A/N: Hi! Sorry for the week absence, I had a lot of things going on! I've just seen Star Wars Episode 9 today, and despite popular opinion, I actually loved the movie; in any way, I left the movie theatre with a feeling of satisfaction over the ending, sadness that it's the end, and, of course, brains blown out of my mind ;) I know many will be preoccupied with SW right now (I am too!), but here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

They continued their way around fifteen minutes later. Heavy silence accompanied them, constantly reminding them that fifteen minutes ago, one of them was buried. And they couldn't turn back. They went too far.

It was midday. Six more days till the lake. They were climbing up a rocky trail, a smooth mountain to their right and an abrupt precipice to their left.

Winnifred's palms still scratched from the dirt. Hot tears ate away her eyes. Winnifred pressed her sleeve to her nose, hiding the sniffs. Riley thoughtfully trailed behind her, quietly humming a sad tune behind her. Suddenly, there was an abrupt sound of falling rocks. Winnifred's head whipped up. Her eyes widened; an entire avalanche of rocks was crashing down her way. Winnifred hastily scrambled up the rocky trail, stumbling over Jacob. He looked back at her, then up, before abruptly dragging her upwards. Winnifred glanced over her shoulder. Riley, face twisted in fear, was scrambling behind her.

"RILEY!" Winnifred screamed and held out her hand. Riley suddenly stumbled, tripping over his shoelace and felt head first on the ground. Winnifred covered her mouth, paralyzed. Billy suddenly pushed through them, distorted determination written on his face. Riley lifted up his bloodied face. He tried to stand up, but at that same moment, a huge rock crashed onto his spine and neck. Winnifred squeezed her eyes shut. Jacob's fingers dug into her elbows. Billy simply stood there, staring at the remnants of his friend. A gurgling sound came out of his throat. Somewhere from the above, a card spiraled down, landing promptly at Billy's feet. Ten of spades. Winnifred started violently trembling. No, no, no, this was an accident, dear god, please let this be an accident, no, no, Riley, please not Riley...

"Let's go," Billy growled, harshly taking her by the shoulders and swiveling her around.

"Jacob, hold Charlotte before she loses it." Jacob nodded and took Charlotte by the hand, on the verge of fainting. Billy wordlessly dragged the backpack off her shoulders and roughly unzipped it.

"You took an assembled gun, didn't you?" He curtly asked, searching through the belongings. Charlotte violently shook her head, unable to rip her eyes off the rock. Assembled gun. These words echoed in Winnifred's head as she silently watched how Billy nimbly assembles the weapon. He was hunting them. They were hunting him. The blood trickled out of her left nostril.

After two hours, they descended down the mountain and resumed walking in the forest. Winnifred felt him watching her, his careful gaze burning her neck. Her eyes drifted to the gun hanging over Billy's stiff shoulders. The leaves painfully crunched under her step.

Winnifred couldn't sleep that night. She and Charlotte moved over to the guys' tent, too afraid to be sleeping alone. The tent seemed to be steaming from the tense knotting of emotions, wrinkling the air with nervous breaths. Winnifred's eyes drifted over to the tent's entrance. Sammy and the gun's shadows swaying in the darkness. He was on guard tonight. Winnifred slightly shifted on the uncomfortable ground, then shut her eyes. After all, if she's asleep, it won't be as painful.

"FFUUCK YOU! YOU BLOODY MOTHER-FUCKER, GOD DAMN YOU!..."

Winnifred eyes slammed open. She scrambled out of her sleeping bag, kicking it away, and tossing her damp hair out of her face, ripped the tent flap open. Her fingers clenched the tent's upward doorway until it ripped her skin. Sammy was lying on the ground, a long, ragged wound rising from his stomach all the way up to his throat. The leaves scattered around were sprinkled in blood. Billy was next to him, white face obliterated with rage.

"Fuck you," he breathed out, gaze fixed on Sammy's frightened, childish face.

"I'm gonna kill you, I swear to hell, I'm gonna kill you..." Charlotte, tears streaming down her face, walked up to him and tightly wrapped her arms around him. Billy buried his face into her shoulder, choking in tears. Jacob, wildly shaking, lifted up a bloodied card lying next to Sammy.

"A J-Jack," he stammered.

