[He stops too, though he doesn't look at her; the small pile of stones off to the side of the road is a lot more fascinating apparently, though he really isn't looking at them either.]

Yeah.

[He doesn't know if she's shocked at the situation, or at the decision, or at how he's telling the story itself or something else or all of it together, but it doesn't matter too much right now. If he stops to reconsider it too long he won't be able to get through the rest, so he just continues.]

So um... S-So after that, Ash and I were just... Trying to get out of there, and we ran into Matt--he's the only one of us that hasn't been here yet; he's Em's boyfriend--and Em, and um, told them what happened. So they went to try to get help, and Ash and I headed back to the lodge since uh... Sam was still there.

[He hadn't even thought to check on her before trying to find Ashley, and that had been stupid. It had been stupid if there had been a real threat, and even more so knowing what he does now.]

But when we got back, we couldn't find her. And we figured that the guy that attacked us must've gone after her too.

[He takes a deep breath, still trying to keep careful distance from remembering exactly how it had felt to have just seen someone die and then be afraid that another friend might've been taken by the murderer.]

So we went looking for her. Under the lodge there was just this... Massive old hotel that had been abandoned for like, fifty years or something, and I mean, we knew we were being lead into a trap, but we couldn't just not try and find Sam.

[It had been obvious they were being set up, especially once they found the video camera that ended up being only one of many, but they couldn't just leave Sam. Leaving her could've meant abandoning her to die, and the danger was well worth the chance to save her.]

We did find her, eventually. She was um... Unconscious, I guess drugged, since she seemed okay like... Physically. But while we were trying to figure that out, the guy attacked us again.

[And this is the hardest part of the story to get through, even though he's already told this portion--without names, anyway--to someone else here. His gaze stays fixed on the ground, and he offers a weak gesture somewhat similar to a shrug.]

We woke up at a table, and um... I had a hand free, but Ash didn't, and above us were more fucking saws. And there was a gun on the table.

[He doesn't bother trying to avoid how clear the memories of this moment are, of what was said and the tone of Ashley's voice and how everything had been so terrifying and intense and dreamlike all at once.]

The saws turned on, and started coming down toward us. And the guy who'd killed Josh, he um... Told me to make another choice.

[The gun is surprisingly heavy, and Ashley is crying, and he can barely hear himself think over the sound of the blades.]

He said I could shoot Ash, or I could shoot myself. Whoever was left could live.

[Making the decision hadn't been hard, but actually doing it had been nearly impossible. Still, it had been the one choice that night that he hasn't second-guessed since; it had been the only right thing to do, and so he can look up at Nick when he says it.]

So I shot myself.

[He gives a weak smile and another shrug.]

The gun was full of blanks. Everything stopped, and the guy came into the room and took off his mask, and it was Josh.