Broken Together // J. Washington

Karma

"Em, what is all that?" Sam asks, as she looks over at the stuff in Emily's hands. It looks like a book of some sort, and looks very old and delicate.

"It's that old guy's bag." Emily replies, and continues to search through the bag. Which just so happened to have a map of the entire mountain, mines, and lodge on it.

"Is that a map?" Mike says, anxiously wanting to get his hands on it. He would obviously need it to find his way down the mountain.

"This guys is prepared for anything and everything!" Sam says, helping Emily out with the stuff. Sam starts to pull out the map and look at it. At the very tip top was a sanatorium.

"Wait, what is that?" Sam asks, and Mike immediately answers. Like he's been there before.

"I've been there, it's horrible." Mike says, looking down at the map again. He'd clearly been through hell down there.

"You were?" Sam asks him, looking back at him. His face looked pale, he was covered in dirt and snow and other things. He looked like he wanted to get a shower. Mike nodded and Sam looked as shocked as ever.

"There had been a cave-in in the fifties and I guess these miners got trapped down there. Some of them survived but like...fifteen of them didn't make it. There was even this reporter and I think he figured out there had been some big cover up going on. I found these plans, and they knew the mines were a death trap, but they let the miners keep working anyway. And...I found this chair with dried blood all over the place...like somebody had been tortured." Mike explains. I was actually very intrigued about the whole thing. Who would actually let people work in dangerous conditions like that?

"Can we get back to how we're going to get the fuck out of here please?" Emily says, trying to get everyone back on track.

"He just saying how much weird shit has gone on up here. It's actually pretty interesting too." I say, standing up for Mike. Which, honestly, I never thought I'd have to do.

"What's weird is that there is a tunnel leading from the lodge to the sanatorium, see?" She points to the lines showing tunnels.

"That's how I got back here." Mike says, which totally makes perfect sense. Although, he must have been walking for like an hour since it's like nearly four miles down the mountain.

"Okay...well I'll be back soon. Just...stay here please." Mike says, as he goes for the exit. Off he goes. The plan was for him to go back to the sanatorium and get to the cable car that way, instead of going back upstairs and getting right in the tracks of the Wendigo if it was still up there.

"Well, you heard the man. We're staying put." I say, and walk towards Josh. He gives me a quick hug before we sat together on the bookshelves. I was anxiously waiting for Mike's return. Or if he returns at all...

Ashley and I continued to pass the time by looking through the flamethrower guy's stuff. A lot of it was actually pretty interesting. It talked a lot about the Wendigos and what they can do to people and things. But, what I found next had me shaking to my core.

"Oh no..." Ashley mumbles scarcely, not letting go of her tight grasp on the book she was currently hold in on to.

"What? What is it? What does is say?" Sam gets up and begins to head towards Ash and I. I look at Ashley but she doesn't seem to spit it out. I grab the book from her hands and read what she must have read.

"Oh..." It had hit me like a truck, "If you get bitten by a Wendigo, it doesn't turn you into one. It doesn't do anything...it's not infectious." Everyone in the room looked at me. I look over at Sam and she takes the book out of my hands instantly.

"Shit..." Sam says under her breath, breathing heavily and pacing around the room. I knew that if Mike got bit, he might just kill himself to stop himself from turning. But Mike also didn't know that a bite wasn't infectious. Someone had to tell him that before he did something stupid.

"We've gotta get to Mike." Sam says, looking for the exit that Mike had just went through not fifteen minuets ago.

Sam sat the book on the table and everyone seemed to follow her. Except Josh and I. They all stop as I speak.

"I can't leave here, okay? I'm not risking my baby, I have to stay here. Just...just come back safe. Please." I say, hugging Sam. I was hoping that it wouldn't be the last time I'd see her. I knew that here was a chance she wouldn't make it. Along with Ashley and Chris. At least they'd be in a group and not get separated.

"Are you sure you want to stay?" Josh asks me, I can tell he's concerned about the baby. I also can see that he's concerned about our safety. If we do stay in one place for too long, it could be the end for the both of us. Instead, we just sit in the basement and find something to pass the time with. And let me tell you, we did.

"So, should we think about baby names?" Josh asks me, still holding my hand. I smile, and think of what the gender might be. I had always hoped to have a daughter to dress up and do hair with. Some things I just wanted to do.

"We can. But you know that I'm one step ahead of you, right?" I say, and giggle as I do. The minuets after the test had read positive, I had thought i all of those things.

"If its a boy...Jude. I've always like that name, and of course The Beatles song." I laugh, as they were and always will be my favorite band. It's such a shame they ever split up. Their music was truly legendary.

"You just want to name him that so you can yell 'HEY JUDE' at the kid!" Josh defends, but we end up laughing about the truth of it. It would be quite fun to yell that at the top of my lungs. What would the neighbors think?

"And if it's a girl?" I ask him, and he looks down at his hands. I'm not sure what he's thinking about, but his whole demeanor changed the second I had said that.

"Bethany or maybe Hayden." He says, looking deep into my eyes. It was like I could feel his heartache for his sisters. It'd be an honor to name them after someone who was so prominent in our lives.

"I love it. And I love you." I speak softly as Josh leans in. I lean in, feeling his hand hold my head to pull my face closer to his. When our lips finally touch, the feeling of support and pure lust surges through my entire body. Leaving me wanting more.

"I love you too." He says, leaving the kiss to catch a breath of air. I laughed at him and he kissed me again. If this is what peace feels like, I don't think I ever want to give that up.