Post Dawn

44. Panic

"Matt! Matt, wake up!" Jessica was shaking Matt as he slept. He groaned a little as he woke up but then realized that it was Jess shaking him.

He immediately launched up off of the mattress and looked around. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

She had wide eyes and was breathing rapidly. She looked terrified.

"I woke up and went downstairs to go and find something to eat but it's Sam and Mike. They're gone."

"What? Where?"

"How am I supposed to know that Matt? I just woke up and they were gone."

Matt had a bad feeling in his stomach. He started walking over to the opening in between the beds and looked downstairs. Nothing. No one.

He looked across the way to the bed to try and see if they were just sleeping but he saw a neatly made bed with no one in it.

"Shit."

Jess limped her way over to Matt and then went downstairs before he did. Her slowly making her way down agitated Matt a little, even though he wouldn't show it of course.

He brushed past her as they both got to the last step and searched around the floor. They weren't in the bathrooms or the kitchen, living room.

It was almost like he and Jess had been the only ones there. Besides the shopping bags of course.

He looked over to the door and the outlets next to it and spotted both of their phones resting on the ledge.

"Fuck. They left their phones." Matt explained.

Jess rocked back in forth on her feet as her breathing only got worse.

Matt made his way over to her quickly and guided her to the couch so she could sit down. She didn't say a word.

Matt didn't think anything of it and then ran upstairs to grab his phone and then walked down the stairs as he dialed.

"Hey Matt what's up?"

"Ashley. Jess and I just woke up. Mike and Sam are gone and their phones are still here. I don't know where they would've gone and I can't reach them."

A silence was on the other line. The only sound Matt could hear was the sound of his own footsteps on the stairs.

"Matt.. I'm gonna try my best to not freak out right now and try to make sense of what you said. Mike and Sam- they're both missing?"

"Yeah I don't know where they are."

Ashley sighed and then paused for a second.

"Alright well I'm gonna-"

"What?"

"Sam and Mike are missing."

"Well where are they?"

"Matt says he doesn't know."

"Sam actually... she talked to me about it once. She came into my room to talk before she left and everything. She mentioned it too when we were at that place Jess had to stay at."

"Well what'd she say?"

"That she missed the mountain. The excitement of it all. I think- I think she might've wanted to go back."

Silence again.

Matt could hear Josh's conversation and then thought about it. He had overheard Sam and Mike talking about it once.