Chapter Seven: Caves

Glancing over her shoulder, Sara made sure Greg was still following her. She slowed down some, so that they were walking more side by side. Greg had one arm wrapped around his chest, the other swinging lightly by his side as he trudged on. The pair had said nothing for quite a long while, and had gotten nowhere.

"Come on Greg," Sara encouraged him, "we shouldn't be too much longer now."

Greg didn't answer her, only glancing up at the clouded sky that still looked menacing. Sara continued, "I'd say by night fall, we'd be back in town. We'll be safe and warm, have a good helping of food," she smiled at him, but he didn't return it.

"Okay," she finally sighed, looking at the ground. "I'm sorry I got us into this mess, but everything's going to be okay. You'll see, we're doing great now."

"Sara," Greg finally managed to say, wincing as he did so. "I should have listened to you, if I held the car down, we wouldn't be here."

Sara shook her head, "No, I'm not letting you blame yourself for this," she told him sharply.

"You have authority over me, I should have listened."

"Greg, I made a stupid choice. You were right about what you said," she let out a long sigh. "Let's not talk about this right now, okay?"

He nodded, and they walked on again in silence. They had only gotten a few feet further when it began to rain again. Letting out a groan, Greg glanced back up at the sky. "No more rain," he complained.

"We should find some shelter," Sara warned, and Greg agreed. Glancing around, he pointed over towards the rocky hills that lined the gulch.

Letting Greg take the lead, Sara followed at a slower pace, shivering in the rain as the skies darkened. The last thing they needed right now was more rain. As they approached their destination, Sara came to a stop.

"No way," she argued as Greg made his way into the opening of a small cave. "I am not going in there."

Greg shrugged, grimacing as he remembered he couldn't do that without experiencing pain. "Stay out here and drown, I'll be in here nice, warm and dry. Well, dry at least, can't promise anything about being warm."

Sara stood out there, arms crossed as she became even wetter. "Did I ever mention that I'm claustrophobic?"

Greg shook his head, making his way further inside. "No, you never did, but I'll keep that in mind."

Sara watched as he disappeared in the darkness, standing outside a little longer, before letting out a groan. How did Greg end up winning all the time in these sorts of situations? Taking careful steps, she slowly edged her way inside. At least now she was out of the rain.

"Greg?" she called, her voice echoing of the walls. It was completely dark within a few steps inside. She didn't like where this was going. "Greg?"

She had gone further inside, her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. The cave spread out some the further she went in. Hearing something behind her, she turned around, expecting to see Greg, but there was nothing behind her.

Her breathing quickened some as she turned back around. "Greg?" she asked quietly, looking behind her again. Still she saw nothing. Another sound, off to her right now, caused her to turn again. "Come on Greg, this isn't funny anymore," she called out, her voice louder now.

Sara wasn't about to let Greg get the best of her as she walked further in, watching each and every step she took. She heard it again then, the footsteps behind her, and she whirled around, exclaiming aha as she pointed a finger, at nothing. Drawing in a sharp breath she took a few steps backwards. She had heard him behind her, Greg was doing this on purpose, she was sure of it. Letting out the long breath, she straightened up. He wouldn't be able to scare her, she wouldn't let him.

Turning back around, she let out a scream as something jumped up in front of her, lights flashing. She staggered backwards, falling down and screaming again at the same time. It was then she heard him laughing. Blushing, Sara frowned, not amused as she tried to slow her breathing.

Greg was also on the ground not to far from her, holding a flashlight in one hand, the other holding his chest as he laughed, "Ow, ow," he complained softly, still laughing despite the pain it caused. "That was, priceless," he spat out in between heavy breaths as he calmed down.

Sara still sat, glaring at him. "That, was not funny," Sara told him sternly, arms folded across her knees.

"You should have seen the look on your face," Greg laughed, leaning back, trying to take some weight off his aching chest. He shined the flashlight on Sara's face, watching her reaction. She only glared at him. "I should have had a camera."

"You are so dead," Sara warned him, "When we get back to town, I am going to kill you."

Greg laughed. "You love me too much to do that," he said, laughing still.

