Until Dawn: A New Path
Chapter 20 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.
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Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.
Chapter 20
Still in shock from the recent terrors, Chris, Ashley, and Mike managed to enter the basement room, making sure to close and bar the door behind them.
"Oh my god!" Jess gasped, seeing them. "Thank God!"
Sam, who had been hugging Jess, clearly trying to console her, also turned, relieved. "What took you so long?"
Still reeling from the stranger's death, Chris shook his head. His words were spoken in a daze. "It's not so good up there right now."
"Understatement of the night." Mike muttered with a sigh.
Sam looked around worriedly. "Chris, where's the flamethrower guy?"
"Ah, yeah, he, uh..." Chris managed to get out. He didn't need to finish, as they all realized the truth: the man was dead.
They were all shocked and instantly scared. It was clear that the man was an expert on these Wendigos and they'd no doubt hoped that, with him on their side, they'd have a chance of survival. Now he was dead, which completely shattered their hopes.
"What happened?" Sam gasped.
Chris shuddered, hating remembering. "The thing, it...it tore him apart! Right in front of me!"
"Oh, God..."
There was a stony silence as they all took this in, realizing what was their best chance had been torn away.
Finally, Mike seemed to come to a decision as he paced around the room, looking around wildly.
"Alright," he said, sounding frantic, "These all of the doors?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah."
"Are you sure?"
She raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking for?"
He sighed and admitted, "Another way out."
"Mike..." Sam shook her head. "I really don't think that's a good idea. We should stay put, right here, until dawn. At least we're safe down here-"
Mike turned to her, incredulous. "Oh yeah? All wrapped up like a little present with a bow on top for that thing to tear us apart on Christmas morning?"
Sam tried to reassure him. "People will come for us in the morning."
"You don't sound so sure."
Sam insisted, "That's what'll happen. Right, Jess?"
"Yeah, I mean…right?" Jess replied, looking to the others.
Mike shook his head and stepped away. "Well, you can wait. I'm leaving."
"Mike, there's no key for the cable car." Jess warned him.
Mike bit his lip and thought for a moment. Finally, it dawned on him and he turned back to the others.
"Josh. He's gotta have it."
"Josh?" Sam queried.
Mike nodded. "One of his dirty little tricks."
Sam groaned. "Great. Great!"
"If that fucking thing got a hold of Josh, then..." Mike sighed and shrugged. "We're shit outta luck."
"I don't know, Mike. It's possible..." Jess began, but trailed off.
"It may have taken him down into the mine. I saw some horrible stuff down there... I think it's where that thing lives." She trailed off again, noticing a collection of documents, which she began looking closely at.
"Jess, what?" Sam asked.
"Fuck it." Mike said at last. "I'm gonna get that key right from that thing's goddamned bedroom and then I'm gonna get us all the hell out of here."
Before he could leave, however, he heard Sam and Jess talking and joined them at a work bench.
"Jess, what is all of that?"
Jess replied. "It's that old guy's bag..."
Mike then saw what they were looking at. "Is that a map?"
"This guy was prepared for anything." Sam noted.
"Not quite."
Jess shook her head. "What is this place?"
Some of the things on the map shocked them all. Matt and Ashley had joined them by now, but didn't speak. Chris remained where he was, sitting against another bench, staring blankly at the floor.
Sam then spotted something. It looked like a tunnel, but it was marked as dangerous. "Wait, wait, wait, what is that?" she asked, disturbed.
Matt shook his head. He had passed the collapsed section on his way back from the Sanatorium. "I was down there. It was horrible."
"You were?"
He began to relate the history of what he saw, the survivors of the mine collapse, what the reporter found out, the cover up, the fact that the owners knew that the mines were a death trap, then also, the discovery of the restraining chair. The others gazed at him in utter shock.
"I'm just saying," he told them, "It's weird how much crazy shit's gone on up here."
Jess shook her head and pointed to the map. "What's weird is there's a tunnel leading from the lodge to the Sanatorium. See?"
"That's how I got back here." Matt explained.
The others nodded and Jess remembered her own trip through the mines. "I saw this when I was down there. That's where it lives."
There was a pause as they slowly realized the enormity of what they still had to face, that their nightmare still wasn't over.
"Shit, fuck, fuck..." Mike stammered, trying to think. "Alright, I'm going, I..."
Matt suddenly stepped up. "Mike, if you're going out there, you'd better take this."
With that, he handed Mike the gun. Mike sighed, but nodded, taking it and slipping it into his waistband.
"No one leave, okay? It's not safe out there. I'll be back soon."
Mike then leaned over and whispered to Sam, "If I don't make it back, please take care of Jessica for me." He knew that Sam was the most trustworthy one in the group.
"I will, Mike." Sam promised.
Mike then turned to leave and began walking away.
Jess suddenly stood up and hurried to him, hugging him tightly. "Oh God, Mike. Be careful, please... Come back safe."
Mike returned the hug, trying not to hurt her injuries. "It's okay, I'll come back. I love you."
They both kissed deeply, both afraid that, despite Mike's reassurances, this could indeed be the last time they'd do this. With that, they parted, and Mike turned and finally left the basement.
After Mike left, Jess let out a shaky sigh. The man that she loved had left, trying to make sure that they had an escape route, trying to save all of them. She lay flat out on the bench. Sam sat down near her, also looking relieved. Ashley bit her lip and slowly began to make her way over to the desk where all of the stranger's belongings were laid out.
"I thought that...that he was going to help us." Jess said sadly.
Sam turned to her. "Who, the flamethrower dude?"
"And now we don't have a chance."
Sam, however, shook her head. "No, guys. It just means we've got to be tough, we've gotta do this on our own."
"I don't know if I can." Jess muttered in response.
Chris and Matt did not reply at all.
Ashley couldn't help but feel worried over what was happening and, spotting a journal of sorts, she began to read it. In it, she found that the stranger had documented everything he knew about the Wendigos, including some stuff he hadn't actually told them, such as how they could mimic humans, especially their voices, to lure prey to them. In truth, all of it was scary.
But then Ashley found a page which caught her eye.
"Oh... Oh no, no, no, no, no..." she gasped as she read the passage again.
"What?" Sam insisted, hurrying over. "What is it? What does it say?"
Ashley turned to her, biting her lip. Finally, she said, "Um, it's that old guy's journal and...it talks about the Wendigos and, and..."
Sam gasped and grabbed the book. "Let me see that!"
She read the journal and realized something. "Oh, shit. Shit..." she gasped. "We've gotta go and find Mike."
She sounded so panicked that none of the others questioned her. They simply grabbed what they needed and followed her out of the basement.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.