The first worst expedition...

She wasn't in Norway anymore, that much she knew. But, at this point, she didn't really care where she was; she just wanted to leave. She had managed to escape without being caught and made it till the edge of the snowy island, where the water led to the sea. There, whether it was simple luck, she would never know; she found a ship that had just taken a pit stop.

The ship sheltered the regular people that worked on it to keep it running, but it also had a few extra passengers who were on their way to Japan. It was an expedition that was led by Dr. James Whitman, a celebrity archaeologist who had fallen on hard times and was desperate to avoid bankruptcy. His primary companions were Conrad Roth; a Royal Marine turned adventurer; and Samantha Nishimura, or Sam as she preferred to be called, who was there to film the expedition for a documentary. Then there was Joslyn Reyes, a skeptical and temperamental mechanic and single mother; Jonah Maiava, an imposing and placid fisherman who was willing to believe in the existence of the paranormal and esoteric; Angus "Grim" Grimaldi, the gruff Glaswegian helmsman of the Endurance; and, finally, Alex Weiss, a goofy and bespectacled electronics specialist.

When they had found her passed out at the docks, they were rather skeptical and wary, but Sam was all for taking her with them, so they did so as they knew better than to defy the young woman's decisions. Ayden had no idea how to react when she awoke, four days later, in the ship, cleaned and patched up, though, of course, she could not exactly stop herself from panicking until Sam and Alex came to see her. She felt alright around Sam as she reminded her of an older version of Elena― the girl was twenty. When she was around Alex, however, she felt rather uneasy; the twenty-year-old young man made it rather obvious that he had a crush on the girl he had only watched sleep for four days― she was actually creeped out when Sam told her about it. She was okay with the mechanic, the superstitious fisherman and the Marine turned adventurer, and she was somewhat fine with the gruff helmsman; though he kind of made her uncomfortable― he was like that uncle the rest of the family tried to avoid― she still found him to be quite an amusing man. Dr. Whitman, however, she did not like, and it was no secret that nobody else liked him either.

Mongolia, she found she'd been at for a month. How she ended up from her mission in Norway, all the way in Mongolia? She had no idea, but she knew she would have to wait a while before she reunited with her unit in Kabul; she was too far from civilization to be flown across the continent, so she proposed and was accepted to accompany them on their expedition. It was going to be her first time going on any expedition, especially aboard a ship such as the Endurance. The goal of the expedition was to find the lost kingdom of Yamatai. Though her excuse was that she owed them for somewhat saving her life, the main reason Ayden really volunteered was in hopes that, with her skills, she would be able to make it quicker and shorter, so she could get back to Kabul sooner; she had a war to win, after all.

The trip was rather smooth, though Ayden did not dare herself to go out as she was still not fond of the idea of traveling overseas. She sat in her cabin, looking at the small mirror of the small vanity dresser pushed up against the wall beside the door that led into the hallway. There were some pictures hanging there of herself, Sam, and a few of the other crew members; Sam insisted she kept a few as so to not forget them when she went back to the army. She thought, rather deeply, trying to imagine herself as an explorer. It was rather hard as she had never really been interested in anything archaeological of adventurous, but she knew she had to think like an explorer if she was going to keep up with these people. Sure, they were not all explorers, but they knew what they were doing. She had no idea what she was doing; she usually acted out of impulse, then came up with a plan in the midst of action. She was thankful to have taken an Anthropology course and a Western Civilization course in college; it wasn't the same as what any sort of explorer would've studied, but it helped to know a bit of the history of the places one would be going and understanding the cultures that were to be found.

She could remember a paper in her Anthropology course, a paper written by a famous explorer whose name she could not remember. The thing that struck her the most, that she knew she would never forget from that paper was his belief. He believed that the extraordinary is found in what we do, not what we are.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

She knew she would find that out for herself. How? Only time would tell. She felt as though this was what was finally going to help her set out her mark; this adventure she sought and was about to find. But some part of her knew that, instead of her finding it, adventure would find her.

As she settled down on her bunk, grabbing the notebook she'd been leaned, she glanced at the digital clock hanging beside the small mirrored vanity dresser― 23:00― and exhaled tiredly. It was really late, yet she couldn't find it in herself to sleep; every time she'd close her eyes she would either see Clayton and his scientist torturing her and experimenting on her, William trying to force himself on her, or Charles being killed. Exhaling once again, she shut her eyes for a moment, trying not to think too much though it was rather hard not too.

