Darkest Hour:

An Until Dawn Fanfiction

Genre: Drama/Romance

Timeline: Post-Game Events

Deaths: Jess, Matt

Survivors: Josh, Sam, Emily, Ashley, Chris, Mike

Pairings: [Josh/Sam][Mike/Hannah]

Rating: T

A/N: More to come soon! Next chapter is almost done.

Chapter 3:

Uneasy

Everyone - The Lodge - 4:21 am - February 2nd, 2015

They all stood in the dark, coldness of the lodge living room. Mike nursed his throbbing eye, still stinging from the punch Hannah had served him down in the basement while the rest of them waited helplessly. They'd barely been there for longer than a few moments when they heard the horrified screams from outside - Emily.

"Open the door!" she shrieked, her fists banging on the glass as she begged them to let her inside. It was Mike who pried it open as Emily fell to the ground inside, crawling and clawing her way in quickly to the safety of the lodge. "Shut the door! Lock it! Board it up-"

"Oh my God, Em!" Ashley said, helping her friend up and leading her towards the couch so she could sit and catch her breath. "What happened?"

"Are you alright? You were screaming bloody murder," Chris worried.

"I didn't think I'd make it," Emily cried.

"You look awful-" Sam chimed, but stopped when Emily's fingernails dug into her arms and Emily stared at her with terror in her eyes.

"There was something after me!" Emily gripped Sam even tighter, trembling from fear and the cold.

"Wait, Em… Where's Matt?" Mike asked her, but she didn't answer, just kept rambling on about a monster chasing after her.

"...a-and it was so fast! I have no idea what that thing was but it had sharp teeth a-and claws and-"

"W-w-wait, Em, calm down," Sam assured her friend, smoothing down her hair comfortingly. "It was Josh, he was just messing with us-"

"No, Sam! You're not listening to me!" Emily snapped, yanking herself away and running her nails through her hair exasperatedly. She placed a hand on her racing heart, trying to calm herself down.

"What do you mean a monster?" Chris asked skeptically.

"She means a wendigo," Hannah finally said, and she almost relished in the way Emily's jaw dropped and her eyes flickered with recognition when she realized who she was.

"H-Hannah?" Emily breathed. "Wh-... how?"

"What the hell is a wendigo?" Chris added. Hannah sighed, unzipping her coat.

"Believe me, you don't want to know," she mumbled, and everyone jumped a bit when Mike slammed his hand down against the coffee table.

"Damn it, Hannah! Would you quit being so cryptic and just tell us what the fuck going on?" he yelled. Hannah's eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched as she stepped towards Mike. He swallowed, lowering his voice. "If you know what's going on, just tell us."

"None of you should have come back here," Hannah warned them, shaking her head. Her eyes swept the room, landing on each of them only briefly as she went on. "There's a curse on this mountain-"

"What?" Mike scoffed flatly, but shut up when Hannah's glare intensified.

"You don't have to believe me, Mike," she spat. "But you will. I've seen them for myself. They are monsters - and they're nearly impossible to kill. They're thin, but they're incredibly fast and strong. They can kill you before you even get a chance to run-"

"Yes!" Emily nearly shouted, standing and hurrying over to Hannah's side. "I-I've seen them! One was after me but th-this man… he saved me-"

"Wait, who?" Hannah said, gripping onto Emily's arm. "Who saved you? Did he have a flame thrower?"

"Y-yes. He gave me this pack with flares and threw me down into the mines to get away… I don't know what happened to him, there were so many of them. We were outnumbered-"

"Shit," Hannah growled, running over to her tank and beginning to strap it back on.

"Hannah, wait, do you know him?" Sam wondered, nearing her quickly when she saw the panic in Hannah's face.

"I-I gotta get out of here. I need to get to the mines-"

Everyone froze at the sound of a gut-wrenching shriek from outside, then another, seemingly circling the lodge.

"What the fu-" Mike uttered, only to be shushed instantly by Hannah. She crouched, nearing one of the windows. The soft sounds of everyone's heavy breathing filled the silence of the lodge, until Josh let out an uncomfortable giggle from the corner of the living room, where Sam had left him. Hannah snapped her fingers at Sam, a way of telling her to shut Josh up, as she crept towards the glass.

