Chapter 4: Cut and Run
In the abandoned emergency shelter, a massive, fanged beast stalks towards Ty and his friends.
"Grrrr…"
"Okay this is bad." Ty looked frightened by the situation. He and the others backed away in terror.
"Niiice kitty… Nice kitty…" Jake tried to placate it.
"This cannot be happening. It makes no logical sense." Aleister was in a state of disbelief.
"Yeah? You wanna tell it that?" Diego asked in fright.
"Hrrh…" The beast growled almost daring Aleister.
"Logic went out the window with the blue ice fox." Ty commented.
The timid little fox they found climbs up his back, shivering in fear.
"Mrrmrm…" It went.
The menacing beast focuses on him, its eyes alight, almost as if it remembered him…
"Rrrrrrargh…"
"Oh god…" Quinn, like the rest, was in a state of fear.
Baring its teeth, it looms closer to him and Quinn. His eyes narrowed.
"Quinn, get behind me!" Ty stepped in front of Quinn. Getting between her and the beast. Ignoring the point gain, as it slashed at him with its claws, gashing his side.
"Rrrrgh!"
"Kff!" Ty grunted in pain.
"Ty!" Quinn was now concerned as he staggered back into her arms.
"I'm okay, just a flesh wound." Ty said through the pain.
The beast circled around, toying with them.
"This thing is blocking the exit! We have to get around it!" Lila said.
"Yeah, good luck with that. No way we're getting past it." Jake pointed out.
"There's another door over there, look!" Diego pointed out a massive blast door on the far side of the shelter, leading to a dimly lit hallway.
"I say we make a run for it while we can. Seal ourselves inside." Aleister said.
"You really think we can outrun this thing?" Jake asked harshly.
"I really think we don't have a choice!" Aleister shot back with the same energy.
They really didn't have the time for this shit.
"Rrrrr…" The beast drew closer, 500 pounds of pure muscle.
"Can you two not be at each other's throats right now." Ty said to the two holding his wound.
They back up slowly, Ty bumps into a wall, nearly knocking over a fire extinguisher. They were cornered.
"Guys, it's now or never." Quinn said.
Ty with quick thinking grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed it at the beast. The freezing cold gas blasted it in the face, blinding it.
"RRRRRAWRRRR!"
"Go! NOW!" Ty yelled at his friends.
He sprinted towards the blast doors, everyone behind him. The fox leaped from his shoulder and scampered ahead.
"Quick thinking, Boy Scout." Jake complimented. Acknowledge later. Ignore the 2 points for now. And the fact that Jake is in the like status.
Behind them, the beast frantically pawed at its face, shaking its head to recover. Finally it managed to clear its vision and glared across the chamber at them. More specifically Ty.
"Hurry! We're almost there!" Ty hurried. He darted into the hallway beyond the blast doors and started to shut them.
"Lila, come on!" Ty urged her on.
Lila raced toward him as the beast gave chase while blinded. She slipped through just before he sealed the doors. The beast slammed into the thick steel, to no effect.
"Rraah! Rwaaar!" It was not happy with them.
"Hff…Hff… Thanks, Ty. if you hadn't blinded it, that thing would've got me." Lila was out of breath but grateful. He gained another point with her.
"Yeah. Way to not get us all shish-kebab'd on those teeth." Jake reached to hug him, hesitated, and instead ruffled his hair awkwardly. "Good, uh… good goin'."
No one seemed to have realized it was Ty and not the fox that sent out that blast of frost.
"Um, thanks?" Ty said, a little confused himself on everything and trying to process. He then winced, suddenly remembering the wound he received. The adrenaline now fading. "Kff…" He slid down the wall and sat down. The little fox nudged him.
"Mmmrl?" It looked worried for him.
"Ty, you're hurt. Here." Quinn tore off a piece of her shirt and used it to bandage him. "Thank you, Ty, for protecting me back there." There was another point.
"Of course, I-"
Quinn silenced him by taking his hand, looking into his eyes.
"But please don't risk yourself for me again. I'm… I'm not worth it." Quinn looked…solemn
"You'll always be worth it." He was not having that, he gave her hand a small squeeze.
"Ty… I-" Quinn was going to say something but got interrupted.
"Someone wanna tell me what the hell that thing was?!" Diego asked, freaked.
"Isn't it obvious? …That was a Smilodon fatalis." Aleister used scientific terms.
