Hello y'all. I just finished Until Dawn and I just wanted to put in my interpretation of what I think would happen after the seven teens came back from the mountain.

Going by the "Everyone Lives" ending with one major exception being Josh because whatdoyoumeanhegotturnedintoawendigohahanothatneverhappenedshutyourwhoremouth.

All characters belong to Until Dawn and Supermassive Games.

Seven different people in seven different positions. It just seemed to be how it was.

Sam, ever the loner, had ignored the line of clean plastic seats against the walls in favor of the kids table across the room. She sat on top of it, aloof, swinging her legs so it looked like she was still running. Blankets had been draped over her shoulders after she confessed that she had gone wading through frozen water in order to get out of the mines. Occasionally, she itched at the bandages that covered the burns on her face but she said nothing. She only stared at the opposite wall and shook her head, having a disagreement only she herself could rationalize.

Chris had taken the far end of the row, his now splinted leg resting on a repositioned chair so it could remove some of the burden. He stared intently at the tiles patterns on the waiting room floor, watching them cross and intersect with each other. All the humor that he tossed around so willingly had disappeared from his face, his mouth drooping uncharacteristically. He kept itching the back of his neck for some reason, one hand clamped firmly there while the other stroked Ashley's hair.

Ashley had wordlessly claimed two or three seats for herself and curled up with her head resting on Chris's lap. Yet, she refused to fall asleep. Whether it was resorting to sniffling or humming or tapping on the chair leg with her fingers, she was determined to keep herself awake. No one rebuked her, not now. Her face had long since been cleaned of the blood that had been there for most of the night, but that lingering shadow of a black eye still showed over her face in the dimly lit room. She was now humming a vaguely Disney sounding theme as Chris soothed her silently, her brown eyes wide and glassy.

Emily had refused a chair. She stood there, dressed in all black like the Grim Reaper herself, casting glance after glance from the corner of the room near the door. While her face had maintained it's permanent scowl she had grown famous for in high school, there was no anger behind it, no mockery. She merely looked defeated. The bite to the shoulder that had nearly cost her her life had been patched up and treated, but it no doubt still weighted heavily in the back of Em's mind. Her eyes went all around the room, gliding over everyone, but her gaze eventually went to the floor. They all did.

Matt had dragged his seat over to his girlfriend, loyal to the last. Emily, who given normal circumstance would probably had said something sarcastic, accepted his presence without a sound. He sat there almost protectively: arms and legs crossed, a look on his face like he thought someone would say something against it but of course no one did. His letter jacket was bunched up on his lap—it was as if he thought someone was going to snatch it out of his arms. The argument he put up about possibly giving up the damn thing, even though it was covered in blood with one arm halfway torn off, would have sent everyone into hysterics had it been a different situation.

Jessica had also refused a seat, but she instead took to the floor. She curled up into a ball with her knees to her chin and her arms wrapped tightly around them. Her hair that she had taken so much pride in growing out was so ratted and tangled that cutting it off would be a mercy at this point. Her long walk through the mines had left her both blue and bloodied; she had to get over one hundred stitches just to fix the wounds to her face alone. Jess was the only one speaking words, but it was all just babble. The only thing that would come out anymore were just the words "not me…not…me," in a hushed whisper as she rocked back and forth, clutching the blankets she had been given. No one knew what she was talking about.

Mike had taken the opposite end of the chairs with Jessica, his good hand resting on her head awkwardly. For as many women as he had been with, this was probably as unique an experience as you could ask for. His mangled hand was wrapped so thickly it could have been a boxing glove instead of a hospital bandage. Mike shivered in his old jacket that no one could figure out where he got it, glancing around and trying to catch other people eyes. So far, only he and Sam seemed to exchange silent words. What was said couldn't have been reassuring. His fingers twitched occasionally, the pointer finger still curled as if a shotgun was still in it's grasp.

The seven friends all sat there, lost in contemplation. Through the smoke and the snow came the bright lights and the cameras and the prodding voices. Seven hours of each and every single one of them getting pounded with a hailstorm of questions from investigators had left all of them feeling worse than before. Chris and Sam had both come out fuming, though both refused to say why. Jessica actually had to be carried out like a toddler—she had passed out during the interviews and no one had the heart to wake her up again. Matt came out looking ashen, much too shaken from his recounting of the events. Even Emily, for all of her poise and confidence, came out spitting profanities that would make frat boys feel unclean and refusing to look at the officers.

