Perched atop some conveniently placed logs around the fire, the four strangers began discussing their situation in the hopes to unravel the mystery.

First, they all came to the realization that each had been in the woods before ending up at the campfire. Neither had any recollection of what may have happened between doing their trivial tasks to becoming stranded together. Sure, it was bizarre, but they were keen on finding a logical explanation for what was going on. But any chances of that were slashed right in half, as Claudette would end up saying something that would set the precedent of the strangeness to come.

"I was coming back from Toronto and-"

"Toronto?" Meg said, mouth agape.

Not understanding Meg's horror, Claudette continued innocently. "Yeah, I go to college ther-"

"No! No, I mean I was in Colorado when I was- was brought here. That's where I live. I was jogging on a trail just outside of my town," Meg clarified, bringing the group to an excruciating silence. Her and Claudette stared at one another before both choosing to glare at the fire instead, far too overwhelmed to even consider how any part of the circumstance was possible.

They'd sat at the fire so long, contemplating the oddities of the night, that Meg began to resent the heat. It no longer served her any comfort as she felt her body perspiring due to the sheer amount of stress fracturing through her. Her stomach churned, nauseated by the growing pile of questions amassing within her head; it all blurred together and the senseless stream of thoughts grew muddled. She started to feel numb. Her mouth was drying out from swallowing down the anxiety over and over and over. It was a vicious cycle with no foreseeable end.

Dwight sighed. Clasping his hands together, he took in a deep, deep breath. As he exhaled, he stood and looked at the group. "I don't know what is happening. Clearly, it's… complicated," he gestured to Meg and Claudette, then himself. "I'm from Massachusetts- so yeah, it's pretty fucking complicated. This is reality defying shit here."

"The moon hasn't moved." Jake noted randomly, who was sitting the furthest away from everyone. He pointed up at the bright orb in the night sky, which still was just slightly grazing the treetops. As they all peered up, Meg came to the same sick conclusion. It really hadn't changed positions since Meg took notice of it when she first woke up. It pained her to admit that things just kept getting weirder.

Now pacing back and forth, Dwight threw his arms up. "I'm not going to keep trying to get answers here, we just have to figure out what we are going to do at this point."

Jake stood up along with him. "My plan was to wait until morning to travel but-" he pointed up again "- it doesn't look like that'll be happening."

"We will need food and water," added Claudette.

Everyone just sort of shrugged, each noticing that they weren't really hungry or thirsty at that moment. Food and water, while a necessity, seemed so far down on the list of importance that no one even bothered to answer her. They were too consumed by the bizarreness of lacking memories and now the unnatural circumstances of their environment.

SNAP!

From behind them came a quick cracking of a twig. They all promptly stood, Jake being the nearest one to whatever was lurking within the shadows. He slowly took cautious steps backward, keeping his eyes trained on the spot where they had heard it.

"Do you see that?" Jake whispered to them, continuing backwards.

Meg squinted, scouring the darkness for anything. It was hard to see but she could almost make out the outline of a figure standing off in the distance. Was it her imagination or was there someone else with them?

She pointed over Jake's shoulder, him now being right in front of them. The campfire blazed between the group and whatever the thing was.

"Right there?" She said, so quietly it was barely audible. Jake nodded.

The thing suddenly moved, making a sort of breathy grunt as it turned and retreated into the woods.

Claudette's face contorted and she began to cry softly. Dwight wordlessly put a careful arm around her and did his best to keep himself together, a stark contrast from his earlier breakdown.

None of them were doing okay.

They talked for another half an hour, warily peeking over their shoulders every few moments, not really coming to any conclusions when Meg began to notice that the environment was shifting around them. It seemed a dark fog was rolling in, surrounding the campfire. It came slowly at first, then quickened enough to alarm her as it impeded on the trees around them.

"Guys," she said worriedly. They all stood once again, huddling together as they also took notice of the wall of fog closing in on the campfire. "What is that?"

"I don't know," Dwight whispered.

Soon it was slipping around their feet and lifting up, higher and higher until-

Meg had no choice but to breathe it in, having held her breath as long as she could. She couldn't see an inch in front of her face, the barricade of dense fog completely eliminating her line of sight. It was suffocating for just a second, before it alleviated and it lessened in opacity.

The air began to shift suddenly with the entrance of a breeze, new smells dancing around her senses. The cawing of birds could be heard overhead.

And just like that, the fog was gone as quickly as it came, retreating into nothing right before Meg's eyes.

She noticed she was no longer standing in front of the campfire- rather alone in a dim and jagged arrangement of brick ruins. She did a full spin, taking in the new surroundings when she discovered Dwight, Claudette and Jake were no longer with her.

A small whimper escaped Meg, her heart being struck with true fear now that she had no one by her side. She took a step backward, knocking her foot against something heavy. Looking down, the girl's face contorted into a terrified grimace.

Sitting there menacingly in the grass was an unarmed bear trap, to which Meg took a cautious step away. She wasn't sure what to make of it but the feeling in her gut knew it wasn't a good sign.

A cold chill ran down her spine as she wandered off in a frightened daze.