Page 54 of Ring Around the Rosie

Within minutes, we seemed to have lost the plague doctor. And soon, we were standing just across the way from the dark and empty cabin. We all tried to catch our breaths all while making little sound. I motioned for them to crouch, and we all huddled together. Sandy was crying, and Kaila held her close. “Okay,” I whispered. “We need to try and get inside the cabin. Once the coast is clear, we can make our way to the cafeteria and wait there.” Sandy continued to cry. “Hey, I know. I know it’s a lot, Sandy. But we have to pull ourselves together.”

Sandy stared at me with swollen and tear-filled eyes. “You don’t get it! I’ve known these people since I was a kid, and everyone is dying!” Kaila tried to politely shush her, but Sandy ignored her. “Why is this happening to us? Why?”

Snap.

We all stiffened at the sound. “Kaila. Leave the flashlight. We need to be as fast and unnoticeable as possible.” She nodded. “Sandy?” The woman looked at me with red eyes. “You’re going to survive this. I promise.” She nodded and wiped her tears. “Now, we wait for the next flash of lightning, check the surrounding area, and if everything is clear, we go. Okay?” The two women nodded.

We silently shed our extra gear and waited in the tall grass. A good twenty minutes or so went by before the next strike of lightning. We held our breaths, and I scanned the horizon for any sign of The Order. But there was none.

Thank God.

As the world melted back into darkness, I nodded to the others. We all held hands and quietly made our way towards Cabin Thirteen.

The three of us quietly stepped onto the porch and clung together. Kaila opened the door, and it started to squeak. We all froze. “Fuck,” she whispered. My head snapped around and looked out into the night. There was no sign of anyone else. So, Kaila opened the door some more. It continued to squeak until it was opened enough for us to slip inside. “Let’s go,” she whispered.

We all moved into the cabin without making a sound. I turned to slowly shut the door when lightning flashed again. And there, out across the way, was another fucking plague doctor. “Fuck!” I slammed the door shut.

“What? What is it?” Kaila asked.

“They’re outside! Quick hide!”

Kaila and Sandy scrambled around the cabin. “Where?” Sandy asked. I searched the cabin, but aside from a few windows and the front door, there was nowhere to go and nowhere to hide.

“Get under the beds! Quickly!” Sandy and Kaila exchanged a look before they crawled under their bunks. I ran to the back window and opened it.

“What’re you doing?” Kaila whispered across the cabin.

I shushed her and rushed back to my own bunk when I noticed a burnt rose sitting on my bed. “What the fuck?” I picked it up and knew exactly what it meant.

Footsteps reached the cabin porch. I dropped the rose and crawled under my bed and onto my stomach. Kaila and Sandy were across the cabin under the bunks and could see me. I slowly raised my finger to my lips, and they nodded.

The door knob to the cabin turned, and we watched as the door slowly creaked open. I felt sick. The three of us watched as the masked person slowly stepped inside. They were dragging the bloodied axe behind them and walked deeper into the cabin, searching. The women’s eyes shot to me, and I knew they were terrified.

The masked person continued to walk further into the cabin before stopping at the window I left open. I hoped they’d assume we’d crawled through it and leave, allowing us enough time to escape.

That’s right. Take the bait.

The killer stood there for a moment and looked out the window.

Take the bait!

They eventually turned around and slowly walked back through the cabin and towards the door. I couldn’t help but smile.

Yes!

I watched them step past us, and my smile faded. Sandy was fidgeting with something. I tried to get her attention, but whatever it was, it was freaking her out. And then I realized what was happening. A large spider was crawling on her, and Sandy was terrified of spiders.

No. Don’t move!

I watched her squirm and try to swat it away as the plague doctor reached the cabin door and looked back one last time before they stepped out onto the porch. Sandy couldn’t contain herself any longer and shot out from under the bunk. She rolled onto her back and loudly freaked out, trying to get the spider off her. Only once she looked up, it wasn’t the spider she found, it was the plague doctor.

Sandy screamed, and Kaila and I watched as the plague doctor slammed the axe straight into her chest. Blood began topool around her body and pour from her mouth. She sobbed and gurgled, making all sorts of unnatural noises.

No.

My eyes burned from tears, and I looked across the way at Kaila. She had both her hands covering her mouth as tears rolled down her face and she cried silently to herself. She had to keep silent and watch as her best friend died in front of her. My body trembled, and eventually, she looked over to me. My finger shook and I once again placed it in front of my mouth, reminding her to keep quiet.

The plague doctor grabbed Sandy’s feet and walked backwards as they began to drag her from the cabin. Her blood trailed behind as her body remained limp with the axe still stuck in her chest. Kaila and I both held our breaths and waited until they left.

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