It was just a brusque booby trap launched in their feet as a first loud warning from God, yet it felt like the end of the world, the end of them.

She felt the anger of the Earth invading her nose, the rumble of its voice pounding her bones and its powerful weight hitting her spine and legs, but she remained humble as she rode out the earthstorm, keeping her face protected in a bubble of air.

Then, it stopped, as brusquely as it began.

Shaken but alive, coughing but breathing, Scully spat out dirt and saliva then crawled over her bag, funneling her way through debris; rushing forward to reach Mulder.

She quickly found his feet then his legs. When he felt her, Mulder contorted his body and grabbed her hands in his, pulling her slightly up.

"Scully, are you okay?" he asked, squeezing her fingers, her head resting on his belly.

"Yeah, I think so," she said, tears cleansing fear and dirt from her eyes. "You?"

"I think I was a bit less in the shitstorm than you, Scully… Wait, let's see."

Mulder fumbled, then caught his flashlight.

"It came from behind you, Scully," beaming the tunnel in the direction they came from. "It's hard to say…but…it seems… Well, I wouldn't be surprised it completely blocked our way back."

"What?"

"We have to keep moving, Scully. We have to leave this hellish hole."

She could feel his warmth soothing her, and, even if their embrace was askew and uncomfortable, she didn't want to part their bodies. Not yet.

"I'm tired, Mulder. Can't we just rest a minute? Just breathe?" she managed to plead.

"That's the point, Scully. To breathe fresh air. Turn around and grab your bag, then follow me," he ordered, gently caressing her hair. "I promise to properly hug you tight, as long as the night, when we're out and safe."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, and whatever else you would need, hon'."

XXXXXX

Scully, against her best will but following Mulder's voice of reason, had crawled backwards to her backpack, managed to wrap one strap around her right feet then had moved forward, dragging her bag behind her.

Mulder was leading the way, easing the path for Scully, pushing or putting aside the blocks of hard soil and roots that had fallen.

The hole quickly became wider, uncongested and safer, speeding up their progress.

"There's definitely an exit!" Mulder suddenly shouted. "I can see some brightness! Come on, Scully."

Since their entrance in the cavern hours ago at twilight, night might have settled for good; and if they couldn't expect much for light or clearness when out, anything but the dark hole would feel like stepping in a midday sun.

"Here I am, Scully! Let's see what we have."

Scully, still behind Mulder for a half-minute crawl, stopped and smiled, now seeing his legs standing outside and the beam of his flashlight waving around.

"Oh! This is steep, Scully…Damn…Still dangerous… We have to watch out where we step, Scu—"

Scully heard a strange noise, then an awful gutting scream: "Aaaaaaaahhhhh!"

"Mulder? Mulder!" she yelled out loud while rushing to the exit.

Lying face down, her feet and bag still in the hole, Scully desperately stared at the precipitous slope starting below her then fading into a dark and dense vegetation.

"Mulder! Mulder!"

She lit the way where he might have vanished but she could see nothing.

"Mulder! Mulder!"

She screamed many Mulders in the green void, many times.

She heard nothing in return.

Then, exhausted, she burst into bitter sobs.

And, as she lifted her head and looked up at the sky —through a hole in the canopy just above— she let her anger reach up to the stars.

"THIS IS NOT HAPPENING! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!"