Chapter 34: A Cruel, Reckless Plan

"Does everybody understand the plan?" I ask after explaining the plan.

"No, I don't understand,” says Hazel, Violet meekly nodding at her side. “I don't understand why. Why are you even proposing such a rash idea?"

His eyes closed and arms folded, Cliff's heavy tone grabs everybody's attention with just a single word as he voices, "Agreed."

Silence lingers as Hazel regathers her thoughts. A single, unnoticed crow watches on from afar, its presence and visibility cloaked by the tree leaves as it perches itself atop a high tree branch.

After a few more seconds, Hazel gives her reasoning behind her sudden protest, "I also don't understand how the rest of you agreed to this too. I noticed you all talking earlier by the campfire; was this unanimous? How so…? You just said there's a one in three chance that one or more of us will die. Those aren't odds worth risking my life over, no way…"

I defend, "If you want to stay, I won't stop you. But I can't promise that you'll be safe here either. Remember that riddle we solved? The code read 'only one can remain'. There will come a time when Crow won't wait any longer if we stay here, and he'll come hunting for us. Get this through your head… Crow will be the one remaining after he kills us all."

Unable to say anything, Hazel averts her gaze. Continuing onward, I say, "As I said before, we'll form groups of three-"

"I just have one question,” interrupts Delta. “And it's a question addressed to everybody. Is that alright, Scar?"

"Go ahead."

With her earlier question perking up everybody’s ears, I waited attentively to hear what Delta’s question would be.

"I don't believe this… this Crow exists. Ace is the killer. He's responsible for everything that's happened so far. So if anybody runs into Ace, and he fights… fight back. But try not to kill him if you can. Leave him for me. Can you all do that?"

Murmuring fills the air; some were willing, while most could not quickly form an opinion. To calm everybody down once more, I clap my hands together twice. The sounds of mother nature once more resound before I address Delta.

"We'll do what we have to do, whether we run into Ace or Crow. But our primary goals behind our actions today are to gather as much information around us as possible and survive. Don't forget that. If I come across Ace and the only choice is to take him down, that's what I'll do. Otherwise, he's all yours."

A smirk appears on Delta's face, "Good enough for me."

After hearing that, Delta was more than satisfied, even though the only opinion she seemed to care about was mine. As she stood up and walked off toward her tent, most watched her, a few wanting to speak up and object to her words and actions. But nobody said a word. Turning back briefly, Delta narrows her eyes as she realizes most people are gazing at her.

"What are you all waiting for? Let's go kill this son of a bitch."

With that, she disappeared into her tent, and then, the sound of footsteps refocused everybody's attention. Blue had risen to his feet, proclaiming to the group.

"You heard Delta, let's get moving."

Even though the majority had no intention of listening to Delta, for some reason… Blue’s involvement and similar stance on the matter sprung people into action. As if obeying his word, many begin to follow suit.

And that’s when I heard a sniffle. As Hazel turned around, she realized her friend had begun crying, as she had thought.

Poor Violet. It feels as if everybody has disregarded what she brought up at the trial the other day, and now, she will be forced into going back into that wretched forest.

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Trying to console her, Hazel tells her, "It'll be okay, we’ll be okay, Vi.”

As Violet wipes away her tears, Hazel can recognize that Violet is trying to regain control over her emotions. Gently putting her hand on top of Violet's, their eyes meet, and Hazel gives her a soft smile, "It'll be okay."

And then, as if she were a fragile vase that just shattered, Violet began to sob uncontrollably, and all Hazel could do was hold her and keep repeating that everything would be okay.

To distract himself as much as possible, Code took on the role of handing out food rations to everybody while they frantically ran around, getting ready for the day. As he held out some bread to Falcon and Cliff, Falcon quickly snatched his share and stored it in his backpack, thanking Code before leaving. Giving Falcon a curt nod before transferring his attention to Cliff, Cliff had only just now gently taken the food from Code’s hands. He was frowning, and it was clear by his sulking body language that he was also firmly against the plan for today.

"I can't say I'm too thrilled about this either,” says Code, trying to break the awkward barrier between them.

Cliff toys with the bread in his hand, not making eye contact with Code, "This plan is reckless. To leave one's life up to chance is cruel."

"I agree, I absolutely agree. Scar, Delta, and Blue's influence has grown considerably since the trial. I was surprised to see so many agree to Scar’s plan, even if internally, they disagreed. This forced the rest to decide, will I follow the pack or be seen as a foe to those passionate enough to lead? You phrased it perfectly. This is cruel. However…"

At that moment, Cliff met Code in the eye, which caught Code off guard. Code gulps as his voice flutters from inner discourse.

"However… I'm also not too thrilled about death either. Today, we've been given two options. Both will put us in danger, perhaps even kill us. It's just a matter of when that danger will take effect. So, if Scar thinks doing this, leaving camp and exploring once more, will lower our chances of being killed later on… I'll trust him. But if he’s wrong, we know who to blame."

The frown on Cliff’s face remains unchanged as he walks away, breaking off our conversation. Slightly relieved, Code takes a deep breath, but just as his muscles are about to relax, he catches me walking toward him out of the corner of his eye.

He asks me, "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just came over to grab some food."

"Oh, right. Here."

After Code handed me a loaf of bread and two apples, I put the food in the front compartment of my backpack as I informed him, "We made groups at the meeting after you left; you're with me."

Unable to hide his surprise, Code blurts out, "Why?!"

Immediately noticing his mistake, he attempts to reiterate, "I mean… why are we in the same group? We should be taking our own groups since we're more intelligent than the rest; that would make more sense, right?"

I responded nonchalantly, "Most people wanted to go with those they trusted. Hazel, Sky, and Violet are a group for example. I trust you more than anybody else so I opted to go with you. It just worked out that way, so we're now partners."

Taken aback by my words, Code nods in acknowledgment as he begins tapping his foot, "That makes sense… yeah… okay."

Keeping things brief, I add, "We're heading out in a few minutes. Make sure you get whatever you need."

"Will do."

At that moment, it looked like his mind and body screamed at him to object; my instructions put Code at ease. And because of that, he thought maybe, just maybe, everything would go smoothly, just as planned.

After a few more minutes of preparation, the five groups meet around the campfire, its embers slowly fading. The five groups are:

Group 1: Hunter, Falcon, and Forest. They are taking the southwest path and aim to make it back to the cave, find the trees, and record the markings they saw the first time around.

Group 2: Sky, Violet, and Hazel. Taking the path going directly east, we don’t know anything about it, but we also believe the eastern path will be the furthest from danger.

Group 3: Delta, Ember, and Faith. This group is taking the northeast path, minimally known besides the fact there could be a stream nearby.

Group 4: Cliff and Blue. This duo is going directly west on another unknown path. However, the path could interweave itself with the northwest path through the various bodies of water. It’s believed to be one of the more dangerous paths today.

Group 5: Me and Code. And we're taking the southeast path.

"Travel as far as you feel comfortable going. Each group should have their own pen and ripped page of paper from the notebook, so remember to write down anything that catches your eye," I say as I stamp out the rest of the campfire.

Scanning down the gathered groups, I say, "And most importantly, stay safe. Be back before sunset tonight. Good luck, everybody."

Strutting past some people as I head toward the southeast path that Code and I are taking, I hear Code’s footsteps following close behind me.

Without looking back, I loudly proclaim, "Everybody, move out!"