David, Claudette, and Quentin ran to the campfire, trying to catch their breath. Quentin looked back towards the large metal gate to see a figure on the ground. He quickly recognized the figure as Bill.
"Guys! Bill's out there!"
David and Claudette looked back to see that Bill was crawling towards them. Quentin immediately ran towards Bill and grabbed his arms. Bill was almost unconscious from blood loss as he looked up at Quentin.
"Don't worry, Bill. I've got ya."
Bill chuckled as he fell unconscious. Claudette ran up to Quentin, who was still dragging Bill.
"Quick, grab his legs."
Claudette nodded and grabbed Bill's legs. They carried him over to the campfire and set him down next to it. Quentin looked in surprise as he saw that the color in Bill was beginning to come back. Bill gasped as he sat up, frantically searching around.
"Woah! Bill, it's all right. You're still here." Quentin shushed Bill.
Bill chuckled and felt his face. "Oh, I'm still alive in this hell hole? I don't think so."
Quentin lowered his head. "Sorry."
"It's alright, son. You did your best."
David was just staring at Bill with a blank expression. He didn't know what to feel; happiness for Bill's survival or regret for saving him. Quentin looked up at David and walked towards him.
"What the hell, man?!" Quentin said, pushing David.
David fell on the log and looked up at Quentin. He gave Quentin an angry stare and pushed him in the direction of the fire. Quentin fell into the fire and began to scream. He quickly rolled out of the fire and rolled around on the ground, extinguishing the flames. Claudette stared in shock as David turned his gaze towards her. David immediately looked away and sat down on the log. Bill stood up and looked at Quentin, rolling around on the ground.
"Help him." Bill ordered.
Claudette nodded and walked over to Quentin, comforting him. Bill walked over to David and pushed him off of the log. David charged at Bill, but Bill moved out of the way.
"What the hell's the matter with you, son? Calm down and think for a second."
David didn't respond, instead, he just sat back down on the log, turned away from Bill. Bill shook his head in frustration and walked over to Quentin.
"You all right?"
Quentin barely shook his head as the sleep deprivation was beginning to catch up with him. Suddenly, Bill heard screaming coming from inside the wilderness around him. He quickly looked around and saw that a woman was running towards them. Bill quickly stopped her and tried to shush her.
"No! I need get away!" The woman said, trying to break free of Bill's grip.
"Calm down! No one's going to hurt you!" Bill yelled, holding her in place.
After holding her for about a minute, the woman began to calm down as she was beginning to feel exhausted. Bill sighed in relief as he helped her over to the log to sit down.
"It's okay. Can you tell me your name?" Bill asked softly.
The woman looked up at him with sincerity. "Laurie. My name's Laurie."
"It's nice to meet you, Laurie. My name's Bill." Bill looked over to Quentin and Claudette. "That's Claudette and Quentin."
Laurie waved at them as Quentin smiled at her. Laurie looked next to her to see David just staring at the bonfire that Quentin had once fallen into. "Who's that?"
Bill hesitated for a moment. "That's David."
Laurie nodded as she looked over at David, who wasn't moving.
"Can you tell me the last thing that you remember, Laurie?" Bill asked once more.
Laurie stuttered at first. "I was in a hospital. I was running away from my brother, who was trying to kill me. I was cornered in a room and he raised the scalpel to kill me, but I closed my eyes before he struck me. The next thing I knew, I woke up here."
Bill nodded as he remembered what she had said.
"How did you get here?" Laurie asked.
Bill looked at her with sadness. "I lived in a world full of flesh eating monsters. I sacrificed myself for my fellow survivors and I woke up here. That's about it."
Laurie cleared her throat. "So, can you tell me where I am?"
Bill sighed and looked back at her. "I honestly don't know either, kid. I personally think that this is some level of hell."
"Hell? As in Satan's hell?"
"If that's what you consider it."
"It can't be. I've been taught that hell is your worst fear and we're all here."
"I don't even know anymore. I've already saved people here, but I've been left behind. I don't know if I'm cursed to die saving people." Bill chuckled as he looked at the campfire.
"So, is there any way to get out of here?"
"Yeah, but it requires surviving five trials against this killer that stalks us. If we survive five times, we can escape and return back to our world. I'm afraid you arrived one trial too late, but I'm not going to let that stop me from getting you out anyway."
Laurie smiled. "Thanks, Bill."
Bill smiled. "Don't mention it, kid."
Bill saw Laurie as a girl that he had known once before. Zoey, wherever you are, I hope you're safe. Quentin walked over to Bill and Laurie. "All right. We need to come up with some kind of plan. Last time, you barely escaped, Bill."
"Yeah, I know."
"So, any ideas?"
Bill cleared his throat. "Hey, Claudette. Come over here."
Claudette walked over to Bill and began to listen to his plan. "Alright, the plan is, we stick together, no matter what. If we can do that, then we can get those generators fixed. We just need to do this for the rest of the trials that we're going into. If we split up-"
A loud ringing noise rang out as Bill looked at the sliding metal door opening. Laurie frantically looked around. "What's that?!"
Bill shushed Laurie. "It's okay, that's just warning us that a trial is starting."
"Are we ready?" Quentin asked, worried.
"As ready as we'll ever be, let's go." Bill said as he stood up.
The group followed Bill to the door and hoped that they could finish this trial without anyone getting caught.
