𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐎 (𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐔𝐒) *editing*

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝🌞

Rewritten: January-June 2025

"We're going down?" Maeve scrunched her face as she gazed into the seemingly endless depths of the building. The lower levels had been consumed by the earth, collapsed into the dark shadows. Light was scarce, only the natural gloom from the glowing rain clouds outside managed to filter through the shattered walls or reflect off the small, cascading waterfalls.

She had thought they were meant to escape the building, not delve deeper into it.

"It's the only way out," TJ grunted from beside her. "Down and out."

"I don't feel comfortable with this." Meave complained as they continued their descent.

"Well, by all means, feel free to stay here with the infected," TJ shot back, ducking under a fallen beam.

"That was rhetorical!" Maeve retorted, following his lead and ducking under the beam as well.

"Didn't sound rhetorical to me," Ellie interjected, glancing at her. "We're almost out. We have to trust them."

"But, it's so hard..." the older girl sighed, yet she kept following their guides downward.

"Who knows, maybe after all this, we can have a chance to unwind when we get there–even if it's for a few minutes." Ellie suggested with a shrug.

"Yeah, that's still not motivating."

"Do you ever stop whining?" TJ muttered.

"Hey, that's rude! I don't always whine," Maeve said, crossing her arms defensively. "I could start yodeling."

"Please do not."

On top of that, there was the nagging fear that the building might cave in, trapping them all beneath the debris. And no one would even know they were buried under a massive structure. Dead. There'd be little chance of them surviving something like that.

"You want to take it easy?" Joel's incredulous tone caught Maeve's ear.

She didn't care about what adults did unless she happened to be involved, but she didn't have anything else to do besides complain. So, eavesdropping was the second best thing to entertainment.

"Well, I won't this time," Tess replied softly to Joel.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

As Maeve trudged through a massive puddle that flowed over rubble and loose debris, she gazed down the path with hesitation. She'd prefer to eat salt! The ground was extremely unstable, completely loose, and prone to causing falls.

"Are you coming down?" Ellie asked, having already navigated her way down with careful steps.

"Uh...sure I guess...eek!" Maeve accidentally misstepped, triggering a small landslide of debris and rubble. It sent her tumbling on her backside, sliding to the bottom of the slope. "Oof!"

Ellie laughed heartily, jumping to the solid part of the ground. "That was awesome."

"That's what you get for being so whiny." TJ commented as he joined that at the bottom.

"Oh, screw you!" Maeve flipped him off and stood up. "Stupid building!" She angrily muttered, humiliated noticing her backside and rear of her jeans were soaked from the tumble.

How lovely. Note the sarcasm.

"Come on." Ellie tugged her through a sideways double door opening, which, ironically, was doorless. The frame dangled awkwardly from one of the floors that had given away.