A major problem when trying to navigate a mine was that everything almost looked exactly the same. Mike was beginning to feel like he was going in circles as he and Sam frantically searched for the rest of the group. He did know the mine better then most people but the longer it was taking for him and Sam to find the others, the more anxious he got and it was making it harder for him to think straight. If the others still thought Mike was hanging from a cliff with Rebecca, they shouldn't have gone too far in their search for something to help them climb up. So where the heck could they have gone? Adding to Mike's nerves was the fact that among the others was Norton who was in the process of transforming into a wendigo. Based on what Mike saw just before Norton bit Rebecca's arm, there were a few things that might alert the others to what was happening but he couldn't rely on that. He either had to find the others before Norton did or he had to find Norton first and take him out.
"Would you slow down a second Mike?" Sam called from behind him, "I realize we need to find the others but we're not going to if we keep stumbling around like this."
"We can't afford to slow down Sam," Mike replied without turning to face her, "Norton's already got too much of a head start."
Sam sighed, "I can't believe I'm about to say this. Mike we may be in a hurry but we need to be smart too."
That got Mike to stop, "wait, wasn't that what I said when we were debating about crossing through the water to the wendigo den? Are you using my lines now?"
"Don't look too much into it. I was just hoping that using one of your smart lines might get you to start thinking like that again."
"What do you mean?"
"When we first got here, you insisted on us taking things slowly and delicately. I may not have liked doing it that way but I will admit that it was the smart way. Now all of the sudden you're in favor of running into a situation blindly and not thinking things through."
This time it was Mike's turn to sigh, "so you'd rather we stand here thinking while Norton is probably eating the rest of the group at this very moment? Sorry Sam but I am not going to let anyone else die today. Let's go."
"(CHUCKLE)"
Sam's sudden chuckle surprised Mike. At the same time it made him nervous. Lately the only things that amused Sam were tense or dark situations which Mike didn't think were funny at all. So whatever Sam was currently laughing at was likely going to again be something that Mike didn't find funny. Unfortunately Mike must have been a glutton for punishment because his curiosity made him ask Sam why she was laughing.
"I just find it funny how you apparently haven't changed at all," Sam replied while still chuckling.
"What are you talking about?" Mike asked slightly frustrated with Sam for not getting to the point quickly.
"I thought that you would have learned after what happened three weeks ago that rushing into situations blindly and making hasty decisions was not the best way to go. Don't you remember a certain hasty decision you made when we were in the lodge's basement?"
Mike's face turned red with anger, "Sam…"
"If you want I can remind you what happened."
"SAM! I'm warning you, don't push me!"
At that point Mike was ready to snap at Sam the minute she decided to ignore his warning and continue her thought. To his surprise, she didn't. Instead Sam did something Mike didn't expect. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Mike locked eyes with Sam's and for a moment he thought he saw genuine concern in them.
"Look Mike," Sam said, "believe it or not, I understand what's going through your mind right now. All I'm saying is that you can't let those thoughts affect your judgement. If we're going to find the others quickly, we need to put what happened to our friends, Rebecca and the other rescue workers out of our minds and think rationally. Now I'm not exactly qualified to do that so it's up to you. Just take a breath and try to guess where the others might have gone."
Mike cursed to himself as he sat down. Sam may not have been initially delicate when she was making her point but she made it nonetheless. What he was currently doing was exactly what contributed to Chris, Emily and Ashley's deaths, maybe killed Josh and nearly killed Jessica. He was trying to change how he handled life-or-death situations but he was slipping back into his old hasty ways. Taking Sam's advice, he took a breath and started thinking.
The group was still under the impression that Mike and Rebecca were hanging on the cliff. That meant they would be looking for anything that could be used to rescue them. They wouldn't know exactly where to look and have to stumble around looking until they found something. That's when the idea came to Mike. The group wouldn't know where to look but Mike did because he knew the mine's layout and had a good idea where things would be located. He searched his memory of the different maps he had seen of the mine's layout. Suddenly his eyes lit up.
"I've got it," he said springing to his feet, "it will require a little backtracking but there was a path that leads to some elevators that go up to the surface. That area was also where the miners would clock in to begin their shifts. Some of their supplies could still be there. It would be a good place for the others to look for a rope."
"That actually sounds like a good idea," Sam said with another chuckle, "now you're sounding like the Mike that I got into this situation with."
The way Sam phrased her last statement confused Mike, "is that a good or bad thing?"