Murmurs trailed after the seven teens in the police station, hidden in plain sight. The words must've spread fast, of eight kids who went up to the mountains and nearly never came back. Or so they said. Desk ladies spoke in hushed words and sneaky smiles. The officers exchanged news with their files, their stolen glances not missed. No one believed their story. Of course not. And even though they were all together again, the weight of their loneliness, their isolation, was still so heavy.

After the police were through with them, they were admitted into a local hospital as far away from the mountain as the authorities could manage. Chris's leg had been severely sprained from his fall while outrunning the wendigos earlier in the night. Both Mike and Sam were turning pale, and hypothermia would've probably set in within the hour had they not been given real medical treatment. Jess came out last, her face and chest patched up, woozy from the anesthetic.

With what little power remained in their cell phones, they all called their parents and explained the situation as loosely as they could. "No wendigos," Sam had decided as she pulled out her phone. "You saw how the police reacted. What will our families think?"

"We can't just lie to them." Ashley had whimpered. "We can't just blame this all on a wild night gone wrong."

"We don't have a choice," Emily grunted in a manner that signaled a clear end to the conversation. Ash opened her mouth to say more but thought better of it and closed it again.

Sam's attempt at a story was the best one they could muster. That they had drunkenly gone out from the lodge and fell into the abandoned mines. That Mike had gotten his fingers crushed in a rock fall and had to amputate them. That Emily had been bitten by a feral wolf that the others had chased off. That Jess had slipped down a broken elevator, which wasn't exactly a lie. That Josh got separated and wandered off, scared and alone. That they looked and looked and looked but by dawn they still hadn't found him.

"Yeah…yeah the lodge exploded. No, I don't know how it happened. Maybe some vandals or something. We got back there but by then it had burst into flames and we didn't know what to do and then the helicopters showed up and they took us to the police station," Sam explained hurriedly, trying to stop the avalanche of questions her father was asking her. "No, no, we're all here. Well…except Josh. He got lost, Dad. No, he…we all got separated. Maybe he fell down a mine shaft, I don't know."

Ashely had burst into tears when she called her mother, and it sounded like it was just as bad on the other end of the line. Matt's parents, both of whom were doctors, kept the conversation much curter than the others. Jess, still in a state of shock, couldn't even talk, and so Mike had to repeat the process with his girlfriend's parents once he was done talking to his own.

And finally, only one call remained. They all stared guiltily at Sam's phone, no one making the first move.

"I'll call the Washingtons," Sam finally said.

"No," Chris spoke up suddenly, his voice hardening. "I'll call them."

"You sure, man?" Matt dropped his voice, glancing around, looking for support. "You're not going to be in for a good conversation."

Emily began to nod and Ash's mouth opened wordlessly but Chris cut them both off. "Josh and I have been friends the longest. If they…if they'd want to hear it from someone, they'd rather hear it from me."

Sam looked doubtful, eyes fliting back and forth and looking for any objections. When there were none, she sighed and handed the phone to Chris.

What followed was forty-five minutes of Chris speaking one word sentences as he miserably tried to tell the Washingtons what had happened. Even when he retreated to the nearly bathroom, they could all still hear Mrs. Washington's screams of agony and Mr. Washington's desperate demands of the truth. Ashley covered her ears with her beanie at one point, and even Mike turned away to block out the noise. Chris could barely get a word in edgewise after he told the whole story. Occasionally, he would respond to the people on the other line with a "yes" or a "err…maybe" or an "I don't know".

When he was done, he limped back into the room and settled down on the plastic seats near the front door, eyes downcast. Ashley joined him, lying down so her head was in his lap. The seven of them stayed like that for who really knew how long until someone came through the door.

The sheriff and her deputy entered, drawing the attention of all the teenagers in the room. She tapped her foot lightly. "Is there someone who would like to hear me out? I have information that concerns you."

Six pairs of eyes fell on Sam.

Exhaling, Sam pushed herself off the table and was ushered out the door by the sheriff. Outside of the waiting room, darkness was settling and snow was whipping past the large glass windows. She was just now feeling the exhaustion that she had been determinately shaking off for the last twenty-four hours. The lobby was thankfully deserted aside from the receptionist, and as the sheriff guided Sam to a vacant couch, the deputy strolled over to speak with him.

"I understand it's been a long day," the sheriff began awkwardly, like she was trying to apologize. Sam kept her face expressionless.

