By the third day at camp, time felt like it was moving both too quickly and too slowly. Just two days left until we went home. That morning, the campers announced our task: a scavenger hunt for insects hidden deep in the forest. Our team was the same as yesterday—Jela, Mia, Andrea, Carm, Chris, and me.
The campers handed each group a small brochure with instructions and maps. "If you ever get lost, follow the brochure. It will guide you back," they reminded us. We nodded in unison, clutching our papers as the starting whistle rang.
The forest welcomed us with the usual rustling leaves and beams of sunlight dripping through the canopy. At first, we were energetic, dashing between bushes, flipping rocks, and laughing whenever someone screamed at a crawling bug. Our assigned insect was a rare beetle, glossy and black, and finding it was harder than it sounded.
Time passed. Jokes became our way to keep spirits high. Chris shared one of his ridiculously corny jokes, and even though we groaned, laughter followed. Carm kept teasing Jela about tripping over branches, while Jela fired back by threatening to tackle her into the mud.
But then, as our laughter echoed, we realized something terrifying. The sky had dimmed. The sun was dipping lower, shadows stretching long across the ground.
"Wait," Andrea said, looking around. "Where's the trail?"
We froze. The forest that once felt welcoming now loomed over us, twisting into unfamiliar shapes. We pulled out our brochures immediately, following the instructions step by step… but no matter how far we walked, nothing looked familiar.
Panic prickled at my skin.
Chris raised his hands, calm but firm. "Everyone, breathe. We'll figure this out. Let's just keep moving. If we stay put, we'll freeze out here."
So we walked. And walked. Minutes became hours. Our shoes sank into wet leaves, and our clothes clung to our skin with sweat. Just as despair started to settle in, thunder rumbled.
And then the rain came.
It wasn't a drizzle—it was a downpour, sheets of water hammering the forest. We ran blindly, branches whipping against our faces. Jela slipped, Carm pulled her up, Andrea shouted directions over the storm, and I could barely keep my eyes open through the heavy rain.
"Over there!" Mia cried, pointing.
Through the storm, a dark opening yawned at the base of a mountain. A cave. Without hesitation, we rushed inside, collapsing onto the rocky floor, gasping for air.
The cave was cold and damp, but it was a shelter. With trembling hands, Chris and Andrea scraped rocks and sticks until, finally, a tiny spark flickered to life. Soon, a small fire crackled, its warmth chasing away the chill. We huddled around it, steam rising from our soaked clothes.
For a while, silence hung heavy. The rain outside was relentless, drumming like an endless army against the earth.
Then Andrea's voice broke through. "Wait… look at this."
She was standing near the far wall of the cave, where something metallic glinted under the firelight. We followed her and saw it: a rusted metal door, half-hidden by moss and stone.
We exchanged uncertain glances.
Chris stepped forward first. With a grunt, he pulled the heavy door open. A cold draft washed over us, and we peered inside.
What lay beyond wasn't just another cavern. It was a room.
No—an old laboratory.
Dust clung to every corner. Rows of shattered glass tubes and broken stirring rods littered the counters. Shelves lined the walls, their bottles long empty but labeled with words none of us understood. Old machines sat silent, covered in cobwebs, yet… the overhead lights flickered to life when Chris found the switch.
We gasped. Electricity.
"This place…" Mia whispered. "What is it doing here, in the middle of the forest?"
The air felt heavy, thick with the scent of rust and chemicals. The quiet hum of the lights made the silence even more eerie, as if we weren't supposed to be here at all.
Carm, trying to break the tension, muttered, "Well, if this is a horror movie, we just walked into the killer's lair."
Still, hunger gnawed at us. Carm and Andrea rummaged through cabinets, hoping to find food, while the rest of us looked around nervously. The rain outside showed no signs of stopping, and for now, this abandoned lab was the only shelter we had.
But one thing was clear.
This wasn't just a cave anymore.
We had stumbled onto something that wasn't meant to be found.
We searched the laboratory desperately, hoping to find something edible, but every cabinet and drawer was empty. Frustration settled over us like the damp air, and soon we were all sitting together in silence, exhausted and ready to sleep.
Then Jela screamed.
We bolted upright in panic, hearts racing—only to see her rushing toward us with a wide grin plastered on her face.
"Guys! I found something amazing!" she cried.
