497

Much sooner than you want, your time at the lake comes to an end. So, you gather up your backpacks and give one last regretful look at the calm waters of Sapphire Lake. You don't know when or if you'll be able to come back, but it made for a good break from the campsite.

For an instant, a spark of light flashes in the distance. It might have been the sun somehow reflecting off of the lake, but you quickly dismiss this, as it came further up the tree line.

Your gaze slowly pans the horizon, and that's when you see another flash of light, a reflection off of glass. Squinting your eyes, you can make out a person in camouflage, looking down in your direction, sunlight reflecting off the lenses of his binoculars.

You take out your binoculars and look through them at the figure. He's tall and solid, though a backpack and utility vest mask his shape. He has dark hair under a camouflage-patterned hat, and a rifle is slung on his shoulder. As you examine him, he draws back into the foliage and disappears.

No one else notices the stranger. You're not sure how to use this information for your own benefit, so you keep it to yourself for now.

"We should get back," you say. "Before the others start to worry about us."