The sheriff returned her gaze to one of the folders she held. "You American kids came a long way up here and unfortunately, there isn't any way we can get you home in the next twenty-four hours. I assume you've all called your parents?"

Sam nodded.

"Good. Well, the best option we have is to put you up in a hotel for the next night or two until either your parents come to get you or you all can get a flight home," the sheriff offered.

Sam hesitated. "We don't have enough money for a hotel."

"We already figured. We can cover the expenses for a night or two." That was the deputy, strolling over from the front desk. Sam attempted to look behind him and saw the receptionist gathering his things and retreating into the back office. "We already looked it up. There's a place the next county over, if you're okay with that. They have a two-bedroom suite for pretty cheap. You can roll in some cots and then all get some rest."

At this point, with the police showing more kindness than she could ever dream of, Sam couldn't find it in her to argue with that kind of deal. "That would be great," she confessed. "That would actually be really, really nice."

"So that's settled," the sheriff nodded, gathering her files and standing up again. "Why don't you gather your friends, Sam, and meet us outside. It'll be a bit of a drive but you should get there before ten-ish if we don't hit a lot of traffic."

With Sam's nod, the two cops headed for the door. Sam pushed herself up and headed back to the waiting room. Pulling the door open showed that her friends were in more or less the same position they'd been in when she'd left. Mike was whispering something softly to Jess but gently pulled her up and headed for Sam when she walked in. The others came over more slowly, Ashley supporting Chris and Emily and Matt staying closer than Sam had seen them in a long time.

"Well?" Mike quietly asked, his arm still around Jessica, who shivered in the crook of his elbow. "What's the plan?"

While Sam explained the situation, Emily raised an eyebrow, skepticism plain on her face. "How far is it? The sooner we're out of this damn hospital, the fucking better."

"The deputy said it was the next county over, and they said we'd be there by ten unless we hit traffic."

Matt and Chris were the first two that agreed, eagerly nodding at the thought of a warm night in bed. Mike and Ashley nodded as well, and Emily gave her consent too. "I'm too tired to argue anymore," she confessed, her voice sagging. "I just want to put this whole thing behind us."

Mike hugged Jessica tighter, as if fearful of losing her again. "We should go." He sighed.

Sam led the way out of the hospital where two police cruisers were waiting for them through the blizzard. Sam, Mike, and Jess climbed into the sheriff's car while Emily, Matt, Chris, and Ashely rode with the deputy. Off they went, Sam in the passenger seat while Mike and Jess huddled together in the back. Even though the heat was blasting, Jess was still visibly shivering, and Mike offered her a share of his torn army jacket to help keep her warm. Truth be told, Sam was still a little freezing herself but for entirely different reasons. All the snow, the limited vision of the headlights, the feelings of darkness pressing on her every side, it was unsettling Sam more than she cared to admit. Sam hugged her arms close, trying to avoid looking out the window.

"What did you tell the folks?" the sheriff asked, snapping Sam out of her trance. She stayed silent, however, an odd mixture of fear and bitterness churning in her stomach. To her relief, Mike answered for her.

"That we got drunk and fell down a mineshaft," he spoke sourly. "That a night that nearly got all of us killed and made us lose one of our friends was just really a drunken night of partying gone wrong and we were just being stupid, because you don't believe us."

"And I still don't." the sheriff agreed matter-of-factly, her fingers drumming on the steering wheel. "Roger and I think all this stuff about wendigos and curses and men with flamethrowers is bullshit, I won't lie to you. But the doctors told us when they went to check up on your friend Emily that those bites she received couldn't have been from any animals in this region of Alberta. And there was no sign of alcohol or drugs in your systems, not in the past twenty-four hours. You'll be pleased to know that we are sending a small squadron up to the mountains as soon as we can to investigate the mines and look for Josh. Hopefully we can find him before he gets too deep into the structure."

And how long will that take?" Sam nearly jumped out of her seat.

"Depends." The sheriff mused as she took a sharp left off the main road. "Could be a few days, a week at the latest. If there are mines down there, they haven't been heard from in the last fifty years at least. We don't know how far they go."

