Their trek led them to a steep ravine. Sloane shuddered as she thought about what might linger at the bottom.

"Son of a…" Carter hissed and left her side.

Watching as he neared the edge caused her heart to skip several beats. But then she saw what had made him nervous all of a sudden.

Snagged on the jagged edges of rock protruding from the side was a bright orange piece of, what she assumed, was cloth. Curious, she took a few cautious steps forward.

"Be careful." It annoyed her that her voice came out a peep, but he was so focused on trying to find a way to retrieve the piece of fabric, she doubted he even paid her any attention.

Holding her breath, twisting her hands, she continued to watch as he readjusted his stance. She wondered just what his plan was. After what seemed like hours, he turned his back on the ravine and made his way toward her. She thought Carter was going to just give up on it, but he walked past her a few feet.

The long stick he carried with him back to the opening didn't look like it would be long enough. And it wasn't. There remained several inches between the target and the tip of the stick.

Carter cursed and threw his tool, slamming his hands on his hips. Faint clacking noises could be heard as the stick hit the walls of the ravine on its descent into the abyss. He stood there and stared until Sloane risked going to him.

"What's the big deal? Why do you have to get it?"

"If someone sees it, they might go tell the cops. I've used this ravine to get rid of some of the others." His voice was low and she worried he was going to snap on her. In an undertone, not meant for her ears, “How did I miss that before?”

The admission should have shocked her, but a part of her had already figured as much. It was a great place to get rid of bodies and their possessions with ease. But she did question how a piece of clothing had snagged on the opposite side.

"The last one I threw down there… did it at night. So I guess her shirt got caught and tore and I didn't notice it until now." His expression ranged from anger to dismay with himself before repeating his personal question. "How could I have missed that."

They stood in silence before he shrugged away from her, back toward the path. The mood had shifted from carefree and warm to stormy and cold.

Thinking he was giving up, she followed after him. Just as she stepped next to him, he took off, running full speed toward the ravine.

A small gasp was all she could manage. She watched as he took a lunging leap, holding her breath.

He let out a loud grunt as his feet hit the ground and he fell forward, safe on the other side.

"Oh." The breath of relief she released made her feel a little dizzy. It took a split second for her anger to rise up, erupting from her in the form of a scream. "Are you crazy?"

A smirk is all he gave her as he made his way to the edge, laying on his stomach and peering over the edge. His fingertips brushed against the orange object.

After shifting a little, he scooted even closer.

Sloane's eyes widened and she held her breath again. Her fists were clenched, her nails digging into her palms.

"Aha." Carter snatched the cloth and held it up in victory. His celebration ended within seconds as he looked down into the darkness and realized he was very close to losing his balance. Releasing the cloth as far away from the edge of the ravine as he could reach, he watched it flutter away into the darkness below. Once satisfied the cloth was gone, he used both hands and legs to backtrack to safety.

After another running leap, Carter was making his way to Sloane, dirt caked onto his clothes and skin.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again." A sharp smack sounded as her hand met his cheek.

Anger flashed across his face, hand twitching in response. The first impulse was to smack her back but then the realization that he'd scared her kept his hand in place. "I'm sorry."

When he pulled her to him, she wrapped her arms around his body, almost crushing him. They held one another, not speaking.

It dawned on them that the sky was darkening when they pulled away.

"Guess we should set up camp." Carter took the tent and got to work.

Within fifteen minutes, they were snuggled in the confines of the nylon and polyester cave. They lay on top of the open sleeping bag, opting to enjoy the night rather than swelter inside the cocoon.

They stared up through the mesh window to see millions of white dots in the ink black sky. A gentle peacefulness surrounded them as she considered how lucky she was to have him by her side while he stole glances at her, feeling like the luckiest man on earth.

Crickets sang around them, an owl gave a few hoots, and the gentle breeze rustled the leaves on the trees. It wasn't long before she nestled against him and closed her eyes.

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The humidity of the morning had their clothes sticking to them before they even started moving around. Packing up the tent was easy work, but still brought a sheen of sweat to Carter's face.

"Wish we had some coffee." Sloane grumbled after swallowing the bite of her protein bar.

"Yeah. That would be nice." Carter nodded in agreement, eyeing the bottle of water they shared as if he could will it to become their beverage of choice.

They finished their meager breakfast in silence before getting started.

They held hands as they walked, stopping when they came to a trap. Sloane added each one to her map, committing as much of it to memory as she could.

They got back to the house around lunch time, their stomachs grumbling to remind them of the hour.

"I'm gonna get in the shower before we eat." Sloane dropped the bag just inside the entrance of the house and headed for the bathroom. She turned to face him when she reached the door, her clothes already stripped away. "I wouldn't mind some company."

Carter's smile told her he wanted to join her, but his words contradicted this. "I'm going to get unpacked."

"That can wait." She waved her hand for emphasis.

"These dishes need to get done too. We already left them long enough. But I'll be waiting for you."

She knew she wasn't going to win this debate. With a playful sigh, she turned away and shut the bathroom door behind her.

In seconds, Carter had the cellar door open and bolted down the stairs. The look of fright on the woman's face pleased him.

"Please. Don't hurt me." Already, she was cowering against the wall.

A quick scan of the room told him just what he'd expected; she hadn't eaten or drank anything. This annoyed him because it was going to prolong her healing.

"Shut up." He growled and stomped over to the bed. Without any warning, he reached out to look at her leg.

When he'd brought her the necessities earlier in the morning, he'd washed her wound and dressed it. Now, he saw a faint red mark where blood had begun to seep through the gauze.

She jerked away from him, but he grabbed her ankle and pulled hard causing her to yelp.

"Stop. No." Her hands flew at him.

Before she could touch him, he released her and stood back. "You're a real pain."

"Why do you have me chained up? Can't you just let me go?"

"I don’t have time for this." He snarled before lunging at her.

She let out a small scream just as his fist connected to her temple, knocking her unconscious.

Carter took a quick look at her leg and decided it'd be okay for another few hours. He didn't have time to clean it and change the gauze.

He rushed up the stairs and locked the cellar back up just as Sloane came out of the bathroom.

"Why're you locking the cellar?"

"I feel like this marks the end of our beginning. I'm kinda ashamed for how I went about things. And I don't want you to let that affect us. We can focus on our future instead of the way I behaved before."

It was obvious she didn't catch that some of what he said were the same words she'd spoken in the woods.Her features softened and a small smile came to her face as she stepped closer to him. "I think that's sweet, but I won't ever hold anything against you. We both made mistakes."

He gave her a sheepish smile before leaning forward to kiss her.

When they pulled away, she licked her lips. "Now go take your shower. I'll be waiting for you."

With a little pat to his behind, she watched as he left her and got into the shower.

Sloane's smile evaporated when she turned away from the bathroom and looked at the sink to see the dishes hadn't been touched.

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