"There's nothing to go on!" John said after I told him my possibly-murder-theory. I shrugged. It was true, I supposed. Maybe it was wishful thinking, how ever twisted that seemed.
"The only way to actually find out the truth is to follow the dog back to either it's owner or it's home."
"I'm not going into the woods again."
"I'll go by myself, then."
"Firstly, I'm your best friend. I have to come. Secondly, how are you going to find the dog and then follow it? It'll be following you."
"Oh. Right. I...hadn't quite worked it out properly."
"You're going to get me killed."
"It's your fault your morals are so strong!"
"I'm the best friend you'll ever have, d'you know that?"
"Yes."
"If we die, I'm going to kick your arse in heaven."
"I get the idea, John! We're not going to die, okay?" I near shouted.
"Are we going into the woods again?" groaned Greg from across the campsite. He heard me, then.
"Looks like it." John shouted back. I put my head in my hands. Why did I have such good friends?
"Are you sure about this?" whispered John from the tree opposite me.
"Yes!" I hissed, wrapping my arms tighter around the tree branch, literally holding on for dear life.
"I hate you, d'you know that?"
"Yes, I know that! Now shut up and wait for John and Greg!"
We waited in silence for half an hour, and I started to wonder whether Greg had been eaten, but then I heard him shouting for help, followed by the pounding of his feet, which was oddly reassuring. I saw him sprint towards me and pulled him up into the tree. The dog, who had been chasing him, stood in the middle of the small clearing, sniffing, trying to find his bait. Yes, Greg had been used as bait. I couldn't say I felt bad, even though he was one of my best friends.
"Have you got the gun?"
I held it up. It was a water pistol, not a gun, really, but it had a GPS tracker I had taken from Dimmock's phone when he was asleep. I pulled the trigger and it flew like a bullet towards the dog, burying its self in it's flesh, hidden by the mess of black fur. I smiled- it had worked.
"I thought we weren't allowed to bring mobile phones!" said Molly, who was in the tree next to me.
"We weren't, but that didn't stop anyone." I said, pulling out my own phone, which was configured to track the chip now nested in the dog's back within a quarter of a mile.
"What now?"
"We wait until the morning."
"We've only ever been able to find it at night...that's what the chip's for?"
I nodded, realizing I hadn't explained the plan properly. The three of us climbed out of our trees, moving around the dog and back to camp. I couldn't believe I would have to wait until morning; I wanted to track the dog now, although I knew it wouldn't work. I sighed. It would be the longest night of my life.