Mae's eyes shot open. Her phone was ringing. Ugh. Mae didn't have the brain capacity to deal with these things, she just wanted to sleep for, uh, forever?
"Hey," Mae sluggishly answered, picking up the phone.
"Hey. Are you actually gonna come down to the store today?" Bea's familiar voice asked.
Mae searched the bottom of her computer's screen for the time. It was about five in the afternoon.
"Didn't I already?" Mae questioned.
"What? No…?" Bea responded.
Mae could've swore she saw Bea just hours ago.
"I totally did," Mae continued, looking out the window.
"You came to the 'Ol Pickaxe yesterday," Bea explained.
What? Had Mae slept for a day and a half? Was that even possible?
"What? But… okay, I'm coming over," Mae said, looking around for her shoes.
"...Alright," Bea agreed, hanging up. Mae put her shoes on and took a quick look at herself in the mirror. Her fur was sticking up in all different directions. She was a mess. A terrible mess that could somehow sleep for thirty-six hours. Jeez.
It was a nice evening out. The town didn't seem as empty as it had been the few days prior. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, Mae didn't know.
Ding. Bea blew out a puff of smoke before looking up to see Mae.
"There you are. Do you wanna check out the mine or not?" Bea asked.
The mine. Mae had forgotten all about that. But, she definitely still had to check it out. She had to know the truth about the—
Bea laughed, pointing to her head, "What kind of hairstyle is that?"
"Uh, a good one?" Mae jokingly scoffed.
"Heh, alright." Bea chuckled, "Well anyway, are you ready?"
Mae instantly became nervous. What if the cult was there? Then what? They get murdered in the spot for nearly killing the cult? Mae didn't think this was a good idea anymore.
"Uh, I think the real question is: are you ready?" Mae stalled.
"Um, yeah. I've been ready for a few hours," Bea answered.
"Oh. Well then, yeah, I'm ready," Mae continued.
Bea sighed, "Look, if you don't wanna go, then—"
"No. I wanna go," Mae said.
As much as Mae wanted to just go back home and stop thinking about the cult altogether, she had to see the mine. It was better to know than to not. Right?
"Alright, then. Let's roll," Bea responded, beginning to walk towards the door.
The two began walking into the woods, towards the mine that generously hosted the murdercult. The sun was starting to dip low in the sky. But, the two continued.
Mae, however, had begun to feel a headache. Or maybe it was a migraine. Whatever it was, Mae didn't like it. Her vision blurred and her balance was slowly becoming nonexistent. Maybe Mae was right; too much sleep did give her a headache. Or, just maybe, the suppressed idea in the back of her mind was right. Maybe this was because of the goat guy in the bottom of the mine. She hoped not and continued staggering along. Well, that was until Mae tripped and fell over a rock.
"Mae? You okay?" Bea asked.
"Ugh. My head hurts," Mae answered, still lying on the ground.
"Did you fall on your head? Should I take you back to—" Bea continued, becoming nervous.
"No, let's keep going," Mae determinedly answered, attempting to stand back up, before beginning to stumble.
Bea caught her before she fell. "Hey, are you sure you can actually walk the rest of the way?" Bea wondered, "Should I carry you?"
"No, I got it," Mae responded, trying to get up yet again. She, again, began to stumble, before being grabbed by Bea, who lifted her onto her back.
"Grab on, you baby," Bea joked, who had calmed down after seeing that Mae was, mostly, all right.
Mae couldn't believe how Bea was able to carry her fat ass the rest of the way. Sure, there wasn't all that much left to go, but, still. It was amazing. She was amazing.
"Mae, you haven't fallen asleep have you? Cause we're here," Bea explained.
Bea was indeed correct. The two had made it to the mine. The sun had begun to set, and projected oranges and yellows upon the mine and the surrounding construction equipment. And, the construction equipment was as Germ had described it; it was indeed stuff— official stuff, in fact. There were digger things and bulldozer-like things sitting around. The actual opening to the mine, however, wasn't as Mae had expected; it was still covered in rubble. According to Germ, they must have been there at least a few days, yet they hadn't even made a dent into the opening?
"Well, no one's here. And, the mine isn't even close to being opened. So, Mae, I don't think the cult is doing any sort of stuff here. The only thing they're doing here is decomposing under all the rubble in the mine," Bea morbidly stated.
"Yeah, but… Ugh. I don't know. I'm just all confused," Mae responded, examining the construction site.
"About?" Bea asked.
Mae walked over to the mine's entrance, "Come here. Shouldn't the opening have at least a little bit of rubble dig out of the way?"
Bea considered Mae's point, "Hmm… that is kinda weird. But, maybe they're just really lazy, like you."
"But Germ said that they've been loud. How can they be loud if they're not working?" Mae wondered.
"Well, maybe they're just driving the construction equipment around. Or maybe they're just, like, throwing parties or something," Bea said.
Mae didn't think that that was right. That was just making too many assumptions. But, there wasn't any other things to examine, and Mae didn't want to waste anymore of Bea's time.
"...I don't know. Maybe?" Mae responded, despite not believing Bea's explanations.
"Well, if you wanna stay here any longer—" Bea began.
"Nah, let's go," Mae interrupted.
"Alright. Do you need me to carry you again?" Bea asked.
Mae's headache had settled down, and Mae was, for the most part, all right. Sure, she still had some mild throbbing in her head, but she was able to see and walk, so she was fine.
"...Nah, I'm fine. Let's go," Mae answered, beginning to walk out towards town.
The sun was starting to lower behind the horizon, which made the already dark forest even darker. And as such, Bea had pulled out her phone and used the flashlight. But regardless, the two had made it back to town. No cult had shot them and no bear had mauled them.
"Alright, goodnight, Mae," Bea waved, walking towards her abode.
"Bye, Bea!" Mae responded.
The sun set, making way for twilight, and later, night. Mae had made it back home and got herself ready to sleep. She lied down in her bed and closed her eyes.