Wall

4

The two arrived, Mark practically jumping out of the car. Dave had asked him questions the entire journey, and it was like he could feel himself losing patience by the second. At this point, he had just wanted to get this over and done with, go in and look, then leave. But he could admit that the company was nice; rather than his lone-wolf-type investigations, he tended to go on to avoid his colleagues.
Quickly getting out to follow, Dave joined him in walking towards the entrance of the mine. Passing abandoned warehouses, used for supply and break rooms, as well as storage. They were overgrown, plants climbing the walls, and grass surrounding which hadn’t been cut in what seemed like forever. Graffiti surprisingly didn’t plaster every wall in the place, which showed people had at least some form of respect for the somewhat-historical location, the remnants of an old industry.
And there it was, the entrance to the shaft, only darkness greeting them.
“Umm...Mr.Acker?”
The older man grumbled, rubbing his face exasperatedly. “Yes, Dave....” he replied, making his annoyance clear.
“Are we... going in there?” he whimpered, practically vocalizing every ounce of fear in his body.
“Yeah, are you scared of the dark or something?” Sarcasm apparent in Acker’s voice.
He was only met with concerned eyes; Dave was scared of the dark, who would have guessed. Acker stared at him blankly. He wasn’t about to hold his hand through a mineshaft; if he wanted this kind of job, Dave could man up, right?
“It’s okay! It’s okay...I, uh, wait...” Sticking his tongue out, the curly-haired man fumbled through the light satchel he carried, taking out a torch. “Ta-da!” He held it up with a smile, handing his partner one, which he reluctantly took.
Mark rolled his eyes, “Come on then.”
The light from the torch switched on, illuminating the seemingly empty mine. Evenly being lit up, it looked as if the cave went on infinitely, having no end. After a moment of hesitation, Mark cautiously began to take slow steps into the mine. He was sure he would be so close to an answer, to finally close this case he had been obsessed over. His growing curiosity and need for an answer pushed him to go further into the mine.
He hardly noticed the rookie behind him as he was wrapped up in his thoughts once again.
“Stay close, alright? I’m not chasing after you if you get lost,” Mark huffed, hardly turning his head as he focused on the tunnel ahead of them. As if Dave wasn’t already at his heels, the younger man nodded and followed behind him, almost hovering over the detective as he occasionally brushed against him.
The light from mine entrance behind them slowly became smaller the further they went in until it was nothing more than a pinpoint of light in the dark. Despite the mine being large enough for the two of them, the confined space felt as if it were closing in on them, perhaps becoming narrower the deeper the two ventured. At some point during the prolonged silence, Dave felt the need to talk again, asking all sorts of questions that Mark begrudgingly answered, patience wearing thin.
Distracted by this, Mark didn’t wasn’t paying attention to the sudden pit in the ground that made him lose his footing. The pair fell through the floor, crashing into what seemed to be a second layer of the mine but losing their torches in the process, having thrown them in their shock.
“Mr. Acker?! Are you alright?!” David yelped, frightened by the sudden change in scenery and lighting.
“I’m a fine kid...are you?” he groaned in response, dusting himself off and standing up slowly.
Acker could tell Dave nodded, even in the terrible lighting.
The two looked around, both trying to find any semblance of what to do, knowing they were too far down (and that Dave had already attempted to hop out of the hole they fell out of). The younger of the two spotted something, a soft, warm light illuminating distantly down one way of the passage.
“Over there, sir!” he alerted his superior, pointing fruitlessly at the glimmer of hope in the distance.
“Good job, rookie.” Mark acknowledged, giving Dave a firm pat on the back.
The two began their walk, Flores gripping onto Acker’s dirtied coat, and they both took cautious slow steps. Their destination was not very far, after all. But here they were, the entrance which seemed to get narrower the more it went on, the two ended up pressed together before they finally got to what should have been the source of the light, But it was strange.
Standing up, Mark and Dave found themselves in a room, a room with a soft floor and strangely textured walls; the light seemed to come from nowhere, causing a vermillion tint to reflect on the walls and the pair.  They both stood, wondering what the hell they were seeing, but completely drawing a blank. Dave wandered a meter ahead, feeling the walls and stopping after a bit.
“Ah...Mark?”
The older looked towards him instantly, desperate for any kind of input to what they were looking at. “Yeah? What is it?”
Dave looked towards him, confused eyes expressing fear. “The ah...the walls..”
“Spit it out.”
“They’re um...moving?”
And before either could process, the walls became more violent, shaking and morphing into tendril-like shapes protruding, making the room more enclosed and chaotic. Without even speaking, Mark grabbed the rookie’s arm, dragging him out of the room. The two dashed through the narrow tunnel once again, Mark moving straight forward and Dave frequently turning, watching as a flesh-like tendril extended closer and closer, more following in the distance.
And then it grabbed Dave, the fleshy rope looping around his arm and gripping him in place. Mark kept dragging before feeling the tug of the rookie’s entrapment. He turned swiftly, asking him what was happening but being met with weak sobs, he knew Dave hadn’t been very strong-willed, but he didn’t need to see a grown man cry in this situation. Mark didn’t know what to do.
“It’s gripping me so hard!” Dave practically squealed out, words quick with panic as he tried to yank his arm from the grip.
He wouldn’t shut up, panic rising as he used more and more of his body weight to free himself, the rest of the mass drawing closer. It was like adrenaline was taking over because, in just a moment, Mark’s eyes widened.
A loud crack, Dave was free, but in the faint light coming from the mass behind them, he saw the young man had yanked his arm off, crashing it into the rugged, spiked walls of the tunnel they were in until he lost his entire forearm and almost half od his upper arm. Slowed down by the pain but determined, Dave shouted out to keep going, causing Mark to phase out of his shock and continue running, holding onto the other to stop him from falling.
And there they were, the hole they once fell in. In a rush, Mark grabbed Dave, holding him up so he could grip with his remaining arm onto the edge of the hole. He pushed him up, helping him fully get up in his weakness, before gripping onto the wall himself, fingers digging into the rock and mud and pulling himself up. Once he reached the top, Dave grabbed him with his remaining hand, pulling him the rest of the way up.
The two scrambled to their feet and made their way out to the car, no sign of anything behind them. And when they got there, the two practically jumped in, Mark quickly pulling off his belt to tighten around Dave’s de-limbed arm. They both sat there panting, completely in shock to what had just happened, both splattered with the rookie’s blood, Dave noticeably more than Mark.
They looked at each other; they could barely believe what happened and realized everyone else probably wouldn’t either. Dave picked up a walkie-talkie stationed in the car, looking to Mark for confirmation that he could use it and being met with a nod.
Flores breathed out heavily before pressing the button to speak on it, “H-hey uh...” his voice was shaky, but he couldn’t stop it. “We need some backup, like, now...?”
Mark leaned over, taking off the equipment from Dave and pressing the button to add his own bit.
“And bring in the medical team.”