Page 94 of Survive the Night

Now he clambers through the woods to the right of the lodge. His plan is to find a back way into the building that will let him sneak up on the waitress. But this side of the building isn’t landscaped. It’s just a strip of rocky, tree-choked terrain sitting between the lodge itself and the rushing creek that leads to the nearby waterfall, which is deafening in its roar. Robbie can’t hear anythingelse, which is good in that it masks the sound of his approach but bad in that it does the same to anyone who might be trying to sneak up on him.

The darkness doesn’t help. The trees here are mostly evergreens with full branches that blot out the moonlight and crowd the ground with shadow. Wearing only sneakers, Robbie’s feet slip often on the snow that had fallen earlier. Never a good thing when you’re mere yards from water. One false step could send him tumbling into the creek, at which point it would be over. Sure, Robbie was the star of the swim team and now a coach, but not even an Olympic gold medalist would be able to overpower the pull of that waterfall.

As he trudges through the snow and the dark, always keeping an eye on the rapids to his right, Robbie knows it would have been easier to use the pay phone he saw outside the diner to call the police.

It also would have been foolish.

He’d already tried calling the police once, and that didn’t help. Then there’s the fact that, had he waited in the diner parking lot for the cops to arrive, he’d have no idea where the waitress had taken Charlie. He certainly wouldn’t have known this place existed if he hadn’t followed the Cadillac here.

Making his way to the rear of the lodge, Robbie knows deep down that he made the right decision. It’s better for him to be here, where he can actually do something, than back at the diner, waiting for cops who may or may not believe him.

But he also knows he needs to be cautious. Not just in his movements, but in his thinking. He’s a smart guy. He’s studying to be a math professor, for God’s sake. He can deduce his way out of this. Slow and steady. That always wins the race.

But then a noise erupts from deep inside the lodge.

A gunshot.

Robbie’s sure of it.

Not even the angry roar of the falls can disguise that sound.

Hearing it, he knows instantly that slow and steady are no longer going to cut it.

He needs to be fast.

And even then it might already be too late.

INT. LODGE LOBBY—NIGHT

In the echo chamber of the lobby, the gunshot is as loud as a firecracker.

It’s followed by a splat of blood hot on Charlie’s face and a grunt from Josh.

Soft. Surprised.

He lists to the right and hits the floor with a thud that sounds nothing like the way a body lands in the movies. It’s a pitiful noise. Both soft and loud at the same time. Like a sack of laundry landing on a bed.

Charlie looks down and sees Josh facedown on the floor, a bullet hole and widening splotch of blood in the shoulder of his sweatshirt. More blood oozes out from under him, soaking into the canvas drop cloth.

Frantic, Charlie bends forward and tugs at the rope around her ankles. She needs to help Josh. If he’s not already beyond help. He doesn’t move when she looks his way, nor does he make a sound.

On the other side of the canvas, Marge stands with the pistol still raised. Her face is a mask of surprise, as if she, too, can’t believewhat she’s just done. Like Josh before her, she leans precariously to the side.

Although she manages to remain upright, the lantern in her hand falls from her grip and smashes onto the floor.

Kerosene spills from the toppled lantern. A quicksilver stream that twists across the canvas.

It makes it all the way to the drapes at the windows before the fire arrives. At first, it’s a streak of blue flames rushing over the path laid out by the kerosene. The fire starts to glow orange as it digs into the canvas, forging its own path over the drop cloth and, soon, the drapes.

They ignite in an instant, the flames climbing the fabric toward the ceiling. Within seconds, all the drapes are engulfed. One set falls away, dropping to the floor in a flutter of fire, smoke, and ash.

A new fire springs up where it lands, spreading across the drop cloth. Once it’s chewed its way to the edge of the canvas, it gets to work on the parquet floor.

When another section of drapes falls, a third patch of fire forms, with the same result.

Charlie knows it’ll just keep happening until that whole area and beyond are engulfed in flame. And when the fire reaches the other kerosene lantern, the situation will go from bad to worse.

Looking to Josh, Charlie sees a growing wall of fire rolling his way.

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