She brought out the small radio-recorder and hit on the recording button.

"It's twenty-three hundred and two right now... night. I have no idea how long it's been since my mission, nor how long exactly it's been since I escaped Clayton's wrath... but I do know that... for three weeks I've been out here on this expedition with people I know just." She sighed. "So far we've got zero finds, twenty fish suppers, fifty instances of Roth fantasizing about a pint of Bitter and a ninety-nine percent chance that I'll hurl myself off this boat out of sheer boredom," she said into the recorder.

"Despite the whole... going into the Dragon's Triangle― which we are currently nearing... It's... seriously boring. I guess that's expected from someone like me... a 'newborn' super soldier who's been weakened by some stupid sedative that has something to do with... anodites? I have no idea what that is..." Another sigh. "Oh, well. Boredom aside..." She paused for a moment, biting down her lower lip. "Roth. Let's talk about him. The guy's awesome! He's like... he's like a... slightly younger, friendlier and much more caring version of Doolittle. He's been sort of mentoring me, in a way, since I've woken up."

"He's told me all about his previous finds and it's all just so... wow! And now I'm part of this expedition― not like I had much of a choice, but I'm actually looking forward to it. We're getting closer to the triangle and I... I feel like we're on the brink of discovering something extraordinary― i-it's so exciting! And I have this feeling that... that this search is going to be my mark..." She paused, a pensive look taking on her face. "Maybe... maybe I'll become an explorer in the future... if I make it through this war..." she mumbled to herself.

Sighing, she stopped recording, then plugged the earphones Sam had leaned her, into her ears, and cranked up the volume of the small radio, trying to focus on the 60s song playing on the radio station rather than the storm going on outside. She had begun to fall out of consciousness when, suddenly, she found herself unplugged one earbud from her ear after being startled wide awake by the loudest thunder she'd ever heard, only to fly off her cot and onto the ground a few moments later, hitting her head on the opposite iron wall.

The sedative Clayton had injected her with was still in effect, even after three weeks, and that still worried her; it made her feel too weak and vulnerable and... too normal. She didn't mind feeling normal, but, at moments like the one she was currently in, she honestly preferred having her super soldier endurance running, than feeling like the ill girl she used to be.

Stumbling onto her feet, she made her way out the door, clutching her head as the alarm began to echo loudly throughout the entire ship. All the lights were flickering, electrocuting sparks were flying everywhere, and the floor was unbalanced; Ayden knew Clayton's sedative was strong, but she doubted that was what was making her lose her footing one too many times. She leaned against the wall opposing her door for a moment, shaking her head as to stop the forming migraine from growing any more irritating. Suddenly, she heard a loud splashing sound echoing through the hallways, causing her head to snap back, eyes widening in terror.

"Oh, no..."

She knew what was coming, but she was still barely accustomed to the labyrinth-like ship, so she had no idea where she was going when she started to run; she ran up to a dead end just as water broke through a wall and started flooding the place.

"Ah!"

She turned and ran down another tunnel, the water right at her heels. She was being chased down the hallway by water. Suddenly, water broke from the other end and rushed her way, engulfing her completely. She pushed her way up to where she would have a chance at breathing, popping her head out of the water. She inhaled deeply in slight relief at being able to breathe, though the slight smile that had been making its way onto her lips faded quickly when she realized just how strong the water rushing in was.

Suddenly, a large wave made its way into the hallway she was stuck in, crashing over her head. She gasped for air just as another wave rushed in and hit her, pulling her under. She put a lot of effort into each push as she tried to swim back to the surface for more air, but the water only got stronger and, in the end, pushed her into another room with no way out but a ladder going down to the boiler room, slamming the door right behind her. She swam up to the door and tried to pry it open, however, with no result; the door was locked with the deadbolt she couldn't budge. She started banging on the small round window, crying out for help in the small space she had for air, between the consuming water that was slowly rising up her waist and the thick round window.

"Help!" She started coughing, glancing back at the rising water in panic.

She kept banging on the window, though there was much force put into her actions as she screamed the moment the water engulfed her completely once again. Her lungs were filling themselves with water, her vision was becoming blurry... she wasn't breathing anymore. She was just there... floating lifelessly, the water slowly dragging her down into the dark watery abyss.