Sam glanced at Josh and exhaled - she didn't know why it was her who was put on Josh's watch, but she couldn't let everyone die just because Josh had no control over himself right now. She knelt beside him, trying to soothe him, when he took ahold on her hand and squeezed it tightly. Sam sucked in a sharp breath, suddenly overcome with emotion as he just stared into her eyes. Deep down, she knew the Josh she cared about was in there - trapped. She scooted down beside him and let him lean his head on her as they watched Hannah assess the situation.

Another cry ripped through the air outside, and Ashley whimpered, gripping onto Chris and hiding her face in the fabric of his coat.

Hannah stood now, nearing the center of the room with determination, "they followed Emily."

"You led them here?" Mike suddenly shot in Emily's direction, accusingly.

"Oh, sorry Mike! I was scared for my life, not trying to figure out a way to trick them!" Emily sneered back.

"Enough," Hannah snapped at both of them. "If they make it in here, we're in big trouble-"

"Wait," Chris spoke up, shaking Ashley off of him. "How would they even do that? Aren't they like an animal or something?"

"More like humans," Hannah reasoned, before adding, "well… they used to be. If any human gives into cannibalism on this mountain, they will become possessed by the spirit of the wendigo. After that they change."

"How do we get away from them?" Sam wondered. Hannah shrugged.

"We don't. We just have to be quiet and hope they don't get in here," she told her, zipping her coat. "You guys need to get back down to the basement-"

"W-w-wait now. You guys? Hannah, you're not going back out there," Mike ordered, to which Hannah just rolled her eyes.

"You might have been voted class president in high school but you are not in charge here, Mike-"

"Someone has to be," he countered.

"I am!" Hannah seethed.

Suddenly there was a burst of sound, glass shattering on the floor of the lodge, causing Ashley and Chris both to shout out in surprise.

"What the hell was what?" Sam said, her voice hoarse.

"I think something just got thrown through a window-" Emily deduced.

"Hold on, I'll check it out," Mike offered bravely, but had barely made it a few steps into the dining room before he saw that Hannah was right beside him, her hand gripping onto the torch in her hand. They neared the dark, round object on the floor that had just been hurled through the window from outside. Mike's heart thumped steadily in his chest the closer they got and the more the object began to take shape - it was a head. A human head.

"What the fuck!" Mike exclaimed, turning away from it and grabbing onto Hannah's shoulders to keep her from coming any closer - but he didn't stop her from seeing what it was.

Tears blurred Hannah's eyes when she realized what was on the floor in front of them. It wasn't just any human head.

"Wait," Hannah said with a sob in her throat, trying to push passed Mike as he held her in place. "Wait, wait… let me go… Mike…" she began to cry, desperately trying to free herself of his hands just to be sure. But she didn't have to see it to know the truth. The head belonged to the man who'd found her - the man who saved her life a year ago and taught her everything she knew over this last year.

The stranger who'd never even so much as told her his name.

"We need to get out of here, Hannah. You don't need to see that," Mike tried to comfort her, but she finally yanked away from him and nearly fell to the ground right in front of the man's head, his eyes staring dully right at her.

"No," Hannah wept, tears falling down her cheeks. Another scream of a wendigo tore through the lodge, much closer this time. This time when Mike looked outside, he saw exactly what Hannah had been talking about - a long, thin, toothy creature staring back at him.

"Everyone down to the basement!" Mike shouted, grabbing Hannah up by the arm and pulling her away from the dining room. "Now!"

Hannah - The Sanitarium - Early March, 2014 - Last Year

Hannah stared at the etchings on the wall of her prison cell - of course, it wasn't an actual prison cell, but it sure felt like one at this point.

She couldn't remember how long she'd been there now, but by counting her tick marks she was estimating that it was somewhere near a month now. From her small, barred window she could look outside, growing more and more claustrophobic as the days went on and the snow just wouldn't melt. The strange man had told her that wouldn't be until June or so, and it left an unsettled knot in her stomach as she thought about everyone out there missing her.

She just wanted to go home.

Hannah glanced down at her leg, which still ached on occasion but seemed like it was mostly healed. She hadn't been brave enough to put a whole lot of pressure on it again - she wanted nothing more than for it to mend fully so she could make her escape.

Something else she'd realized was that there were no monsters like the man had warned. She'd never actually seen anything down in the mines, and since she'd been held in that hospital, she'd never seen anything there, either. She was beginning to realize that the man who had her locked up was clearly insane and had no intention of letting her go. If she wanted to get out, she was going to have to figure it out on her own.

