Chapter 6: That Suffering and Pain, Isn’t the Way

Not wasting any time, I stood and walked toward the tent she had just stepped out of. As I passed her, she smirked and released Code. Code, who was on the verge of passing out, was unable to brace himself and hit the ground hard, letting out a long groan. After breathing in some oxygen and his circulation returning to normal, he pushed himself up as he questioned.

"What are you two even saying? What…"

"Just shut up and watch. This guy knows what he's doing."

I get to the entrance of her tent and hold open the flap.

"Since you were kind enough to physically harm my two friends here, I'm sure you won't mind if I inspect your tent here for a minute."

She nods, "I like you, I like how you think. Be my guest.”

And with that, I duck my head under the flap, walk inside, and begin to look around. To no surprise, she's got the same stuff that I got. Just a sleeping bag, some spare clothes, a canteen, and a backpack. Curious about what her name is, I glance at the canteen.

Ember, interesting. I feel as if that name corresponds to her personality more than anything, even though I just met her. Whatever, I can’t waste much time. I need to find it…

Meanwhile, outside of the tent, Code stands back up next to Ember and asks, "I don't get it. What's he doing in there?"

She grins, "It would be no fun if I revealed the answer. Just pay attention."

I begin to sift through her clothes. There's nothing between or underneath them; the same goes for the sleeping bag. Looking up, I inspect the walls of the tent. Heading back outside, I start to walk around the tent.

Guess the answer lies within the tent itself.

Code asks, "Well, did you find anything?"

Ignoring his question, I circle around the tent, inspecting every part of it. Up and down. Left to right. Nothing. But that just means there's only one place left to look.

As I make my way back around to the front, Code says, "I'm beginning to think this is all just a big waste of time; stop messing around, and let's…"

I put my hand up, and he stops talking. Walking over to one of the stakes that's pinning the tent down, I kick it out of the ground. The tent shifts, and I look back at them as Ember lets out a ‘hmph’ of satisfaction. Code remains confused, yet I can tell he’s just as curious while Ace is still lying face down on the ground. He seemed alright, though, so I refocused on the tent. Just on the ground where the corner of the tent used to cover, some black marks connect to something still hidden beneath the tent.

"There it is," I say.

"There is what? Can somebody tell me what's going on?” asks Code.

"When Ember mentioned that our numbers aren't the only thing that we were all individually given, the only other possible thing that could also qualify as our own are each…"

I lift the tent more to reveal the rest of the black markings, unveiling the letter ‘A’, "… of our tents."

"Color me impressed. Well done, you figured it out,” says Ember, who has at least momentarily decided to spare Code.

On the other hand, Code has already begun calculating what this could mean, but his face still exhibits surprise. Ace just puts a thumbs up of approval as he slowly tries to get back on his feet. Then, as if a flip is switched in Code’s brain, he scampers back over and grabs the notebook and pen off the ground.

He writes the following under the rest of the list:

Ember - 9 (A)

His eyes dart between the three of us as he taps the notebook with his pen, "This is it, the next clue."

Putting two fingers to his mouth, he whistles and yells, "Everyone! Come and meet by the supplies again!"

Observing how people react, I notice Hazel and Violet get up first from tending to the fire that's now made. Then, Forest and Falcon, I believe their names were, slide off the tree branch they were sitting on. Cliff and Blue continue their conversation as they stand up while Faith walks out of her tent. Eventually, everybody who was still at the campsite gathered once more.

"Sorry for calling you all back over here so soon, but there is something important that I want you all to check for me,” says Code, gathering himself before adjusting his voice into a more serious tone. "Whether you have or haven't realized it yet, we have all been given our very own numbers. If you look at the back of your shirt or the shirts around you, you will see various numbers that range from one to sixteen. And I think we may have figured out why. Can you all do me a huge favor and go to your tents and lift the stakes out of the ground? If you check underneath, there should be a letter, a symbol, or something that stands out. Once you find out what that is, come back and tell me. That's all."

