Jake sat alone beside the fire. He couldn't say that he was upset to take on the duty of welcoming their newest companion. Having quiet, secluded moments always made him feel at ease. The crackling and the heat reminded him of his nomadic days, having the pleasure of sleeping beneath the stars with the distant embrace of flames lulling him to the land of dreams. Nothing would ever bring him as much joy as that. Him, his thoughts and nature. Simple, the way life was meant to be lived.
As he sat there, zoning out with his gaze fixed to the dancing fire, Jake found himself entering a state of long lost tranquility when-
"Ah! No!-" A female voice shouted from across the fire, prompting Jake to make his way over in a flurry of rushed movements. Here it goes.
Once he maneuvered around the flames, he found a blonde woman writhing on the ground with a face full of sparkling tears. She was a freshie. No blood or carnage on her. Jake was met with a mental sigh because this meant he had a ton of explaining to do, even though the newbies could hardly ever grasp their hellish reality until they were actually knee deep in it.
As soon as she laid her eyes on him, she cowered away, shuffling through the dirt while still remaining on her hands and knees. He put his arms up and backed away to convey that he intended no harm.
"It's okay, it's okay," He said as softly as he could. A frightened breath left her. Then she sniffed back some tears and pleadingly peered up at him.
"What happened- I- I- those black… things were trying to get me…" Between her stuttering she made it to her feet, shaking like a leaf the whole way.
"You're okay," He consoled the stranger, remaining firmly planted in his spot. The last thing he needed was for her to run off on him, to get lost in those forsaken woods that surrounded them.
"Where am I? Did you find me? I- I had to of… It had to be a dream…" Her frantic, senseless questions hardly meant anything to him. He knew that there was no point in even addressing them because whatever had happened in the moment before she was dragged into the darkness was useless to evaluate. She needed to be swiftly introduced to her new life, not concerned with the previous.
"Look," He said as evenly as he could, "I need you to listen to me, okay?"
"O- okay, okay," She cried, still stuck in the cycle of hyperventilating.
"I'm Jake, and I am not here to hurt you. I want to help you. What's your name?"
She helplessly wiped at the tears in a desperate attempt to pull herself together. "I'm Kate… What's going on? How… How…"
His heart lurched at how lost and scared she sounded, but he couldn't just sit there and coddle her until the fog came. They needed to get down into the lab with Meg and Dwight as soon as possible, yet he wasn't sure that she would go willingly without him gaining her trust first. How on earth was a confused, frightened person supposed to not find it suspicious that they were being led down into some shifty looking hatch in the middle of the woods? That sounded like it came straight from a human trafficking awareness PSA.
"Okay, Kate, I have two friends named Meg and Dwight waiting for us. We need to go and meet up with them because right now we are not safe here." Obviously, the campfire was the safest place to be but he couldn't let her know that. He needed to tell her something that would urge her into the lab.
"Wait, wait- I don't understand-" Just as a sob overtook her perplexed words, Jake took a very careful step closer to her, though it seemed to only make her snap as her tear blurred eyes adjusted enough to see that he was smothered in blood, "- Stay back! Oh God-"
She started fearfully backing away from him, which sent Jake into panic mode. "Please don't run, Kate- I know that I look crazy but I promise you, I promise I'm not. Me and my friends are here to help you, just let us do that, okay?"
Something in his genuine, beseeching tone must've struck a chord in her, as Kate nodded after a few moments of crying and staring at him, searching his eyes for the shred of truth. It was all he had to offer, after all. He really was just trying to help her. Kate could feel it.
"Okay," She said on a quivering exhale, nodding too.
"Good, alright. What we need to do right now is go out in that direction," He gestured to where the hatch door was, though all that could be viewed was a wall of shadows and the eerie outlines of trees, "Out there is a door that leads down into a- a shelter, of sorts, and we are going to be safe there. That is where my friends are. We have to move quickly when we get out there because there is something in these woods with us."
She didn't say anything. Just stared at him with unease, which had Jake continuing, "You have to trust me. I know you have no reason to, but you need to. Please." With that, Kate's uncertain legs carried her toward him, looking more like a lost fawn than a grown woman.
