“Sorry, Sis, but I think we should go back. We have everything we need back there to survive.”
Maddie figured that Derrick was thinking upon the same lines as she.
Surprisingly, it was Tyler that broke the immediate tie. “I’m for moving forward, and not just because Sam says so. Which of you is going to eat raw bug? Not like we can collect firewood.”
Maddie could knot it back up if she wanted to; as far as she was concerned, Sandra didn’t have a vote in the matter.
“Maddie, it’s up to you.” Sam was watching her intently.
“We’ll keep going for now, but once we can’t see our hands in front of our face, it will be too dangerous. At that point, we’ll have to go back. Can we all agree on that?” Sam and Derrick nodded. “Tyler? There could be pitfalls, more creatures, forks in the path, we could get lost in here.”
Tyler reluctantly agreed. Privately, he didn’t think he could go back, ever, but he was going to bide his time and hope that in the end, they found a way through. None of them had any idea as to what lay ahead; they could only hope it was better than what they’d encountered thus far.
“I wish we’d grabbed some water.” Sam leaned against a wall and wiped her brow. They’d been walking another hour and were getting weary for it.
While they were taking a breather, Maddie walked back a few steps. She had a hard time being able to see Sandra, who was less than ten feet away.
“We can’t keep going on,” the woman said breathlessly.
“Go back. I don’t think anyone will miss you,” Maddie told her.
“I still have one bullet,” she sneered.
“Good. You can use it on yourself.” Maddie turned her back and sat with the group.
Sandra smiled when she reached into her pocket and found a couple of extra shells.
“I was hoping it would get better.” Derrick was holding his hand up, noticing how dim it appeared. “I’ve been thinking on the light source; it has to be reflected light, so it makes sense the further we go in, or as the moon rotates, the less light. It could just be a matter of waiting until tomorrow.”
“Sleep here?” Sam asked. “Are you serious?”
“I know I’m exhausted.” Maddie had slid down with her back against the wall.
“We’ll have to set up a guard. I can do the first shift,” Derrick said. “We only need to watch the front; we should have plenty of warning from the back.” He was referring to where his mother sat.
“Get me up in two hours.” Maddie handed him her watch; it glowed in a soft, ghostly green hue.
For most of an hour, Derrick sat there listening to the shifting around as those in the group attempted to find some comfort. After a while, it turned to rhythmic breathing, and, occasionally, there would be a mumbled word. He hoped whoever it was had found greener pastures in a dream. He spent most of his time looking at the timepiece; there was no sense in looking down the passageway. It had grown increasingly darker, and to try and see through it would only cause hallucinations. His eyes were closing when he heard something far off in the distance. His head popped up, but the slamming of his heart in his ears made it difficult to hear anything else.
“Did I imagine that?” His words so soft, yet the sound still startled him.
“No.” It was Maddie. Her internal clock had let her know that her shift was approaching, and she’d been having difficulty sleeping anyway.
“Shit, Maddie! Scared the hell out of me.”
“Get the others up quietly.” She stood, trying to figure if it had come from the front or behind. “What’s going—” The rest was muffled as Derrick placed his hand over his sister’s mouth.
“Shh…something’s out there.”
“What?” she whispered, she stretched her eyes wide, which did little to allow her to see anything more.
A screech pierced the air, this one much closer. Derrick didn’t need to wake Tyler as he shot up. He punched Sandra square in the shoulder—she’d clamored to be closer to the group and had come out of the surrounding darkness and into his limited field of vision.
“It’s coming from behind.” Maddie was mostly sure of her assertion. “We need to move.”
“It’s pitch-black,” Sandra said, rubbing her shoulder.
“Sorry,” Tyler told her, reaching out to rub the sore spot. She pushed him away.
“No choice. We either move to get away from it or stay and fight.”
“Are we voting? Because I vote for leaving,” Tyler said.
“No vote. We’re leaving. Sandra, you’re more than welcome to stay and give us an update. Scream loudly, so we know when it has gotten through you,” Maddie told her.
“Bitch,” Sandra mumbled as they slowly picked their way forward.
“I think we’re going down,” Tyler said.
“No talking.” Maddie was slowly shuffling her feet in front, hoping that at no point did they dangle over an unseen abyss.
The going was slow; Maddie didn’t think they’d traversed more than a hundred yards since starting out ten minutes ago. If they were genuinely trying to outrun something, they were going to have to pick up the pace significantly. Another screech, this one louder and closer.
“Was that in front of us?” Sam asked.
Maddie was unsure. “Everyone reach out, hold on to the shoulder of the person in front of you, we’re going to move faster.”
Derrick, do you want to change places with me?” Sandra asked her son, who was directly in front of her.
“Unbelievable,” this from Sam.
“Quiet back there.” Maddie was doing her utmost to keep the rising panic from washing over and submerging her within its murky depths, but her spirits were spiraling downwards. They were being chased by an unknown, into the unknown. All her life she’d striven to make sense of the world, but with so many unchartered variables in her presence, she didn’t know what to think. “Stay close. The tunnel is getting
