Cabin in the Woods

"Let's go," Astarte said quietly, her wide eyes cast down to her feet and her hands just beginning to relax their grip on Nero. Eduj was now leaning on Hector for support, but showed no signs of being in pain.
"Come on, we have to get away from the fire," Hector said after taking a deep breath. "If it continues to spread it'll be getting really hot really fast."

E"I just don't want to end up lost in the forest...but I guess you're right. Come on, let's go."

*Euryale & Nero pull out their flashlights before zipping back up & re-securing their backpacks. Roatha & Thiera secure their stuff, as well. Nero & Euryale lead the group, activating their lights. Euryale keeps glancing at the roster. Nero kept an arm around Astarte.*

The trio follow behind, leaving their own flashlights in their packs and just hanging close to the group.

Taiyo: "Has anyone else tried calling for help?"

Astarte, Hector and Eduj had all managed to keep backpacks, and both Hector and Eduj took a bottle of water from their own, drinking roughly a quarter of each.

*Nero looks up at the canopy.*

N"Yeah, that's not gonna work right now. I can't even tell whether or not the sun finished setting. There's no way any of us will get reception."

*Once they're about 10 feet in, there's a rustling in the bushes to their left.*

Taiyo clings to Mimiru's arm.

Azuma: "Probably nothing."

Astarte froze, staring at the bush. Hector and Eduj both cast suspicious glances at it.

*Nero points his flashlight at it & might be reaching for a concealed weapon. Out of the bush emerges a very pissed-off looking girl with a black ponytail & glasses. As careful as she is, the bush still rips a small hole in her blouse. So she stomps on it.*

E"...Vanessa?"

V"Yes. I really wish I hadn't gone on this trip."

E"Where were you?"

*Vanessa whirls around, looking indignant.*

V"I don't see why it's any of your business, but I woke up in the bushes several yards back."

Astarte shrunk away from the angry woman a little.

Azuma: "Looks like the gang's all here. For better or worse."

*Euryale is about to say something to Vanessa before her attention is diverted to Azuma.*

E"Not quite. We never did find the driver, or instructor."

*She looks down at the roster in her hands again.*

E"Uhh...was there a lot of this on the floor?"

R"Wha? Oh...no, oddly enough, just the drops on the paper. Other than that, I didn't see any clues about what happened up at the front of the bus."

Stefan nodded in agreement with Roatha, before Hector spoke, "A lot of what?"

Azuma: "Blood, I reckon."

N"'What happened'? Isn't it obvious? They were thrown from the vehicle."

R"Well, the dashboard & seat were all broken up. I'm not sure what did it."

*Vanessa walks along a few feet away from Nero & Euryale, & consequently, the rest of the group.*

"I was near the front of the bus, and nothing happened to me," Stefan said. "I wasn't even thrown out of the bus."
Hector frowned deeply.

Azuma: "Hey, you sure you should be wandering off like that? Could be bears or something out there. Or prowlers as they'd be more likely to attack than a bear."

Mimiru: "You're not helping."

E"There's no one out here."

*Nero turns back to look at Stefan.*

N"You were at the front of the bus? Did you also see that guy?"

E"What guy?"

N"Before the crash, there was some guy standing on the road."

R"Is that what that was? I thought it was a sign, or a tree, or something."

N"He was in the middle of the road!"

R"Well, it was hard to get a good glimpse of anything, & then things got a little crazy after that, so...."

E"Look, if there was a guy in the middle of the road, he was probably a hitchhiker who got hopelessly lost. Which means we hit him, & now he's dead. That's really tragic, but shouldn't we be focusing on the problem at hand? Can anyone figure out which way we're going?"

"Does anybody have a compass, perhaps?" Hector asked, while Stefan furrowed his brow and absently tapped the cross hanging from his neck.

Azuma: "There was someone in the middle of the road? Was I awake for this?"

Mimiru: "I got a GPS."

Mimiru rummages around in her backpack for the GPS. Finding it, she turns it on.

R"I dunno. Hey, did anyone else see something just before we crashed?!"

*Since there is still no satellite signal, the GPS can't locate them.*

N"The trees are too thick, we need to find a clearing, or something."

*He looks back at the faint orange glow they're leaving behind.*

N"One that isn't on fire."

T"The good news is that we're going downhill. Fire generally moves upwards."

*As they walk, the path becomes more cluttered, with more weeds growing over it.*

"I think I might have seen something," Stefan said. "Well, I thought I probably hadn't but when you guys brought it up I remembered something. Just a moment before the crash."
"Watch your step, everybody," Hector cautioned as the path became more dangerous. Astarte and Eduj both seemed very tired.

Azuma: "The bad news is, the trip is becoming more trecherous. I think we might have been better off with the fire. Warmth would be less of an issue."

Mimiru: "Cold already?"

Azuma: "No, but the night is still young."

Monu:<I have a compass and Tirea has some matches some matches.>

*Monu gets the compass out of his backpack. Eve stares up at the trees over head, with Tirea and Cameron following close behind*

Eve:<How long do you think it'll be until we're missed back at Ulm?>

Cameron:<Probably until just after we've all been eaten by a bear.>

Tirea:<Don't be Mr. Negative.>

*Cameron starts laughing*

Cameron:<Only kidding.>

*The compass indicates that they are traveling south. As they walk, they occasionally hear rustling, or something falling from an unseen tree. Meanwhile, the path has become strewn with fallen branches & the occasional overgrown bush, making it obvious that it hasn't been kept up in a long time. It also begins winding erratically through the trees, confusing its ill-defined borders even more.*

R"Hey, maybe that's what happened. Maybe a bear came onto the bus & dragged them off."

T"It would most likely have avoided the fire."

R"Maybe it wasn't on fire at the time."

Tirea:<Are there even bears up here?>

Eve:<I'm sure there's something big and carnivorous here.>

Cameron:<I don't know, a bear would be hard to miss.>

*Cameron stares into the trees, thinking hard*

Monu:<Ok, we seem to be going south.>