"Stay beside me and you'll be okay," Jake advised once she was in his midst, eyeing up the shadows ahead.
Together, they breached through the darkness.
Once Meg and Dwight departed from their little date, they had taken the time to snoop around the new room that they'd discovered. Aside from the bed, there wasn't much in the way of furniture in the room. No shelves to house tons of equipment and random artifacts, unlike the lab. Not even a bedside table. Just the rotting cot and an overwhelming amount of empty syringes and random litterings of trash. The only thing of real interest was a door in the wall opposite to the bed and a small control panel beside it, which featured only two short levers.
When Dwight had cautiously swung the door open, he was met with a cool gust of air sweeping out from the dark space. It was far too numerous with its shadows for him to discern anything aside from the stairs that led down, which came as a shock to him. This place went deeper than he thought. But he didn't get a chance to explore it as Meg had come across something peculiar that was hiding underneath the bed.
"Woah, look at this," She said excitedly, brandishing a tattered journal from the narrow space between the mattress and the wall.
Just as he closed the door and turned to face her, they heard the familiar whine of the laboratory's hatch open and slam close, meaning Jake had returned with the newcomer. Dwight and Meg strode out into the main room to greet them, however the introduction would go on to take a strange route.
As soon as Jake entered with a trembling Kate in tow, Meg dropped the journal she was holding out of pure shock.
"Oh my God," Meg said with a slack jaw as she focused on the stranger, which made everyone in the room give the redhead a puzzled look. Meg glanced around at them as if her reaction was due to a very obvious reason, yet no one said anything at all. How could they not know?
Meg looked back at the stranger and blurted out, "You're Kate Denson. My God- My mom loves you."
Dwight's gaze landed on Kate, neither her name nor face ringing a bell. What the hell was going on?
"She's a country singer," Meg clarified loudly, announcing it to the room, "She's really famous. I can't believe you guys don't know who she is!"
Kate stood there silently, feeling a tad aloof despite her heart tugging over the girl's innocent reaction at seeing her. If it had been any other circumstance, Kate would have obliged her enthusiasm with every ounce of charm she possessed. But given everything she witnessed and endured in the last ten minutes, she wasn't exactly forthcoming when face to face with a starstruck fan, which was exactly how Meg was behaving.
"I can't believe this right now," The girl continued, looking between Kate and Dwight for some sort of reaction from either of them, as she was now growing embarrassed for causing a scene. Dwight had no clue what to even say about the whole revelation, Jake being in the same boat. As for Kate, she suddenly decided that she didn't want to leave Meg hanging since clearly everyone else was, all despite her severe discomfort.
"It's… nice to meet you," She tried to say with her utmost polite tone, however it fell short by miles and came out as a tense mutter.
"Yeah, you too…" Meg said in a way that transitioned quickly into bleakness. She was beginning to realize that absolutely no one was safe in their world. For the majority of average people, it can feel like celebrities are invincible. Worldly struggles hardly ever seem to come close to them and their shield of millions of dollars. But that wasn't the case for Kate. And that made Meg feel so disheartened. People would be devastated to find out that such a big, shining star in the music sphere was missing. It would be a massive story, no doubt.
She imagined her mother hearing about it on the news, sitting on the couch with all her blankets and pillows while gasping in shock over the mystery. What a wild coincidence it was.
"Uhh… Okay…" Jake said as his eyes shot around, making sure no one else wanted to add anything more to the bizarre moment before he told them, "I'm letting everyone know right now that I'm testing something."
"And that is?" Dwight asked.
"The hatch door. I want to know if the fog can get to us down here if it's closed," He replied. Sounded like a pretty damn good experiment to all of them. It would be amazing if they could possibly avoid facing the trials.
"There's something else," Meg added after she got over her initial shock of seeing the Kate Denson. She knelt down and retrieved the dropped journal, holding it up for Jake and Kate to view, saying, "I found this."
Jake's expression flooded with intrigue as he stated earnestly, "We definitely need to read that."