"A what in the who now?" Jake asked confused.
"Common Aleister, We speak common." Ty joked.
Aleister sighed, "A saber-toothed Tiger."
"Oh yeah, totally obvious. I must've forgotten my spear and loincloth in my cave, because apparently it's 10,000 B.C." Jake said.
"Sabertooths have been extinct forever, so was that one… cloned?" Quinn asked.
"I'm sorry, did this vacation just turn into Jurassic Park?" Diego asked.
"Of course not. Rourke International is in dozens of different industries, but cloning is not one of them…" Aleister said. His knowledge and defense of Rourke raising more questions in Ty's mind. He currently had a theory he was formulating. "And furthermore, sabertooths would make this Pleistocene Park, not Jurassic. Congratulations, you've only 140 million years off."
"Okay Aleister, you can go off, we understand." Ty couldn't ignore the need to tease, especially with Aleister going off on his best friend.
"Jesus, Malfoy, who cares?" Jake was caught off-guard.
Ty wondered how apt that nickname might be. But they needed to focus.
"It DOES matter what we're up against, Jake. If we don't take this seriously and think it through, we're dinner." Ty was still feeling the pain, but used it to focus his mind. Choosing to ignore his point loss with Jake and point gain with Aleister.
"Exactly, the facts could make the difference between-" Aleister began to say.
"I saw its teeth, That's all the facts I need." Jake waved them off. "Good news is, I should have enough fuel to make it back to the mainland."
"The mainland? What are you talking about?" Aleister asked.
"You're leaving the island?" Ty couldn't…wouldn't believe Jake would just ditch them.
"Come with me, or stick around and wait for rescue. I don't care. I'm not waiting around to become that Tiger's dinner…or yours!" Jake responded, looking at the little fox at the end.
"Mrm?" The fox was confused.
"That's right, you can't play cute with me, bud. God knows what you are, and frankly I don't intend to be here when we find out." Jake said.
"Let's not overreact, Jake. We'll be perfectly safe as soon as we get back to The Celestial. You guys don't want to miss out on your entire vacation, do you?" Lila couldn't be serious right now.
"Well, no…" Diego said.
For the first time in forever Diego had failed him.
"I'm positive that everything will be back to normal as soon as-" Lila was cut off.
"As soon as everyone magically reappears? As soon as your staff can round up the prehistoric predators chasing after the guests? I dunno what kinda circus you're running here, Dimples, but it ain't safe." Jake had a point and Lila was delusional. It was now confirmed in Ty's head.
"And flying with you is? You nearly crashed in that weird storm on the way in! What if that happens again?" Aleister pointed out.
"I'll take my chances." Jake either had confidence in his ability or was ready to risk it.
"What about your money? You haven't been paid." Ty said, trying to find a reason to get Jake to stick around. Strength in numbers. Plus, he liked having Jake around.
"Boy Scout, I've spent enough time gambling that I know when it's time to cut and run." Jake said with a smirk.
"I guess you're scared." Ty tried to provoke him.
"There are things in this world you should be scared of." Jake advised.
"It's fine, Ty. He can go. He shouldn't be here anyway." Lila said. There was another point there.
Jake didn't take his eyes off of Ty.
"I can't save you if you don't want to be saved." Jake said, Ty losing another point with him, reverting their relationship to neutral.
"Maybe… Maybe I don't." Ty told him, looking down and away.
"Fine. The rest of you any smarter?" Jake looked at the rest.
"You know, I wanted to have my life's big adventure… but maybe the truth is I'm not cut out for one." Diego said.
"I know. I had a vision of how this week would go… and this isn't it." Quinn was with Diego.
"I… Very well. We may depart." Aleister said, giving in.
"No, Jake, I have a responsibility to my superiors-" Lila started to say.
Great, the only one on his side was the delusional one. Ty released a sigh.
"Who? To Everett freakin' Rourke?" Jake asked. Ty hated to admit that like always. Jake had a point.
"Rourke isn't here, Lila. He's not the one sticking his neck out as his paradise falls apart, It's you. This isn't your job anymore." Ty spoke up.
Lila shifted uncomfortably, then met his eyes. "...Okay."
"Alright, the plan is to get out of here, grab the others from the resort, and head back to the airstrip." Jake laid out the plan.