Sam's creepy smile returned, "I don't know. I guess it depends on if we get out of this situation alive or not. Then again, the uncertainty just makes it more fun. So what do you say Rambo, ready to go rescue the others?"
While Sam began walking away, Mike stood where he was feeling dumbfounded. For a brief moment, it looked like the old Sam was trying to emerge. Maybe she was even trying to give a clue as to what was going on with her. Mike wondered what she meant when she said that she understood what was going through his mind. Unfortunately he didn't have time to figure it out as once again the old Sam vanished as quickly as she emerged and the possibly crazy Sam returned. Still the concern Sam seemed to feel for Mike was the most amount of emotion she had shown in three weeks. Maybe there was still a chance for her after all. Mike proceeded to follow Sam while promising to himself that he would get the old Sam back somehow.
As the duo made their way to the elevator shaft, Mike started thinking about something else. Assuming the elevator still worked, it would indeed take them back up to the surface. Back when the mine was operational, the shaft was used by the miners to send up the resources they mined to be processed. The elevators would allow him to get the rest of the group out of the mine. He was still appreciative of the others for volunteering to help him and Sam find Josh but Rebecca's death was causing him to think bringing them along was a mistake. He decided then and there that he was going to make the others take the elevator out of the mine whether they wanted to or not.
"What are you doing Powell?"
A voice up ahead caused Mike and Sam to freeze. They both recognized the voice as Blake's. Their first thought was that it could be another trap but that seemed unlikely. The previous times Hannah had disguised her voice as part of a trap, she always mimicked someone in distress. Even though Blake wasn't sounding like she was in life-threatening trouble, the tone of her voice indicated that something was wrong and Powell was somehow the cause of it. After agreeing that it wasn't a trap they were walking into, Mike and Sam continued moving while trying to listen to what was going on.
Powell was the next one to speak, "Blake this elevator shaft still has power. I think we can use it to get out of here."
"Powell we need to find something to help Michael and Rebecca. They can't hang on the side of that cliff forever."
"They're likely dead already Blake. I told you all that searching for the Washington kid was a bad idea. We should have just made Michael get us out of here when we had a chance. Maybe Rebecca would still be alive if we had."
By that point, Mike and Sam now had a visual on Blake and Powell but were still hidden from their view. They also saw that Tyler was with them too. Mike breathed a sigh of relief since this confirmed that he was right about Tyler making it off the bridge before it collapsed. He was about to call out to the trio but was shushed by Sam. She tapped her ear to indicate that she wanted to listen to the conversation a little longer. Though Mike had a feeling that it was a bad idea, he nodded and joined Sam behind some cover.
"Rebecca knew what she was getting into when she decided to stay Detective," Tyler said joining the conversation, "as did the rest of us."
"That doesn't matter," Powell replied, "as an officer of the law, it's my job is to keep other people safe and letting you all stay down here was not in line with my job. With Michael dead, Blake and I are taking back leadership of this group and we are leaving."
Normally Mike would be mad at Powell for assuming that he had died but he was currently finding himself happy with what Powell was saying. Powell was giving Mike a way out of having to be the bad guy and turning down the others' help. If Powell got the others out of the mine then Mike and Sam could just focus on looking for Josh. Mike silently pleaded that no one would try to challenge Powell again.
"Powell…," Blake started to say.
"This isn't up for discussion Blake. Let's go get Richter, Norton and Alice and get out of this hellhole."
"What about Sam?" asked Tyler.
"What about that bitch?"
If it wasn't for the fact that Blake had gasped in shock, Mike's own gasp would have been heard by the others. Listening to the conversation up to that point had proven to actually be beneficial but now Mike remembered why he originally thought that it was a bad idea. He looked at Sam to see how she'd react. He was expecting to see a similar reaction to when they were listening to rescue workers outside talking about Josh. To his surprise, Sam was actually looking amused by the conversation. Before Mike could ask Sam what she was thinking, Blake spoke again.
"Powell you are not suggesting that we leave her?"
"Well you can't be suggesting that we bring her with us. Do you realize what will happen if we tell her that we're not going to help look for her boyfriend anymore? Without Michael to keep her under control she will kill us one by one unless we agree to help. We all know she's insane enough to do it."
"Am I?"