So they all gathered around the island counter in the middle of the lab. Meg watched as Jake perched himself in the same spot where she and Dwight had almost gotten down and dirty the last time they were alone there, making her mentally chuckle. Poor guy. If only he knew.
Meg leaned against the opposite edge of the counter, with Dwight coming up beside her. Meanwhile, Kate awkwardly made her way over beside Jake, trying to include herself despite her pervading confusion. Usually there would be some time taken by one of them to get her somewhat up to speed with the rules of the trials, she had just caught them at the wrong time. They were all simply too invested with the mystery to prioritize her.
The leatherbound journal parted at the first page by Meg's eager hands, her being met with lines of swirly penmanship that appeared very old, not anything like the crappy cursive they were all taught in school. It pointed to the vintage age of the journal and its writer.
After clearing her throat, she began reading the first entry, "It is impossible to describe the horrifying scenes I have witnessed... Death and misery, in every shape of terror, rule this place. I can no longer recall how I have come to this place. All I remember is the opaque, milky fumes of opium in the murky den hazing a sweet, welcoming abyss. I awoke to dreadful screams in this endless night, at the feet of an old tree that leaked foul-smelling fluids. I know not how to reach those poor souls, nor do I want to. Keeping a record is all I can do to make sense of it."
With her dwindling voice drawing the first entry to a close, her eyes darted up to see if anyone had anything to say but they just gestured for her to continue.
"I discovered a hidden laboratory while running away from a monster. Its stocks are uncommonly plentiful. I observed shelves of alkaloids, crates of silver syringes, piles of protective clothes and a journal signed "Vigo". Its pages are filled with notes on an ancient force that controls the nature of this place- that shapes it. I also noted a few drawings of the growing cankers I've seen on trees…"
Before anyone could say anything, Meg sat straight and exclaimed, "Vigo!" She turned and looked up at Dwight. "The signature on the maps, remember?"
He nodded, "Yeah, the initial 'V'. Vigo fits… It has to be him."
Jake just confusedly stared between the two, "Like the maps that you get from the chests?"
Meg whipped around to face him, "There's maps in the chests?"
"Yeah," He informed them casually, "I found one in my last trial without you guys. Dropped it in a puddle like an idiot, so I didn't see any initial or anything. But it's possible to find them."
"So this person found Vigo's journal here, then that definitely means this Vigo guy worked in the lab we are standing in. Could he have even built it?" Dwight pondered aloud, gaze transfixed on some meaningless corner of the room whilst he was in the trenches of his mind.
"Let me keep reading," Meg said quietly as she flipped the page, "I have been obsessively deciphering Vigo's Journal. His work is elegant but erratic, drawing obscure conclusions from disjointed fields. Most entries mention a powerful force, The Entity, which undergoes a purge that occurs once a year…"
Everyone shared a very damning chill at hearing the ominous mention of the so-called Entity. Though they had no idea what it was, it carried the same weight of darkness that Satan's title did.
Meg continued, "During this period, The Entity is infested with blight. According to Vigo, cankers bloom into "Pustulas", a type of flower that spurts putrid nectar- the thick fluid I saw oozing from the trees. The last pages of the journal mention a serum distilled from the nectar, but the pages detailing its effects and preparation were torn out."
Instead of letting anyone speak on the slew of information they were receiving, Meg was too enthralled by the pages to stop reading. "I'm hiding in a dense strip of forest. I'm desperate to erase the distressful images engraved in my mind. Last night, a disfigured man barged into the laboratory with a gruesome, mechanical mouth and shredded the walls into splinters. I barely escaped with my life- and wounded my arm in the process. I have no options left; these monsters find me no matter where I go…"
Dwight's gaze slowly fell to the ground of the lab, where all the blood and the destruction lay by their feet, then his eyes lifted to the walls whose sparse wooden panels were flayed apart. Could this all have been what was left from whatever monster had gotten in here?
"All I have is a journal filled with obscure promises of escape. I will return to the laboratory…"
The energy in the room shifted. It was as if they could feel each other's hearts lurching at the mere mention of that word they all craved with the essence of their souls. Escape.