"We'd better hope there's another exit, because that sabertooth isn't giving up." Ty said.
"Rrrggh! RRRRGGH!" The Sabertooth almost perfectly backing up Ty's statement.
Up ahead, the hallway ended in an intersection of corridors.
"There's gotta be one somewhere. And this place can't be that big… right?" Diego was…hopeful.
Together, they head down the hall, the little fox scampering along beside Ty.
"Is this thing gonna just follow us around now?" Jake asked, not trusting the fox.
"I think he likes Ty!" Quinn stated.
"Mmrm!" The little fox basically confirmed.
They came to the end of the hall. Long identical corridors split off to the left and right, ending in their own intersections.
"Which way?" Diego asked.
"Um…let's go to the left." Ty went in that direction, the group following him until the next intersection. The halls split off again to the left and right. "This time, let's try the right." They wander on, the halls ending in just more halls.
"Okay, I think this place is just trolling us now." Diego commented.
"These underground corridors might run across the entire island. Who knows where we'll come out?" Quinn said.
Ty passes by a small carving in the wall. He ran his fingers through the grooves. "Huh… this looks like it's supposed to be some sort if lizard? Or chameleon?"
"Oh, can I see? Might just be a bored employee scratching in the-" Lila leans against the wall beside him. The wall shuddered, startling Lila.
"Whoa, check it out! That section of wall got pushed in a little bit!" Diego pointed out.
"It's the outline of the door! There could be a passage through there!" Aleister examined.
Jake pushed on the hidden door. "HggggGGGH! No use. Gotta be another way to open it."
"There's a wheel valve here on this pipe! Might open the door, but it's chained tight." Ty said, looking at the valve.
"That chain looks sturdy. Here, I've still got that fire extinguisher. Maybe this'll help." Jake handed him the extinguisher, and he sprayed the chain with a jet of gas from the extinguisher.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Diego asked, confused.
"Ty is showing a bit of initiative! CO2 fire extinguishers release gas at drastic sub-zero temperatures." Aleister explained.
"Exactly. So if the chain gets brittle enough.." Ty smashed the extinguisher tank down on the chain. It shattered, freeing the valve.
"I must admit, I'm impressed. I expected you to be more dimwitted." Back-handed compliment notwithstanding, at least Ty got 2 more points with Aleister.
"Thanks." Ty said, spinning the wheel valve and they all heard the gears moving deep within the wall. The hidden door slid aside revealing a small, secret office packed with monitors and files.
"What the…" Jake was confused.
"The computer might have a way out for us." Lila hoped.
"We have to log in, and it needs a password. Looks like it's just 6 letters." Ty said, looking at the login screen.
"There's a sticky note here with some writing…" Diego picked it up and read, "Ram Scorpion Bull Lion. What's that supposed to mean?"
"A password hint?" Quinn offered her input.
"Hmm… Ram Scorpion Bull Lion. What do all of those have in common?" Ty thought to himself. They just seemed like random animals…unless, the animals were just a representation and the names were different. Getting an idea, he sat at the computer and typed in 'ZODIAC'. The computer chimed as it accepted the password.
"Nice! They're all zodiac signs!" That was 2 with Diego.
"Aries, Scorpio, Taurus, Leo! Didn't realize you were so clever, Ty." And 2 with Quinn.
"You ain't seen nothin' yet." Ty looked back at them with a smile.
The screens flicker on, showing security footage of a large room.
"Umm..does that look familiar to anyone else?" Diego asked.
"That's The Celestial's lobby! Look, you can see Raj in the massage chair!" Ty tapped the screen to where Raj was.
"I guess this is so they can monitor if it's safe to return to the resort?" Lila said.
"Oh yeah? Is that why they have cameras in half the suites?" Jake asked, sarcastically.
On the array of monitors was hidden-camera feeds from dozens of empty hotel rooms.
"I get that some people like being watched, but this is just creepy." Diego said.
"I'm suddenly getting a real 80's movie vibe here." Ty commented, shivering in disgust.
"Okay, maybe this is good. There's a microphone here on the desk. Probably means we can call over to the resort somehow." Jake suggested.
"And tell them to meet us at the airstrip!" Quinn followed up.
"See if you can figure out a way to reach them, Ty. We'll look around for a map outta here." Jake told him.
