Page 29 of Obscurity
Others joined in with murmured grievances.
More questions started, but he cut them off with the shake of his head.
“We’re wasting valuable time here,” he told everyone. “Let’s get those packs adjusted and hit the trail. Adventure awaits, and Midnight Echo is on the schedule for this evening!”
As people begrudgingly began moving toward their gear, Olive feared these festivalgoers didn’t fully know what they were getting themselves into.
CHAPTER 17
The trail wound through dense forest that seemed to press closer with each step. The canopy overhead filtered the morning light into shifting patterns of green and gold.
Olive adjusted her pack straps and fell into rhythm beside Jason, both of them maintaining the facade of an enthusiastic couple while their eyes constantly scanned their surroundings.
The group of a hundred had strung out over nearly a quarter mile of trail, with the strongest hikers pulling ahead and others already struggling despite the fact they’d just started the journey.
Max led the front group, his pace never varying regardless of terrain. Sorrel brought up the rear, his attention focused more on the stragglers than on the path ahead. Tom moved through the middle section like a sheepdog, subtly correcting anyone who wandered too far from the prescribed route.
Olive tried to picture this back when it was the only road leading to Grayfall.
The town, in its heyday, had boasted four thousand residents. Almost all the families in the area were connected with the mines—either working there or as the children or spouse of someone working there.
When the mines had shut down because of safety violations thirty years ago, so had the town.
Now, this road leading into town was used as a hiking path.
The remnants of bygone days, and the flood, were all around them—an occasional rusty car in the brush. Trees and debris from the flooding. And evidence of more recent “visitors”—beer cans and snack wrappers.
“How are you holding up, sweetie?” Jason asked loudly enough for nearby hikers to hear, playing his role of concerned husband.
“Things are always good when you’re with me.” She flashed a warm smile.
“Aww . . .” a woman nearby said. “That’s so sweet.”
“It’s easy to be sweet when you’re with someone as wonderful as Olivia.”
They needed to be careful to sell their story but not overdo it. So far, so good.
She had to wonder, however, how some of these people had thought they were prepared for a wilderness music festival.
Maya was already getting a blister from her cute boots, stopping frequently to film herself with commentary like: “This hike is literally insane, you guys!”
Olive wasn’t sure why she was recording everything as if it was a livestream when there was no signal to post it.
An older man who’d boasted at breakfast about all the music festivals he’d attended paused every few hundred yards to catch his breath.
Tevin maintained his position about fifty yards ahead. He’d struck up casual conversations with several other attendees, his easy manner drawing out information without seeming to pry.
Olive scanned the woods, and her breath caught.
Behind a cluster of oak trees, a shadow shifted in ways that didn’t match the wind patterns.
For this entire hike, she’d been watching for signs of the wildlife Elias had mentioned, but this movement was different. It was too deliberate.
Too human.
Someone else was out here.
“We’ve got company.” She tilted her head toward the woods.