Suddenly, the door was slammed open, and a hand reached in and pulled her out.

Her heart restarted with a wild shock as she hunched her shoulders beside the sided room, coughing her lungs out. Blinking tiredly, she glanced up, her eyes beginning to readjust to her surrounding. She saw Roth already at the other end of the hall, motioning her to follow him. Pushing herself to her feet, slightly stumbling as the ground began to feel even more unbalanced, she tightened her sore muscles and pushed herself forward, running after the older man. She stumbled and tripped as water broke from the ceiling, pieces of the falling ship almost hitting her, though she did not stop running until she neared an open dead end, her eyes widening in fright and horror as she continued to run.

The ship had parted, her new comrades on the other side; she had to take a jump in order to reunite with them.

Jaw clenching, fists tightening, she ran and took her jump. Time seemed to slow around her as she leaped over the drowning pit of death, her arms flailing around her. Before she could fall to her death, however, she yelped in surprise when Roth's hand clasped around her own, though barely.

"Roth!"

"I've got you!"

"Don't let go!" she cried out.

"I won't!"

But she slipped.

It was all so fast, yet slow at the same time as she plummeted down, dropping through the suffocating air, between the parted ship, like a meteor. The wind resisted, trying vainly to fight the unconquerable gravity, pushing against her and twirling her in spirals like a rocket crashing to the earth as her life flashed before her eyes.

"Come on, Cece!" he eight-year-old brother called out from the middle of the large pool.

She shook her head. "But, Fred, it's too cold!"

"No, it's not, Ayden."

"Yes, it is. And it's deep too."

"Just come on, Blaze. Don't be such a baby."

She huffed. "I'm four, I'm not a baby."

He rolled his eyes and chuckled as he swam closer to where she stood. "Just jump in. I'll catch you."

"But, when you let go, I'll drown."

"I won't let go, I promise" he reassured her, swimming to the edge.

She paused for a moment before holding out her small pinkie. "Pinkie promise?"

He smiled as he brought his larger pinkie out of the water and hooked it with her smaller one, sealing the deal. "Pinkie promise."

The promise echoed through her head as she sliced through the surface of the water. It was icy, colder than she'd feared. Some unconscious part of her child-self was proud of herself as she plunged deeper into the freezing black water. That part of her somehow hadn't had one moment of terror― just pure adrenaline. Then, the current caught her and her drowning heart hammered hard against her chest; it felt like the waves were fighting over her, jerking her back and forth between them as if determined to share by pulling her into halves. She knew the right way to avoid a riptide, but there was no shore she could swim to, as far as she knew. And, even if there was, the knowledge would do her little good as she wouldn't know which way it'd be.

She couldn't even tell which way the surface was.

The angry water was black in every direction; there was no brightness to direct her upward. Gravity was all-powerful when it competed with the air, but it had nothing on the waves― she couldn't feel a downward pull, a sinking in any direction. Just the battering of the current that flung her round and round like a rag doll. She fought to keep her breath in, to keep her lips locked around her last store of oxygen.

"You can do, Carmen! Keep swimming, you can do it! You're almost there!"

Where? There was nothing but the darkness. There was no place to swim to.

"I can't! My arms hurt. Help me!"

"Not yet. Keep it going. You've got. Don't give up yet― keep swimming!"

The cold of the water was numbing her arms and legs. She didn't feel the buffeting so much as before. It was more of just a dizziness now, a helpless spinning in the water. But she listened to her brother's voice echoing through her head. She forced her arms to continue reaching, her legs to kick harder, though every second she was facing a new direction. It couldn't be doing any good. What was the point?

"You can do it! Come on! I'm over here! Swim towards me. You're almost there! Keep going! Don't give up! Keep fighting!"

Why?

He wasn't really there, and she knew that. The voices she was hearing? All but a memory buried deep within her soul...

However, it was one of the most beautiful ones.

She didn't want to fight anymore. And it wasn't the light-headedness, or the cold, or the failure of her arms as the muscles gave out in exhaustion, that made her content to stay where she was. She was almost happy that it was over. This was an easier death than others she'd faced.

Oddly peaceful.

She thought briefly of the clichés, about how you were supposed to see your life flash before your eyes. She wasn't exactly lucky enough to miss out on that. She didn't see it all. However, the ones she did see only made her heart emotionally ache in sorrow.