"I wouldn't count on that," she told him, standing up. She brushed the dirt from her jeans as Greg slowly stood to his feet, obviously in a better mood, but still in pain.

"Where did you get that anyways?" Sara asked, stepping closer to him.

Greg turned around, taking a few steps and shining the light on a pile of bones. Sara grimaced. "You're tampering with a crime scene Greg?"

"There's no proof he was murdered," Greg pointed out, shining the flashlight down on the skeleton's foot, where a shoe was still attached. A metal trap was thoroughly entwined in the bone. "I'm guessing this was a cave that belonged to some sort of animal, there's a good deal of bedding in the back, and this here was our hunter, stuck in his own trap."

Greg nodded to the gun that rested on the ground. Sara knelt next to him, "But you don't know that for sure. You know how much trouble you can get in for messing with a scene like this?"

"Sara, if we don't 'mess' with this scene, as you call it, we are going to be the next 'scene' our lab investigates. He must of died quickly, poisoning in the trap maybe."

"How do you figure that?" Sara wondered, watching him.

Greg grinned, "He has a lot of food left, and I don't think he would have starved himself to death."

"We are not eating anything from here," Sara said flatly, glaring at him as he pulled the dusty backpack away from the bones.

"It's all that dried stuff, hasn't even been open," Greg argued, pulling the small packets free.

"That's just wrong Greg," Sara shot back, "Besides, we don't know if they are any good."

"They've been sealed nice and tight for," he brought the package closer, shining the light on the top. "Eight years."

"Okay, definitely not eating that."

"All we need now, is a pan," Greg indicated, pulling it free from the backpack, "And some matches," it took a moment, but he found some.

Sara shook her head, "You can't be serious, that's just disgusting."

"I don't know about you," Greg told her, standing again, moving slowly. "But I am starving; I haven't eaten in over two days now."

Sara just folded her arms, looking away. She was hungry too, but not enough to willingly eat eight year old, dried packaged food that they found off of some dead guy in an old abandoned animal den. She watched as Greg made his way to the entrance, washing off the dusty pan in the rain, before collecting some inside. It was hard to see, with the sun gone again, it had turned nearly pitch black.

"So, exactly how are you planning on cooking that?" Sara wondered.

Greg shook the box of matches, and Sara nodded. "That'll start a really big fire then."

"I'm not burning the matches," Greg rolled his eyes even though Sara couldn't see him do so. Reaching over he felt for the backpack, and several old newspapers that had been used to wrap the food in. He used the newspapers to start the fire, adding the backpack to fuel the source. He wasn't sure if it would work or not, but was surprised when it in turn, worked rather well.

The fire wouldn't last long, so Greg wasted no time in attempting to cook the meal. He was thankful that these meals didn't take that long too cook, and was satisfied to find that it smelled relatively good by the time it was nearly ready.

"How are you planning on eating that?" Sara asked. She didn't want to admit it, but the food smelled good.

Greg demonstrated by snatching a noodle out of the pan, dropping it in his mouth. "Hot, hot, hot," he complained, shaking his hand as he swallowed the piece. Sara laughed, shaking her head.

He gave her a smile, "It's hot, but not too bad. Needs some pepper…"

Greg offered her some, but she refused, watching him shrug in the dimming light. She wasn't going to resort to eating with her fingers. That was even more degrading. Greg on the other hand seemed to have no problem with it, other then the fact he kept on burning his fingers each time he picked a piece up. Finally, irritated, Sara scooted over, closer to him, reaching for a few pieces herself.

Greg was right, the food wasn't too bad, though quite hot, and Sara found herself joining Greg in a chorus of ows as the two finished the small meal. Letting out a sigh as they finished, Sara lay down on the sandy floor, resting her head on her arm and she watched the rest of the fire burn down.

A few moments later, Greg lay down across from her, facing towards her. She gave him a small smile, though she could barely see his face. "How are you feeling?" she asked him softly.

"Okay, I guess," he answered back in the same tone. "Still sore, but I don't think I'll die from it."

"Good," Sara told him, "Because I'm still going to kill you when we get back."

"You're going to have to catch me first," Greg taunted her, provoking a laugh as she closed her eyes.

"That won't be too hard," was the last she remembered saying before falling asleep.

TBC