Chapter 8

We woke up Riya from her slumber and broke this news to her and as expected she didn't take it well. We somehow managed to calm her down.

"Right guys so what are we gonna do?" Sally asked.

"Well I have it all planned out." Nancy said confidently and went on to explain her plan further.

"First I have divided everyone into small groups and each group would be given a task. After completing the task we will all meet here. Okay?"

We all agreed and she continued "So me and Ritz will go to the hill and keep a look out for any sign that someone might be present for an hour, Emily and Sally will go into the forest and search for any other person who might have happened to be left behind like us, Hessa and Riya will collect wood so that we can build a fire to send out signals for help or something and will exchange places with me and Ritz after an hour, and Maddie and Ady, you both will go to the bonfire and try to get every scrap of food that is left and go to the lake and fill the kettle with water. Is that clear? Everyone knows what to do?" Nancy asked.

"Aye aye captain!" I grinned before doing a mock salute and everyone started laughing.

"Ok now off you all go! Come on Ritz follow me!" saying this Nancy marched forward with Ritz behind her.

I looked at Sally and said "So...?"

She just rolled her eyes and replied "So what? Now let's get going."

I gave her a smirk and went off to pack my bag with some essential items and we set off towards the forest in search of lost souls! Just kidding! We were going to search for people who got left behind. We both decided we'll go to the bonfire first since it was the centre of PWDBR and then search each 'chamber' thoroughly and then go to the woods where no one camped but which was used for other activities.

We reached the bonfire in record time and started our hunt. It was so much different than the treasure hunt we did a couple days back! For starters we didn't even know whether there were people or not and we weren't sure we would be able to find anyone. Still we didn't lose hope and searched every nook and corner of each and every 'chamber' with dedication. After a tiring couple hours we finished searching the 'chambers' part with no success. We were exhausted and our voices were hoarse from all the shouting we did to attract attention.

"Okay only the woods are left and then we can go back to our chamber and have a rest." I told Sally.

She agreed and replied "That's true! But we have searched so hard with no avail. There's no one here. How can all of them disappear except us? I just don't get it!" she huffed in frustration.

We continued discussing this issue as we made our way towards the forest while keeping a look out for people.

As soon as we entered the woods, we began our usual shouting.

"Hello! Is anyone there?"

"Can you hear us?"

"Does anyone require help? If so please shout back in return!"

"Is somebody out there?"

We had kept a look out for at least half an hour before we heard the rustle of leaves.

"Oh I think we finally found some one!" I squealed in delight and followed the sound, with Sally behind me.

As we got near we saw two figures picking something up and we quickened our pace. Upon close inspection we found it was none other than Hessa and Riya collecting wood! I must admit we were disappointed.

"False alarm!" I muttered to Sally.

We were about to go back when Riya called out to us "Hey guys! Did you find somebody?"

"No not yet but guess what? We found you guys! Bye!" Sally snapped and made her way in a different direction.

I heard Riya whispering "What is wrong with her?"

"Sorry" I mouthed to both of them before following Sally.

We searched for another hour with no success and my patience was running thin. I was extremely frustrated and I could tell Sally was going through the same emotions.

"Let's just go. We have almost searched the entire place and if someone was here they would have certainly heard us shouting by now!" I suggested.

Sally nodded and sighed "I guess you're right. I really wanted to find someone but obviously there's no one here. Let's just go back."

"Well all I can say is that we tried our best. Besides we knew the chances of finding someone were very slim." I replied.

"Yeah I know but still." Sally whispered under her breath before she started walking in the direction of our chamber.

No conversation flowed between us because of the sheer disappointment and the feeling that we might have failed our task. We were just about to exit the woods when we heard a shout "Help! Someone please help us!"

Both of us stopped abruptly as though we had been shot and looked at each other contemplating whether it was our imagination or someone was actually shouting for help. All the doubts vanished when there came another shrill voice, loud and clear "Help! We need help! Is someone out there! Please help us!"