"So?" Winifred whispered. Jacob turned his face to her. The sun brightly reflected on his glasses, hiding his eyes from Winnifred.

"Jacks go before Queens. Queens are next."

Billy slowly lifted his head from Charlotte's shoulder, his face unreadable. Charlotte stepped back, hands trembling.

"No, no, no," she whispered. "He won't do this." Billy wordlessly looked at her, then at Winnifred. Winnifred felt her heart stop, then painfully jolt against the rib cage. She involuntarily raised her hand up to her chest.

"Oh yes he will," Billy quietly said. Charlotte swayed. Jacob instantly caught her, but she already opened her eyes.

"We should keep going," Charlotte quietly said. Her eyes lowered down to Sammy. Jacob caught her meaning and lifted the body, carrying it to the closest pine tree. Billy joined him. Winnifred wordlessly began packing up the bags, everything passing between her eyes like a black and white film. Even the sound in her head mimicked the sound of a snapping camera. Charlotte silently helped her. They resumed on their way close to seven o'clock. Billy walked in the front, then was Charlotte with Winnifred, complete with Jacob in the back. He didn't have a gun, rather a knife. Winnifred stared down at the ground while walking, sensing Charlotte's sweaty hand tremble in hers. Her head felt heavy, unable to process anything. She just thought about the day when she ran into the mill and saw the mask and bloodied knife on the windowsill. Why didn't the thugs kill him then? It would've broken her heart. However, they would break her heart. Not him.

Four days till the lake. Four people left. They sat in silence next to the fire. Charlotte glanced up.

"I know you forbade us to go alone..." she timidly started. Billy looked up at her with a blank look.

"And?"

Charlotte looked embarrassed.

"I need to go."

"I can go with you," Winnifred immediately proposed, glancing at the guys. Billy sighed and tossed a knife to her.

"Be quick." He looked back at the flames.

"C'mon," Winnifred touched Charlotte by the upper arm. Her friend followed her. They walked over to the bush a few feet away from the campfire. Winnifred turned around, deciding not to embarrass Charlotte any further. Charlotte thankfully smiled, unzipping her pants. A gun shot rang out. Winnifred swiveled around, heart jumping into her throat. Charlotte stared back at her. As if in slow motion, her knees bent down.

"No..." Winnifred whispered, jerking forward and propping up Charlotte.

"No, Lottie, no..." Charlotte's glassy eyes stared back at her.

"NOOOOO!..." her scream wavered and broke down into a sob. Tears tore her chest apart as Winnifred hugged her friend, the blood from the hole in the back unpleasantly dripping onto her fingers. The bullet rolled on the ground, a red Q and a heart painted on its side. Lottie, please, please, say something, please, Lottie, you can't, you can't, please tell me it's not true, please, please, Billy, let me go, let me go to her, please, Heath, Heath...

"HEATH!.." Winifred screamed, trying to get out of Billy's tight grasp holding her across the stomach.

"HEATH COME OUT, I KNOW YOU'RE HERE, HEATH!"

"Freddie..." Billy started.

"No!" Winnifred rasped, pushing his face away from her. She felt his tears on her palm.

"No, Billy, I know he's there, I know it!" Winnifred broke out of his grasp and ran into the forest. Trees, leaves, bushes, branches, dirt, red, yellow, brown, all mixed in front of her eyes, before turning into a kaleidoscope and a painful ache in her nose. Winnifred sat up from the ground, staring at the root she tripped on, then wildly began digging into the ground. She dug, and dug, the soil clamping behind nails, dirt splattering over her face and clothes, but she dug, and dug, and dug...

"Freddie, dear..."

Billy's arms softly took her around the waist.

"Jacob already buried our Lottie. It's time to go..."

"No," Winnifred choked. "I need to bury her, I need to do this myself, it's all because of me, Lottie, I'm so sorry..."

She fully awoke in the tent at night. She didn't remember the rest of the day or how they reached this new campsite. Her head was pounding, and her nose was stuffed. Winnifred turned to her other side and saw Billy, peacefully sleeping. Winnifred sighed and walked out of the tent. The night was moonless and dark. Winnifred yawned, rubbing her swollen eyes. That's when she saw blood on the ground. For a moment, Winnifred stared at it, before abruptly going inside the tent.