Stick To It

Climbing Class

"What's going on?" I ask Sam as she frantically opens the door that Mike left through. "No time to explain, we need to go!" I shake my head confused, I quickly survey the room for anything we can use for self-defense. I notice a really old backpack by the shelf Ashley found the journal in. I quickly dig through it and find a flare gun. I scowl, but pocket it nonetheless, and hurry after Sam and the group.

"Hey... ahhh. I'm kinda gimping out here guys. You should go on without me." Chris says as we enter the tunnels. "What's wrong?" Ashely inquires. I speak up, "Your foot got busted up?" "Yeah." "Well, we're not leaving you behind. Mike will just have to wait." Ashley insists, grabbing Chris and giving him bodily support. "A-alright..." Chris doesn't struggle.

We continue down the tunnel. "Isn't it kind of weird that they made these tunnels? What's the point?" I wonder aloud. "This place is a whole lot of creepy. At this point, I find it best to not ask questions." Chris answers. "Fair." Looking ahead I see Sam trying to open a door with no luck in getting her desired result. "Shit! Mike must've locked it behind him!"

"Wait, hey!. What about this?" We look at Ashley and see the manhole cover she is pointing at. "Huh." Is Sam's lackluster response. "Well, it's our best bet if we want to meet Mike," I say placidly and grab a nearby pipe to force the cover off its hole. "So who's going first?" Sam asks in a sarcastic cheery way. Emily rolls her eyes. "After you." I sigh and start climbing down before any more things can be said.

"I can confirm that there is nothing that will want to eat your face down here ladies," I speak as I let go of the ladder safely, I hear a collective sigh of relief. "Wait! There's..." I can hear them take a deep breath in anticipation, I smile a little knowing I've tricked them. "Nothing." I can hear a collective groan as Chris snickers. "Trenton!" Sam says exasperatedly.

Before long everyone besides Ashley has climbed down. "Wait, we should close this right? To stop anything from following us." Ashley looks down at the group for a response. Sam is a little impatient, "Look, we're in a hurry. Can you just catch up?" "Yeah, of course." Chris raises his hand. "I'll wait for Ash."

Thus, Sam, Emily, and I all continue along the path as Ashley closes the manhole. "Can you tell me why we need to rush to Mike so badly now?" I find myself asking Sam along the walk. "That journal said the Sanitorium is where a lot of the wendigo are. He says that he kept them chained there." I nod after hearing the facts. "Yeah, that sounds... bad." Despite not seeing her face I can tell Sam gave an eye-roll. "You think?"

At the end of the path, we stumble across a giant wall of rock, the ladder up it is shredded beyond recognition. "Well, that puts a dampener on our plans." That is the only thing I can find myself saying. Our thoughts are interrupted as we hear Ashley, "H-hello?" We turn towards her, and Ashley notices the big problem ahead of us. "That ladder's toast!" "We noticed," Emily replies with her classic snark.

"We're never going to make it up there!" Ashley admits in defeat. "Well... I think I could do it. It's like a... natural rock wall." Sam refuses to accept failure. "Well suit yourself, I'm heading back to the lodge," Emily says turning around. I think for a moment.

"Why don't I go with you, Sam? I know I'm not a rock climber... but I don't think you should be left alone." Sam smiles. "Sure, thanks, Trenton." Ashley, Chris, and Emily turn back. I take a deep breath looking at the large wall. "You're not having second thoughts now, are you?" Sam asks smugly. Not wanting to admit I'm a little intimidated I just reply, "Let's just get this over with."

"So... what's the plan, Captain Giddings?" She chuckles a little. "Well, Private Pollock, since we've got you around we'll have to take it nice and slow," I smirk as she continues the bit. "I'm hurt, Captain." I fake emotional damage. "Just telling the truth." She grabs onto the rock wall and starts climbing. "Just follow in my footsteps. And please, do not grab me, I think I'd fall." "You got it."

I'm a bit nervous, and my muscles are a bit achy, but Sam chooses an easy path. "You do this to yourself in your free time?" I ask her. "Yeah, it's pretty fun, right?" "I don't know if this would fit my description of a fun Friday night." "Well, you better get used to it."

The climb continues along smoothly, sometimes some rocks fall and crumble. And my heart beats a mile a minute, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. We eventually reach the top, which garners a happy sigh from me. Sam keeps walking instantly though, and she finds a shovel on the ground to open a locked gate ahead of us.

"You want me to hold that?" I ask. "After you so rudely took the shotgun from me? No, I don't think I do." I scratch my neck a little in discomfort. "Well... to be fair I did get us all out of there." Sam scoffs, "I'm still keeping the shovel." We approach the metal gate before we hear the sound of an explosive inferno as Mike bursts through the door, a flaming wendigo behind him. "Goddamnit! Stay out there!" Mike yells as the wendigo tackles him, he fends off its deadly attacks. "Mike!" Sam runs forward and decapitates the thing with the shovel. She then looks at me and dramatically flicks her ponytail. "See? I can handle a weapon." I release an accepting chuckle.

Mike quickly closes the door and barricades it with a double-barrel shotgun he must've found in the sanitorium. "You guys alright?" He asks, out of breath. "Define alright." Is Sam's response. "Alive, for a start." Sam nods. "Yeah, alive. Alive's good." "The hell you two doing here anyway?" "We were going to warn up about the wendigos... but I think you got the memo." I scratch the back of my head embarrassedly. "Let's go find where those fuckers live." "You got it." Both me and Sam say. We leave the burning remains of the sanitorium.