Force of Nature

The women continue to bicker. They are out of food, and the rain douses their campfire. Alice grows increasingly combative and accusatory and angrily tells the others that she plans to walk out in the morning.

Aaron speaks with Bree, who has been released from the hospital. She asks him about the cabin, Kovac, and the possibility that someone else had been using the cabin recently. She also tells Aaron that it sometimes felt as though they were being watched; she hints that perhaps someone had been watching them and surmises that this unknown person might have seen Alice walk away from the cabin alone.

Jill tells Alice that if she leaves the group, she cannot take her phone. Jill searches for it in Alice’s backpack but doesn’t find it. Beth tells Jill that the phone is in Alice’s jacket, then lunges at Alice. Alice is furious, but Beth points out that Alice was only too happy to search her bag when she thought Beth was hiding food. Beth wrests the phone away from Alice, but Alice fights back. Beth refuses to back down and smacks Alice as hard as she can.

Aaron and Carmen make their way back to the lodge. Lauren and Margot are also there, hoping that Alice will be located soon. King explains that they have learned the location of the cabin from an incarcerated biker who used to do drug deals with Sam Kovac, Martin’s son. The police have unearthed human remains at the cabin, but the remains are too old to be Alice’s.

Beth and Alice continue to fight. Bree tries to pull them apart but ends up down on the floor with them. Alice gains the upper hand and smacks Beth’s head to the floor. Beth sees stars.

Aaron and Carmen reach the cabin after a difficult hike through forbidding and treacherous terrain. They cannot help but be struck by the structure’s foreboding aura. They can easily imagine Martin Kovac using it during his serial killing spree, just as they can imagine Martin’s son Sam using it during his many years of drug trafficking. The cabin is well camouflaged, and Aaron observes that it must have been difficult for the women to find. There are two shallow graves; one contains the body of a dog, while the other contains a human skeleton. They will have to wait for analysis, but everyone seems to think that the body is Martin Kovac’s fourth victim, who was never located. Inside, they see signs of a recent struggle and fresh blood on the floor.

Lauren breaks up the fight, which by this point involves all of the women. Everyone is battered and bloody, and Alice is crying.

King tells Aaron that although the blood on the floor is recent, the stain on the mattress is old and is likely mold rather than blood. They do not find Alice’s backpack, and Aaron hopes that she has it with her.

In the aftermath of the fight, tensions remain high. Jill insists that they all calm down and go to sleep, but Alice curses at Beth and threatens to fire Bree.

The search party sets out along the trail that Alice most likely took when she left the cabin. The route is steep and rocky, but they can follow it easily. When they have been walking for a while, Aaron hears a soft beep and realizes that his phone has service. They spread out, hoping to reach the location from which Alice called Aaron. Fifteen minutes later, they find Alice’s backpack.

Alice leaves the cabin silently before the others wake up. She has stolen Jill’s jacket, reclaiming her cell phone in the process. On the other side of the clearing, someone watches her leave, but she does not notice this.

Aaron recalls one of the rangers saying that in almost every case, when a missing person’s possessions are located, their deceased body is not far away, simply because the conditions are too harsh for people to abandon their clothing, packs, and supplies. Although he hopes that the maxim will not prove true in this case, Alice’s body is indeed found near her backpack.

The watcher observes Alice as she silently slips away from the cabin.

Aaron and Carmen ask Beth and Bree to wait with them for Sergeant King. The women become agitated. Bree admits to having found Alice’s dead body and moving it. She assumed that Beth killed Alice and wanted to help cover up the crime. Their mother was devastated when Beth was incarcerated for the first time, and Bree explains that she wanted to save their mother from additional heartbreak. Beth denies having killed Alice and is angry and offended that Bree believes her to be capable of murder. Bree is sure that Beth is betraying her by not admitting her role in Alice’s death, and Beth is sure that her sister is accusing her of a crime that she did not commit.

Alice makes a call. Her hands are visibly shaking.

Aaron and Carmen question Jill, who tells them that she would have let Alice leave if Daniel had shared the full story about Joel and Margot with her.

Alice tries to call emergency services but cannot get through. She then calls Aaron and leaves a message, explaining that Daniel has compromising photos of Margot. She also states that she cannot help Aaron anymore and doesn’t want him to pass the files to his superiors tomorrow. She says that she cannot risk angering Daniel. Just then, someone says her name.