Signal to Noise

[BlizzardeyeWonder]

Camilla crumpled to the ground and folded the map up, letting out a frustrated grunt. She leaned against a tree, and looked up- the sky had turned to night so quickly, and the stars were coming out. There were so many more stars than she was used to, even seeing them through the trees, it was almost intimidating.

[Camilla Bell continued from ][]

She was a coward who ran in circles in the wilderness until the sunset, looking for somewhere, anywhere to hide. She never did find somewhere, which she only imagined was a fitting punishment. She should have been there for Beryl, she should have said something, and now they'd never get to speak ever again, in all likelihood.

Maybe this place in the middle of the wilderness would do until sunrise. What was the worst that could happen? Someone kills her in her sleep? If she was going to die here anyway, that wouldn't be too bad of a way to go out. She placed her bag some way to her side, and rested her head on it, closing her eyes.

Yet instead of seeing black, all she saw was red.

With a shiver, she squeezed her eyes shut. The red became dark, and dropped over her vision like a viscous liquid, broken up by pink mush.

She buried her face in her bag, just like in the morning. Except instead of hiding from armed gunmen, she hid from her own visions. It didn't work.

Just then, she heard something in the bag.

"Hello?"

She opened it up, and the first thing she was her walkie-talkie.

"Camilla, are you there?"

She picked it up.

"Yeah. Who's this?"

"Henry. You dropped this when you ran off. Beryl... didn't make it."

She bit her lip. Of course she had to expect that, but it didn't stop her heart from sinking to her churning stomach at hearing it.

"I... Right... I doubted she would." There was nothing Camilla could do. That was a lie, she could have not run away. "Where'd Max and Lucas go?"

There was a pause. Just long enough to be noticeable.

"They went their own way, and I wasn't going to stop them. I'm on the north end now, I think, on the coast. Had to stop when it got dark out. You?"

Of course they did. They wouldn't be looking for her. All she had were the walkie-talkies and now she only had one while someone outside their group had another. Of course Max would abandon her the first chance he got, especially after a tragedy like that. The only person Camilla had to blame for this turn of events was herself.

"I don't know, not entirely," she replied to his question. "I saw some houses earlier, I think that was the village on the map. But right now I don't know. It's a bit like a forest, though."

"Yeah, it's the same up here," Henry answered. "Lots of forest, and some more of the weird cult stuff. I've been lucky enough to avoid anyone hostile, yet. After what just happened, it's getting harder to believe people haven't started playing into this. "

She gulped. Lucas was right, way back in the morning, wasn't he?

"I know... I haven't seen anyone hostile yet either, thankfully. I... haven't seen much of anyone, really."

That was a godsend, or it should have been. Camilla didn't need anyone, and nobody needed Camilla, and anyone who sought other people out might want to kill them. It was a win-win situation. Okay that was a lie too, she wanted to find people too. She wanted her friends back. Henry's voice interrupted her doubt.

"Alright. That's... that's probably for the best. Look, I've got a couple ideas on what to do. I figure they're listening so, I can't say what. But I think we should keep each other in the loop, yeah? I'll tell you if I see anything, or if like I find out there's someone we should avoid, and you can do the same for me. The more we know about this place, the better chance we have of making it out."

There was a pause. On the other side of the connection, there was a sigh.

"And I have to believe we can make it, Camilla."

She paused. Maybe Henry was going to make it, he seemed like he was smart. Like he had a plan. But Camilla? She really shouldn't get her hopes up. What was she gonna do, throw rocks at the cameras? But she couldn't tell Henry that.

"Okay... I'll call in the morning, then? They said something about announcements, yeah?"

"They did. I hope to God they're short. I'm headed for the yacht, I'll let you know what I find when I get there. If you find anyone who's committed to staying on the right side of history here, maybe let them in on this if you think it's safe."

The right side of history.

There wasn't any side of history she imagined she'd be welcome on. But no matter.

"Alright. Talk to you later, then," she told Henry.

"Good luck, and be careful." And then he signed off.

Camilla tucked the walkie-talkie back in her bag, and zipped it back up. She lifted it onto her shoulders and stood up. This wasn't a very good place to sleep, was it?

[Camilla Bell continued in My Body is Ready]