Chapter 1: Before

The warm August weather brought with it a feeling of lethargy and England's air was heavy. The general noise of the world was somewhat muted, and people went about their daily business unrushed.

In the middle of the month Aaron and Josh set out from the city of Leeds towards the countryside to a camping site, the latter of the young men with a quiet reluctance. They would be staying two nights, and taking the time to enjoy the weather and walk across some of the surrounding moors. As he drove, Aaron saw his friend's skepticism at the prospect of the trip, and sympathised, but tried to make him see the fun of it.

"Mate, it's not just sightseeing, it's good for you. Refreshing. You were the one saying we should do something in the Summer." He was taller than Josh, and his light brown hair just touched the roof of the car.

"Yeh, I know! I'm not complaining. Yet. But you realise I'm just in it for the marshmallows?" With his usual humour Josh let out a reassuring grin. He rubbed the lenses of his glasses on the bottom of his t-shirt.

After driving for two hours they neared the campsite, on a narrow country road, miles from any cities. Josh had his head down, looking at a map.

"Ok, I'm pretty sure it's down the road on the left. Just there... No, wait - try the next left."

"Jesus, come on dude." Aaron muttered, having to drive jerkily to keep up with the uncertain directions.

"Well if I could use GPS I'd be fine, but there's no phone signal out here." There was a slight salt to Josh's tone, but he knew there was no point making a fuss about little things.

When they made it to the site they turned right into the entrance. Just as the car bounced up onto the uneven slope, another car came quickly round the corner, braking suddenly and blaring it's horn, but hitting the back of their car with some force. They were thrown forwards in their seats, but Aaron slowed down calmly while Josh turned to look at the person behind them, who soon came screeching past, reaching the field of the campsite before them.

"What the fuck! What an asshole." Josh said, throwing the map onto the back seat with a thud.

"He hit my fucking car! It better not be too bad." Aaron watched the bright red car swing widely into the camping area, and followed after it, visibly irritated.

They found themselves a spot near the edge of the field. There were a few other groups, some families, a few other pairs or trios of friends, a group of cyclists and then the car they had encountered when they arrived. In it were five guys, just a little older than Josh and Aaron.

"Well that's gonna cost a little to fix. Bastard. I bet they're gonna be really loud as well." Aaron sighed as he inspected the dent in the back of his car.

"Hey, just ignore them. No point getting mixed up with people like that." Josh gestured that they should start unloading the car.

Despite the rowdy neighbours, the pair managed to help each other set up their tents and cooked some food they had brought with them with only a few burns. The next evening, after walking a substantial distance, Aaron and Josh were getting ready for the night.

Josh had a video camera and was filming the area, making a commentary on their trip. He had been trying to get Aaron to speak to the camera, but eventually turned to the rest of the campsite.

"... aaand over there are the pro-cycling people, the family with hilarious kids and in the corner are the Almighty Douchebags!"

Aaron let out a laugh and sat down, opening a can of cider. "Why are you filming?"

"I might upload it later, why not?" He was looking at the camcorder and as he turned back to his friend and was about to speak when he noticed a figure appear on the screen, approaching them. "Hey, look." He warned quietly, tucking the camera away in his backpack.

"Oh, it's one of the 'Almighty Douchebags'" Aaron scoffed, still annoyed at them.

As the stranger got closer, they saw he looked uncomfortable, glancing back at the rest of his group, who had just returned from somewhere and were shouting and laughing rowdily. He seemed a little younger than the rest.

"Uh, hi. Sorry, I was hoping you could help me..." He looked sheepishly at Aaron and Josh, and after a moment, "I'm sorry about your car, man. It's Frankie, he can be, well-" Aaron, possibly feeling sorry for him, or possibly being more forgiving thanks to being a little tipsy, held up a hand and shrugged.

"Hey, it wasn't you driving, yeah? Then no harm done, mate. But for the record, Frankie is a dickhead."
"Thanks, I'm still sorry though." The stranger was still being cautious, but was fighting down a smile.

"What was it you wanted?" Josh asked.

"Oh, right. Well, the thing is, we went to this nearby village to go to the pub and I got this text from my girlfriend on the way back," he reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile, showing them the text, "and now I don't have any signal and I didn't read this until just now. I was wondering if you had a phone with signal I could borrow, I'm worried."

They leaned in to see the screen. It read 'You need to come home, something weird is happening. Call me back ASAP.' Then another text, sent an hour later. 'Where are you?! Come home, now.' And a final text: 'I love you.'

"Shit... I wish we could help but we lost signal ages ago. Sorry, man." Josh frowned, genuinely feeling for the guy.

"Couldn't you go back to the town?" Aaron was standing now, the texts were unusual, and he too sympathised at the stranger's concern.

"Nah, it's fine... It would take too long and I can't get there on my own. I'm sure it's nothing really. We're going back tomorrow anyway. Thanks, though." He turned away, deflated.

"Wait, what's your name?" Aaron stopped him.

"Matthew. Well, Matt." He turned back, pausing for a moment.

"I'm sure she's fine, mate. Try not to worry." Aaron smiled reassuringly, and he and Josh watched Matthew walk back to his group, puzzled.

The next morning most of the campsite was empty, and Aaron and Josh packed their things, ready to head home. They shared a nod of the head with Matt, who they saw as they were leaving, and drove back toward the city. The surrounding countryside was as peaceful as ever, though when they reached a B-Road they noticed a few more vehicles passing in the other direction than would be expected this far out. A few of the cars sounded their horns as they sped past, one car seemed to have a passenger lying across another on the back seats, and a van came careening round a sharp corner, large bags and supplies strapped hurriedly to the roof, almost causing a collision.

"Jesus, what is going on today? Why is everyone acting so crazy?" Aaron wasn't driving this time, and he became more and more on edge at the unusual behaviour of people around them. He frowned behind his aviator sunglasses.

Soon they were driving through a road with woodland on either side, when Aaron noticed something. A flash of yellow amongst the bushes, near the side of the road.

"Dude, slow down. Slow down for a second, I saw something." He leaned forward, craning his neck to see, while Josh slowed the car, confused.

"Why are you-" He began to ask, but Aaron suddenly reacted to something.

"Holy shit, it's a person. Pull over, stop the car! She's hurt or something." He was already undoing his seatbelt, and rushed out of the car to the side of the road. Josh got out and followed uncertainly.

When they reached her they saw that it was a young girl, with bright blond hair, and lying seemingly unconscious, her clothes dirtied and scratches and bruises on her small limbs. Aaron knelt down next to her, carefully turning her onto her back and listening for her shallow breaths.

"Ever the hero, aren't you? Here." Josh passed his friend a bottle of water, which he used to dab her face and try to wake her up. "What do we do?"

"We can't exactly leave her... We can go past the hospital in the city, let's try to get her in the back of the car. What is she doing out here? She doesn't have anything with her. She only looks about thirteen." Aaron ran his hand through his hair, slightly panicked.

Quite awkwardly, they carried her to the car and managed to lay her down across the back seats. Aaron decided to take the wheel again, and instructed Josh to keep an eye on the girl, and make sure she was still breathing. They sped off towards the dual carriageway that would give them a direct path to the city. The pair were concerned, but overall perplexed at what they had seen. Matt's texts, the mad drivers and now a girl, alone and hurt on the side of a road.

Josh was holding the girl's wrist to feel for her pulse. He saw that a few inches down her arm was a deep line, which suggested she had been grazed by a bullet, but the blood had dried around it. "Is it me or does today feel like it's going to be one of those days?" He tried to lighten the mood.

Aaron kept his gaze ahead, his thoughts elsewhere. "I know what you mean." He muttered.