She missed those moments, when her mother would tuck her in at night, with her father right behind, watching the scene unfold, with a smile on his face as his wife sang a lullaby. When her mother would dress her up as a Power Ranger for Halloween as she never liked dressing up as a princess. When she would wake up in the middle of the night from a horrible, inexplicable nightmare, and sneak her way up the double-decked bed and slip in beside her brother who would hold her tight and tell her about the new Pokemon cards he'd gotten until she fell asleep. When he taught her how to swim and ride her bike. When they sang together― wrote songs together, dance together to her favorite song, from their favorite movie.

"I think I know why the dog howls at the moon!" she cried out, bouncing on the large sofa. "You know what, Eddie?"

"What?"

I think I know why the dog howls at the moon...

"One day―" Bounce. "When I grow older―" Bounce. "I'm gonna get married―"

I say, "Dela, dela, ngiyadela..." when I am with you...

Bounce. "In Africa." Bounce. "Tanzania."

Fred laughed. "Why there?"

"Dela, sondela, mama sondela, I burn for you..."

"Because." Bounce. "Most of it is a jungle."

The boy laughed. "What about most of it being a jungle?"

"Dela, dela, ngiyadela..." when I am with you...

"Because." Bounce. "The best―" Bounce. "And most important―" Bounce. "Kind of freedom―" Bounce. "Is to be what you really are."

"Dela, sondela, mama sondela, I burn for you..."

She stopped bouncing. "In a jungle, you don't have to worry about acting― you don't have to put on a mask because no one will judge you. You're free to be who, or what you are― getting married there would mean that the person who will marry me will see me for me and will accept me for who I am from his own... will."

"Sondela, sondela, mama sondela, I burn for you..."

Fred stared at her as she started bouncing again. "When― how did you become so... wise? You're only five!"

She shrugged. "I'm gonna be―" Bounce. "A phisolopher―" Bounce. "When I grow up."

"Don't you mean a philosopher?"

I've been waiting for you all my life,

Bounce. "That too."

Hoping for a miracle...

She stopped bouncing, then jumped off the couch and grabbed her brother's hand. "Dance with me!"

The current won at that moment, shoving her abruptly against something hard, a rock invisible in the gloom. It hit her solidly across the chest, slamming into her like an iron bar, and the breath whooshed out of her lungs, escaping in a thick cloud of silver bubbles.

Water flooded down her throat, choking and burning. The iron bar seemed to be dragging her deeper into the dark, to the ocean floor.

I've been waiting day and night,

"I don't know how to dance!"

Day and night!

She wasn't breathing anymore.

"Me neither!" She pulled him onto the couch, and both started bouncing on it, laughing and singing along as they shook their bodies, creating their own wild dance.

I've been waiting for you all my life,

"I'll be your best man?"

Waiting for redemption...

Bounce. She shook her head. "Best boy!"

I've been waiting day and night,

Bounce. "Why 'boy'?"

Day and night...

Bounce. She smiled. "Forever young, Eddie. Forever young!"

I burn for you...

Her eyes snapped open and she pushed herself. She and Frederick may not have ended in good terms, but he was still her brother and she still loved him. She and her mother may not have spoken in almost ten years, even though they lived together, but Ayden still loved her― she was her mother, after all. She had many other people she cared about now, and, though she would never admit it― she needed them just as much.

She had to survive. She had to live.

Ignoring her aches, she locked her muscles in place and pushed forward, toward where she hoped would be the surface. She pushed her way up, shoving hard against the water, then, finally, her head popped out of the water salt sea water. She inhaled deeply in slight relief at being able to breathe, a slightly relieved smile curling into her lips as her blurry eyes fell upon a seashore. It took her about another ten minutes to push her way forward, through the savage waves, until she finally reached the shore and crawled her way further into the land, as far away from the water she possible, completely ached and exhausted, coughing and wheezing for air― she almost felt asthmatic all over again.

"This one's bleeding out..." she heard Reyes' voice say faintly from afar as a waterfall poured from her mouth.

Coughing a bit more, she cleared her scrappy throat and called out in a hoarse voice, "Hello?!"

"... put some pressure on it!"

"Help!" she cried out.

But she only heard Alex's voice next. "Come on... come on! Breathe, goddamn it!"

Followed by Dr. Whitman. "I knew something like this would happen! Where the hell are we?"

Then Reyes again. "Come on, Doctor! Help us out here!"