She continued reading with a fluttering chest, "I'm close to death, I can feel it. When I returned to the laboratory, I started experimenting with the putrid nectar and distilled it into a foul serum. But I made a terrible mistake. I injected the serum into a dead rodent, whose pupils dilated, and its body shook. I tried to restrain it, but the creature bit into my arm, ripping my wound open. I stopped the bleeding, but I fear the damage is done."
Her trembling, bloody finger flipped the page.
"I awoke to a terrible cry booming from the cellar and a violent bout of nausea. Through the vile ordeal, I started to recollect what had happened. Tainted with the foul serum, my wound had swollen with lymph, at which point my assailant returned. Most of our fight was a blur, but I can recall red tears trickling down his gruesome cheeks as I clawed at his face. And some moment later when I kicked him, sending him crashing into a brick wall. The power I felt then… there are no words for it. I now know that there is truth to Vigo's methods. Another cry. My assailant, now chained in the cellar, must be getting restless. This is just the beginning."
Dwight, having been the only one who peered behind the door in the other room, warily turned around to give it a cautious glance. It had to be the cellar this person was talking about. Was there… Still a monster being restrained down there?
"I should have foreseen his escape-" Dwight sighed in relief as Meg kept reading "-given the potent dosage I administered him, but I needed to see results. Pustula flowers are now blooming on the path leading to the laboratory. According to Vigo's Journal, this rapid spread is a sign that the blight is at its peak. Soon, there will be no more putrid nectar to extract."
Meg had to flip a few pages to find the next entry. The paragraphs had been growing more and more rushed looking, but now the writing seemed strained and forced, becoming a task for her to understand. She did her best as she squinted her eyes, bringing the journal close.
"I slept very little. The acute throbbing in my wound sent me on a restless, agitated drowse. I have no strength left to be patient, and my distress fosters brutal methods. There are no lines I will not cross."
Her fingers thumbed through the journal, finding the next entry scribbled horizontally on a page stained by unknown fluids. Turning the journal sideways she read, "I limited my rest to only a few minutes here and there- I cannot afford wasting time. Pustulas, once lush with nectar, were withering away at the roots of cankerous trees. I could only extract droplets from a few frail flowers. I'm running out of time," More flipping, until, "Based on Vigo's calculations, tonight is my last chance. I filled a syringe with the last drops of serum and injected it into my arm."
Meg's pursuit of the final entries led her to the last few pages, which were deformed by stains of various coloring, most notably a pale yellow color.
"I did everything right… and failed. I am stuck in this infernal place with no serum and nowhere to hide."
Next page. She could feel the hopelessness seeping off the warped nature of the written words.
"I looked for Vigo. I shouted his name with no concern for the monsters lurking about. I need to find him… I picture the scene, etching a canvas of wild lines in my mind, focusing on the moon and I know- something is off. I fed the dead rodent under my pillow."
Second to last page.
"Soon, very soon, I will be at peace. The cold claws of death are drawing near."
Slowly, she turned the page for the final time, staring at the single line written there for a moment until reading it aloud in a haunting voice.
"It's here. The Entity is here. It has found me."
The silence was teeming with the screams of their thoughts. Meg, Dwight, Jake, and even the utterly lost Kate Denson, all sat there and furiously pondered the disturbing journal that had been completely aired of its contents. For the most part, the entries didn't offer the clarity that they so desperately sought. Rather, it only spurred the twist of confusion in their cramped heads, so full of information that it was difficult to place the pieces together.
Meg knew she wouldn't be able to do it alone. So she set the journal down gently and placed her sweating palms on the counter, glancing at her companions with serious eyes.
"We need to break this down and get our facts straight," She told them in a composed tone. It exhumed a nod from Jake, who'd been contemplating the entire thing behind a wall of stoicism.
"Vigo is the key. At least his journal is. The question is, where is it?" Jake asked them. He received a slew of blank stares. They had no idea. The last person it was in possession of was this random man whom they didn't know. And all they had from him was his own journal. By the eerie message left on the final page, Meg was willing to bet that they weren't going to be finding him.
