(And you know she’s probably right.)

“This doesn’t change anything,” Warden says. “It’s sad to say, and it’s shitty for Alex, but we can’t let this slow us down.”

The Pack gathers around him, and it’s clear Warden is the Leader and they’re all looking at him to tell them what comes next.

“But what about Amber?” Dawn asks. “Now we know there’s no rescue coming.”

Warden takes her hand. “There’s still a rescue,” he tells her. “When we get to the highway tomorrow we’ll flag someone down. We’ll tell them Amber and Christian are still out here. If we hurry, we can get a helicopter to her before dark.”

Dawn looks around at the rest of the group. Nobody’s looking at anyone else.

Except Brandon is still watching Dawn.

Meanwhile, Lucas is still stealing glances at Alex’s body, then gazing up the side of the cliff and frowning. “But what was Alex doing on this side of the mountain?” he says. “This cliff is nowhere near the trail down from the tarn.”

Warden shifts, impatiently.

“It doesn’t matter,” he says. “We’re probably never going to know. What matters now is that we have to keep moving.”

Chapter 67

SO THEY KEEP MOVING.

It doesn’t feel good, but like Warden says, there’s nothing they can do for Alex now. So they shoulder their packs. They fall in behind Warden. They follow the trench east, away from the trail.

And Dawn doesn’t tell a soul about how Alex was stabbed.

She figures it’s safer for everyone if nobody knows that she knows someone in the group murdered Alex. That it was probably Brandon or Evan.

She knows if she starts pointing fingers and raising a fuss, well, feelings are bound to get hurt. Lines will be drawn. The whole “getting out of the forest alive” situation will get a little more complicated.

Dawn figures there will be time when they get to the highway to sort through the question of who murdered Alex.

In the meantime, she just wants to survive.

So she keeps her mouth shut.

Doesn’t tell a soul.

(Not even Lucas.)

Chapter 68

“I JUST DON’T LIKE IT,” Lucas tells Dawn, as they hike.

They’re still below the tree line, steadily dropping altitude. In the distance, Dawn can see the river toward which Warden is leading them.

The river that leads to the highway.

It’s late afternoon now. The sky’s getting darker. Sooner or later, they’re going to have to make camp, but Warden keeps pushing them. Chewing up distance.

Warden’s in a hurry, and the whole Pack is struggling to keep up.

“I keep thinking about Alex,” Lucas says. They’re a ways back from everyone else; nobody can hear them. “Like, how does it make sense that he fell off that cliff?”