Apparently having decided she had heard enough, Sam made her and Mike's location known to the trio by speaking. She stepped out from her hiding place and moved towards them. As she did, she also pulled out the flare gun but kept it hidden behind her back. The trio didn't notice Sam drawing the flare gun but it didn't escape Mike's attention.
When he saw the flare gun, Mike wanted to say something to stop Sam but didn't. There was no doubt that the trio figured out Sam was listening to their conversation. The only reason they hadn't drawn their weapons yet was probably because they were surprised to see Mike with her. If Mike alerted them to what Sam was doing, they might snap out of it and shoot her. He subtly rolled his eyes when he realized he was going to have to take Sam's advice again. Instead of making a hasty decision, he was going to wait, see what happened next and then make a decision on how to handle the situation.
Nothing much happened after Sam first revealed herself to the trio. She just continued to approach them while they remained frozen with indecision. Mike was a few steps behind Sam but didn't dare get too close. He also was trying hard to keep himself from looking at the flare gun behind Sam's back and risk alerting the others. Though he couldn't see Sam's face, Mike noticed that she was using her free hand to rub her chin like she was intensely thinking. Given her mental state, Mike wasn't sure he wanted to know what she was thinking about. He found out anyway when Sam finally spoke again.
"Am I really insane enough to kill you all if you didn't want to help me find Josh? Hmm….I don't know. I suppose it is possible."
As she said her last statement, Sam brought the flare gun out from behind her back and held at her side. The site of the gun made the other's flinch. Powell looked like he was ready to draw his gun but was stopped when Blake shook her head. She then held up her hands slowly and stepped forward.
"Sam," she said, "take it easy. Detective Powell didn't mean…."
"I guess we'll never know though," Sam interrupted, "seeing as how Mike is still here to keep me 'under control'. Right, Mike?"
Sam had then turned to face Mike and held out the flare gun like she wanted him to take it. All eyes were now on Mike. Initially Mike didn't understand what had just happened. Was Sam just putting on a show or was she really trying to warn the others not to mess with her if he wasn't around? Of course nothing Sam had been doing lately made sense. With no time for Mike to figure out the reason for Sam's actions, he could only focus on figuring out a response that would help defuse the situation. He reached out his hand but instead of taking the flare gun, he pushed it and Sam's hand away.
"Keep it Sam," he said, "as far as I'm concerned, you don't need to be kept under control."
The others were surprised by what Mike said. Sam on the other hand seemed amused and smiled as she holstered the flare gun. As for Mike, he was just silently hoping that he had made the right decision. Once the other's snapped out of the shock of Mike's decision, Powell looked like he was ready to protest against it. Mike cut him off by raising his hand and threw Powell a mean look. In a stern tone, Mike gave a warning of his own.
"And NO ONE is going to leave her behind. Got it?"
Mike knew the warning was necessary but he knew that was not going to be well received by everyone. Powell was looking like he was ready to charge again. Whether he was going to charge Sam or Mike, no one would know because Blake managed to get in front of him. While she tried to calm Powell down, Tyler seemed to realize that something else was amiss.
"Michael," he said, "where's Rebecca?"
Mike bowed his head, "she's dead."
The news of Rebecca's death caused Powell to calm down as he and Blake shared a sad look with each other.
"Was it that monster?" Tyler asked tensely.
"Yes…and no."
"What do you mean?" Blake asked.
"We don't have time for me to explain it. Where's Alice and Richter?"
"They're a little ways ahead," Blake replied, "we were just about to go get them and Norton when…"
"Norton's with them?!" Mike interrupted, "come on, we need to find them fast!"
"Why?" Powell asked, "what's going on?"
"AAAAAAHH!"
The conversation was interrupted by a scream coming from up ahead. Mike instantly recognized the voice belonged to Alice. Normally he would have taken a moment to question if it was really her screaming but it seemed unlikely to be anyone else. He had last left Hannah at the cliff which was in the opposite direction and there was no way Norton would have been able to reach the point in his transformation that he could start mimicking voices. While everyone else was still processing what they had heard, Mike took off in the direction the scream came from. As he ran, he pulled out his shotgun and checked to make sure it was loaded. The sound of footsteps behind him indicated that the others were following right behind him.
"AAAAAAHH!"
Another scream from Alice was heard and Mike was reaching the peak of his running speed. He kept repeating to himself that he hoped Alice and Richter would still be alright when he found them. He couldn't lose another person. Not just after losing Rebecca. He had promised Alice that he would do whatever he could to ensure she didn't regret staying to help find Josh and he intended to keep it. After what felt like several minutes, Mike and the others had finally reached Alice's location. Mike raised his shotgun and was about to fire when he froze.