"The Entity…" She whispered beneath her breath, then louder she said, "What is the Entity?"
"It could be the creator," Dwight said from beside her, getting everyone's attention, "He said it in there, remember? Vigo called it a powerful force, an ancient force. And the purge," Dwight leant over and grabbed the journal, searching for a certain entry, which he quoted as he said, "'During this period, The Entity is infested with blight.' So if the Entity gets infected and we physically can see the flowers blooming all around us, then that means that the Entity is this whole thing, right? The campfire, the trials, all of it. Does that make sense?"
"So it's more of one giant organism than some demented God?" Jake asked him, which had Dwight thoughtfully pushing his glasses up his nose.
"Maybe both," He replied with a shrug, then, "It may just be beyond our understanding, but I think it's plausible."
"The serum is the most important part about the purge," Meg chimed in. "Even if we managed to find Vigo's journal, the guy said the pages were torn out explaining how to make it and what it does."
Surprising them all, Kate was the next one to add her two cents, saying, "And look how that turned out for him."
Jake nodded along with her words. "Yeah, he must've distilled it wrong, something. It sent him off the deep end."
"He was so close…" Meg mumbled, wracking through her head, "Man… I wish we had Vigo's fucking journal."
"Well, we haven't explored the entire place yet," Dwight told her, gesturing to the cellar door that they could see through the bedroom archway. Her eyes settled on it, realizing that they needed to make sure it wasn't down there. And even if it wasn't, there could be other items of great importance rotting away in the cellar, waiting to be found.
"Okay," Jake said suddenly, slapping his hands on the counter to get everyone's attention, "You guys should go down and investigate it. I can stay up here with Kate and catch her up to speed while we clean up this place. I have a feeling we are going to be spending a lot of time down here, so we should get it organized. Maybe we will come across some more shit that'll help us. It's hard to tell with all this mess and clutter."
It was a done deal. Jake and Kate began discussing the trials with one another as they sifted through the landfill at their feet, setting aside intact items while pushing all the broken glass and other such garbage toward a far corner. Meg and Dwight left them to it, making a pitstop at the looming shelf of bins to fetch a flashlight, then they embarked upon the cellar. The door creepily screeched as it was opened by Dwight's demanding hand. He flicked on the flashlight. The pale beam cut through the dusty air.
Down they went.
Once the pair made it to the bottom, they cautiously surveyed what was nearest to them. The cellar seemed to be about the same size as the entire upstairs floor plan, giving them quite a bit of unknown territory to delve into.
Lined neatly on the right side of the room was a row of industrial sized shelves, which were packed with scrap wood and metal and mechanical parts that neither of them could understand at first. That is until Meg started to piece it together when she let her eyes roam over one shelf in particular, which had a mixture of light colored wood and thin metal pieces lying on its surfaces. Even though they were all individual parts, the colors and the materials reminded her a lot of the chests found in the trials.
She grabbed the flashlight from Dwight and analyzed the contents of the next shelf, seeing that the wholly metal stock consisted of all the same things the generators were built from. Everything from the pistons, the overhead lights and even the tiny red pressure valves were lying there, amongst all the other parts that belonged to the familiar machines.
Had Vigo been taking them apart in the trials and bringing the pieces back? But that didn't make sense, why would he do that? That would've been so much work… For what?
Meg voiced her observations and the theory that she wasn't keen on believing, only saying it aloud to get Dwight's brain going too. He thought long and hard about it as they both sat in the cold shadows, though he couldn't reach a conclusion, muttering a soft, "I'm not sure."
The other shelves came with similar stories. One had the red painted panels and metal frames belonging to the lockers. Another had the red bulbs, steel boxes and levers that the exit gate switches were made of. Everything that could perceivably have been unrelated to the basic environment of the trials was found in dismantled parts there, much to their confusion.
The generators, the chests, the gates and the lockers… Meg had known that they realistically didn't belong in the varying settings the trials took place in. What sort of swamp has a handful of generators lying about it? And why are there a series of red lockers lined across an asylum hallway? None of it really belonged… And it repeated itself no matter where they were taken.