Without complaints, everybody does what they are asked of. Meanwhile, I notice Code walking back over to the slab and sitting back down, and I decide to join him on his right while Ember takes a seat on his left. Some people have already begun to walk back over and form a line as we settle down.

Ace is first up, "My letter is O."

Sky follows, "Mine is R."

One by one, each person tells us what they found, and it becomes clear very early on that they will all be letters.

Sky rests her head in her arms on top of the crate behind us as she glances at Ace, "It doesn't really make sense. Why would there just be one letter for each of us?"

Ace shakes his head, "You're asking the wrong guy, but it seems those three may have figured something out."

I watch as people come and go, continuing to check what is written down. Eventually, we come to a stopping point where nobody is in line, and the notebook reads:

Scar - 15

Me - 8

Cliff - 3 (L)

Blue - 2 (N)

Sky - 11 (R)

Ace - 5 (O)

Faith - 4 (Y)

Hazel - 12 (E)

Forest and Falcon - 14 (A) and 16 (N)

Violet - 6 (N)

Ember - 9 (A)

Ace peers over us at the notebook. “I'm not following. Maybe we have to reassemble these letters or numbers somehow…?"

Code sets the pen down momentarily, stretching out his hand as he looks at me, "It seems like that's probably the case. But we still have two more letters to get down…"

He points toward one of the six untouched tents left, “That's my tent right there. Could you go see what my letter is? We need to write down yours as well, Scar."

"Yeah, just give me a minute here."

I luckily found the letter 'C' under the first corner when I checked Code’s tent. As for my own, I find the letter ‘I’ hidden under the back left corner of my tent.

As I rejoin Code and Ember, I inform them, "Mine had the letter 'I', and yours had the letter 'C'.”

"Perfect, now we got everybody that is still here."

I look at the notebook again.

Scar - 15 (I)

Me - 8 (C)

Cliff - 3 (L)

Blue - 2 (N)

Sky - 11 (R)

Ace - 5 (O)

Faith - 4 (Y)

Hazel- 12 (E)

Forest and Falcon - 14 (A) and 16 (N)

Violet - 6 (N)

Ember - 9 (A)

Code then writes something new in his notebook toward the bottom of the page. They're empty blanks with numbers underneath each one.

As he clicks the pen, he says, "This will help organize things better, and maybe, like Ace said, we gotta reassemble or unscramble these letters to find some sort of answer."

Ember says as she stares at the notebook, "I see what you're doing. Maybe you got some smarts in you after all."

Code replies as he fills in the blanks, "Well, let's see if this idea gets us anywhere."

The bottom of the notebook reads:

_  N  L  Y  O N  _  C  A   _    R    E    _   A   I    N

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11 12 13 14 15 16

"Looks like all we are missing are the letters to numbers 1, 7, 10, and 13,” says Code.

Ace nods while looking at the notebook, "Looks like it. I guess we have to wait for them to get back."

“Or… we could try to figure it out ourselves…” says Code, looking up. “Hey, everyone! Do you see the four tents that haven't been touched yet? Could you guys go check out what letters those have as well?"

I think to myself as I stare at the bottom of the page.

Damn it, I wish they didn't leave. Who knows what we are about to figure out? It might be crucial that they are here to witness this. Of course, we could tell them later, but this might refer to something about our surroundings. That would probably be the worst-case scenario, especially for those four.

People begin to start talking over each other as they wander off to the untouched tents, 

"Yeah for sure!"

"I wonder what this is all about."

"I don't know, but it's kind of fun, isn't it?"

Ace brushes some dust off his clothes as he and Sky wander off together.

"We'll go check one out too," says Ace. 

"Be right back!" adds Sky.

Focusing his attention back on the notebook, Code mutters as he scratches his chin, "I wonder what this all means... it may be a message, or perhaps just another clue to something else…"

I say, "We've come this far, and no message that is this detailed is meaningless. That's something I'm sure about.”

People begin to walk back over, and Blue tells us, "Cliff and I found the letter 'N'."

Code jots down the letter below the message and says, "Thanks, got it."

Side by side, Hazel and Violet walk up after Blue as Hazel says, "Violet and I found the letter 'E'."