We stared at her in disbelief. "Wait… you went off alone?!" I shouted.
Jela puffed her chest proudly. "Yes! …Well, now that I think about it, it looked scary down there."
Carm pinched the bridge of her nose, glaring. "What did you find this time, monkey?"
"You'll see!" Jela said, bouncing on her heels.
Despite our hesitation, curiosity got the better of us, and we followed her. She led us into a stairwell that descended into a hidden basement. At the bottom, the sight stole our breath: an enormous storage room filled with crates of weapons, racks of preserved food, and even a few vehicles covered by dusty tarps.
We shouted with joy, relief flooding through us. "You're the best, Jela!" Carm and I exclaimed, hugging her so tightly she almost fell over. Even Carm, though annoyed, cracked a reluctant smile.
For a while, it felt like a miracle. We tore open packets of food, savoring the taste as laughter filled the once-dead space. Chris suggested we wait for the rain to weaken before leaving, so we stayed, eating and swapping stories of camp life, grateful to have warmth and shelter.
Eventually, the storm softened. The rain still fell, but not as violently as before. We agreed it was time to head out, so we prepared one of the vehicles to leave.
That's when we noticed Jela was gone.
"Where's Jela now?" Andrea asked nervously.
Groaning, we searched for her and found her clambering up a strange, tall storage unit in the corner of the room.
"Guys, look at this!" she shouted from the top, her small figure perched dangerously on the edge. "It's huge—I wonder what's inside!"
"Jela! Get down from there!" Carm barked, fists clenched. "We don't have time for this!"
Jela rolled her eyes dramatically, dangling one leg over the side. "Okay, okay! Don't get mad," she muttered in a singsong tone.
She began her descent, but it wasn't graceful. Her shoes scraped against the metal, sending sharp screeches through the room. At one point she slipped, catching herself just in time by grabbing a protruding handle.
"Careful!" I yelled, my chest tightening.
"Relax!" she called back, though her grin wavered. Slowly, she lowered herself, one hand after the other, her movements jerky and unsteady.
Halfway down, her foot pressed too hard against one of the panels. The unit trembled under her weight, rattling like it might collapse.
"Jela!" Carm shouted again, her voice rising with panic.
"Almost there!" Jela replied quickly. She tried to move faster, but as she dropped the last few feet, her heel struck the base of the unit hard.
The metal groaned… shifted… and then—
Beep… beep… beep…
The sound pierced the air.
We all went rigid. My eyes darted to the base of the storage where Jela had landed. There, a panel had come loose, revealing a flat screen glowing red, its numbers already ticking downward.
A bomb.
The moment we realized it was a bomb, panic surged through the room like wildfire. Everyone bolted toward the vehicles, desperate to escape.
Everyone except Jela.
She stood frozen, her wide eyes locked on the flashing red numbers. For the first time, she wasn't smiling, laughing, or yelling—she wasn't moving at all.
"Jela!" I screamed, my throat raw.
Carm didn't hesitate. She sprinted back, seized Jela's wrist, and yanked her with all her strength. Jela stumbled, nearly falling, but Carm dragged her to the others.
We piled into the vehicle, our breaths ragged, our hands trembling. Chris scrambled into the driver's seat, fumbling with the keys. He twisted, pressed, tried again—
Nothing.
"It's not starting!" Chris shouted, panic flooding his voice.
Andrea slammed her fist against the dashboard, tears in her eyes. The engine sputtered, then roared to life.
"Go!" I yelled.
Chris floored it, and the tires screamed against the concrete, launching us forward. The tunnel walls rushed past us as we neared the exit.
But then, a thought struck me like lightning.
The timer.
One minute.
And the car… the car hadn't started for at least thirty seconds.
My chest tightened. "No…" I whispered, realizing too late.
We burst out of the cave entrance, rain pounding the windshield, when the world behind us erupted.
BOOOOM!
The explosion tore through the mountain, fire chasing us in a roaring wave. The shockwave slammed into the vehicle with monstrous force, flipping it into the air like a toy. Glass shattered, metal screamed, and my body was thrown into chaos.
I reached out instinctively, trying to shield my friends, my arms locking around whoever I could grab. Heat and pressure swallowed us whole.
And then—
Nothing.
Darkness.
Whether we were alive or dead, I couldn't tell.