The epigraph is a post from the subreddit “ER_Forever,” a forum for admirers of the mass murderer Elliot Rodger. The user, “OneSadRealm,” posts a threatening and misogynistic “makeup tip” for a woman he calls “Stacy,” alluding to violent disfigurement.

The women row hard to put distance between themselves and Bryan, who follows at a steady, unhurried pace. Kaia reflects that there is no escape on the river. The group’s focus turns to Imani, who is weak from blood loss and the cold. Deborah gives up her own shirt for a bandage, and Allie reveals that she has a dry bag with warm clothing, which she packed in a panic before the attack.

Deborah briefly accuses Allie of knowing the attack was coming and not warning them, but Allie tearfully explains that she had no advance knowledge; she was just terrified by stories of Kellen Stroop. Deborah apologizes, explaining that her grief at losing Beth has affected her thinking. After changing into dry clothes and improving Imani’s tourniquet, Kaia takes stock of their situation. They have almost no supplies, and Pam recalls a guide saying it would take 20 hours of non-stop rowing to reach the takeout point, with three more major rapids ahead. Kaia realizes that all the “accidents” on the trip were orchestrated by Bryan. When Imani asks why he is doing this, all eyes turn to Allie, who says she thinks she knows the reason.

This epigraph is another post from the user “OneSadRealm” on the “ER_Forever” subreddit. The post laments the lack of photos from the Camas Creek massacre and mentions using AI to create new ones, closing with the phrase “Smile for the camera, Stacy!!!” (171).

Allie, a moderator for a subreddit dedicated to the Camas Creek murders, explains her theory. Months earlier, another user shared screenshots from “ER_Forever,” an incel subreddit dedicated to mass murderer Elliot Rodger. The posts were by a user named “OneSadRealm,” an anagram for Leo Marsden—the teenager who survived the original Camas Creek massacre.

The user had posted horrific, AI-generated images of Leo Marsden’s wounds. The captions were filled with incel terminology, celebrating the deaths of “Stacys” and “Chads” (incel slang for attractive, popular people) at the massacre. Allie admits that at the time, her group of moderators was divided, with some believing that Leo Marsden was behind the OneSadRealm persona, while others dismissed the idea as an implausible conspiracy theory. Allie defended Leo Marsden’s name, though others reported the posts to the police, who took no action. Allie explains a fan theory from her subreddit: Leo Marsden, not Kellen Stroop, was the true killer at Camas Creek.

Allie continues to explain the fan theory from her Reddit group. She cites information from a recent Dateline investigation revealing that Leo’s wounds were superficial and could have been self-inflicted. He might have killed his own mother to further deflect suspicion from himself. A former high school classmate of Leo’s posted on Allie’s subreddit describing him as a cruel outcast whose successful, glamorous, athletic mother sent him to a disciplinary rafting camp shortly before the massacre. The theory posits that Leo was kicked out of the rafting camp and that his mother arranged for the two of them to join the Garnet River trip instead; he then killed his mother and the others in retaliation.

Allie explains that Leo was never a suspect because he was the sole, heroic survivor, and the river had washed away all forensic evidence. He subsequently disappeared and changed his name—to Bryan. As Allie laments not recognizing him sooner, Bryan’s raft glides up behind them. He mockingly tells Allie that he, however, recognized her immediately.

A classified military manual on “Tactical River Operations” states that in a pursuit on water, the advantage lies with the pursuer, as the person being chased must constantly look back.

As the women paddle away, Bryan taunts Allie about her online notoriety as a subreddit moderator. When Allie yells that he won’t get away with it, Bryan laughs, revealing that he is Leo and that although it stung to see Kellen Stroop get all the credit for the Camas Creek murders, he is pleased that his anonymity has allowed him to carry out a second massacre. Kaia is horrified by his confession.

For the next hour, they navigate a series of smaller rapids, staying just ahead of him. As dawn breaks, they approach Haystack, a dangerous Class Four rapid marked by stone cairns. They recall Josh describing it as a treacherous “pinball machine” of boulders. Leo hangs back, clearly intending to force them to navigate the deadly rapid first.

