Murder on the Northwind Trail

Alex must've noticed how shaken I was, because his voice softened a little. "Alright. Let me ask you another way. You said you heard someone calling your name, but you couldn't tell if it was real or a dream. Can you explain that?"

It felt as if all the strength had drained right out of me. I leaned back in the chair, my voice barely hanging on. "It was like… someone was pulling me, shaking me, telling me to wake up. Everything was loud and messy, and I felt awful. My head was heavy, like I was stuck in some dream I couldn't climb out of."

Alex picked up the camera again, his tone so low that it chilled me. "Did it ever cross your mind that maybe it wasn't a dream? That they were actually begging you to wake up, and you never did?"

A shiver ripped down my spine, cold as ice.

The blurry flashes from my dream suddenly came back, sharp and real. I saw Damon's face twisted in pain, pressed against the steering wheel. I saw Mike's skin pale as paper. I saw Ken, lifting his camera in the dark with the last bit of strength he had, pointing it at me, his eyes full of rage and accusation I couldn't understand.

"Why didn't you wake up?" Alex's words stabbed right through the fog in my head.

"They drank the same alcohol you did. They were sick from the altitude, too. And yet every single one of them woke up. Every single one—except you. You stayed under, like nothing could wake you up." His voice cut harder.

"Altitude sickness doesn't knock you out cold like that. Otherwise, you would've died of suffocation. So why? Why were they shouting your name, shaking you, desperate for you to wake up, while you slept through all of it? Why did you not realize they were dying?"

Yeah. Why didn't I wake up? Why was I the only one alive?

What really happened while I was asleep?

The questions spun in my head, heavy with a fear I couldn't push away. My chest tightened as panic rose in my heart.

"How did you get to know them?" Alex asked next. His stare hadn't softened.

I took a slow breath, trying to steady myself. "We met online, in a hiking group. We talked a bit before the trip. On the road, we got along okay. Damon was the experienced one, so we let him lead. Ken was always snapping photos. Charlie and Russ were the lively ones. Mike… he was weaker, but easygoing."

"Any conflicts? Even small ones?"

I hesitated. "Yesterday, at the checkpoint, my border pass photo had an issue. It held us up for, like, 20 minutes. Damon wasn't happy. He called me dead weight. Things were tense for a moment, but it blew over."

"And the others? How'd they react?"

"Charlie smoothed things over. Russ didn't say much. Ken was fiddling with his camera. And Mike wasn't feeling well, probably asleep. I didn't pay much attention."

Alex leaned forward. "Did they treat you differently? Like shutting you out? Maybe even isolating you?"

I went quiet.

Memories I'd pushed aside crept back. Every time I suggested a route, nobody listened. When food was handed out, my portion always came last. In group photos, I always ended up shoved to the edge. I hadn't wanted to call it isolation, but… maybe that was exactly what it was.

Alex noticed my silence and pulled out an evidence bag. Inside was Ken's phone. He swiped to a chat group named "Squad 296". It was a temporary one, just for the trip.

There, on the screen, was a message timestamped 12:15 AM.

Damon wrote, [Stay sharp. Once we get through the pass, we'll be in the clear. I'll drive the second half. If that girl's still out of it, just let her sleep through the whole thing. Can't expect her to be any help. She's dead weight.]