Nodding, he slipped on a pair of headphones and began typing on the computer. Various camera feeds from the resort flipped past until he recognized Sean on screen. A figure walked up and draped their arms around his neck.
"We can't…" Sean said.
"Says who?" Came the voice of Michelle, revealing her as the figure.
"What is this about, Michelle? You wanted to talk, so talk." Sean told her.
Ty was suddenly really curious about what was happening in that room. He would put a pin in it, and glance at another monitor, on it was Zahra rummaging through the restaurant.
"At last, some damn peace and quiet away from those douche-wagons." Zahra said. Douche-wagons was a new insult, he'd add it to his vocabulary for later.
On another screen he noticed Craig heading straight for the restaurant whistling loudly. That won't end well.
"Gonna get some bread… Gonna put it in my head…" Craig sang to himself.
Finally on one more screen Estela marched briskly down a hall. She looked back over her shoulder, as if to make sure no one was watching. If she only knew.
"Hm…" He leaned back for a second thinking. Well since he was here, he might as well, see what was up with everyone. He turned back to the monitor showing Sean's bedroom. He hoped they weren't fucking.
Michelle draped herself against his chest and gazed out the window at the gentle ocean.
"Isn't this view just unbelievably romantic?" Michelle asked.
"I thought you just wanted to talk." Sean said.
"Who said we had to talk with our clothes on?" Michelle suggested. Girl was thirsty, but he had to admit, he respected her initiative.
She pressed Sean down onto the bed and straddled him.
"Michelle-" Sean began.
"Sean, just think about how different this vacation could be. Instead of this… weird fight, we could be the way things were a month ago." Michelle cut him off. "I thought you could maybe even propose to me here. I just want to know why you-"
"Because you cheated on me." It was now Sean's turn to cut her off.
Wow, he had just been kidding about her being thirsty but, damn. Poor Sean.
Michelle's eyes widened, Sean lifted her off of him and stood back up.
"What? Who said that? I didn't-" Michelle tried to defend.
" I know all about it. Okay?" Sean refused to look at her. "Your sorority sisters told me every detail."
Ty didn't know if he would fully trust in the words of a bunch of sorority sisters. Sean probably should double check the facts. Oh well not his relationship or friends.
"Sean,that's not-" Michelle tried again.
"It's not true? That's what you're gonna go with? You're gonna deny it to my face? These are your best friends, Michelle. You're gonna tell me they were lying about you?" Sean asked with anger.
It wouldn't be unheard of, people do it all the time. Michelle fell silent. Even on the grainy screen he could see her eyes beginning to water. Ty felt a twang of his heart, as he felt a little bad for her. Whether she did it or not. He'd admit Sean was being harsh, the man was set on the narrative he was told and wouldn't even listen to her side of the story.
"That's what I thought." Sean said, dejected.
"That's not even what this is about, is it?" Michelle asked quietly. She then grew angry. "No, you… you were looking for an excuse to dump me, weren't you? Just waiting for an easy out!"
Now she was on the offensive, yup, she was definitely hurt by Sean. Ty made a mental note to continue with being nice to her, she'd need a friend.
"Michelle, I…" Sean went to say.
"Oh… Now, I get it. It's so obvious. You'd rather be with Ty, wouldn't you?" Michelle continued her tirade.
Woah, Michelle, he was just feeling sympathetic for her and now… No chill Ty, chill. It was the anger talking. She is looking for anything and everything. Don't take it personally.
"Hang on, now that's not-" Sean tried to interject.
"Not true? That's what you're gonna go with? You're gonna deny it to my face?" Michelle cornered him.
This time, it was Sean's turn to say nothing.
"... That's what I thought." Michelle looked just as dejected as Sean was earlier. She stormed past Sean and out the door.
That had been intense, Ty hoped they all weren't like that. As he noticed not much time had passed with the other monitors. He looked at Zahra's screen.
On-screen, Zahra wandered through the restaurant's back kitchen, noshing on what looked to be a gigantic pastry.
"Hrm? What's this?" Zahra stopped by a strange tower shrouded in a cloth. SHe pulled down the cloth to reveal a towering, elegant tiramisu cake that was at least 7 feet tall.
Oh man that looked good.
"Daaaaamn." Zahra flung the pastry away and stared at the cake for a moment, then kicked out one of the table's legs.
The cake toppled over and crashed on the floor in a huge splat.
Ty internally cried from where he was watching it, it was a waste of good cake.
