The Fort

During a trip to Home Depot, Ricky hears a manager screaming at an employee. He is shocked to realize that the angry man is Marcus. Suddenly, pieces begin to fall into place, and he understands C.J.’s many injuries. He also suspects that C.J. is living at the fort rather than going home to his monster of a stepfather. Ricky wants to help but needs the support of the rest of the group, so he goes to visit Mitchell. It takes a while for Mitchell to get over his skepticism, but he agrees to talk to Evan and Jason. Then, they all can confront C.J. together.

When Evan learns about C.J.’s predicament, he feels that he has been a bad friend for not noticing the problem himself. “We failed our friend, but not anymore,” Evan thinks. “We’ve got to rescue him, whether he wants to be rescued or not” (149).

At 10 o’clock, the group, minus Mitchell, goes to the fort to see if C.J. is there. Mitchell is connected on FaceTime and obsesses during the entire journey through the dark woods. When they arrive and confront their friend about his injuries, C.