Ayden coughed again as she propped herself up on her elbows and glanced back in the direction she could hear the voices coming from. She could see them now, but barely. And she felt too weak to get up, so she called out to them. "Reyes! Jonah!" She coughed again. "I'm here!"

After coughing a bit more, she clenched her teeth and pushed herself up onto her feet. She glanced around, feeling her stomach twist, then, finally, mind made up, she took a decisive step forward, though, just as she did, she received a rather hard blow in the back of her head, knocking her out.

"Please be here," Elena breathed as she stepped she entered the empty, ruined building, her brother, and compatriots following suite. She spun on her heels and looked at Andrew, brows furrowed. "Are you sure this is it?"

"The tracer I ran led to this location."

"I know, you showed us; it said Mongolia. But it could be anywhere in this country!"

"Her last signals came from here. And, besides, this is the only place she is likely to be; this is the only secret facility in this entire country."

"Let's scout the place," Curtis suggested. Elena hesitated, then nodded as they began to separate the group in pairs.

Ayden faded in and out of consciousness many times, though she had become clearly aware that she was being dragged into a dark place. She could hear water drops dripping, the sound being followed by an echo; she groaned, and the sound she emitted echoed as well, so she was sure she was probably being dragged into a cave. However, there wasn't much she could do as, every time the thought of escaping came to mind, she faded back out of consciousness. When she faded back in, she could feel herself become suddenly slightly weightless as a thick creaking sound rang through her ears.

When she fully regained consciousness, she gasped as she found herself hanging upside down in some sort of cocoon. She was in a cave, decorated in a slightly spooky way as though prepared for a ritual of some sort. She glanced around and swallowed hard when she noticed a few other similar cocoons hanging around her.

"Help..." she called out. "Jonah? Reyes?" Her cocoon began to swing from side to side as she shouted. "Help!"

But she was alone.

Slightly wheezing, she glanced around as best as she could in her current position. "Got to get down," she told herself.

She noticed a walled altar filled with lit candles and got an idea. Swinging sideways, left and right, to gain enough momentum, she pushed the neighboring sack into the lit candles by the wall. As it ignited, the blaze spread around it, causing it to fall through the wooden floor, and onto the cavern floor. The blaze, however, did not end with the fallen cocoon; it spread up into the sail wrapped around the wooden beam to her left. There was only one way out now, and, though she knew it was going to hurt, she had to do it.

Running her tongue over her chapped lips, she swallowed hard in anticipation. "This... is gonna hurt," she breathed out.

And she started swinging sideways, once more, this time, however, towards the burning beam, to burn the cocoon away. She gasped at the burning pain as her cocoon instantly ignited. Almost a whole agonizing minute later, the cocoon melted away, dropping Ayden to the cavern floor where she fell right into a nastily spiked metal bar that pierced through her side, emitting a scream out of her; though the stitches she had there were months old, from when she'd crashed the chopper on her first rescue mission, she could feel it reopening. Breathing hard, she clasped her hand around it and tugged, wheezing slightly as she struggled to pull it back out from the way it came through. Clenching her teeth, she finally ripped it out of her side, biting her lip as to not scream again.

She held in a relieved sigh as she knew it would only bring her pain; she was now free, but she wasn't feeling too well. Her vision was blurred as she moved gingerly through the only tunnel. Her eyes widened in horror as she entered another cave and discovered a lifeless victim. Holding onto her side, she pushed her way through, squinting her eyes slightly as she approached the hanging corpse.

"Oh, God, what happened to you?" she gasped. By the long hair and the sagged chest, Ayden could tell the victim had been a woman, but her face was almost melted away, as though she had been burned by acid or even just a really burning fire.

Squinting her eyes a bit, Ayden stepped a tad bit closer, her eyes widening when she recognized the victim by the necklace hanging around its rotting neck. A hand flew to her mouth as she choked back a sob.

"Oh, Steph..." she whispered, fighting back tears.

Ayden had met Stephanie aboard the Endurance when she'd joined the crew. She hadn't been as close to her as she had become with Sam, Alex, and Roth, but they'd gotten along rather well. And to find her here, strung up like this...

