One By One by Freida McFadden(36)

But I know where I am. The clearing is behind me.

Or is it in front of me?

My legs wobble beneath me. I’m not lost, am I? I mean, I know that we are lost, but at least before I was part of a group. I don’t want to be separated from the group. Especially with no food or water.

I rest my hand against the nearest tree to steady myself. That’s when I notice the claw marks etched into the bark. The same as I saw yesterday. Five deep gashes.

Then I look at the tree next to that one. That tree also has deep gashes in the wood.

And at the base of the tree is more blood.

As I stare down at the blood, I feel this prickling sensation in the back of my neck. Like something is watching me.

Hunting me.

I whirl around. There’s a bush about twenty feet in the distance. The bush shifts on its own accord and I see a dark shadow within. And then a low growl.

Oh my God.

“Noah!” I scream. “NOAH!”

I’m not sure why I called for Noah rather than Jack. I would have thought my instinct would be to call for Jack. After all, Jack doesn’t hate me. And he’s the one with the Boy Scout experience. But when I opened my mouth, my husband’s name was the one that came out.

I have to hand it to him—five seconds later, Noah tears through the branches next to me and he’s by my side. It turns out I was never lost after all. Noah’s eyes are wide. “What happened? What did you find?”

“There’s more blood on that tree over there.” I reach out a trembling hand to point. “Also, I… I saw something down there. Something moving.”

Noah squints off into the distance. “Where?”

“That bush… all the way over there.”

“What did you see?”

I chew on my lip. “I… I’m not entirely sure. It looked like a wild animal. Not a bear, but something bigger than a coyote.”

Noah looks off in the direction I was pointing. “I don’t see anything, Claire.”

I don’t mention the feeling I got, like something was watching me. Like something was hunting me. He would think I was being paranoid.

“I found more blood too.” Noah winces. “I have to be honest… It doesn’t look good for Michelle.” He looks back over at the bush where I was pointing. “I hate to think some animal got to her, but… I don’t know what else could have happened.”

The bush isn’t moving anymore, but I can’t shake that uneasy feeling. “Where are Jack and Warner?”

Jack has a rifle—something that could protect us. And Warner has the map that could get us out of here. Not that I don’t trust Noah, but if a wild animal came bounding out of that bush, there’s not much he could do to protect me with his bare hands.

“I can’t find them,” Noah says. “Let’s go wait back at the campsite.” He glances around. “We shouldn’t be wandering around out here, given the circumstances.”

I nod in agreement. Noah puts a hand on my shoulder to gently lead me in the direction of the clearing, which wasn’t where I thought it was at all. I have a terrible sense of direction. Without the others, I would be doomed.

Warner returns to the campsite about ten minutes after we do, looking impatient and irritable. We have to wait another twenty minutes for Jack to come back. His shoulders are sagging and he has purple circles under his eyes. He didn’t find her. Aside from scattered droplets of blood here and there, there are no more signs of Michelle.

Where could she have gone?

Did she get up to stretch her legs in the middle of the night? Was she having trouble sleeping? And then ventured into the woods, and an animal leaped out of nowhere? Was it the same animal I saw in that bush? The one that made the horrifying claw marks in the bark?

If Michelle had an encounter with the animal that made those claw marks, she’s almost certainly dead.

I can’t imagine it. It’s inconceivable. But if she isn’t dead, where is she?

“We need to get going,” Warner announces. “We need to find water.”

Jack’s eyes immediately darken. He isn’t ready to give up just yet. But before Jack can raise his rifle again, Noah holds up his hands. “He’s right, Jack. We’ve got to have water or else we’re all going to die.”

“But we can’t just leave.” Jack kicks at the dirt beneath his feet. “We haven’t found her yet.”

“Jack, I just…” Noah’s eyebrows bunch together. “I don’t think we’re going to find her, man. I don’t know what happened. If an animal got her or… But she’s not here.”

Jack’s shoulders sag, taking in Noah’s words. He looks like he’s aged ten years in the last hour. Finally, he says, “Fine. Let’s look for water. Then I want to keep looking for Michelle.”

“Okay,” Noah says, but Warner rolls his eyes.

For once, I agree with Warner.





Chapter 20


CLAIRE



Finding water turns out to be a difficult task. I had been hoping we’d locate some stream with fresh running water, but as we look, it becomes increasingly obvious that’s not the case. Jack spots the footprints of what he believes to be a rabbit, and we follow them to what appears to be a small, shallow, very muddy pond.