PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

XXVI. Kenji Leaves Eva Completely Defenseless

Chapter Twenty Six:  Kenji Leaves Eva Completely Defenseless

~~~

"It can't be fire."

"Is it?"

"No way..."

"I'm seeing it, too."

"That is most def a bonfire," Kenji announced.

"People. People!" Sammy cheered.

Kenji slapped his hand against his forehead. "Someone got our SOS signal!"

"Let's go find them! It's time to go home!"

"Guys, no!" Eva shouted so loud, she was surprised by the volume of her voice on top of the tone.

"Wh-what do you mean, no?"

"Wh..." Her eyebrows furrowed together, and her tongue clicked against the back of her teeth. Everyone froze, staring at her, but they had already scattered around camp, picking up bats and branches and knives to use as weapons. They were already gearing up to leave camp in the middle of the night, and they had no idea what exactly was waiting for them. "What if... What if they're not friendly people? What if they're not good people? You want to run towards a fire in the middle of the night with who knows how much danger lurking out there, and these could be some really bad people. We shouldn't just, go."

"What do you suggest, Preppy?"

"Not running through the dinosaur-infested jungle in the middle of the night, for starters."

"But then the fire will go out, and we won't be able to track them," Brooklynn said, gripping her bat tight enough her knuckles turned white. "We need to leave now— right now— if we have any chance of tracking them down."

"Brooklynn's right," Darius agreed. "We stand our best chance of finding them if we leave now. It might be more dangerous, but they wouldn't burn their fire during the daytime, nor would we be able to see it. Sorry, Eva, but we have to go now."

"But— but I— but you— but, no..." She pouted, her eyes silently filling with tears.

Why wouldn't they just listen to her? How could no one else see the problem they were facing? How could no one else see the danger they were going to put themselves in?

"I'll protect you," Kenji said with a goofy grin and a wink, before stepping towards the slide and sliding down to the ground. The others followed him down, or slid down the ladder.

"But no," she repeated, all alone on the base.

~~~

"Oh, we're almost there, I can feel it!" Sammy shouted.

Eva had caved. She wasn't about to let the other campers leave without her, as much as she detested the plan. Really, they should be thinking this through. Strategizing. But the others were so focused on the prospect of leaving the island they weren't thinking clearly. They weren't thinking at all.

Every five minutes, one of the campers— Kenji, Brooklynn or Darius— would climb a tree, relay that they were in fact heading in the correct direction, and that they were getting closer. But the closer the campers got to the bonfire, the more anxiety pooled in Eva's stomach, spreading throughout her bones like ink in water.