They get out of the way as Falcon strolls up next and says to us with his thumb pointing behind him, "I found the letter 'O' over there."

A yell then suddenly roars from across the campsite, "Hey!!"

Ace stands up and walks around the front of the tent to get within line of sight, although we could all see him when he first stood up. Sky does the same but on the opposite side of the tent.

Cupping his hands around his mouth, Ace shouts, "We got the letter 'M' over here!"

"Thanks, you two!" replies Code.

Ace gives a thumbs up as Sky waves her hands. They both start chatting again as they walk back over.

Ember flicks Code in the ear, "Did you really have to yell just now? People are sitting right next to you."

Jotting down the final letter, Code apologizes, "Sorry about that, but we should have all the letters we need now."

I look over at the bottom of the page again.

_  N  L  Y  O N  _  C  A   _    R    E    _   A   I    N

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11 12 13 14 15 16

             N            E          O             M

"Once we fill in the last four letters, the message should be complete."

Ember glances at it and sifts her two hands down the back of her neck, "Well, it shouldn't be too difficult, based on some of the blank locations… only certain letters of the four could fit in each one."

Code nods as he points at the first blank and says, "If this is truly a message and words are involved, this has to be a vowel, so either ‘E’ or ‘O’, because writing an ‘N’ or ‘M’ wouldn't make sense."

He then slides his finger down to the end, pointing at the blank for the number thirteen, "And in this spot, there can't be a vowel because it’s extremely rare to have three vowels in a row."

While Sky stands beside him, Ace leans over the crate to look down at the notebook. Ace points at the first blank, saying, "Yeah, you're right. And here... look at the first blank; if you put the letter ‘O’ there, it makes the word 'Only'."

Code writes in the letter, 'O', and a grin creeps across his face, "Holy crap Ace… well done!”

Crossing his arms, Ace shrugs and jokes as he closes his eyes, "I know… I'm a bit of a genius. Feel free to keep mentioning that as long as you like."

The three of us ignore him while Sky gives her input, "Wait, try putting the ‘E’ in the next blank."

Code writes in the letter E and mutters, "That fits too…"

Ember gives a side-eye toward Ace and teases, "Seems you've been outdone, Mr. self-acclaimed Genius. Looks like she might be the queen compared to you."

Ace scoffs and mutters, "Well, if she's the Queen, that makes me the King… because we both figured out a letter…"

Sky puts a hand over her mouth as she starts laughing, but it doesn’t take long before Code mutters, "I- I figured it out."

For a brief moment, I could see a hint of fear on his face as my eyes traveled from Sky to Code to the notebook. After reading what it was, I understood why. No wonder he froze for that split second…

Just a moment after I finished reading it, Ace, who doesn’t have the best view of the notebook, asks, "That's awesome. You gonna tell us what it is?"

Code slowly holds up the notebook for us all to read. The empty spaces are filled as it reads:

O N  L  Y  O N E  C  A   N   R   E   M   A   I    N

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11 12 13 14 15 16

And across the next page, he diagonally wrote:

ONLY

            ONE

                      CAN

                               REMAIN

Ace quietly reads out, "Only one can…"

In unison, Code, Ember, and Sky say, "...remain."

Setting the notebook down as other people begin walking over and reading it, I quickly download all the possible ways to handle the incoming paranoia outbreak that is bound to happen. And it doesn’t take long until commotion breaks out.

"What does that mean?"

"Is this just some kind of prank?"

"Does this have to do with us?"

Code stands up and announces, "We don't know what this message means, so do not panic! We are still figuring things out and…!”

A piercing scream suddenly comes from within the forest and finds its way into everyone's ears, instantly silencing the entire camp as only the crackling of the fire can be heard. I slowly turn and fix my gaze in the direction where the sound came from, just to hear more terrified screams traveling closer and closer toward us.

Suddenly, somebody dashes out of the forest. Blood is seeping out from various scrapes as his body is covered head to toe in twigs, scratches, and leaves. But it was his face, the pure fright that was pumping through every vein in his body, that sent an indescribable terror and fear into the hearts of many.