A/n: Sorry for taking so long to update! I have no excuses, I'm just an asshole. *sweats profusely* Don't forget to review if you like it!
When I wake up my head is throbbing and black spots are littering my vision. I blink one, twice, three times, trying to get rid of the splotches. Zip ties around my wrists and ankles keep me from moving. I close my eyes as I try to remember what happened before blacking out.
There was that man- that monster- at the river.
He killed a bunch of people.
He was looking for Nick and the rest of the cabin group.
I owe Nick my life.
I went to warn him.
I found the cabin.
Snuck in through one of the windows.
It was Carlos's window.
And that's it. That's all I can remember.
I look around, the room was illuminated by candlelight. I was the only one in here. I wiggle, trying to move around, but no no avail. I lift my wrists to my mouth and try to rip the zip ties with my teeth, but the plastic is too thick. Fuck. Okay, breathe and don't panic. I remember Christa teaching me how to escape from zip ties, but for some reason I can't recall any of the steps. I close my eyes and try to focus on her voice.
"Don't panic, Clementine. That's the most important thing. Don't panic."
Okay, I let out a deep breath, steadying my breathing. If I panic, Carlos will come back, I'll still be tied up, and he will kill me.
"Tighten the tie. Make sure it's as tight as possible. It makes it easier for the tie to break this way."
I lift the zip tie to my mouth again, pulling the end of the tie with my teeth as tight as I can make it. I can feel it begin to indent my skin, but I ignore it. Like always, survival would outweigh comfort.
"Now, position the tie lock between your wrists. It's the weakest spot, so it's your best chance at breaking the tie. Do you understand?"
I shift the lock so that it was between my wrists. Okay, now for the last step.
"Now, what you're going to do, Clementine, is with a quick and tight movement, you're gonna hit the tie against your butt or your stomach. If you open your elbows upon the impact, it applies even more pressure against the tie. Remember to let your hands spring back from your body; the point isn't to hit yourself as hard as you can. Keep all these steps in mind and getting out of zip ties should be no problem."
I lift my arms above me and bring them down onto my body. I gasp as I knock the breath out of my lungs, like an idiot. The zip ties break off though and really, that's all that matters. I massage my wrists where the plastic was digging into my skin, soothing it and making it feel better. I looked down at my ankles, which were also zip tied, but these would be much easier to break out of.
I lay myself onto my stomach and use my arms to pull my body towards the dresser where the lone candle stood, burning brightly. I reach up and grab the corner of the dresser and pull myself up, leaning against the dresser for stability. I grab the candle and carefully maneuver my way back down to the floor. I lean forward, candle in hand, and position the small flame against the plastic of the zip tie, praying that it's hot enough to melt. I hiss as hot wax drips on my skin, but I ignore it until the plastic of the tie melts and my ankles are free. I rub the skin of my ankles, silently praising myself.
I hear the knob of the door begin to turn and I blow out the candle and throw myself under the bed. I keep quiet as someone walks in, their footsteps light.
"Shoot, where did that candle go? I can't see anything." Sarah's voice asks no one in particular. "I guess I'll go ask dad."
She exits the room, leaving the door wide open. I wait until I hear her go downstairs, before I crawl out from under the bed. I tiptoe to the door, peeking my head out, to make sure the coast was clear. With no one in sight, now was the best time to try to find Nick. I walk by the bathroom door and knock on it.
"Would you wait a fucking minute? I'm pregnant and I've got a lot of pee." Rebecca's voice responds to my knock.
I move on to the next door. I knock twice, hard enough for whoever was inside to hear, but hopefully light enough for no one else to hear. I wait for someone to answer the door, when I hear the stairs creak. Sarah is whining at her father about not being able to read her book in the dark.
"Now, sweetheart, I asked you to stay out of the room for a little while." Carlos says, trying to hide the agitation in his voice. Yeah, he had a skeleton from his closet zip tied and held prisoner, didn't you know?
I want to meet him on the stairs and call him out on, not only lying about my dog bite, but for tying me up when I came back, like I was a prisoner. Before I can, the wooden door opens and Nick is staring at me with wide eyes. I push him inside the room before he can say anything or Carlos sees me.
"What the fuck, you said you wouldn't- You gave me your word!" Nick says, his voice is hushed so no one can hear him, but it's still kind of loud.
"I know, I know," I say, "But I wouldn't be here if it wasn't absolutely important."
"I don't give a fuck what it is," Nick growls, "I told you if you came back, I would shoot you in the face."
"Fine, you know, I hope Carver finds you and fucking kills you." I hiss.
Nick's body tenses up and I know that I've got him in my grasp. The fear evident in his eyes tells me more than enough. "How do you know who Carver is? Are you working with him? I fucking swear if you are, I'll-"
"What, shoot me in the face? Yeah, I get it." I say, exasperated, "I was by the river this morning and he was there. He took a group of people there and shot them all, for sport, and left the bodies there. He said he was looking for all of you, mentioned killing you if you didn't go easy."
Nick crosses his arms and leans against the wall, chewing on his thumbnail. "Fuck," He says, "Fuck. Fuck!"
I stood there, biting my lip. I didn't know what to do now. I told him about Carver, that was enough, right? I walk over to his window and open it up. I didn't want anyone else in Nick's group to see me leaving, thus discovering that Nick hadn't actually killed me. I was kind of glad Carlos found me though. I hoped that the knowledge that I wasn't dead and could successfully sneak in to the room that he slept him would keep him up at night. I swing my legs over the windowsill.
"Wait, where are you going?" Nick asks me.
"I'm leaving," I answer, "Isn't that obvious? Can you go get me a ladder or something?"
"Yeah, but..." He shakes his head, "Thank you, Clementine, for warning me about Carver. You might have saved our lives."
"I didn't do it out of kindness," I respond honestly, "I did it because you saved my life. A life for a life, right?"
Before Nick can respond, there's a heavy knock at the door. I don't know what to do, obviously, I can't go back in the room, but I can't just jump off the roof. Instead, I carefully walk to the side of the window, out of sight from the inside of the room. Anyone outside could probably spot me though.
I hear the door open and Pete's voice reverberates throughout the room. "Jesus, Nick, what are you doing in here? We were supposed to check the fish traps an hour ago."
The fish traps? Oh, fuck! I had to tell him before they got there and saw the slaughter.
"Sorry, I was sleeping." Nick lies.
Pete scoffs, "Yeah, I'm sure. Believe it or not, I was lonely and twenty five once."
"Shut the fuck up." Nick growls, "Let's go check the fucking fish traps."
Nick pulls the window down, effectively locking me out of the cabin and stranded on the roof, with no way down. Fuck. I needed to get down. I needed to warn him.
If they went to the river, Carver could still be there. He could kill Nick after all the effort I went through to make sure he would be safe. I couldn't let Nick die.
Not if I could help it.
