Cornfield

Strength

Caiden, Natalie, and Roxanne were in the spots they were previously in.

Kaitlyn kneeled down and opened the case. When Kaitlyn was unloading the chamber, Macey walked in.

She was looking down. Her movements were slow, as she walked to the wall. She leaned against it.

'You good, Macey?' I asked.

'...yeah, I'm fine,' Macey mumbled.

I looked at Danny.

'You sure?' Natalie asked. 'It's okay if Isaiah's death is hitting you now.'

'It's not about him!' She took a breath. 'I'm fine.'

Natalie didn't say anything else.

Silence filled the room.

I paid attention to Kaitlyn, as she loaded the shotgun.

'You've got six tries,' Kaitlyn mumbled, as she handed the shotgun to Caiden.

I thought Danny was going to make a protest, but he didn't. He stayed leaning against the desk with his arms crossed.

'What do we do now?' Roxanne asked.

'I don't know,' Kaitlyn said, as she sat down in the middle of the floor. 'I was kind of hoping the police would be here by now.'

'What's taking so long?' Natalie asked. She was holding back her hysterics physically, but I heard it in her voice.

'I don't know,' Kaitlyn replied.

'Maybe something more important came up,' Roxanne suggested.

'More important than the murder of two people,' I mumbled. I could sense Kaitlyn's eyes on me, but I didn't look at her.

'Well I don't suggest leaving,' Kaitlyn said.

'Where would we go, anyway?' Natalie asked.

'Anywhere away from him,' Caiden mumbled.

'So we can get killed?' I retorted.

'Guys,' Danny said.

We all looked at him.

'We can't start turning on each other,' Danny continued. 'The only way we're getting out of here is if we help one another.'

We were all silent.

'Now we need to think rationally,' Danny said. 'If we leave, we're at a risk of Cornfield getting us. If we stay, we'll be safe.'

'How will we be safe?' Caiden demanded. His voice was gruff and accusatory.

'He was literally right outside the door and didn't do anything.'

Caiden was silent.

I paused. 'Why do you think he did that?' I paused again. 'He clearly could've come in and killed us, but he didn't.'

No one said anything.

'I don't know,' Danny said. 'But it was weird.'

'This whole night is weird,' Roxanne mumbled.

I looked over at everyone.

Caiden held Natalie in his arms. His lips were pressed together and he often looked at the door like he was waiting for Cornfield to bust through the door at any second.

Natalie had her eyes closed as she pressed herself into Caiden's chest. She was softly whispering to herself. I caught a few whispers of "God" and "help." Her shakes made me think of how much closer she was to a break down.