I cried out at the horrible pain in my hands. Zoey sighed, annoyed at my refusal to comply.
"I know it hurts, but you have to disinfect them. Who knows what you could pick up here?" she asked disapprovingly. I exhaled sharply through gritted teeth and grudgingly extended my hands for the second time. She poured a tiny amount of the clear liquid onto the deep gouges from the stone, mingling with the blood seeping from my raw flesh. I bit down hard on my lip to stop myself crying out again – it felt like my hands were being set alight. Zoey just set her lips in a stony line and put away the bottle. She carefully applied a layer of white cream, soothing them somewhat, and bandaged them in clean white strips of cloth.

"We stay here tonight," she addressed Bill. He nodded, not looking up from polishing his sword. I immediately objected.
"We don't have to. I'm not some invalid that needs looking after! I'll be fine," I lied. The last thing I wanted to do was leave the safety of the cave. Bill glanced at me briefly.
"No, you won't," he contradicted me. "You can't do anything with those hands. Stop complaining, please." I figured that wasn't so much a request as a command, so I shut up.

"Anyway, we're going through caves next – very dangerous. We need to prepare for it," he commented. "Plus, we've been walking all day. We can't carry on all the way to the next stop. We stay here tonight, and then move in the morning." We nodded in agreement and Bill sat next to the cave entrance, his back leant against the hard stone wall.
"I'll take first watch," he instructed. "We can move early tomorrow."
I sighed and glanced around the cave. It was fairly linear, with a sort of zigzag pattern. I chose a corner that looked relatively smooth-floored, arranged my pack into as comfortable a position as possible, and lay down, certain I wouldn't be able to sleep. As soon as my head hit the floor, I went out like a light.

What felt like seconds later, Zoey woke me. I dragged myself to the opening of the cave and tried to position myself comfortably against the wall. Gazing out, I saw something black standing motionless on the plain. I squinted at it and saw several others join it. Wary of the figures, I watched them, motionless, as they ambled aimlessly around. Over time, I noticed they were slowly, but surely, getting closer.

I shook Chris awake – it was his shift next, so he wouldn't mind.
"What's wrong?" he mumbled, only half-awake. I dragged him to the entrance and pointed out the figures, so eerily dark in the dim light. Chris took a flashlight from his pack and was about to turn it on the creatures when I put a warning hand on his arm.
"We don't know what they are," I told him. "Be careful."

He nodded his assent and pointed the flashlight at the closest figure. It outlined first a pair of legs, then a torso and arms. It was a person! We shared a shaky grin and Chris cupped his hands around his mouth, calling out to them.
"Hey!" The figure raised its head questioningly.
"Over here!" shouted Chris. It turned towards us and stared, then ran up to the others. It appeared to be conversing with them. It turned back towards us and started forward. The flashlight illuminated it again, and we could see its full appearance.

I froze in shock. I could hear Chris swearing behind me as he tried to wake the others. Bill woke at once – perhaps he wasn't even asleep – and ran up behind me.
"What is it?" he snapped. I gabbled out something intelligible and he leant out of the opening to investigate. His eyes landed on the creatures and widened in horror.
"Move, move, move!" he yelled at us, yanking Zoey to her feet. He pushed me in front of him, pausing only to throw my pack at me, and led us to the back of the cave. His flashlight revealed a small doorway-like opening in the side of the tunnel. He ducked through first, followed by me, then Chris and Zoey. I heard peculiar grunting noises coming from the cave behind us, and knew the things were catching up.

I slid down a steep slope of smooth stone and landed heavily, pausing to catch my breath. A cry behind me made me whip my head around to the sight of Zoey, on the ledge above me, flat out on her back. Chris was already halfway down the slope and tried to help her, but to no avail. She tried to get up, but her ankle buckled beneath her and she collapsed again. I launched myself at the smooth rock, trying to find a handhold, but it was too steep and I couldn't climb it. Helplessly, I watched as the nightmare figures oozing green blood converged on her, roughly hewn gold blades flashing in the torchlight.

"Mike! Bill! Chri- Ah!" she yelled in pain as one of the things brought its weapon down hard, the resounding thud echoing through the cave.
"Zoey!" I cried back. Chris pushed me forward and shouted,
"We can't help her! Go!" I gritted my teeth and forced myself to leave her, fleeing through the never-ending cave after Bill, trying to escape from the terrible creatures of the Nether.

Yes! Steve (My writers block) was holding me up for ages before I finally finished this, so sorry about that...