Zahra snort-laughed, "Ha ha, that was awesome. Tiramisu sucks!" She turned her attention to an industrial freezer, and her eyes lit up. "...Jackpot."
She opened it up and pulled out a 5 gallon tub of ice cream. She pried off the lid and began to eat it straight off the scoop.
"Oh, mama, that's good." Zahra paused.
Over the camera feed, he could hear Craig's whistling grow louder. The show was about to start.
"Aw, you've gotta be-" Zahra started to say.
Craig came into view. He stopped on seeing Zahra with the ice cream. They sized each other up. Oh man, he hoped they wouldn't start brawling over ice cream.
"...Guess you found the ice cream stash too." Craig said.
"...Guess I did." Zahra confirmed.
This was weird. There was a strange tension he could observe between the two. It was almost like…
They stared each other down. Zahra takes a melodramatic lick of the ice cream.
"I found it first, ya know." Craig said.
"I know your brain might be stuck in fifth grade, but are you seriously trying to pull 'Finders Keepers' on me?" Zahra asked.
"Just askin' for a little mutual respect, feel me? Honor among thieves?" Craig answered.
Wow, he didn't know what he expected but this was actually kinda interesting.
Zahra gave Craig the finger. "Honor this."
"Look, Z. I don't like you, and you don't like me-" Craig began.
Oh? A nickname?
"Wow, I didn't know you were capable of such subtle understatement-" Zahra interrupted with one of her remarks.
"-so why don't we just stay out of each other's way, deal?" Craig offered.
"Fine!" Zahra accepted.
"Fine!"
They try to go around each other, but both move in the same direction.
"Go left!" Zahra told him.
"My left or your left?" Craig asked.
"As if you know the difference!" Zahra commented.
Wow, they…were a mess.
Zahra finally squeezed past him with the ice cream tub. Just before she could walk out, she stopped.
"Oh, and Craig? If you tell a soul about… you know… freshman year…" She started her threat. "I'll hack your phone and send your family those photos you saved there. You know, the ones with you and the whipped cream and nothing else?"
Okay, that was more than he needed to know. Gonna need some white noise to get that image out of his head. But freshman year, that was interesting. He wondered what happened between them.
"Pfft! You can't do that." Craig was dismissive.
Zahra just smiled knowingly and left. Craig muttered to himself.
"She can't do that… Right?" Craig was starting to doubt himself.
Okay the horrifying images of Craig notwithstanding, that was very informative. He looked at the last monitor to see Estela still moving quickly through the halls, careful not to be seen. Good, looks like he could still observe this one. It was honestly the one he was most curious about.
As he focused in, Estela picked up the pace, accelerating into a jog as she reached the ballroom. What could she need there?
Watching closely he observed as Estela searched the ballroom top-to-bottom. Barely, he could hear her muttering.
"Come on, where is it?" She stood up and paused. Her eyes coming to rest on something. She walked up to a large painting mounted on the wall.
On the fuzzy screen, it looked to be a sailboat beneath a night sky. She flipped out a pocket knife and slashed the painting, tearing it away, and reaching behind it.
"There." She took something from behind the painting and pocketed it, just as Grace's voice could be heard calling for her.
"Estela? Estela, are you in the ballroom?" Grace could be seen approaching on another screen.
Damnit, he was hoping to find out what it was.
Estela slipped behind one of the large doors, hiding just as Grace entered the ballroom.
"Estela, I was gonna make some food-" Grace walked in cheerfully, only to find not a hint of Estela's presence. "Oh… I could've sworn I saw her coming this way." Grace shrugged and headed back.
Seems Estela didn't do too good a job at getting there unnoticed. Food for thought.
Estela waited a moment, frozen on screen as a blur of pixels. Until finally she decided the coast was clear. She steals down the hallway and vanished out of the camera's sight.
Okay, so not much but informative…kinda. Seems Estela knows some things about the hotel, the rest aren't privy to…but why? And what did she take?
He resumed searching the computer for a way to reach his classmates back at the resort until…
"I…I think I found it! Guys!" Ty activated the microphone and unplugged the headphones so the others could hear.
"You did? We can talk to them? Try it!" Lila told him.
On screen, he could see Raj snoozing in one of the lobby massage chairs. Bless his, Raj, simple heart.
"Zzzzz…: Raj snored.
