The Confluence

The Confluence Part XII

XII

Suzie woke up freezing cold, and her teeth almost immediately started clattering against one another, and the sound of bones scraping together echoed oddly. Her mind was lost in a sort of mental fog, which made thinking almost hurt. Because when she began to think, she began to remember and when she began to remember... "oh god... " the tiniest whimper wriggled it's way between her lips and out into the black icy air. The fucking monsters from her nightmares were actually real. Her mind bent and threatened to snap at that realization. "...oh fuck. Oh...fuck." that small whimper again. She hated how it sounded. With all this nightmare shit she couldn't even get herself together. But this... this is fucking bullshit. her mind bawled. I can't fucking do this, I dont even have anything to defend myself with, I don't even fucking know where I am! "Shut...up." She whispered. Her flesh was crawling with goosebumps. She gathered her frayed mind, and tried to focus on her surroundings.

Despite the dark, her eyes had adjusted very well to damp shadows. She was huddled in a small cleft of rocks, vaguely illuminated by the now distant lights of the broken church. Her eyes briefly glanced over the heaps of bloody clothes and shoes of all kinds littering the rocky ground, but those made her feel nauseous, so she quickly averted her gaze. She was in some small offshoot tunnel that ended five feet from her in a rock face. Her ears were listening for the smallest of movements, but for now could only hear the drip of water from the rocks above her, and quiet wind whistling throughout the cavern.

She hauled her exhausted body up into a sitting position, and as she did so, she heard footsteps. Her stomach dropped in fear, but her tired mind intervened, reasoning with her that whatever the hell those things were, they sure as hell didn't wear shoes. Her heart swelled with hope for the first time in far too long, and she found the strength to stand. The heavy footsteps were accentuated by a clacking sound between every step, as if this particular someone was walking with a metal cane. Her breath exuding out of her mouth in thick mists in the freezing air.

She stumbled forward, back towards the church. Her foot scuffled against something thick and heavy, and she quickly looked down. Her right foot was caught in a big black trench coat, which in the dim light at least seemed covered in less bloody film than anything else. Stopping briefly, she took the coat and slipped it over her back. It was cold, smelled weird but at least it stopped the wind chill. She quickened her pace, as whoever else managed to survive this sounded closer and closer.

In no time at all, she was before the broken church, right as a figure loomed in the shattered doorway, which nearly collapsed but caught themselves on the side of the church. Suzie almost ran to them, resisting the urge to burst into tears. The other person turned towards the sound, the dim orange light showing their face. It was a haggard looking man, in what was once a white button up shirt, half tucked into black slacks. He was covered in grime, dirt, blood, and other unnamable fluids. His face was distorted with fear and was starting to heave the shotgun (oh fuck) that he was leaning on as a cane towards her when the look of fear twisting his face fled, and was replaced with such a great look of relief. The shotgun dropped to the ground, barrel scraping against the rocks before finding purchase as the man put his weight on it.

"Oh thank fucking god..." murmured the man. "I thought I was doomed and it was one of those...things." He spoke to her in a deep and quiet voice, but jumpy due to his presumably jangled nerves. "I'm so happy just to see another human face!" Suzie hissed out, herself still wary that there could be more of the nightmarish things around.

Breathing out a heavy sigh as Suzie closed the distance, she hugged the man fiercely out of pure instinct and relief. He hugged her back, and then just as quickly let her go, taking the shotgun in both of his hands, barrel still pointed at the ground. Leaning with his back against the stone wall, he asked "Who the hell are you?"

"Suzie. Suzie Mayweather." He looked at her with stunned eyes. "I couldn't even recognize you." He croaked to her. "I'm Adrian. I interviewed you at the police station."

Suzie gazed at him in wonder. Looking at him more closely, it was undeniably him. "You! You of all people, how the hell are you here right now?"

"I came here looking for answers to whatever the hell is going on. But stumbled into this fucking mess. I managed to kill whatever those things were, but we should really get the hell outta here Suzie. I don't know if there are more of those things out here, and besides, this place..." He glanced around him at the church. "This place at least did tell me where I can go next."

Without any hesitation, Suzie replied with "I'm coming with you."

"What? Fuck no! I don't know how you managed to survive this massacre, and I'll help get back to the road, but that's where our paths diverge. Come on. Let's get moving." Adrian started lumbering towards the way he had come in, but Suzie grabbed his arm. "Wait. Let's take the way I came in. it's probably quicker than whatever route you took, also there's Johnny's car nearby. I just have...have to find... the keys." tears began to well up in her eyes as she remembered what happened to Johnny. He was an asshole, sure, but nobody deserved to die like that. Choking back the tears as Adrian looked at her, and then nodded. "Okay. Find them quick, I wanna make this place nothing more than a nightmare past." She made her way in the direction she and Johnny had originally come from. Grabbing her lighter out of her jeans pocket, she flicked once, then twice before a small flame came to life. She soon found the hole in the rocks where they had originally entered, and there was a fresh wind blowing through. It smelled of rain and green trees, and was a welcome change from the smell of blood and death that permeated the air.

Using the light, she found the blood spattered rocks where Johnny had died. Strewn amongst the rocks were Johnny's blood soaked clothes. Tears filled her eyes again and she let out a low sob as she picked through his wet black jeans, and her fingers closed on his key ring, which clinked cheerfully as she picked them up. Adrian was behind her, watching behind them, looking for signs of movement.

"Got them." She muttered through the tears. "Follow me."

Without a word, Adrian followed her through the cleft in the rocks, through the pipe, and out into the night.