The Corruption

Chapter 4 - Seperation

Liam shouted at the top of his lungs, "Nate! Derek!! Where the hell are you Nate?" he kept running into what seemed an endless maze that did not allow silence, noises came from all around him, bangs, screeches, scratches, pounding, thumping, but what was making those noises could have been much more terrifying. Liam felt as if his heart was about to pound out of his chest and run away. He kept running, and though he had no destination anymore he just kept going. He didn't know what made him keep running, maybe fear or the will to survive, or the same thing that urged Derek to shoot that corrupted man. Suddenly he heard a voice familiar to Nate's, "LIAM! Liaaam!! Guys!! Where are you guys? GUYS!" Nate was close by but he was not going the right directions as it sounded like he was going farther and farther away. Liam followed Nate's voice and hoped he would keep shouting even though that could attract more corrupted, but in a situation like this it was all he could do. Liam turned right, then left, then left, then right, and suddenly came to a dead end. He remembered Nate bashing through the door and tried to use all his strength to bash through this wall. It was solid brick, but he didn't care. He bashed it once, it budged a bit. Again, it started rumbling. A third time, bricks were sliding out, and a fourth the wall was broken in half. Liam kept running and suddenly saw Nate in front of him, shining his camera's flashlight. "NATE! OVER HERE!" Nate turned around and ran to Liam, and they both hugged each other until Liam quickly said, "Shit, where's my crafting bag?" "Who fuckin' cares about that right now, we've got to find Derek!" "Fuck.. and Kaleigh, alright, which way?" "Follow me, I think I saw him at the ladder."

Derek was sitting down, resting on his knees, looking at his khakri knife. He spun it on his thumb, getting lost in deep thought. He looked over at Kaleigh, who was starting to wake up, resting on the raft. She shook her head and her eyes bulged open, and she slowly sat up. "It's about time." Derek smirked and quickly stopped spinning his knife, sharpening the edge of it on the raft. "You know I can't risk losing more members." "Sure, and I can't risk getting shot, but here I am." Derek stood up and chuckled, "You know you should be thanking me. I could've left you at Blackwell." Kaleigh scoffed and stood up as well, walking over to him. "We both know you don't have that in you." "Mhm, going to pretend I didn't hear that. Anyway, you still haven't even questioned where we are, or why you're not dead." "Probably because I've been in worse places.. worse situations, and because you're my shining knight in armor. More like an idiot in tin foil, but I'll use what I can get," she reached for her utility belt and took her pistol, aiming it into the darkness and imagining herself back at the shooting range in Blackwell. "So where are dumb and dumber?" she squinted as she aimed and scanned the ocean. ".. About that," Derek whispered.

"What?! Why didn't you say so? Well come on we've got to find them!" she dashed off the raft but Derek quickly grabbed her arm and spoke, "They're too far. There's a thousand miles of darkness and who knows where in it they could be. I can't risk it." "You can't risk a lot of things you know. They could be dead, we-" he pulled her in close and looked down at her. "We'll find them, or maybe they'll find us. They are able to handle a situation like this." Kaleigh pushed him away but nodded. "Alright, then what's your plan mister?" "My plan? Aren't you the smart one here?" "Oh I don't know, maybe you expected me to wake up and have us a map laid out already?" "Just, help me think of something." Derek went back over to the raft and took a seat, staring into the darkness, wondering if something or someone was looking back at him. Kaleigh wondered the same thing, only since she's a sniper she was wondering if someone could end her life right then and there. Suddenly they both started talking at the same time, "Well-" "Let's-" they both smiled and laughed, until Kaleigh said, "Go ahead." "Let's not waste our time here. I think we should just explore and hope that we find the two on our way to Blackwell." Kaleigh raised a brow, "That's exactly what I was going to say." They both got up, Derek grabbed his khakri knife and Kaleigh holstered her pistol, and they both started walking in the direction of the ladder, holding hands.