“We should have stayed in the car.” Lindsay’s eyes are red-rimmed. Her hands are shaky as she wrings them together. “We have no idea where we are.”
“No,” Warner says. “You have no idea where you are, Lindsay. Jack and I know exactly where we are.”
He sounds like an arrogant jerk when he says it, but God, I hope he’s right.
I look up at Noah. He has been privy to all the navigating, and he doesn’t look nearly as confident as the other two guys. Our eyes meet for a moment, and he shakes his head almost imperceptibly. There was a time when I could have gone up to him and asked him to tell me what’s really going on, but that’s not going to happen right now. That head shake is the best I’m going to get. And anyway, it tells me everything I need to know:
We are screwed.
Lindsay jerks up her head. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Warner asks.
She hugs her chest. “It was like… a growl or a howl or…”
I shiver despite the heat. We haven’t come across any wild animals aside from a lot of bugs and a few rabbits. But there were those claw marks on the tree. Obviously, there are wild animals around here. Big ones.
“I didn’t hear it,” Jack says.
Lindsay’s hands ball into fists. “Well, I did!”
Jack seems sure of himself, but I’m not so sure. Don’t people lost in the woods get attacked by animals all the time? Is that so far-fetched?
“Look, there are probably bears around here,” Jack says. “Mostly black bears. But, you know, bears are usually scared of humans. Unless they feel cornered or their children are threatened, they’re not going to attack.”
“Great, that’s real comforting,” Lindsay mutters.
“Can we get going again?” Michelle speaks up. She shifts her purse, which is bulging with the weight of her laptop. She refused to leave it behind. “I have a ton of work to do tonight and I need to charge this thing.”
I look over at Lindsay, whose shoulders are sagging. I can tell she’s reluctant to venture deeper into the woods, but we don’t have much of a choice—it’s not like we can stay behind. I don’t know how they’re ever going to find us again if we don’t stay together. The woods seem endless.
“All right,” she finally says. “Let’s go.”
My feet are starting to ache from all the walking. I didn’t realize how out of shape I was until this hike. When is the last time I’ve been hiking? Actually, have I ever been hiking? It doesn’t seem like the sort of thing Noah and I would have ever done. We were more the Netflix and chill type of couple. It used to work for us. We were both a couple of couch potatoes.
Jack had been telling me we were going to hike together during the trip. At the time, it sounded romantic. I liked the idea of being lost in the woods with Jack. But right now, when we are actually lost in the woods, it doesn’t seem even remotely romantic. I think the hike is officially canceled. Once I get to that hotel, I’m not setting foot in the wilderness. I might not even leave the room.
Lindsay is walking even slower than I am. She does not look good—her complexion is distinctly pale. Her stylishly messy bun from earlier is now just messy, and there are loose hairs plastered to the back of her neck. Before today, I’m not sure I ever saw Lindsay sweat before, but now there’s a vee of sweat along the neck of her shirt. Then again, I’m not sure I look much better.
The two of us are lagging a good twenty feet behind the others. We’re far enough back that I can’t hear a word they’re saying. But I make sure to always keep them in my line of sight. The last thing I want is to get separated.
“When we get to the inn,” Lindsay says, “I’m going to soak in the bathtub for like five hours. Until I’m a prune.”
I manage a smile. “I just want to lie down on a nice soft bed.”
“You know what else I’m going to do?” Lindsay licks her lips. “I’m going to order room service. A nice big bacon cheeseburger.”
I laugh. “Goodness, what will Warner say?”
“And a big box of double stuffed Oreo cookies for dessert.” She inhales sharply. “God, I haven’t eaten Oreos in…years, I think.”
Back in college, I would have said that Oreo cookies were Lindsay’s favorite food in the whole world. She always had a box of them in her room, in variable stages of being eaten. She used to take them apart and make a little stack of the chocolate wafers, then a giant ball of the creamy stuffing. I remember the way I used to groan when Lindsay would pop that white ball in her mouth.