PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

XXVII. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Chapter Twenty Seven:  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

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The gruff man led the two adults and the campers back through the jungle, presumably back to their campsite.

The others happily talked to the two adults, whilst Eva sulked in the back. She walked slowly, with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed, not believing their calm go-lucky demeanors. She tried— believe me, she tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. But every sentence out of their mouths made Eva's skin prickle with goosebumps. If this were any other setting, she would have called 911 by now and asked for the police. She would have found a way to kick all of their asses and escape. But she wasn't alone. Her five... friends? Acquaintances? They were too stubborn, too hell bent on the idea of these three people being their saviors. Whatever Eva would try, they would stop her and shut it down. So she didn't do anything, but follow along like a hurt puppy.

Every once in a while, Kenji looked over his shoulder at her. If it was to make sure she was still with them or to make sure she was behaving, Eva didn't know.

The sun had already peaked above the horizon, turning the air a pinkish tint.

"Did you get left behind too?" Yaz asked curiously from the front of the parade.

Eva bit her tongue from remarking anything bad.

"Not looking like that, they didn't," Kenji laughed.

"Yeah, are you like, some super stylish rescue squad?"

"Guys, take a breath," Darius told the campers. "We don't even know your names."

"I'm Mitch," Hat Man answered. "And my better half here is Tiff."

Amber 2 and Amber 3.

"We're ecotourists."

"That's a fancy way of saying we travel to exotic places and photograph rare animals," Tiff said.

"I know Simon Masrani," Kenji butted in. "Or... knew..."

To break the awkward silence, Mitch started speaking again. "When we heard what happened here, we were like, zoop!"

"Zoop! Gotta get down here. I was fine taking snaps of lions and tigers, but—"

"Pics of dinosaurs in the wild? You don't pass that up, do you, babe?"

Eva strided forward, and quietly tugged Kenji back.

"What are you—?"

She slapped her hand over his mouth, watching the group carry on, not noticing the two had fallen back. She removed her hand. "I don't trust them, Kenji."

"Ugh, Evange—"

"I'm serious! They're too cheerful. Listen, I listen to a lotta true crime—"

Kenji chuckled as he peeled away from Eva. He raised his hands in mock surrender, walking back to the others.

"Oh my god, Kenji! They're walking red flags." She lowered her voice the closer they got to the two adults and the other campers. "Red flags!"

He shoved his hands into his front pockets and teased a smile. "If they turn out to be actual red flags, you can tell me 'I told you so'."