Chapter 21

Riker POV

"Riley, you're not going to die. They'll probably catch him before he even gets very far. And even if they don't catch him right away, the chances of him even crossing paths with us are very small."

"Riker, some way, somehow, he'll find me. And I don't think he'll hesitate to kill me."

"But Riley, he doesn't even know we're here."

"But if he sees us, he'll know we're here!"

"Even if he did, there's 2 of us, and only 1 of him."

"He'll kill you too!"

"No he won't, Riley! He's never going to find us!"

"Riker!"

"Riley, come on. Let's just keep walking."

"But I'm tired!"

"So am I, but we need to get out of here."

"And why is that? Because you think Dylan's going to kill us!"

"Riley, whether Dylan's going to kill us or not, we still need to try to get out of the woods, and back to civilization."

"So you admit it!"

"I admit what?"

"You're scared that Dylan's going to kill us."

"Riley, I think it's highly unlikely-"

"Are you scared, yes or no?"

"…yes…"

"Now why was that so hard for you to say?"

"Because it's embarrassing!"

"Why? I'm scared of Dylan!"

"But you're a girl, and I'm a guy."

"So? It doesn't matter. We're both humans. It's ok to be scared."

"Riley, come on, let's just keep walking."

"Wait. If Dylan did find us… What would you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Would you kill him?"

"Uh… Well I'm not a murderer like he is! I wouldn't want to. But I guess if it came down to it…"

"Riker, I'm so scared! We're lost in the woods at night with a murderer on the loose."

"Don't you trust me? I'll protect you."

"You'll protect me against Dylan?"

"I'll do whatever I can, Riley."

Riley turned and kept walking.

"Hey! Don't you trust me?"

"Riker… I just want to go home."

"But do you trust me?"

Riley kept walking.

"Hey!"

I grabbed Riley's hand, and made her stop.

"Riley. What's going on? I thought you trusted me. What happened?"

"Can we just keep walking?"

"Riley, wait. What's going on?"

"Riker, I just need some space, ok?"

"I can't exactly give you space. We're lost in the woods."

"I just… don't want to talk about it right now, ok?"

"Riley, I need to know what's going on. This can't wait. Tell me."

"I don't think… you can protect me from Dylan…"

"Riley, I told you, I'd do anything to protect you from him."

"What if that's not enough?"

"Riley, don't think like that."

"I can't help it! It's late, we're lost, I'm tired, there's a murderer out here with us, and I just want to go home!"

"Riley, shhh! If Dylan's nearby, you don't want him to hear us."

"We're going to die, Riker. Why not get it over with. Then I won't have to stress about it for hours."

"Riley, stop! You're giving up too easily! We can beat him! Oh come on, Riley! Don't give me that look! Don't you want to have a future together? We can make it out alive whether we see Dylan or not."

"I hope you're right…