In one corner, Richter was lying on the ground unconscious. The rock he was lying on suggested that he must have fallen and hit his head. There didn't appear to be any blood around his head so it wasn't cut open. With no other visible injuries, Mike figured Richter would wake up with a nasty bump and a headache but otherwise he would be fine.
The real problem though was in the other corner. Alice was pinned down by the partially transformed Norton who was trying to take bites out of her. Noticing Mike out of the corner of her eye, Alice pleaded for him to get Norton off of her. Mike's finger wanted to pull the trigger and put Norton down but he knew that the shot would kill Alice too. Sam seemed to realize what Mike was thinking and started to aim her flare gun. Before she could fire it, Mike pushed her arms down. The likelihood that Sam could miss and hit Alice made the flare gun too risky. Mike was about to think of another plan when he was distracted by the sound of Alice sobbing. When he looked at her tear filled face, he froze again.
Before Mike's eyes, Alice's face seemed to change so that he was now looking at a sobbing Ashley. It made him think back to when he found her sobbing by the lodge's back door and seeing Chris' severed head on the other side. The flashback brought back the two emotions Mike felt in that moment. First was the shock of seeing Chris' head. The second, and probably the one that stuck with him the most, was the heartache of seeing Ashley on her knees weeping for the boy she loved.
"No," Mike thought to himself as he snapped himself back to the present, "don't think about that now Mike. Alice needs your help."
When Mike recovered, he figured that there was only one way to help Alice. It was an insane idea and Mike silently wished there could have been another option. He took one last deep breath, holstered his shotgun and charged. Like a rusher in a football game, Mike tackled Norton knocking him off of Alice and onto the ground. While Mike tried to keep Norton pinned down, Alice used the opportunity to get away and join the others who were watching in shock at what Mike was doing. Even Mike couldn't believe that he had found himself wrestling with a wendigo.
Norton was smaller than Mike when it came to mass but he was somehow making it hard for Mike to keep him pinned down. Mike figured that even though Norton may not have been fully transformed, he now had enough wendigo strength to put up a fight. The real difficulty with keeping Norton pinned down was that Norton was constantly trying to bite Mike's face, forcing him to loosen his hold in to order to back away. During one moment where Mike was not putting as much pressure on Norton, he managed to reverse the situation so that it was now Mike being pinned down. In a desperate move, Mike poked Norton's eyes causing Norton to scream in pain. The brief distraction was enough to allow Mike to follow up with a punch that knocked Norton right off of him. Mike quickly got to his feet and tried to pull out his shotgun. He managed to get it off his shoulder but before he could aim it, Norton smacked the gun out of his hands.
"Grrrhh," Mike groaned.
The blow to Mike's hands hurt more than he expected. A quick glance at his right hand revealed why. On the back of it were fresh scratches. Mike didn't remember Norton having long fingernails so he figured that Norton was starting to get wendigo claws. Now without a weapon to defend himself, Mike carefully tried to back away from Norton. Unfortunately he didn't get far as he tripped over the unconscious Richter and fell to the ground. He tried to get back up but it was no use. Norton was now hunched down and screeched as he prepared to pounce on Mike.
"Aarrrgghhh!"
Before Norton could attack, Powell and Tyler had appeared and tackled him. Being slightly bigger than both Mike and Norton and having a two to one advantage, the pair had an easier time keeping Norton pinned down. Every time Norton tried to make a move to knock one of the men off, the other would be there to stop him. After the initial shock of seeing Powell and Tyler save his life, Mike got to his feet, picked up his shotgun and aimed it in Norton's direction. He shouted for the men to get out of the way. They both nodded to indicate they understood Before moving, they simultaneously threw a hard punch to Norton's head. If any normal person had found themselves struck by the combined blow of the men's punches, they would have been knocked out cold, if not killed outright. In Norton's case, it stunned him long enough for the men to move away. Before Norton could recover, Mike moved in closer. He put the gun right up by Norton's head and turned away as he pulled the trigger. Blood exploded everywhere with several drops hitting Mike. While he didn't want to see the result of the shot, he had to be sure it did the job. He opened his eyes and slowly looked towards the ground. Based on the mess that he saw, there was no doubt about it. Norton was dead.