Sam pressed herself against the seat, feeling disheartened. A large part of her wished she had stayed back at the lodge, just to see if she could look for Josh. Another part of her knew it was completely hopeless, too. After the explosion…well, she couldn't really remember much. There was a lot of smoke, and a lot of heat. Her back was scorched from the blast that sent her flying twenty feet into the front yard. She remembered Mike pulling her away from a rogue fireball that was spinning through the air, a look of panic on his face that she couldn't comprehend. But by the time the thought of Josh had crossed Sam's mind she was already miles away, riding in the back of a helicopter with Chris and Ashely pressed on either side of her and a woman already asking questions. The smoke from the lodge was trailing behind them, the wisps of dark gray almost reaching out for the copter blades like it wanted to grab them and pull them back.

"Does that mean you believe us?" she pressed on, trying to stifle the guilt that was screeching in her stomach.

The sheriff thought for a moment. "I don't believe in all this wendigo talk you kids are set on," she chose her words slowly and methodically, "but I do think there's more to that mountain then meets the eye."

Mike and Sam exchanged a glance but said nothing. Sam hunched herself further over in her seat and stayed silent for the remainder of the trip. For a while, the only things in the car was the rattling of the heater, the occasional rhythmic pulse of the turn signal, and Jess's deep shuddering breaths. The sounds together weighed on Sam, who found herself beginning to feel her eyes droop.

They rolled into the hotel just before ten, and the snow was starting to let up as they walked into the main lobby. As the sheriff headed for the front desk, Sam and Mike practically carried Jessica to a nearby couch, where she promptly collapsed. A brief flash of discontent flashed through her as Mike settled himself at his girlfriend's side. Sam envied Jessica and her ability to sleep off whatever was troubling her. Sam sat on the coffee table across from them, one eye on the sheriff and the receptionist and another on the door.

When Ashley, Chris, Matt, and Emily came in with the deputy, Sam had to put her finger to her mouth to stop Ashley and Matt from shouting their arrival. Chris was helped into a seat with Ashley sitting on one of the arms, Emily and Matt standing on either side of them. They all watched Jessica sleep, a blissful look on her face.

"She deserves it," Matt whispered. "If I'd dealt with half of the shit she'd been through, I'd never wanna wake up either."

"Do you think she'll sleep alright tonight?" that was Ashley, thankfully keeping her voice down.

Chris patted her shoulder in a comforting manner. "She'll be fine," he reassured her. "Look Ash, it's Jess. She could sleep through the fucking apocalypse if she wanted to."

They all managed at least a snort of amusement at that. Chris pulled a smile, clearly savoring the fact that he was still the resident joker. Emily pulled a face, annoyance passing over her features like a storm cloud. But whatever comment she was going to make, she had the sense to swallow down.

It wasn't a long wait before the sheriff and her deputy came back to the teens, keycards in hand. "We paid for two nights," she told Sam as she handed her the cards. "Y'all are staying in room 407, and there's a free breakfast and a coffee shop down the road if you all need something to eat. If you need us, I wrote down my cell. Don't hesitate to call."

The kids gave their bleary thanks and stumbled together to the elevator. Chris, Jess and to a lesser degree Matt all needed to be supported by the others while Sam lead the way down the halls. Room 407 was somewhere halfway down the hall next to a window, where the dark silhouettes of the mountains was imprinted on the black sky.

It took Sam three tries and a few cusses to get the key card in the lock so the door would open, but she got it eventually. Opening the door revealed a two room suite; a TV and sofa at one end and two queen sized beds at the other. A cot had been rolled in for them, extra blankets and towels mercifully piled on top of it. It was warmly lit, with lights so bright that the blackness of the storms outside faded into the background. There was a loud hum to the refrigerator, or maybe the heater, that blocked out the sounds of outside. The sounds of howling winds and swaying branches. The sounds of the mountain.

Without uttering a word, Sam claimed the couch and collapsed on top of it. The blanket the hospital had given her was still draped over her shoulders, and she tugged the corners under her until it completely incased her. Emily threw her jacket onto one of the beds and grabbed a towel to make for the showers, and Mike helped Jess get into the other bed because it was obvious she was on her last legs. Matt closed the blinds to the window. One by one, people claimed the blankets and towels until the cot was cleared, and after ten minutes of arguing, Chris let Ashely sleep on top of it while he set up a makeshift bed of quilts and towels besides her.

It took two hours for all of them to shower. One by one, they all marched into the bathroom and back out again. One by one, they climbed into bed, clothes and all. By midnight, they were all asleep, calmly listening to the lullaby of the refrigerator.

They kept the light on that night. No point in turning it off anymore.

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