While others seek survival, I engage in flirtation Chapter 40: The Secret Passage

Charlie was dead certain the freak was hiding out here, but why couldn't we find a single clue?

I couldn't wrap my head around it, so I just stuck with Charlie and kept searching the cave. The walls were still smooth, just like the last time I searched for Matt's hidden stash.

Just as we were about to call it quits, Charlie started scratching at the wall with his paws.

That was super weird for Charlie.

He's a hunting dog; we hardly ever see him jump, let alone dig with his paws.

Seeing Charlie act so strange, I walked over and knocked on the wall. It was hollow!

I shoved the hidden door open, and there it was—a narrow passage.

The first thing I thought was to slide down and see what was below.

But just as I was about to go down, someone outside yelled at me.

"Carl! What are you doing?" They grabbed me, looking all worried.

"I'm going down to check it out. There's a hidden door here!" I said, trying to get into the passage.

"Hold up!" Dennis from Abbott's camp came over and yanked me out of the hole.

"I'm better with this kind of terrain, and I can handle different environments better." Before I could even ask, Dennis already knew what I was thinking.

Even though I really wanted to go down, I had to admit Dennis had a point.

No matter how strong I was, I couldn't beat experience. In the same time and under the same conditions, Dennis had a better shot at surviving and finding stuff than I did.

I tied a rope around his waist and held the other end. I told him to pull the rope if he ran into any trouble.

Then, all of us waited outside the cave for his signal.

Time dragged on, and finally, I felt the rope move.

"He's pulling the rope!" I shouted, and we all started pulling him up.

Dennis looked a bit freaked out, and I had no clue what scared him.

"It looks like a lab down there." He was panting, sitting on the ground. "There are a bunch of rooms, but some are locked tight. And I found this," he said, handing me some items.

They were old, yellowed papers with info about this place.

One looked like the cover of a report, but the writing was all smudged. Still, a few words were barely readable.

"Red Nightingale? What's that supposed to mean?" I stared at the words, still confused.

The documents were hard to read, with lots of pen marks soaked and unreadable.

But the photos were clear enough for us to make out the names and faces of these people.

"Maybe it's the name of their research group? Or something else?" Dennis didn't seem too bothered. "Looks like they were doing some research down there... there are even instruments!"

Dennis's casual words left me speechless.

A lab down there? And so many researchers? Every discovery in that basement blew my mind.

I knew right then and there that I had to find a way to get down there myself.

By the time Dennis got back up, it was almost dark. We didn't head back into the hidden room under the cave; instead, we went straight back to camp.

Dennis said there were no signs of those freaks down there, and they might've taken off through another exit.

The space below was huge, with interconnected paths, but the rope wasn't long enough for him to explore deeply.

He thought about untying the rope but freaked out when he saw some weathered bones, unsure if they were human.

But just as we got back to camp, we walked into a nightmare.

The camp was lit up by massive flames, the whole fence glowing red from the fire.

Amid the chaos, Aimee's voice cut through the noise. "There's water over here! Watch your clothes!" she shouted.

Everyone in the camp was scrambling to put out the fire.

Seeing this, Abbott and I bolted towards the camp, with the others right behind us.

When we got back, we jumped in to help put out the fire, working our butts off until we finally got it under control.

"What happened? How did the camp catch fire?" Abbott's question seemed to stun Aimee for a second, then she started explaining.

"We were just hanging out in the camp, and suddenly a fire broke out. The tent caught fire. If I hadn't noticed it early..." From what she said, it was clear this wasn't an inside job.

It was probably due to someone messing up with the fire or someone outside setting it, causing the blaze.

But Abbott's face suddenly got serious, like he had a lightbulb moment.

"How did you know there was a fire?" His question caught Aimee off guard. She didn't know what to say.

Maybe she didn't even know how she spotted the fire.

The camp was a mess. Most of the tents were burned down, and almost all the clothes hanging out to dry were torched. The place was filled with smoke, and a lot of food was covered in ashes.

Fixing the camp would be like starting from scratch.

"I just saw it!" Aimee was almost in tears, feeling attacked by Abbott's questioning.

I didn't think she could be the arsonist. What would she gain from setting the fire?

"Watch out for these girls around you." Abbott's look at me turned cold.

Was he starting to distrust me too? After all the supplies I gave them, this was a real kick in the teeth!

"I don't think she's the arsonist." I tried to reason with Abbott. "Aimee has no reason to set the fire!"

"This camp is so hidden. Besides you and that tall jerk, who else knows about it? We've been here for a month without any trouble. How come the camp catches fire as soon as you guys show up?" Abbott's logic made sense.

But I knew these girls; they couldn't be the arsonists.

"That's really impossible..." I tried to explain, but Abbott wasn't having it.

After this mess, I had hoped to build a good relationship with them and form a bigger camp, boosting our chances of getting rescued.