Hannah's one sliver of joy in this dreary, new existence was Balto, a husky. He belonged to the man, but had taken quite a liking to Hannah. In the month or so she'd been there, he'd hardly left her side.

"What's his name?" Hannah had asked the man one night as she absently smoothed down the dog's fur. The dog looked up at her as though he knew she was talking about him. The man only grunted.

"No point namin' 'im. They don't last long up here, anyway."

Hannah frowned, leaning down to the creature's ear as she snuggled him, "don't worry, Balto. I won't let anything happen to you." He softly licked against her cheek and huffed, closing his eyes to dream of chasing rabbits in the snow.

It wasn't long after that that The Stranger finally let her out of her cell. He said her injured leg was now ready to be walked on.

"You'll be needin' t' gain your strength back if ya hope t' survive this mount'n."

As soon as her cell opened, she considered bashing into him and making a run for it. But taking a few steps told her that was a horrible idea. Her leg was practically numb or tingly with a dull ache. And he had guns, flamethrowers, and knives on his side (and a few huskies, even though Hannah hoped they would never attack her).

So she walked past him slowly, eyeing him from the side to make sure he didn't try anything. She swore that as soon as she was able, she would leave. And take Balto with her. He didn't deserve to stay in this place anymore than she did. And seeing how he stayed right beside her every step she took, having a concerned expression in his deep eyes (too deep for a dog, but she couldn't imagine what kind of things the poor animal had been through), she knew that he would follow her when she escaped.

"Funny how strong th' human spirit is," The Stranger commented from behind her, "I see ya lookin' at me - wishin' ther' was a way t' kill me."

Hannah didn't turn around when she answered, "I don't want to kill anyone. I'm not a killer."

"Don't speak so soon, girl!" His voice rose and he stepped in front of her. His beady eyes stared at her with a squint, "Ya don't yet know what's waitin' for ya."

"You mean like my friends and family?"

He waved her off, "They ain't waitin' for ya. Yer dead like that other girl."

"But I'm NOT!"

"But ya will be!" He got in her face, "This mount'n killed yer sist'r, those monsters - the wendigos. Don't ya want t' avenge her? Fig're out what happened t' her? Fig're out a way t' make it not happ'n again? What will ya do if ya go home now? Mourn? Sulk? Lose tha' fightin' spirit of yers? Wish ya coulda done somethin' to save her? Ya can't leave an' let this eat yer soul, 'cause that's how ya become something' oth'r than yer'self."

Hannah hadn't noticed, but tears burned her vision before slipping down her cheeks from his speech. He was bad had obviously happened to him in the past and now here he was, living out the rest of his days in isolation because he couldn't bear looking at himself. And maybe he had no one to go home to and thus created a home for himself here.

"You don't know anything about me," she whispered harshly before turning away from him to walk slowly in another direction. Her tears made it hard to see. She felt Balto's fur still beneath her fingertips.

A few more weeks past and Hannah was finally able to walk almost normally. One day as she was wandering around the sanitorium, she took the key that she knew locked her cell. She knew he would notice if it was gone when he put her back in her cell, so she taught the smart huskey which key she was talking about when she made three snaps with her fingers. She kept rubbing it between her palms to get her scent completely on it and let him smell it.

So when night fell and he locked her in the cell and then left to go hunt these 'monsters', leaving Balto with her, she clicked her fingers and Balto went to the key ring that contained the right key and brought it to Hannah. Her hands shook with anxiety as she tried to reach her hands through the bars and unlock the lock. She only dropped it a few times before she heard the glorious click and the separation in her hands.

"I promise I will get you only the best food and toys when we get home," Hannah promised Balto as she hugged and loved on him. But only for a moment. They had to leave now.

Hannah exited the sanitorium with Balto by her side. The winter air hit her hard, and she was once again left to wander the mountain without a jacket. And she ran. She had little sense of where she was, but she just knew she had to get away from there and hope that she found something she recognized to help her in her escape.

Unfortunately, it didn't take her long to get tired. Her leg was starting to give out on her and she hardly got any exercise in the last few months. She had to find someplace to stop for the night.

