As they were climbing the hill, Penny was just scrolling her phone as her parents Josh and Lucy were carrying bags full of clothes and foodstuff. Her brother Josh was lagging behind as he struggled to carry a heavy bag.
“Are you okay Mike? I think you need some help.” Mike’s father asked him.
“The only person who needs help is Penny. She acts like she’s not one us.” Mike said.
“Why does my life concern you so much? I did not tell Joy to leave you.” Penny said.
Mike quickly dropped his bag, ran to Penny held her hair. Their parents could not intervene because of the heave bags they carried.
“Come on mike let go off your sister," Lucy told him. After some time, Mike released her and pushed her away.
"Guys come here," Josh called them. “This is supposed to be a holiday camp. You two should act like mature siblings. And Penny if we are going the same place then you must help us carry some stuff. The time to soothe you is over. If you feel like you are not supposed to be here then you can go back to your boyfriends.” Josh said as he handed him one bag.
“I told you guys. Camping is a bad idea.” Penny said.
“You know me and your mum have decided to do our best to forget about everything that has ever happened before for your sake," Josh said.
“And where were you when we all needed you? Where were you when my dog died?” Penny said as tears started flowing from her eyes.
"Listen to me you stupid little kid, don't think that life is a fairytale that everything goes as you want it to be. I have sacrificed more than you can imagine serving my country. I’ve watched a brother being blow up to pieces and I couldn’t do anything to help him.” Josh told her.
"Well, that does not concern me," Penny said as she continued climbing the hill. Josh looked at her angrily as Lucy calmed him down.
“Don’t take her too seriously. She’s just a kid.” Lucy said.
When they arrived at the place where they were camping, everyone was busy setting up the tents but Penny was just leaning on a tree as she scrolled her phone while listening to music.
“I feel like I’ve lost her. When I left she was a good girl who could play with me and listen to everything I said. Now it’s like she tries to do the opposite of everything I say.” Josh said.
“She’s always like that to everybody. But let’s give her time she’s just a teenager.” Lucy said.
"You guys like spoiling her a lot. You always soothe her to do everything like she's a kid. I think you should take her to a boarding school.” Mike said.
“Can we try to make the camping a little bit more fun by not talking about her?” Lucy said. Everyone stopped staring at her and continued with their work.
In the middle of the night, mike was out taking a piss call when he heard some movement in the woods. He walked towards the woods to look more closely but he saw nothing. When he turned around to go back to the tent, something quickly held his leg and dragged him away.
Lucy was the first to realize that mike was missing.
“Hey Josh, have you seen Mike?” She asked him nervously.
"He must be sleeping," Josh said as his eyes were still closed.
"No, he's not. I saw his phone dropped in the woods.” She said. When Josh heard that, he woke up immediately, walked out of the tent and started calling out mike loudly. Penny got out of her tent typing on her phone and stood next to her mother.
“Hey girl I don’t know you anymore but this is not the right time to text your little boyfriends," Josh told her. As Josh was talking, Penny put her phone on the ear as she waited for a call to be received.
“Come on give me that phone," Josh said as he walked to where she was and took the phone from her. When he checked, Penny was calling 911. He stared at her for a few seconds and put the phone on loudspeaker for everyone to hear.
“911 how can I help you.” A voice from the phone started speaking.
“Hey my name is Joshua and I wish to report the case of a lost child," Josh said.
"Oh when did you discover that he was lost?" the voice asked him.
“Like twenty minutes ago but it seems like he was taken away a few hours ago," Josh said.
“Are you sure that your brother has not just decided to take a walk? I mean he has been gone for a few hours and not a few days.” The voice said.
“His phone was found on the ground and it seems like he was dragged. We are in a holiday camp that we were supposed to stay together the whole time and so if he decided to take a walk, he would have decided to take one of us.” Penny said as her parents stared at her full of surprise.
“Okay where are you right now?” the voice asked.
"Greenville forest 700 meters west from the main road junction," Josh said.
“Please stay calm as I try to get you some help." The voice said and they hung up the phone. Josh took his bag and removed 3 military knives.
“We don’t know what we are up against so it’s good to stay safe. I shouldn’t have left my gun. We cannot sit and wait until the cops come so we should split up to cover more ground. Don't forget to carry your phone, Lucy.” Josh said as he handed them the knives.
“I have a different idea. We should follow the marks to find out where he was dragged to and one of us should stay here to wait for the cops.” Penny said.
“I think that’s a good idea. Penny, you'll stay here as me and your mum follow the prints.” Josh said.
"No you two go. I can't afford to risk another child. She's safer when she with you.” Lucy said.
Josh and Penny were following the footprints when they realized that Mike must have been dragged by a bear. They started following the footprints faster until they reached where Mike’s body was. When Penny saw Mike’s body which was full of blood and his clothes torn to pieces, she fell down on her knees and started crying.
“Penny we have to go back to your mother. If Mike’s body is here and the bare is not here then it must be looking for more prey.” Josh said. As they walked back, penny tried to call her mother but she could not pick up the phone.
“Mum is not picking up her phone.” She told Josh as they started running towards the tent. When they arrived at the tents, they could not find Lucy. As they were looking around, they herd some movement.
"Come on get behind me," Josh told Penny as he took out his knife.
“Are you the guys who asked for help?” a voice behind them said. They turned around quickly and saw two policemen standing behind them.
"Hey, officers we really need your help. My son has been killed by a bear and I can't find my wife." Josh told them.
“When did you last see your wife? The police asked them.
“Like an hour ago. She wore a black top and a grey sweatpant." Josh said.
“I don’t think there is any other woman in this forest apart from your wife so you don’t need to describe how she looks like.” The second police said.
“What were you doing here by the way?” the first police asked.
“Sir the more we keep talking the more my mum is in great danger," Penny said. Suddenly they heard some movement approaching and they all froze. A bear then approached and Josh jumped in front of everyone ready for it.
"Sir I need your gun," Josh said.
“You are the one who needs to step back and let us do our job.” The first police said.
“Killing this thing needs headshots and shooting it without aiming will just be pointless," Josh said. As they were still talking, another bear approached them.
“This is Sergeant O’Connell requesting for backup. My partner and I are in Greenville forest rescuing a family. We are surrounded by two bears. I repeat we are surrounded by two bears.” The first police said as he spoke on the radio on his shoulder. The bears started running towards them and the police officers started firing shots at them. When Josh realized that the policemen could not kill the bears, he pulled Penny away and started running as he carried her in his arms.
The bears finally overpowered the policemen and before they could run away, they were knocked down to the ground. Josh stopped and looked back to see the bears tear down the police officers.
“Dad I think we should help them," Penny told him.
“I wish we could my dear. The best option is to run.” He said as he put her down. When they looked back again, they saw the bears staring at them and they immediately started running away. Josh accidentally hit a log and fell. His leg was broken with the bone piercing through the skin. Penny tried to help him stand but the bears were almost catching up.
“Penny you should run. I’ll slow you down.” Josh told her.
"But dad I don't want to leave you everyone I love is gone," Penny said.
“There is still you dear. You are yet to see a lot of things in this world." Josh said.
"Dad I'm sorry I was rude to you," Penny said.
“This is not the right time to apologize come on the run," Josh said. Penny started running and when she looked back, she saw the bears devouring her father. When she reached the main road, she sat in the middle of the road waiting for any vehicle to come and take her.
