Hawk laughed as LOL tackle-hugged him. "Hey, LOL. Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"
"Vic caught a bunch of fish with Liz. We're gonna eat them for dinner tonight!" Said LOL excitedly, pointing at me with one hand and holding Hawk's with the other.
Behind her, Jade held up her skinned rabbit silently.
"We'll be having rabbit, too, apparently," Liz chuckled.
Bunneh popped her head out of her tent. "But Echo's not here yet!"
Liz shrugged. "I'm sure she'll be here soon."
"Wait," I said, "What jobs do Hawk and Echo have again?"
"Hawk's a mechanic," Liz replied, "And Echo works at a nearby nature preserve."
"And by 'nearby,' she means 'the forest we live next to,'" said Hawk sardonically.
"Yeah, that," said Liz dismissively. "Since Echo's sure to be home soon, why don't you start cooking the fish, Jade?"
Jade gave Liz a Look.
"Oh, and the rabbit, too," Liz said quickly. "Pinky, can you help Jade with the fish?"
"Sure thing!" Said Pinky happily, picking up the bucket.
Soon, the smell of, well, cooking fish permeated the campsite.
"Say, Echo's still not here," Hawk noted, looking around. "I wonder what's taking her so long?"
"Maybe she got lost in the woods," LOL snickered.
"Very funny, LOL," said Liz, "We all know Echo knows the woods better than any of us."
"Then why isn't she back yet?" I said.
"You have a point there," Liz said, starting to sound worried. "If she's not back by the time we finish dinner, I say we go looking."
...
Echo didn't show.
"All right, guys," said Liz, getting her leader-face on, "LOL and Hawk, you search overhead to the left. Jade, search overhead to the right. I'll search the overhead center. Bunny, Pinky, you stay here in case she comes back. And Vic..."
I shrugged. "I could search the forest floor."
"O-kay..." said Liz, sounding a little unsure.
"Vic can borrow my dagger," said LOL. "Hawk's got his machete with him anyway."
"Good idea, LOL," said Liz. "In fact, all of you should bring at least one weapon. There's no way to tell what's out there."
So we all took weapons and headed into the woods.
It was starting to get dark, and it was hard to see. I kept the knife poised in front of me at all times, feeling extremely paranoid.
"Echo?" I called into the darkness. "You there?"
A random cricket chirp almost made me jump out of my skin. With my heart beating a mile a minute, I pushed onward. Every little noise sounded ten times louder than usual. I heard a stick snap a bit behind me. I whirled, only to see a squirrel, staring at me from its perch on the trunk of a tree.
"Wow, am I jumpy," I muttered. "And now I'm talking to myself. Great. And I just realized I don't have a compass! Double great."
I was really starting to get freaked out now. "Calm down, Vic. No one's there. Just keep going. You gotta help find Echo."
I continued ranting quietly to myself as I walked, squinting in the darkness which was now almost absolute. Suddenly, I heard a loud noise from behind me, like "SNAP!"
"KYAH!" I yelled, whirling. I half expected it to just be a deer or something. But no- it was Echo. She looked okay, but it seemed a little odd the way she was leaning against a tree.
"Echo!" I said, relieved. "We've been looking all over! Are you okay?"
Echo opened her mouth, like she was going to say something, but the only sound she made was a low moan before she collapsed to the ground.
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