Once again, Nancy was surprised she was still alive. Trembling, she lowered her arms and opened her eyes. The clearing was again empty and it took her a minute to realize she could tell this because the moon had reappeared. Nancy looked up and almost smiled at it. Maybe it wasn’t her time after all.

Scanning the clearing, just in case the red-eyed creature was still lurking somewhere, Nancy’s eye caught on a shape at the edge of the light. It wasn’t moving but it looked… familiar. The color of what seemed to be a dark blue jacket stood out, as did light brown hair that stood up at an odd angle. Eyes widening, she bolted forward as she realized what it was.

“Robbie!” Nancy fell to her knees and turned her friend over. Rolling into his back, it was obvious he hadn’t fared as well as her. His blue jacket was torn in multiple locations, his black sneakers were covered in mud, and dead leaves were caught in messy hair. But he was alive, as the steady rise and fall of his chest indicated.

“Robbie?” Nancy said gently. She placed a hand on his cheek which made his face twitch. “Hey, Rob, you’re going to fine, ok? Can you hear me? Come on, open your eyes.” He still didn’t move and, even with the moonlight, it was too dark to see if something had happened to his face. Nancy moved her hand away from his face and patted his pocket before finding what she was looking for. Swiping up, she saw Robbie’s phone was also low on battery, but dismissed it and turned on the flashlight, pointing it in her friend’s face.

Immediately, his eyes opened and he let out a soft groan.

“Nanc…” His face was riddled with small cuts, probably from tree branches lashing out as he had whipped by, and he had some dried blood near his hair line, small injuries that could have been much, much worse.

“Hey, hey,” Nancy said. “It’s alright, we’re going to be fine. Can you stand? Come on, let’s sit up. We should get out of here soon.”

With his friend’s help, Robbie was able to get to his feet, but had to lean heavily on Nancy for support. Luckily Nancy easily handled his weight on her shoulders and they slowly began to move into the woods. Keeping one flashlight on Robbie’s face, because that seemed to be the only thing that kept him awake, Nancy held the other light in front of her.

“Thank God for compass apps,” she muttered, readjusted their trajectory to be true east, and kept on, moving deeper and deeper into the night and toward the end of her journey.