I sneak behind Jasmine and snap a twig in her ear. She screams and bolts for the other side of camp. “You’re not funny.”

 

I laugh. “To you.” DJ laughs across the fire. “DJ thinks I’m funny.” I sit on the log Jasmine had been sitting on. “Where’s Sam and Kade?” The fire heats up my face.

 

“The lake,” DJ says. “They’re skinny dipping.”

 

“You wanna scare ‘em?” I ask.

 

DJ stands and dusts himself off. “Yeah.”

 

Jasmine grabs my hand. “Chase, leave them alone.”

 

“Are you coming or not?”

 

She sighs and pushes herself up.

 

We creep through the forest. Jasmine latches onto my arm the whole way to the lake.

 

DJ and I make a plan to scare them, but when we get there, they’re not in the water. They’re not even by the lake.

 

Jasmine walks from the forest line, crunching leaves on her way.

 

Sam looks back at us. “Guys, look,” she says.

 

DJ and I jog to the fence Sam and Kade stand next to. A white sign with black bold letters posted on it reads:

 

WARNING:

THERE IS NO ACCESS BEYOND THIS POINT

TURN BACK BEFORE ITS TOO LATE

 

“Before it’s too late,” Kade says.

 

I laugh. “C’mon.” I grab the fence and pull myself up.

 

“Dude,” DJ says.

 

“Chase,” Jasmine says.

 

I throw my leg over the top. “C’mon, lets see what it’s talking about.”

 

“It explicitly says not to, Chase.” Sam tugs my leg. “We could get arrested.”

 

“We’re not gonna get arrested. Do you see any cops around here? It’s just a silly sign.” I climb over the other side and drop down. “Are you guys gonna listen to a sign?”

 

DJ pushes Kade out of the way. He climbs up the fence and drops down next to me. It takes about a minute for them all to climb the fence.

 

I lead the group nowhere in particular. I walk around the trees. Jasmine complains and latches onto my arm. She’s a leech. DJ walks by my side and nudges me in other directions.

 

I don’t know how long we walk until we reach another fence with another sign.

 

RESTRICTED AREA

PLEASE TURN BACK BEFORE THEY’RE RELEASED

NO ACCESS BEYOND THIS POINT

 

I laugh. “Before they’re released. Who are they kidding?”

 

“Chase, we should really go back,” Jasmine says. I shake her arm off.

 

“You can go back. I’m hopping this fence.” I climb up the fence and jump down the other side. DJ comes down after me. I stare at Kade, challenging him.

 

Kade looks away and grips the fence. “C’mon.” He climbs the fence and drops down. I pat him on the back.

 

Sam and Jasmine look behind at the dark forest. Sam rubs her arms, looks at Jasmine and climbs the fence. Jasmine reluctantly follows.

 

She stays away from me. She latches onto Sam who latches onto Kade. DJ and I take the front, hooting and hollering for the cops to be called. There’s probably not even service out here.

 

I pull out my phone to check. And I’m right. No service.

 

“Oh, my god guys, what is that?” I pull DJ back and point into the dense trees.

 

Jasmine screams.

 

I laugh. “You’re so gullible.”

 

“You’re such a jerk. Let’s go back. We left all our stuff.”

 

“So materialistic.” I shake my head. “Live a little, Jas.”

 

DJ elbows me and we continue.

 

The group is quiet for a while. The leaves crunch and twigs snap. I use my phone’s flashlight. There’s no moon tonight and there was at least some light earlier on.

 

We come across another fence with another sign:

 

YOU WERE WARNED

 

“Chase, let’s go back,” Sam says, tugging on my sleeve. “We’ve been walking for a while. It’s just fence after fence.”

 

I stop. “Why do you think there are fences? It’s probably some Area 51 shit. Don’t you want to see an alien?”

 

“Not really,” she says.

 

“Yeah, I gotta agree with that one,” Kade says.

 

“Can you believe this shit?” I nudge DJ.

 

“C’mon guys, don’t be such a wuss.” He grabs the fence and climbs. I race him to the other side.

 

Kade sighs and climbs after us. The girls follow suit.

 

I turn my phone light back on and shine it at the trees around. The trees get thicker as they thin out. They’re bare and they shift in the soft breeze.

 

“Guys, I cut myself,” Sam says. We stop and turn to her. She holds out her hand where blood oozes.

 

“Was the fence rusty?” Kade grabs her hand.

 

“Have you had your tetanus shot?” Jasmine asks.

 

Sam nods. “We need to go back.”

 

“Yeah, she can get infected,” Kade says.

 

“Go.” I wave them off. “Put a Band-Aid on it.”

 

“No, I think we should all go.”

 

I look at DJ. “Do you wanna go?”

 

“No.”

 

“We’ll meet you guys at the camp.”

 

I look at Jasmine as she shakes her head. She huffs and leaves, pulling Sam along with her. Kade hesitates before leaving.

 

DJ and I continue through the thicket of trees. I turn my light off and let my eyes adjust. There are no noises, not even crickets. The leaves don’t even crunch.

 

“Do you think it’s just forest? Like endless trees?” DJ asks.

 

“No. Something is out here or those signs wouldn’t be up.”

 

“Don’t you think we should go back then?”

 

“C’mon DJ, you too?” I stop.

 

“Its just, they’re gonna need help getting Sam over the fences.”

 

“They—”

 

Twigs snap.

 

Leaves crunch.

 

Something runs toward us. It’s upon us in seconds. My shoulder’s grabbed. I scream and spin around, pushing it away.

 

Kade and Sam laugh. Jasmine falls to the floor, laughing. My heart slows. DJ covers his mouth but I hear him laughing.

 

“Fuck you.” I dust myself off. “How long have you had that planned?”

 

“When we climbed the first fence.” Kade runs his hands down his face. “That was priceless.”

 

I open my mouth to speak, but a scream cuts me off. We all turn in the direction to which it came. I fight the urge to go back.

 

“Let’s check it out.” I move forward.

 

DJ pulls my arm. “Dude, really?”

 

A gust of wind flows by. Jasmine pulls her hair from her face. Another rushing of leaves and sticks breaking comes towards us. I do a quick head count.

 

Jasmine grabs my arm. She trembles. Kade stands in front of Sam but a scream comes from behind us. We all spin around. A scream comes from our left and our right.

 

It’s everywhere.

 

And then it’s in us.

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