And it wasn't much longer after that when she came across the cabin. She knew there was matches in there to start a fire. But the smoke might draw The Stranger's attention...well, at the very least, there were blankets.

But before she could get close enough to get inside, there was a loud cracking in the woods. Balto began growling and barking. She tried to shush him, thinking it was just The Stranger coming to look for her, but Balto wasn't stopping.

"Balto, stop, please!"

Another loud crack and then a horrifying creature with long limbs made its appearance from behind the trees. Balto barked louder and Hannah's voice was only caught in her throat for a second before she let out a terrified scream. The monster shrieked as well, it's sharp teeth prominent when the long, inhuman shaped mouth opened.

She turned to run, the pain in her leg shooting right up to her spine. She yelped and fell in the snow and then was unable to pull herself back up in her haste. She was panicking but there was no way to calm herself as the creature kept getting closer and closer, moving from tree to tree with unnatural speed.

Balto's barks grew hoarse but he kept at it. Hannah tried screaming over him, but it was no use. Her limbs were suddenly like jello and the monster was almost on her.

Then another sound - a loud woosh - happened behind her, followed by instant heat. It was fire. She laid her face down on her arms in the snow, just wishing the moment was over already. She heard the screech of the creature again, but then it sounded more distant as if it was retreating.

Balto was still barking.

"Hush now!" It was The Stranger's voice. Balto stopped.

Hannah was very aware of her deep breaths. She heard footsteps come close to her head. She was almost too embarrassed and scared to look up, but when his gruff voice demanded she get up, she knew she had no choice. She at least owed it to him to listen. He just saved her from certain death.

"Yer lucky I don't just let that thing tear you limb from limb," he scolded her, and Hannah knew he was right. He might as well have let her die, and yet, he didn't.

Hannah stood, still hanging her head, "I-I want to go home," her voice quaked.

"This is yer home now," was his short response. He grabbed her arm, turning to lead her back towards the direction of the hospital. "It ain't safe out here and I can't protect ya if yer gonna run off, ya hear me? The next time ya leave, I don't come after ya. Let the wendigos decide what to do with ya."

That was the first and last time Hannah tried to escape.

He might have been crazy, but he was right about those creatures, and she owed him her life not once, but twice. She knew if there was any chance of making it home again, she had to play by his rules, at least for now.

Back at the sanitarium, after his initial anger wore off, the man brought her some beans he'd heated up over his small burner. He set it down in front of her, but she didn't even look at the peace offering, nor did she look at him when he pulled up a seat beside her. Her leg was throbbing from all of the exertion and she just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up.

"Ya miss yer family, dontcha?" Hannah closed her eyes at his words and felt tears continuing to roll down her cheeks. She shook her head, leaning it back against the bars of her cell. "I know how ya feel," he went on. Hannah said nothing, just listened to the sound of her heart beating in her chest and the old man's words.

"I ain't seen my own in… well, it's been a long time."

"What happened to them?" Hannah finally croaked. He just hummed to himself, shaking his head and leaning back in his chair.

"Don't matter." Silence settled between the two of them for a moment before Hannah finally reached for the food. The man nodded approvingly, then sighed. "I know ya wanna get outta here. And ya will. But for now, ya gotta trust me."

"What are those things?" she finally asked, and it was then she learned all about wendigos and how he'd been on that mountain for years and years, doing what he could to keep everyone who ventured out there, safe. It gave her a new understanding, but certainly didn't make her ache in her chest for home cease.

"Why were ya out in that storm, anyway?"

"My friends…" she began, swallowing down the knot in her throat. "My friends upset me. I ran out to get away from them."

"And yer sister?" The tears formed again and Hannah's throat felt like it was on fire.

"She came after me. To protect me." He grunted, shaking his head again, somberly.

"I'm sorry about yer sister. This mountain has claimed many more than just her, ya know."

She didn't. But she was starting to.

"How do we stop it?" Hannah asked plainly. Aside from her grief, she was suddenly overcome with pure rage.

"Ya mean tha wendigos?"

"How do we kill them?"

"There's the fire I've been lookin' for," he sad proudly. He stood, giving a stretch. "I'll learn ya up good. Yer first lesson starts tomorrow. Make sure ya rest up, now that yer leg is healed."

"Tomorrow?"

"Dawn," he reiterated. "We begin at dawn."