Breathing hard, Ayden shook her head in disbelief before quickly turning away and shuffling away from the unfortunate victim. As she turned, Ayden saw two torches hanging from the walls, and grabbed the one on the left, then continued down the tunnel. The further she walked, the more she could hear a faint mumbling echoing through the cave more clearly. She continued on her way, only stopping when she suddenly came upon a blockade. It was all wood and cloths she couldn't help but wonder about, so she used the fire of her newly acquired torch, pushed it down onto the white cloth, thus destroying the barrier, leaving way to a narrow gap. She sighed, taking a deep breath before stepping forward and squeezing her way through it, grunting in irritation when her torch was suddenly extinguished by the water falling from a few gaps of the stone walls.

"Oh, dammit..." she muttered.

She then glanced around once she was through and found, on the right cave wall, a little goblet of fire where she reignited her torch. Glancing around again, she found her way out, though she groaned when she realized what she would have to do to get there.

"I'm really starting to hate all this fire and water," she mumbled.

She walked over to a wooden scaffolding and struggled a bit to climb it as she was still holding the torch. Once on top, she set the flailing white cloth there on fire and took a step back as she watched the flames make their way over the other blockade, making the barrel there explode. The path was now clear. Jumping down, she got over to the end and climbed up into the newly opened passage. Wincing slightly as she crouched down, she began to sneak her way into the narrow tunnel when, suddenly, she was attacked from behind. She yelped in surprise and panic, dropping the torch as she was pulled backward.

"Let go!" She started to kick blindly, trying to shake off her attacker. "Get off me!"

"Stop struggling!" she thought she heard him say, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get out.

Clenching her teeth, she pulled her leg back and let it snap forward, straight into his jaw before rushing backward, away from him just as a boulder fell in between them, narrowly missing her.

"Come back! Come back!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, 'cause I would definitely go back after barely escaping with my life," she muttered, turning away from the fallen rock.

"Come on, I'm just trying to help you!"

She scoffed. "Says the creeper who kidnapped me." She then picked up the torch, crawled further along the tunnel. She had to fight back the urge to back and kill him as she could still hear the man calling out to her.

"Come back! Come..."

Her breathing got heavier as she started wading through the water.

"Come back! Come on!"

She shook her head, glancing around. "Just keep moving," she told herself.

"Come... Just come back!"

She paused for a moment, trying to even her breath as she continued through the flooded tunnel, the water rising up her body as she walked further.

"I'm just trying to help you!" he repeated. "Come on!"

She went further and further until she finally emerged in a large cavern, her torch extinguishing as she passed under a small waterfall.

She groaned. "Not again."

The new cave entry was much more flooded than the previous ones and it was becoming harder to walk. She forced her legs forward against the rushing water, glancing around for a possible exit.

"Need to find a way out." She pushed her way through the junk-filled cavern. She sighed when she found, on the low ramp on the right, another brazier. "More fire... thank god..." she mumbled, relighting her torch.

As she continued on her way, stepping out of the water and onto dryer ground, she frowned slightly as she noticed two cages dangling above the ground, tethered together by some kind of pulley system.

"What kind of contraption is this?" she wondered as she approached it.

Hesitating for a moment, she took a decisive step forward, pressing her torch to the cloth-wrapped poles connected to the pulley system. This released the ropes anchoring the lower cage, making it drop into the water. In this position, it began to collect the debris floating downstream, causing the other cage to, simultaneously, raised up.

She shifted her glance along the rather peculiar system with calculating eyes

"Ah-ha," she mumbled, her equative situation solving itself within a matter of seconds inside her head.

She then ran up the ramp on her right, which led toward the cage above, then around, to the middle of the wooden ledge. She then jumped from there into the raised cage, her weight, in result, lowering that cage, raising the one containing debris, which was then dumped into a third cage at the end of the wooden ledge. Hopping down to the ground, she went up the ramp again and continued around to the end. She stood close to the newly filled cage and pursed her lips in thought, glancing around it for a moment at what she hoped was the last blockade.

"Gotta explode this shit..."

She pressed the torch through the bars of the cage, igniting the wooden debris inside of it. Then, she took a step back and, with a deep breath, shoved hard against the crate, till it fell off the edge. It slid down into the water, carrying flaming debris into the barricade, causing an explosion that cleared the way. Letting out a tired breath in relief, when she finally saw a rather large crack in the stone wall at the other end of the cavern.

She hopped back to the ground and continued through the opening she just made. Following the tunnel toward the crack, she let out a relieved sigh as she could finally see daylight.

"Finally! A way out," she huffed.

