My jaw locked as the blonde kept laughing.
Her head was thrown back, shoulders shaking like this was all some sick joke she'd paid admission to see.
The strangers went quiet. The woods seemed to lean in closer.
Hale dragged a thumb through his beard, eyes narrowed. Aubrey picked at the corner of her eye, the way she did when she was holding herself back from saying something violent.
"Whew—!" the blonde wheezed, finally sucking in a breath. "That was fucking great, man."
No one responded.
She wiped under her eye with the heel of her palm, smearing dirt. "What?" she scoffed. "I'm fucking done. You guys can continue your bullshit…"
That did it.
I inhaled slowly, turned my back on all of them, and started moving— boots crunching into leaves as I pushed deeper into the greenery.
Behind me, the others followed without question.
"W—WAIT—!"
