Day 8 - 5:48am

Nadie paced outside of the male counselor cabin with her arms tucked behind her back as she nervously nibbled on her bottom lip. Stopping her pacing and checking her watch, Nadie tapped her foot while whispering to herself. "Where is he?" She glanced over her shoulder to see Beyond leaning against the deck while smoking a cigarette seemingly watching her movements closely.

Beyond eyed Nadie suspiciously while lifting his radio. "Light, where are your drones?"

The radio crackled with static before Light's voice broke the static. "Betas one through ten are on their stations, Alphas one and two are hovering near the mountains… and, Alpha three is watching that counselor just as sharply as you… I can't locate Alpha four. I'm going to go through its backlogs to see if anything of use shows up."

Beyond stepped down the steps with his cigarette haphazardly hanging from his lips. As he shifted a sidelong glance towards Mello, who also had a lit cigarette while being seated on the main steps that led to the lodge and cradling his forehead. "Hey, Beyond, you don't buy that shit she was spilling earlier, do you?"

The raven sighed while removing his cigarette from his mouth with his index and middle finger. "I have a bad feeling. Help me do a head count on the counselors." The blonde rolled his eyes as he flicked his cigarette off to the side while following behind Beyond towards the counselor cabins.

Their radios crackled before Light spoke again. "Alpha four is offline, which doesn't make sense. It should still broadcast its location regardless of its status. Last known location is due southwest from your current location. I'll send Anax with the last known coordinates."

Nadie jumped slightly when she turned to finish her pace and bumped into Beyond's side. The raven's crimson eyes shifted towards her with a suspicious glare while speaking in a deep, knowing tone. "Who are you waiting for?"

Anax flew over the small group at high speeds, causing a small gust of wind to blow past them, kicking Nadie's long hair up slightly. Mello stepped up to the cabin and sighed as he knocked gently. As the door creaked open, an exhausted stare landed on the blonde guard. Johnathan over exaggeratingly blinked a couple of times to aid him in waking up more, as he tiredly mumbled. "Yes? Is everything okay?"

Mello pushed the door in and pushed past the brunette, knocking shoulders with him and unsettling him from his stance, while muttering angrily. "You tell me." A bright flashlight landed on each bed causing the sleeping occupant to groan and either cover their head or sit up slightly while shielding their eyes. "One, two, three…" Mello turned towards Johnathan, shining the light directly into his face. "Four…"

Beyond folded his arms as Nadie fumbled with her words attempting to escape the piercing gaze of annoyance. Mello groaned loudly, waking the remaining sleeping counselors out of their slumber. "Beyond! One of them is missing!"

Nadie flinched slightly when a low angry tone came from the ravened guard. "Let me guess… Nootau?"

Mello stomped out of the cabin while groaning more loudly. "I'm too tired for this shit!"

Beyond folded his arms and stared Nadie down. Quivering her lower lip, Nadie sucked in a shuddered gasp. "We were both out last night… I told you, we were laying protection circles!"

Beyond's right eyebrow twitched in anger as he reached for his radio. "Of all of the stupid… And you didn't think to actually tell us you were both out!?" He queued his radio as a smirk came across his lips. "Hey, L… what else did you bring?"

A monotone voice came over the frequency, a smile could nearly be heard over the radio. "Funny you should ask…"

Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time for the night, Beyond lifted his radio. "I'm coming upstairs, I'll look for the late night hiker. Brief the counselors when they get up." Mello opened his mouth to contest the standing order as Beyond waved him off while walking towards the lodge. "Tracking persons of interest is kind of my thing, anyone else will get in the way, slow me down or mess with the trail." He smirked back towards Mello. "There isn't a prey that I haven't hunted and brought down."

Mello stuffed his hands into his pockets and muttered under his breath. "Fucking psychopath."

-x-

The counselors all lined up near the lodge as they were instructed by Matt and Light. Nadie hung her head in defeat. Light talked dully to the counselors. "This is exactly why safety protocols should be followed. Personally, I would have expected this from a child, not a grown adult, but here we are."

