Ember cuts him off, "Shut up for a moment, will ya?"

Code heaves a heavy sigh, "Go on, Scar."

Exchanging looks with everybody but Code, as he was not part of the group that day, I say, "What you guys saw, I'm sure it's not the only thing out there. Flora and Grace noticed something was off about their surroundings and got killed shortly after that realization. What you found is probably not the only thing we could go off of; at least, that's what I'm thinking."

Puzzled, Falcon asks, "I'm not quite following. What are you trying to say?"

Walking over to Code, I point at the map, my finger moving around on the page as I speak, "Here, this is where Flora died. And this is where Grace died. And this is where you all were, a completely different location. It's safe to assume that our environment has these markings dispersed amongst the trees in all directions."

"If that's the case, there's no way we could cover all this ground. It's impossible," remarks Hunter, shaking his head.

I counter his claim, my resolute and confident tone giving hope to the rest of the group, "It's not impossible. There is actually a way. But we have to do this today. As today might be the only day we have a chance at succeeding."