The raft enters the Haystack rapid and is immediately pinned between two massive boulders. As the boat threatens to buckle, Kaia hears Parker guiding her. She spots a leverage point on one of the rocks, and together the women push the raft free. Instantly, the raft is sucked into a hydraulic “hole” and flips, throwing everyone into the churning water.

Kaia is swept away from the others. After being battered by the rapid, she surfaces and sees the overturned raft caught in an eddy. Deborah is clinging to it, and Pam is swimming toward it, but Allie and Imani are gone. Kaia then hears Leo’s distinctive whistle as his raft approaches from behind her.

With Leo closing in, Kaia swims to the overturned raft. Pam informs her that the boat is stuck on a rock and that Imani and Deborah are hiding in the air pocket underneath. Kaia then spots Allie concealed against the far canyon wall, having removed her orange life vest to avoid being seen. As Leo’s raft gets closer, Pam dives under the boat to hide with the others, leaving Kaia as his only visible target.

Leo scans the area but fails to spot Allie. As he turns his raft toward Kaia, she makes a decision. She pushes the paddle she is holding under the raft for the other women, then launches herself into the current downstream. To ensure Leo follows her, she screams insults at him, hoping to draw his rage and give the others a chance to escape.

This epigraph, from the book Beyond Belief: Acknowledging the Impossible, defines the phenomenon of Third Man Syndrome. It is described as a situation where an individual in an extreme crisis senses an unseen presence that offers them protection and guidance. The text notes that this syndrome has been documented by people in high-stress environments, such as mountaineers, polar explorers, and shipwreck survivors. The epigraph concludes by stating that the cause of this phenomenon remains unexplained.

After intentionally angering Leo, Kaia swims into a dangerous rapid, hoping he will follow and give the other women a chance to escape. She makes it into the whitewater just ahead of him, but then realizes with horror that he has not taken the bait. Instead, Leo has turned his boat back upstream toward the others, leaving her stranded alone in the impassable canyon.

Overwhelmed by the belief that her plan has failed and doomed everyone, she loses hope. Battered by the river, exhausted, and trapped in a violent hydraulic, she considers drowning herself. As she gives up Parker’s voice returns, angrily commanding her not to die. Her own survival instincts take over just as she spots a flash of green upstream, realizing that Leo has finished with the others and is now coming for her.

Trapped and with Leo approaching, Kaia hears Parker’s voice tell her to play dead. She floats face-down in the water, holding her breath until her lungs burn. Leo’s raft hovers nearby before he moves on, apparently convinced she has drowned. As Kaia surfaces for air, she sputters loudly, alerting Leo that she is still alive. He immediately turns his raft back to kill her.

Exhausted and near death, Kaia has a vivid vision of being with Parker. He tells her she has been “holding her breath” since he died and that it is okay to want to live again. The vision fades as hands grab her and pull her from the river. Bracing for Leo’s knife, she is instead stunned by the sound she hears.

The epigraph is a quote from The River Guide’s Almanac, which notes that the history of river rescue contains stories that defy logical explanation, such as survivors being found in impossible locations. It concludes that “The river keeps its mysteries” (218).

Kaia is pulled from the water by the other women. They are all aboard the second gear boat, which had been left at the camp. At the oars is Macy, their guide, who miraculously survived the razor wire attack but has a severe gash across her face. The women are all alive.

Macy recounts her own survival: The wire knocked her unconscious behind the Anvil Falls waterfall, hiding her from Leo. When she awoke, she made her way back to their camp, retrieved the spare raft, and rowed all night to catch up. Allie, hiding along the canyon wall, saw Macy arrive. Together, they intercepted Leo just as he was closing in on the women under the flipped raft. Macy hit him with an oar, knocking him into the water and forcing him to scramble downstream to catch up with his boat. For now, the group is reunited and safe, with a skilled guide, a working boat, and supplies. Kaia looks down at her bent wedding ring, a small symbol of her own survival.