Many of the counselors swiveled their heads looking for the missing person in question. Beyond stepped out of the lodge with a large shotgun slung over his shoulder and a backpack with first aid supplies and short term camping supplies. The sight of the tactical double barreled shotgun sent a nervous wave of chatter through the group. Beyond lit a cigarette as Anax hovered behind him just outside the door. "Listen up, you little shits. This shit is not okay. I now get to pull a double shift because one of your little twit friends couldn't follow the rules. Next one to go missing isn't coming back. You fucking got it? Is it crystal fucking clear?"

All of the counselor heads hung slightly, a couple nodded in confirmation. Beyond exhaled a cloud of smoke through his nostrils as the sun continued the climb into the sky, brightening the area, leaving only a minor haze of fog. "Come on, Anax. Let's go find the lost sheep." The drone beeped a couple of times before following behind Beyond.

After Beyond had disappeared into the woods, the counselors all breathed a sigh of relief. Caspian emerged from behind Light wearing an equally displeased scowl while whispering to the brunette. "He does know how to use all of that stuff, right?"

Matt chuckled while folding his arms, looking in the direction the raven had wandered off in. "He's a Seal, not a Marine. Aside from you, he's the best medic here."

"That wasn't seriously a gun though, right?" Sara's loud and abrupt question tore through the awkward hush that had overcome the group of young adults.

L shuffled out next to Light with his hands in his pockets. "As serious as a heart attack. We shouldn't have to tell you, however, please do not let the children know about the disappearance of a counselor. Both, most likely, possible outcomes are not best case scenarios. They will either panic, or worse, try to help find him. We cannot afford to lose anyone else, nonetheless a camper. A child. Everyone here is ultimately responsible if a child goes missing, keep that in mind."

"But why did he have a gun!?"

Light shifted his shoulders uncomfortably as he spoke. "Scans show some of the local wildlife houses not only bears, moose, but also large mountainous species of cats. It's for his protection. Rest assured, despite his temperament, Beyond is the best tracker with us. The missing parties will be located and brought back to camp. We need to carry on as if nothing is out of the ordinary, we don't want the children to suspect anything."

As the crowd of counselors and guards dispersed into the usual morning routines, Natilly waited behind with her hands folded over one another across her waist. "How is Aiden?"

Light nodded to her and waved her into the main lodge. "He's doing as good as he can. He's had round the clock care and any of his needs tended to, though, after last night he's a little scared."

She nodded as she listened to Light, her eyes drifted towards Caspian who had collapsed onto the couch in the main room of the lodge. Knitting her eyebrows together in mild confusion, she continued to follow Light upstairs. "Um…"

Light stopped at the top of the stairs and gestured towards the sleeping teen who'd taken temporary residence on Caspian's bed. Natilly chuckled slightly under her breath at the sprawled out boy. Light smirked before he spoke. "Caspian said he shouldn't be on a hard and lumpy couch while recovering, so he gave Aiden his bed. So, during the night hours, Beyond mostly tends to him when he isn't on patrol and when Beyond isn't here, L takes care of him. Caspian sees to his needs during the afternoon and evening and Near does the morning shift."

Natilly sighed quietly. "No wonder why he's cranky about having to go find Nootau. I hope he's okay and I hope Beyond will be okay."

Light folded his arms and nodded. "I hope so, I can't imagine he got into too much in one night, he's a capable guy, probably just got turned around. As for Beyond, if Nootau is out there, he'll find him, don't worry about him."

Natilly leaned in a little closer to Light before speaking in a hush, so as not to bother the sleeping occupants of the room. "What was that last night? It woke me out of a dead sleep."

Light sighed before gesturing towards the stairs. "I don't know, Miss Natilly, but we aim to find out." Natilly started down the stairs as Light turned to head to bed before a thought crossed his mind. "Oh, and, Miss Natilly…" She stopped and looked up towards the brunette guard. "Don't ask Nadie about it… she's rattled enough, as she's the only one who got caught being out, she'll likely tell you ghost stories."

Natilly covered her mouth before nodding in silence and turning to leave. The sounds of excited chatter from kids and teens alike started to fill the air as they all filed out of the cabins for the day.

42 Days Remaining

10 Counselors Surviving - 1 Missing

75 Campers On Site - 1 Recovering