Page 113 of Silent Bones
“Please. I just want to go home.”
“And you will.”
Noah felt his blood chill as Stephen began to speak, his words coming in a rush like a dam had burst:
"We... we wanted to camp somewhere cool. Somewhere we weren't supposed to be. Jesse found the spot on some hiking forum, said it was restricted but nobody ever checked. Said we could get right up on the cliff edge, that it had this amazing view."
Dale's voice: "Continue."
"When we got there, there were signs. Warning signs about the cliff being unstable, about erosion and rock falls. But Jesse said they were just there to keep tourists out. Said the state didn't want people camping in the good spots and that had some of the best." Stephen's voice cracked. "It seemed like a joke. Like we were getting away with something."
"What did you do with the signs?"
Stephen closed his eyes, his whole body shaking. "We took them down. Pulled the posts right out of the ground and threw them over the cliff. Jesse said it was hilarious. Said we were liberating the wilderness from government control."
Noah exchanged glances with McKenzie and Callie. This was the confession they'd suspected but never been able to prove until Bill told them what was in Dale’s report: the teenagers had deliberately removed safety warnings, treating it as a prank.
"How many of you were in the group?" Dale asked.
"Six of us. Me, Jesse, Rachel, Brandon, Harper, and Avery. We set up our tents right on the edge, as close to the drop as we could get. The view was meant to be incredible during sunset."
"And below you?"
"There was... no one. I mean, not for at least an hour. Then a family showed up. A dad, mom, and their kids. They had a campsite in the official area, maybe a hundred yards down the slope. We could see their fire from up above."
Dale's voice became harder: "Did you warn them?”
“No.”
“Did you know your actions could endanger them?"
"No! I mean... we didn't think... Jesse said the signs were just paranoia. Government overreach. That the area was safe. We figured if there was real danger, they'd have fenced the whole area off."
"But you knew it was restricted. You knew you weren't supposed to be there."
"Yes, but..." Stephen broke down, sobbing openly. "We were just trying to camp! We didn't mean for anyone to get hurt."
"Tell me what happened during the night."
Stephen took several shuddering breaths before continuing: "It started raining around midnight. Really heavy rain, the kind that sounds like drums on your tent. We were all scared but trying not to show it. Then around 3 a.m., we heard this sound..."
His voice dropped to a whisper: "Like the whole mountain was breaking apart. This rumbling, crashing noise that went on and on. We unzipped our tents and looked out, and we could see... God, we could see trees and rocks and mud, all sliding down toward the family's campsite."
"And what did you do?"
"Nothing." The word came out as a broken whisper. "We just watched. We were too scared to move, too scared to do anything. The whole area where they were camping just... disappeared. Everything got buried under tons of mud and rocks."
Dale's voice was relentless: "How many people died because of your actions?"
"Four," Stephen sobbed. "The parents and their two little kids. A boy and a girl. They didn't even have time to get out of their tents."
"And what did your group do after you realized people had died?"
"We packed up as fast as we could and ran. Hiked out in the dark, drove straight back to town. Jesse made us all promise never to tell anyone what really happened. Said if we kept quiet, nobody would ever connect us to the accident."
"Did you report what you'd seen to authorities?"
"No. I mean, Avery told her father,” Stephen's voice was barely audible. “But we were too scared. Scared we'd get in trouble, scared our parents would find out. Jesse said it was just a natural disaster that would have happened anyway."