Ty then got a devilish idea. Best way to wake Raj up is with some excitement.
He cleared his throat and made his voice sound like a haunting ghost. "Rrraaaaajjj… This is the ghooooost of semeeesters paaaaast!"
Raj snapped awake and fell out of his massage chair, which was still vibrating.
"Hu-wha? Oh man, not this trip again!" Raj seemed to think he was high.
Just then, Zahra and Craig returned from the restaurant and saw Raj. They both busted out laughing.
"Yo, Ty, is that you on the speakers? That was hilarious!" Craig said through laughter. Ty got another 2 points with him.
Zahra was laughing so hard, she had to stop to wipe a tear from her eye. "God, I just love humor at the expense of others." That was another 2 with her as well.
"Wait, that's Ty on the speakers? Okay, I'll admit it. That was pretty good." Seemed Raj also took the joke well, as he also gained a point with him.
Ty quickly explained to them what happened at the emergency shelter.
"This is another prank, right? 'Cause this one is a little less funny, Ty." Zahra said.
"Wish it was Zahra. Wish it was." Ty said.
"It's all true. We're heading straight for the airship." Jake backed him up.
"You're leaving?! What the hell? This is our vacation, man! We just got here! Naw, forget that!" Craig said in refusal.
"Craig, dude, I need you to trust me. Please. Get the others, and meet us at the airship." Ty pleaded.
"Trust you? I don't know you, and you don't know me. Why are you trying to ruin everything?" Craig lumbered off angrily, vanishing from view.
Fuck!
"Don't worry, I'll talk to him. We'll be there soon." Raj told them.
"Thanks." Ty was grateful to at least have Raj on his side.
"Keep an eye out. That ssbertooth is somewhere out there. We'll meet you at the plane as soon as we find a way out of here." Jake told Raj and Zahra.
"Yeah, about that…" Diego started.
"We've found absolutely nothing so far. And it will take hours to examine the rest of these files." Aleister finished.
"At this point. I don't think we could even find our way back to where we came in. There has to be something-" Ty was going to say.
"Ty, look!" Quinn got his attention
The little blue fox was hopping up, leaping from the desk, to the top of his head, and up onto a high shelf.
"Mrrmph!"
"The hell's he doing?" Jake asked
"Maybe there's food up there?" Lila suggested.
The fox grabbed the edge of a large binder with his teeth and pulled. It toppled out, hitting the floor with a splat and falling open revealing a schematic of the tunnels.
"The cute little thing found it! That's our way out! We're here, and there's an exit right along this path!" Quinn pointed out, looking over the schematics
"Uh…does that mean this furball understands English?" Jake dropped to his knee in front of the fox. "All that stuff I said before? I didn't mean any of it, okay?"
"Mrmph!" The little fox seemed to accept Jake's words.
Following the schematic, Ty led the group through a right, a left, and a left, to another set of blast doors.
"We found the exit! Let's get these open!" Quinn cheered.
Ty and Jake dragged the heavy doors open.
"Sweet freedom, here we come." Jake said.
"Uh, guys?" Diego got their attention.
Ty peered around the massive blast doors and stared into total darkness. A darkness so deep and empty, it felt like he was standing at the edge of the universe.
"This is absolutely absurd." Aleister commented, an echo ringing out of his last word.
"An echo. Must be some kinda cave." Ty noted.
"Jake, use your flashlight." Quinn looked at the pilot
Jake reached for his belt and cursed. "Damn. Lost it. Must've fallen off when we ran from the tiger. We've gotta push forward anyway."
"Yeah, that's gonna be a hard pass. We have no idea what could be lurking in there, or if there's even really a way out." Diego was skeptical. "My abuelita had an old saying. Where there be sabertooth tigers, there be brain-eating spiders."
Ty looked at his friend with a raised brow, "Really? Did she really?"
"We don't have a choice. We sent the others out to the airstrip, and if we're not there to meet them, they're sitting ducks. We have to push forward." Jake stepped further into the darkness. "Everybody, link up. Grab each other's hands so we don't lose each other in the dark."
Ty hesitated. "I…don't know, Jake…"
"Do you trust me?" Jake asked. He reached out a hand towards Ty.
Biting his lip, Ty accepted Jake's hand. "...A little."
"...Good enough." Jake smiled as Ty stepped forward into the dark.
Into the breach they go.