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We're Found

Defeat settles in as I look for my best friend. Where could he be, why would he leave? Sam's gone, and so are my hopes of getting out of here quickly. I take a moment to regroup my thoughts.

I feel cold for the first time, looking down at myself shirtless. My body is almost unrecognizable, covered in grime and blood, thinner than I normally am. Unfortunately the refugee chamber doesn't have any clothes for me to swap into. There are blankets to help keep you warm, but nothing else of use.

Regardless, that's hardly on the forefront of my mind. I'm trying to figure out what I need to do next. Sam didn't leave a note, I don't know where he went, I'm worried he left to look for me, but why. I couldn't have been gone that long, could I?

It doesn't matter. I know what's out there now. Well I don't know exactly what's out there, but I know there's a monster in these tunnels with us, and he doesn't. I need to find him before the monster does.

How the hell am I supposed to find him though. If that monster finds me again it could kill me instantly. Maybe I should just get out instead. How would I explain that? What am I going to tell people, that there's a 'monster' in the abandoned mines. Yeah I'm sure that will go over well. At best people might think I have PTSD or have gone a bit crazy down here. At worst, well maybe they think I killed Sam, I don't want to think about that.

Besides, I can't leave without him. My brain is screaming for me to go, but I can't just abandon him, maybe I can find him before that creature, and now I know that way out.

I don't take long to compose myself. I scrounge for any more supplies to little avail. Then I ready myself to leave which takes the longest. Listening, ear to the door, I try to make out any sounds on the other side. The screeching of claws on rock, the breathing of a creature, anything to reassure myself. I hear nothing.

The door creaks a bit as I unlatch it and crack it open. I recoil thinking the sound is going to give me away. Nothing happens. No claws reach in, the door isn't yanked off its hinges, no hideous face turns my way. The tunnel is quiet, eerily so, but the smell is still there.

Which way do I go? I turn on my phone flashlight and can see what I was missing now. I can see the monster's tracks on the ground and shoe prints. I can follow my own coming from the exit, and then I notice another, heading in the same direction, Sam's footprints. Unfortunately, the monster's claw marks lead back in the direction of the exit as well.

My heart jumps a little bit, thinking maybe Sam was able to find the way out as well before the monster found him. I start to follow his tracks, keeping my eye on the claw marks as well.

I feel like I'm going insane, the anticipation is building in my body, as the tracks lead me back down the tunnel where I first encountered the monster. This time it's quiet. I keep following the tracks and the rancid rotten smell intensifies.

Eventually the tunnel leads me to a bigger opening. An opening that my flashlight can't completely illuminate. It looks like some sort of bigger cavern, and I can tell that this place is where the smell is coming from. Littering the floor of this room are bones of dead animals, ranging from the size of rabbits to deer, and god knows what else. Most carcasses are only bone, but the ones that aren't are unbearable to look at.

Decomposing flesh hanging from skulls, maggots inside the leftover rib cages of animals, finishing of the remaining viscera. It's like a scene from SAW. I try to avert my eyes as I walk, I can't keep looking at this, I'll vomit. I try to remain as quiet as possible, avoiding the crunch of bone underfoot.

My phone is at 28% now, it's dying quickly. I need to get out of here before that, I'll need light to make my way out of these tunnels.

I've lost the monster tracks at this point, it's hard to pay attention to much with the gore that surrounds me. Up ahead however I hear a noise. I ready myself to run. Then limping along out of the darkness in front of me is Sam.

"SAM", I yell a little louder than I want as I close the distance between us. Sam puts his hand up as the light blinds him a bit.

"I saw your light from further down the tunnel, what the fuck is this place Rylie? I left the bunker to come look for you, and found this hell hole."

"There's too much to explain right now, we gotta get out of here Sam, I found the way out, let's go", I try to put my arm around him to help him walk and he swats it away.

"What do you mean 'too much to explain', also its fine I can walk",

"Sam seriously, let's just go. I'll explain when we're walking. There's some kind of freak monster in here with us"

"Ok come on Rylie don't fucking make things up right now.."

"I'm not, I'm serious, when I was looking for a way out, some freaky creature chased my through the tunnels I swear"

"Rylie, come on dude, you must have just been seeing things, are you sure it wasn't some kind of stray animal you heard, besides, I've been wandering for a while now, there's nothing down here."
"Sam, I know, I know I sound crazy alright. I don't fucking believe in monsters either, but this thing, whatever it is, was trying to kill me. So even if it was some kind of animal I've never fucking seen, let's just get out of here before we see it again", as I'm speaking I turn of my flashlight, and yank Sam behind a rock in the room.

"What the.."

"shhh", I put a finger to Sam's mouth to shut him up and point to another corner of the room, where I saw movement. Whispering, I say, "look over there, do you see that?".

On the other side of the room, something is moving, crawling along the wall of the cave. As I point it out Sam's eyes widen.
"What the fuck is that, holy fucking shit Rylie, what the fuck is that"

"Shhhutup", I cover Sam's mouth with my hand, "that's what I was talking about, I don't know what it is, but it was able to smell me last time. I don't think it can see or hear that well, but we need to go now, and we need to be quiet", Sam doesn't say anything, but nods his head, and we start moving.

The creature on the wall hasn't noticed us yet, maybe we're masked by the smell of rot in here. We start to make our way back into the tunnel system. We're so close, I know where to go from here, we're not even that far. I'm leading the way, I feel Sam's hand on my back following me, and then I feel it slip off.

Sam falls again, crashing to the ground on top of a bile of bones. A cracking sound echoes throughout the cavern. I go to help Sam up, that thing must have heard us, but as I turn around, I see nothing on the wall, there's nothing following us. I'm not taking any chances, when I help Sam up I put my arm underneath his to support him.

"I thought you said you were fine"

"I thought I was too", he says, clearly wincing at the pain.

"The creature is gone, it's not following us, but it must have heard that, let's get out of here before it can do anything."

We continue pressing forward. As we're about to enter the tunnels again dread fills my gut as a high pitch screech surrounds me, echoing all around us, shaking my eardrums. I look around to see where it came from, and don't see anything until I notice Sam looking up.

Right above us crawling on the ceiling, spit dripping from its mouth the creature dangles, staring right in our direction.

My body shoots up, and my mind, and voice yell, "RUN".