The reactions from the others over what happened varied. Alice was so disgusted that she began to throw up. Blake was mildly distraught but she shook it off and started tending to Alice. Tyler and Powell had just gotten back on their feet and were panting heavily due to their struggle with Norton. When they saw the mess, they were both mildly disgusted as well but quickly became more concerned with cleaning off as much of the blood that had splattered on them as possible. Only Sam didn't seem negatively impacted by the aftermath of the struggle though Mike was at least grateful she just seemed indifferent rather than amused. It was then Mike saw she still had her flare gun out. Looking down at Norton's body, a grim but necessary thought came to him.
"We should probably play it safe Sam," he said while pointing at the flare gun.
Sam nodded to indicate she understood. She approached Norton's body, aimed the flare gun and fired. It didn't take long for the flare to set Norton completely ablaze. Thankfully Norton didn't briefly come back to life and scream as the fire consumed him. The sight was sad and disturbing enough without that being added to the mix.
"(GROAN)"
Everyone looked towards the source of the new sound they heard to see that Richter was slowly beginning to regain consciousness. Mike was the first one by his side with the others right behind him. He was about to examine the bump on Richter's head when Richter suddenly became wide awake and jumped to his feet. Richter then raised his arms like he was ready to for a fight and began to look around for something.
"Alice!" he shouted. "Where are you?!"
"It's okay Richter," Alice said as she carefully took Richter's hand. "I'm right here. We're safe now."
Hearing Alice's voice seemed to calm Richter down, "Norton, did he hurt you?"
"No, I'm fine. Mike and the others found us before he could. Though I would have already been dead at that point if you hadn't pushed me out of the way when Norton tried to bite me the first time. Thank you."
To further show her appreciation, Alice hugged Richter. The hug initially surprised Richter but he soon smiled and hugged Alice back.
"You're welcome kid," he said when the hug broke, "and thank you everyone for saving both of us."
"I just can't believe Norton would attack us," said Alice.
"He attacked you because he was tuning into a wendigo," Mike said causing everyone except Sam to look at him confused.
"What?" said Blake. "But how?"
Mike turned to face Tyler, "Tyler, was it Norton who told you that your wife was killed?"
"Y…yes it was," Tyler replied, "we got separated during one of the monster's attacks and she ended up with him. When we found Norton again, he said that the monster had killed Mo."
"Well he was right about that but there was something he didn't tell you. When Sam and I found Maureen's body, I noticed a bite on her arm that was not made by a wendigo. I now believe that Norton was the one who bit her. From there it was only a matter of time before the transformation began. He came back to check on Rebecca and me when we were hanging on the cliff. When Rebecca asked for him to pull her up, that was when he started to turn and he bit her arm causing her to fall. She survived the fall but Hannah climbed down after her and…well you can probably guess what happened next."
"That's horrible," Alice said.
"It was. It also made me realize that I've made a terrible mistake. I never should have let you guys come with us to look for Josh. I know that you guys volunteered to help but Rebecca's death and what happened with Norton have changed things. We passed an elevator that can be used to get to the surface. Sam and I are going to find Josh but you all are going to get on that elevator and get the hell out of here. Detectives, will you make sure everyone gets out alright?"
Blake seemed hesitant to leave but Powell grinned as he began walking towards the direction of the elevator, "well I'm glad you finally came to your senses Michael. You heard him everyone, let's go!"
To Mike's disappointment, no one else moved to follow Powell. Powell turned around to tell everyone to follow him again but to no avail. Mike rolled his eyes in frustration as he started to try and get everyone moving. Before he could say a word though, he froze. Something was wrong. As he glanced at the others' faces, he noticed that they weren't expressing indecision over whether or not to follow Powell. Rather their faces were conveying horror. This didn't go unnoticed by Powell.
"What's wrong with you guys?" he asked as he stepped towards the group.
Suddenly Blake pulled out her gun and pointed it at Powell, "STAY BACK!"
Mike and Powell jumped when they saw the gun. Alice, Richter and Tyler all moved so that they were behind Blake. From Mike's perspective, it almost seemed like they were cowering behind her. As for Sam, she was once again appearing unaffected by what was happening. At least she was until her creepy smile emerged again indicating something was amusing her. Using their special silent communication, Mike asked her what was going on. Sam merely looked back at Powell. Looking in Powell's direction, Mike's eyes widened when he saw what was getting everyone excited. On Powell's right forearm….was a bite mark.