Before she could reach it, however, the tunnel collapsed under her feet, causing her to slide down a whole different way. She yelped and cried out in pain as she tried to steer away from the branches along the walls since she knew they would hurt her even more. At the bottom of the slope, she smashed through a barrier and landed in a lower passageway.

"Shit!"

She instantly jumped onto her feet and ran, knowing that, if she lingered that new tunnel, she would gradually take damage from the falling rubble and die. Moving forward along the stream bed, she clambered up the slope, and then ran and came across three gaps over which she knew she had to jump. Not stopping for even a second, she leaped over the first one, almost falling, then ran and leaped over the second, clenching her teeth in pain as she felt her ankle begin to ache. Then, finally, upon the third gap, she tightened her fist around her torch and leaped, almost slipping. Pushing her way up to land, she huffed and winced, pausing for merely a second before continuing on her way as the tunnel continued to collapse around her. As she reached a low tunnel, she let out a small puff of air in slight relief. However, just as she had jumped forward into a crawling crouch in order to crawl her way through the low tunnel, another man grabbed her from behind, causing her to drop her torch once again and yelp in surprise and panic.

"Let go!" she shouted as he pulled her backward. "Let go, you bastard!" She started to kick blindly, trying to shake off her attacker.

"Help you!" she heard him say, but she ignored his petty excuse and continued kicking. She kicked him hard then quickly retreated her foot as, at that moment, a boulder fell in between them. However, she did not get the time to even breathe out in relief as the man somehow tried to push through the large rock, his face and arm appearing.

"Help you!" he insisted as he pushed his way through, causing her to scream and scramble as far away as she possibly could as he jumped forward. To his misfortune, however, before he could reach her again, part of the collapsing tunnel fell on him, killing him instantly.

Breath going wild, Ayden quickly snatched her torch up from the ground and jumped onto her feet and resumed her run, not stopping as she leaped forward, attempting to jump over the next wide gap. However, no matter how powerful the leap was, Ayden missed the ledge and slid down the slope as the tunnel collapsed. Losing her torch down the chasm, though barely managing to hang onto the edge, she pulled herself up and with much effort began to scramble her way up the slope. Suddenly, a boulder came sliding down toward her, though, with a quick and tight grip on the slope, she managed to hang on while simultaneously dodging left. After a few moments, she had to dodge a second boulder by moving to the right before resuming her scrambling to the top, where she finally managed to emerge from the cave into daylight.

Breathing hard, she pushed herself onto her feet, wincing in pain. She glanced down at the hole in her side and sighed, knowing it wouldn't heal quickly anymore as it used to. Letting out a pained sigh, she glanced around, taking in her new surroundings with pursed lips. Stumbling slightly as she re-accustomed herself to the daylight, she moved forward along a path, keeping the ocean on her right for the moment. As she reached the top end of the path, leaning her body against a diagonally grown tree for support, she squinted her eyes a bit when she noticed something afar.

"A lifeboat!" she breathed out, surprised. She frowned when she noticed it was empty. "But where are they?" She paused, lips pursing in thought. "They must have gone inland." Her frown then deepened. "Wait a second... how the hell can I see well from this far?!"

Shaking her head, she took a deep breath before continuing down the path as goal to reach the lower end. She followed the path forward to a fallen tree spanning a chasm.

Her heart clenched in slight fright as it reminded her of the beam she'd had Elena and Damian cross when the two girls had gone to rescue the one-o-sixth; she remembered when it broke before she could even cross it herself, and how she had to leap over the fiery pit below in order to get to the other side. But she couldn't jump here even if she wanted to; the other side was too far away.

"Gotta take it slow," she told herself.

Maybe luck would finally strike her and the tree would only really look more dangerous than it actually is. Spreading her arms out for balance, she stepped out onto the trunk and slowly started to make her way across, her entire body quivering in fear. Reaching the middle, she nearly slipped, but she quickly caught herself. When she finished crossing it, she continued along the path until she came to a gap with the white stone edges. She groaned, grumbling about how she was starting to hate jumping as well, before she took a few steps backward for a running start, then leaped across, over the gap, grabbing onto the opposite edge automatically. Wincing slightly, she pushed her arms as much as she could until she pulled herself up completely.

