There’s no reception, of course.

This is not good, at all.

She has the map downloaded on her phone though. They’ll be okay. I’m sure they’re just focusing on getting out of the wilderness A-sap.

What about their stuff though? I survey the two tents and Lindsay’s backpack. There’s no way I can carry everything by myself. I could just wait, see if they come back.

But if I do that, I’ll wind up having to spend another night out here.

Or… I could just go back to the cabin and ask the ridiculously sexy naked guy to help me out.

My clit gives a little jump.

No, not appropriate, Callie.

I pace around in a circle, trying to clear my thoughts.

If the girls aren’t here now, they’re not coming back. That much is obvious. I don’t have a lot of food left, because I wound up giving most of it to the others last night. I’m vulnerable here, alone and without my bear spray.

I’m just gonna go. That’s all I can do.

I pack up my sleeping bag and dismantle my tent, and shove everything into my backpack.

Wow, these straps do not feel good on my shoulders. My skin feels rubbed raw.

Guess that’ll push me to walk faster though.

I cast one final look the girls’ abandoned stuff, and I head off, in the direction we came from yesterday.

I’ve been walking for about ten minutes when I spot something pink, lying right in the middle of the trail. I hurry over to it, my back protesting under the weight of my pack.

It’s Brittany’s silly pink backpack. I pick it up and examine it. It’s not damaged; there’s no sign that it’s been mauled by a bear. Does this mean they are nearby? I lift my head and yell each of their names into the trees.

But the only reply is the rustling of wind in the branches.

A shiver runs down my back.

Why would Brittany have taken off her backpack? Did something scare them, and they ran off in a panic? A cold feeling goes through me. Are they even together?

How the hell am I going to find them?

Go back to the cabin, a voice in my head says.Sexy naked man will help you.

I close my eyes for a moment, let the thought filter through me. It feels warm, comforting. My heart feels light and open. He’s a good guy. He didn’t mean me any harm.

I feel like my soul is speaking now.

But that’s crazy.

How can I know this about him? He was hanging around naked, like that was normal. And he seems to share his cabin with a grizzly bear. He might be all kinds of deranged and dangerous.

I’ve got to keep going, retracing our path from yesterday. That’s the only sensible thing I can do.

I readjust my backpack on my shoulders and keep plunging along the trail, praying I find the girls before nightfall.

5

Jason