Title Goes Here

Chapter seventeen

     I took a deep breath in and followed everyone to the next task. There were so many trees in the way that the moonlight was barely visible and the entirety of the journey was hoping you didnt trip over anything or run into any trees. It felt like it took ages for us to get there, but at the same time it didn't take long at all. Not far in the distance we were able to see a street light. I was curious but leotards quiet, knowing I'd soon find out. I didn't want to find out. I didn't even want to be on this journey.

     I was tired and hungry and didn't want to see anyone else die. I was so thankful that i at least had all of the band members, but not knowing what time it was and how soon it would take to escape that forest made me have little hope all of us would come out.

     As we got near the light, i could see what looked like a road and a building that seemed to be a school. We got closer and I didnt even realize everyone had stopped walking until i put my left foot on the road and Rylie yanked me back.
     Naomi softly spoke, "Don't cross yet. Thats how Xavier died."
     I was confused until i heard the sounds of a huge truck blaze past in the blink of an eye. "Oh my god." I said.
     "What?" Luke asked.
     "Oh my fucking god. Are we playing fucking 'crossy road' in real life?"
     "It appears that way, doesn't it?" Naomi answered.

     Nobody talked after that. It was dead silent except for the road sounds. I watched as the cars went by trying to figure out a pattern but so much was happening at once that I couldn't focus. Nobody spoke or dared to move. Im assuming they were trying to do the same thing as I. It didnt take much time for my eyes to feel heavy. I felt like a was about to fall asleep when Quinn finally broke the silence and said "I figured it out... or at least... i think I do?"
     "Shoot your shot," Rylie said, "at this point, anything can help."
     "I-I think... the cars coming in the lane closest to us on the left of the median come every 5 seconds while the farther one is every 3 seconds. Since it's just divided by a double yellow line theres not any wiggle room to take a break that lasts more than a couple second."
     "If there's not any 'wiggle room' for a break, what about the other side?" River questioned.
     "It looks like the closer option is every 3 seconds as well but a second after and the farthest one is every 4 seconds."
     "Whats the game plan?"
     "Every 15 seconds thats when the cars closets to us meet, every 12 seconds is for the other. If we run as soon as it passes and i mean literally sprint across the first 2 lanes, we have a 1 second break, than we book it again. Sprint because your life depends on it. I'll go first incase if the plan fails so you guys don't have to be mad at me for the plan not working and killing someone."
     "Alright," i said, "lets do this i guess." I observed Quinn calculate when he has to run and he was prepared and ran at the exact time he needed to. He didnt even have a slight hesitation and he made it all the way across safely. Turns out the plan did indeed work. I didnt have much doubt since Quinn is the smartest jock at our school, but i was also flabbergasted that he was able to come up with that mental before even Naomi who I'm pretty sure will be valedictorian. Next Naomi went. She used the exact same tactic and it worked for her too, but she got a little bit of an early start so she was able to start sprinting faster.

     Next Rylie went. I dont think I've ever seen her that motivated to run. I think she was a tiny bit off timing wise because she had to take a leap of faith to make it across in order to not get run over.

     I looked over at Luke for a second to see him shaking, but River hugging him as a good boyfriend should. I watched the cars and booked it at the right time. That's probably the fastest I've ever ran in my entire life. My life flashed before my eyes several times in the span of the 10 seconds it took me to cross and I've never wanted to not get run over as much as I did in that moment.

     I looked back and saw Luke take a deep breath and wait for the  time to run and he sprinted over. Once he crossed, he tried slowing down so he didn't run into anyone, but he ended up falling over. I helped him up as i looked back at River getting prepared to run when the shadow figure appeared behind him. This time the shadow figure was much quicker and bigger than any of us had last seen it and it swallowed them. All of us shouting at once, but none of us heard a response. Even if they did respond, it would be hard to hear them anyways since they were farther away from me than anyone else and everyone else was screaming in my ear. The shadow figure condensed down to a smaller size as it went up to the sky and disappeared with no trace of River.