Escaping trials fill you with such a sense of victory and accomplishment.
But this time, I sort of resented it.
I can't believe that's something I would've ever thought.
I appeared back at home.
Back at, "the campsite".
Back at prison.
The campsite consisted of fire, logs, and trees.
It fucking sucks.
The least that the rest of the survivors and I could do was to get some clotheslines set up around the edges of the forest, blocking off at certain points to make little homes for ourselves.
My home was made of like three towels hung together and a tree at a end.
It's a fucking joke.
I sat on a log closest to me. I warmed my hands at the fire.
But I noticed something.
No one else was sitting at the campfire.
They were all standing in front of it, I could see their backs turned towards me.
What's going on?
I stood up and blended into the crowd.
I stood next to Jake and Meg.
I couldn't see over the tall people, so I asked Jake what we were all staring at.
"The clock", He said, eyes not breaking trance. He was absolutely mesmerized.
"W-what?" I asked in response. I didn't see a clock..?
"It just appeared here, don't know why" He answered.
I tried making my way through them, whispering sorry and s'cuse me as I passed each one.
And then I saw it.
A great big grandfather clock.
It was ticking.
Hoppla! Dieses Bild entspricht nicht unseren inhaltlichen Richtlinien. Um mit dem Veröffentlichen fortfahren zu können, entferne es bitte oder lade ein anderes Bild hoch.
Just like the others, I stared in a trance, my mind filling with more questions than answers.
What happens when it dings?
Is this the end?
Are we free?
Are we really going to die this time?
What is going to happen?
We waited.
We had nothing else to do.
So we waited and watched.
It was almost equivalent to watching paint dry, but instead filled with fear.
Time passed by.
Slowly.
Almost excruciatingly slow.
I could hear a symphony of people catching their breathes as the clock neared 12.
People panicked.
They started screaming, saying things like , "THIS IS THE END", and "GOODBYE EVERYONE". I even heard someone say, "MEG I THINK YOUR ASS IS HOT".
It was a swarm of noise.
The mass of noise triggered me a headache. I put my fingers to my temples.
Then it dawned on me.
I remembered what Frank had previously said, ".. before they start the timer.."
Why hadn't I paid attention to that before?
Was I too busy being confused about Frank and I's relationship to think about that?
Of course I was, who am I kidding.
It started to make sense now..
The timer...this was the timer..?
And then the clock chimed.
Everybody froze.
The person next to me, who I didn't see who it was at the time, faded away.
I turned around, and I saw more people start to fade away.
Fuck.
Then they stopped.
Somebody screamed to take a headcount.
"LINE 'ER UP!" A gruff voice shouted.
We got in a line, and Dwight started to count us all.
"Alright.. we.. we're missing four..." He said sadly.
"Kate's gone.. Jeff too.." Meg was along side him, looking for the missing faces in our tribe.
"Ace ain't here", Bill added while putting his hands on his hip.
Dwight gave one last look at all of us and then came to the conclusion of the last missing survivor.
"David's gone too".
At other times, I would bring my fist to the air and bring it back down in a triumphant "YES!".
But this time, I only felt guilt.
Nobody deserves this.
A feminine voice piped up, "What do we do??"
"We... wait, I guess.." Dwight answered.
He's been here the longest.
"Haven't seen anything like this before...", Dwight cradled his face with his hands, he let out a deep sigh. "I don't know what to do.."
Meg put a hand on his shoulder in attempt to comfort him.
Dwight is uh, y'know basically our leader. He gets pretty stressed out. I mean, who wouldn't?
We were a crowd of silence, nobody talked.
Dwight dismissed us by saying he'll be in his "room" if anybody needed him.
I stood and watched as everybody left, scattering like slow ants.
I looked back up at the clock again.
Maybe Frank would know about this.
I adjusted my beanie.
No, he DEFINITELY knew about this.
My mind traced back to just 15 minutes ago, remembering the blood red spider legs protruding from the ground like trees.
