Chapter Four

Chloe’s POV

I flipped the steak, sprinkled it with sea salt and black pepper, then cut off a piece and took a bite.

The meat practically melted on my tongue.

The atmosphere around the others immediately turned awkward.

Mia clenched her jaw as she stared at my pan, crushing the sandwich in her hand.

“What’s so special about that? So what if she’s loaded?” Emma muttered, though the envy in her voice was impossible to miss.

“Exactly. Cooking something like that out here is so over the top,” Liam agreed, even though he couldn’t take his eyes off my pan.

I didn’t even look up.

I ate mine, and they ate theirs.

What they ate was none of my business, and what I ate was none of theirs.

When I finished, I rinsed my cooking gear with creek water and packed it away.

During the afternoon hike, they sped up as if they were trying to leave me behind.

I kept moving at my own steady pace and followed them from a distance.

The afternoon passed quickly, and eventually we reached the campsite deep in the valley.

It was a clearing surrounded by towering pine trees, with a fast-moving creek nearby. As the sun went down, the temperature dropped sharply, and the late-fall wind cut into my cheeks.

After carrying heavy packs all day, everyone was exhausted and starving.

Once the tents were set up, everyone started pushing Mia to hurry up with dinner.

“Here comes the main event!”

Mia reached into one of the enormous black plastic bags and pulled out a huge package of frozen-solid meat skewers.

The meat was an unnatural dark red, coated in thick frost, and gave off an unpleasant smell I couldn’t quite identify.

Oliver had a few people get the campfire going.

Mia placed the skewers over the flames.

Because the meat was still frozen, the outside quickly burned black while the inside remained raw and dripped bloody juices.

“Mia, I don’t think this is cooked through,” Emma said, staring uncertainly at the skewer in her hand.

“That’s what happens when you cook meat over a campfire! You want it charred outside and juicy inside.”

Mia casually took a large bite.

“See? It’s delicious!”

Hunger overpowered common sense.

Everyone crowded around the campfire and devoured the skewers.

I sat outside my one-person tent, thirty feet away from them.

I cooked a pot of hot tomato pasta, added a few slices of seared Iberico pork, and ate at my own pace.

“Chloe, are you sure you don’t want to come eat with us?” Oliver called across the campfire.

“No.”

I didn’t look up.

“Whatever. Don’t bother with her,” Mia said sarcastically. “Remember, she’s a rich girl. Our poor-people food could never be good enough for her.”

The group burst out laughing.

After dinner, everyone gathered around the campfire to play truth or dare.

Everyone was having a good time, but I noticed Emma head into the woods twice during the game.

Each time she returned, her face looked a little pale, and she held a hand over her stomach.

“Emma, are you okay?” Noah asked.

“I’m fine. Maybe the cold got to me. My stomach feels a little off.”

Emma forced a smile.

“Drink some water. You’ll feel better after you rest for a while.”

Mia handed her a thermos.

I watched them for a moment, then packed away my dishes and zipped my tent shut.

Eleven o’clock that night.

The campfire slowly died, leaving only dark red embers glowing in the wind.

Everyone crawled into their tents, and the campsite fell silent again.

All I could hear was the wind moving through the pines and the creek rushing in the distance.

I lay inside my sleeping bag and closed my eyes.

The temperature had dropped to around freezing.

Two in the morning.

I was drifting in and out of sleep when a strange noise broke the silence.

I opened my eyes and listened.

It sounded like someone was retching.

At first, the sound was faint, as though the person was trying to hold it back.

But it quickly grew louder, and more retching sounds joined it from around the campsite.

Then tent zippers began opening frantically all around me.

“Liam? What’s wrong?” Noah called anxiously from a nearby tent.

“My stomach... It hurts so bad!”

The commotion outside grew louder.

Groans and the sounds of people vomiting came from every direction.

“Help me... It hurts...” Emma whimpered.

I sat up, pulled on my windbreaker, and gripped my flashlight.

At that moment, a terrified scream tore through the silence of Pine Hollow.

It was Mia’s voice.