She continued down the path, going through many turns, almost falling off the edge in exhaustion, only stopping when she found herself stepping into a clearing where there was a waterfall. She squinted her eyes to look more closely and noticed a crashed plane. Frowning slightly to herself, she moved around to the left, then stepped out onto the detached wing that formed a ledge below the dangling wreckage.

"I can do this," she told herself.

Then she jumped up to grab one of the silver bars on the nose of the plane. She almost lost her grip, but, then, with more determination, she grabbed on again and started climbing the fuselage. She jumped up and leaped up to a higher handhold and, although the plane creaked and shuddered, she began to worry less as she knew there was no hurry at this point. Once she had a firm handhold, she let out a small breath in slight relief she was somewhat safe for the time being; then, she continued her climb upward, then around to the right and out onto the wing. After a moment, she came upon a plain side which promoted her to jump across a wider gap. Leaning out to the right, she pushed herself forward and jumped. When she grabbed onto the next section of the wing, however, she had to tighten her grip to keep herself from slipping; if she didn't, she would fall and die, and she was well aware of that. She resumed her climbing along the wing to the right, quickening her pace as she felt the wing beginning to crumble. She quickly jumped off when she was above reaching-ground and scrambled to safety as the wing broke off.

She paused for a moment, hunching her shoulders, hands on her knees as she gathered herself up before continuing along the narrow path above the ocean. When she came upon a slightly painted, wooden wall, she quickly jumped and scrambled her way up.

"Sam's pack," she mumbled. She then hoped down, on the other side, into the clearing, groaning in pain as she landed. She walked over to Sam's bag but didn't grab anything just yet. She glanced around, silently cursing Clayton for dulling her enhanced senses.

"Sam!"

No response.

She sighed, running a hand through her growing fringe. "They must have come this way..."

She grabbed Sam's pack and kneeled onto the ground, looking through it. She froze slightly when she found the older girl's camera. Shutting her eyes for a moment, she let out a small breath through her nose before, then the camera aside, before she continued to look through her companion's belonging. She found a pack of matches and let out a sigh, before searching further in, finding a two-way radio.

Her heart started pounding in anticipation as she stretched out the small antenna. "Sam?! Roth?" She threw a glare at the darkening sky as it began to pour rain. "Can anyone hear me?" She clenched her jaw as she got onto her feet, still glancing around. "I've got to find them..." she mumbled as she began to make her way out the other side of the clearing. She groaned as she reached the edge and found another gap.

"God, I'm really starting to hate these gaps," she grunted.

Then, she jumped as grabbed onto the ledge with the white stone edge, though she couldn't hang on. She fell and slid down the muddy slope into the new area. When she recovered from her muddy slide into this area, she stumbled onto her feet and groaned; the rain was getting heavier. She had to take shelter from the upcoming storm.

Still holding putting pressure on her open wound on her side, she moved forward along the new path she fell upon. As she went further through, she approached a rock overhang and crouched automatically to move underneath it. Following the path a little further she let out a surprised sigh when she discovered a deserted campsite.

"Looks abandoned," she noted.

She moved to the edge of the path to see if there was anyone else, but she saw no one. Plus, it was too dark to see either way. Reaching her hands out to the dripping water from the rock, she collected a bit in her hands and drank it, cringing slightly at the dirt-full taste.

Bringing out the two-way radio, she extracted the small antenna and played with a few buttons, hoping to get a signal of any sort. "Is anyone listening? Please respond." But her only response was the sound of static and the no-signal tone. She let out a defeated sigh, putting the radio away before wrapping her arms around her trembling self while glancing around, bodied-steam escaping through her chapped lips as she breathed in and out.

Walking back to the campsite, she gathered as much dry wood as she could and placed it all on it before bringing out Sam's pack of matches from her back pocket. She opened it and let out a disbelieving breath when she saw there was only one match left.

"You have got to be kidding me," she muttered, shaking her head.

Lips pursed, she grabbed the match and, to her luck, managed to build a fire with it. She sighed in relief; she couldn't manage to make contact with any of the other survivors over the radio, but at least she was safe... for now.

She sat back as the fire began to grow, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Suddenly, a brief snippet of clear signal startled her from the reverie she was about to fall in. She quickly brought the radio back out only to find its signal fading once more into nothing but static. With a defeated sigh, she placed it beside her, then wrapped her arms around herself again. Hugging herself more tightly as thunder and lightning stroke in the sky.

"This is gonna be a long night," she said softly.