Chapter 1101
The three of them disappeared down the trail toward the river, leaving silence behind.
"We can’t let them go alone with anyone," Emma said firmly. "Not anymore."
"They’ll try to separate us," Jude said. "We have to stick together."
They spent the rest of the morning pretending to go about their routine, checking the traps, collecting dry wood, tending to the fire, but none of them strayed too far from each other. Susan, Natalie, Grace, and Stella remained behind with them, each seemingly untouched so far, though their eyes held confusion, distraction, and a strange longing that hadn’t been there before.
Sophie sat with Susan near the fire, talking softly about the old days, the early days when they first arrived and struggled to survive. Jude watched her subtly, noting the way Susan smiled a little too long, the way her gaze lingered toward the path Rose had taken.
"She’s getting to her," Sophie whispered when Susan went to fetch water. "It’s only a matter of time."
"They’re isolating us by infecting the heart of each group," Emma said. "Next it’ll be Grace or Stella. I can feel it."
Natalie returned soon after with a handful of berries and a bright smile. "Zoey says we’re going to build something tonight," she said sweetly. "Like a bonfire. She said it’ll be... enlightening."
That made Jude’s stomach sink.
By late afternoon, the group that had gone to the river returned. Their clothes were soaked and clinging, their bodies glowing from the cold, their eyes gleaming with something deeper. Rose walked at the center, surrounded by the others like a queen returned from a sacred rite. And now Natalie walked beside her too, close, too close.
Sophie’s breath caught. "They got her."