Everyone - The Basement - 5:56 am - February 2nd, 2015

Mike twirled the gun around his finger carelessly, his eyes burning into one fixed place on the wall - anything other than meeting Emily's death-gaze as she sat on the desk across from him with her knees to her chest. He'd just threatened to kill her - something he never imagined doing in his life. But once they'd made it to the safety of the basement they'd noticed that she'd been bitten.

He was cold, exhausted, and fairly certain his nose was broken, thanks to Hannah.
Sam looked utterly traumatized by what Josh had done to her, and yet was forced to keep him contained in a bear hug on the ground. His incoherent mumblings were the only sound among the seven friends… if they could even call themselves that now.

Chris had secretly chosen to save Josh over Ashley, something only Josh and Chris knew at the time - he was keeping it from her, hoping that it didn't slip out among Josh's hushed but constant whispers. They still didn't know if Emily's bite was going to turn, and they certainly didn't know if they were going to survive the night.

They only knew three things for sure: Jess was dead. Matt was missing…. And Hannah Washington was very much alive, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed and her face somber.

Mike's eyes met hers, but she was quick to dodge them; they instead fell easily and sympathetically upon her brother. He was rocking back and forth, trying to self-soothe. Sam sat right beside him, trying to keep him from floating too far away.

Hannah walked towards the both of them, kneeling down in front of her big brother; so many times in their lives he'd taken care of her. He'd help her with science projects, her boy troubles… he was the epitome of a perfect big brother to her, even in spite of all of his shortcomings.

As she knelt before him, extending her hand out towards his face, trying again to prove to him that she was real... she was real.

He still saw her as a monster - the horrible image of her that had haunted him for the last year. He shied away from her touch, turning himself inward towards Sam and holding onto her tightly as he buried his face into the crook of her neck like a terrified child. Hannah's face fell, and Sam gave her a helpless look.

She offered Hannah an apologetic, "I just… I think he needs a little more time-"

"And meds," Mike piped up, and he received two more glares in return. In the distance, they could still hear the ominous, ceaseless screeches of the wendigos out in the night.

"Well, I'm not about to be a sitting duck," Hannah announced, standing abruptly. She walked with determination back to her coat, beginning to pull the fire tank onto her back.
"You're not seriously going back out there?" Chris asked flatly, a terrified Ashley peering from behind him with wide, curious eyes.

"Listen, I've been working on these things for the last year; I'm not leaving this mountain until I finish what I started."

"Hannah, please," Sam whispered harshly.

"Those things aren't going to give up until they've killed us all. They have enough strength to rip a human head clean from its body. I hardly think that our flimsy, basement door is going to keep them out."

"Fine, get yourself killed. It's not like we haven't gotten used to the idea for the last year…" Emily spat sarcastically, but the look on everyone's faces afterwards made her shrink under their gazes. Hannah ignored her, a habit she'd perfected long ago.

"Hannah's right," Mike contributed.

"I really don't need you to agree with me," Hannah snapped back at him.

"So you're saying you need me to disagree?" Mike shot in return, tense sparks flying between the two. He sighed, "Look, I know you hate me. And you can show me just how much when we get outta here, but right now, we need to do this together."

Hannah fastened the tank and her weapons onto her body, "Did you write that motivational speech in high school, or did you just now come up with it?"

"Hannah," Sam interrupted; she didn't want a war to start before they even exited the basement. She stood up, trying her best to ignore Josh desperately reaching for her, "I can't even imagine what you've been through this past year. And doing it all alone. ...But, Hann," Sam reached for her best friend's hands, squeezing them and looking into her dark eyes, "we're all here now, so don't go out there by yourself. Let us help. Tell us what to do."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Emily stepped forward, her hand in the air, "I want to get the fuck out of here more than anyone, but what are we supposed to do about him?" She pointed down to Josh, "If we bring him out, he's just going to get us killed."

"I'll keep him safe," Chris said, standing next to Josh, "Don't worry about him slowing you down, Em, I'll go at his pace and still make it out of here."

"But Chris, he-," Ashley started, but quickly stopped when Chris held up a hand. It didn't go unnoticed to her that he could barely look at her now.

"He's my best friend, I'm not just going to abandon him."

They all fell silent. Hannah looked around at her group - the very people she was closest to a year ago. And now they were all going to have to fight for their lives together.

She nodded, "All right, here's the plan…"

To Be Continued...