“THIS IS FUCKED UP, RIGHT?” Dawn asks Brielle, as she follows the smaller girl up toward the boulder field, the tarn, and the camp. “I mean, this whole thing is psycho, isn’t it?”

Brielle turns, the light from her headlamp cutting a swath through the dark night. They’re up in the alpine again, and the beam finds nothing but open air before it peters out into shadow. Dawn knows they’re in wide-open space, but she still feels claustrophobic, suffocated by the darkness. It’s an eerie, unsettling feeling, being out here like this.

“Which part?” Brielle asks. “The part where our counselor just fell off a cliff? Or, like, in general terms how we’re enduring forced marches that are definitely not safe because our parents and/or parole officers think we could all use a little fresh air?”

“I don’t even know how this is legal,” Dawn agrees. “Like, Christian is completely unqualified to be out here.”

“And he’s a freaking child molester.”

“That, too,” Dawn says. “But I guess I meant more about Brandon and Evan.”

Brielle keeps walking. The trail is steeper now, gaps between the rocks.

“Yeah,” she says quietly. “That is fucked up.”

“You think Amber will make it?”

“I dunno. Depends if Alex can get back to headquarters in time.” She pauses. “Depends if they let him.”

Dawn waits, but Brielle doesn’t elaborate. “Who?” she asks. “Who’s going to let him do what?”

“The boys,” Brielle says. She lets it sit there a beat, like Dawn should understand. Then, when it’s clear Dawn doesn’t, she sighs. “He’s kind of throwing a wrench in their plans. Don’t you think?”

“What do you mean?” Dawn suddenly feels like the girl who walked into AP Japanese and can’t even pronounce konnichiwa. “What are you talking about?”

They come up over a rise, and suddenly Dawn sees more light: flashlights, and the glow of a fire, closer than she expected.

A flashlight turns in their direction. “There you are,” Warden says, climbing over the rocks toward them. “Jeez, I was starting to get worried.”

He ignores Brielle, walks right past her and puts his arm around Dawn and takes the wood from her. “Come on,” he says. “Kyla’s almost got dinner ready.”

Dawn lets Warden take the branches from her. Hangs back as she follows him into camp, hoping to get an answer from Brielle.

But Brielle is gone, she realizes. The Black Bear has slipped off and disappeared again, leaving Dawn with nothing but more questions, and the sick feeling that more bad things are coming, just as sure as the storm is.