There was some secret explanation waiting to be found there, yet she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Nevertheless, they continued onward.
The pale light caught on something glimmering menacingly in the darkness. Meg focused the beam on it, discovering the shackles that had been mentioned in the journal. The ones which had apparently restrained a monster at one point. There was evidence of its truth, given the deep red spottings left on the stone floor beneath the limp shackles. They both wondered what their intended purpose had been. Surely they were there before the mystery author locked his test subject away. Yet again, no conclusions could be made. All they could do was tack it onto their list of discoveries to be reviewed later.
They were approaching the back of the cellar when Dwight had his 'aha' moment, having located a little lever in the wall, which he figured was a light switch. Thankfully, that was exactly what it had been. Blue lights buzzed to life overhead, making the cellar appear all the more bleak and sickly. Meg flicked off the flashlight and spun around, taking it all in. On the side of the room they hadn't explored, she saw that it was being used as storage for an expansive collection of tools. Didn't seem like anything groundbreaking.
They took the time to do a close inspection of the shelves and dirty metal tables and every damn drawer and crevice, but they had no luck in securing Vigo's journal. Meg's body seared in agitation. It was the one thing they needed the most and of course it had been lost to the fool whose journal they read. She didn't understand, it sounded as if his last moments were spent in the laboratory. How could he have left his own journal behind and not Vigo's? If the mysterious Entity had found him… Could that mean that the journal was now lost forever?
"Look at this," Dwight said, breaking her from all the misery of that fateful concept. She peered over at him, seeing that he was planted in front of yet another lever in the wall, more toward the front of the cellar. It looked similar to the lightswitch from earlier. Yet all the lights were turned on, so what was it for?
"Be careful," She warned him with an outstretched hand, "We don't know what that does."
"Should we find out?" He asked with a hint of morbid curiosity.
"I mean…" Her voice trailed as she walked up to him, "Give it a shot, I guess."
The lever emitted a short, shrill noise as he thrust it down, then was followed by the echo of scraping metal above them. They both looked up at the tall ceiling. Directly above Meg was a shadowy, square hole that had been uncovered by a metal flap hatch; it was the most likely culprit to the sound they heard, leading them to focus closely onto the exposed chute. When nothing happened after a few moments of anticipation, Meg laughed.
"Okay…" She said breathily, dropping her gaze to Dwight. He shrugged and left the switch, coming over to her nonchalantly so that he could peer up into the hole too.
With him now by her side, Meg took advantage of the close proximity and grabbed ahold of his hand while he did his inspection. He only squinted upward for a second till his attention was naturally lured to Meg, as he didn't care much for the mysterious chute when he had her to steal his focus and keep him entertained.
"I think we found a new date spot," She told him coyly.
"Yeah, creepy cellar. Never thought I'd have the pleasure," He joked.
"I can't believe you don't know who Kate Denson is."
Dwight scrunched his nose, admitting, "I'm not a big country guy."
"Well, I kinda generalized her music. She wasn't always just country. She started with a more folk vibe, which are some of my favorite albums by her. When she went to Nashville it changed. Now she's onto making pop country hits that do good on the radio… but I hate to admit they lack charm."
"You sound like you know her life story," Dwight commented in amusement over the excited way she was spewing the information. The abashed smile she shot him made him chuckle. She was no different than a kid going on and on about dinosaurs or G.I. Joe or Barbie dolls.
"My mom's the one who likes to read Wikipedia pages like they're the Bible. And then she feels inclined to tell me all about it too," She explained before raising his hand so she could absent-mindedly run her finger along his blood stained knuckles.
"It's probably weird having an actual celebrity here," He said quietly, watching her contentedly mess with his hand. All she did was nod in an unengaged way, too busy musing over the details of his fingers, then his palm which she turned over for her to view beneath her attentive eye.
"What are you doing?" He questioned her after watching her for a few seconds. She lowered his hand then, still conjoined with hers as it swung by their sides.
"You can tell a lot about a person just by their hands," She told him matter of factly.
"Oh," He said curiously, bringing his free one up to view, giving it a onceover for himself, "What do my hands say about me?"
"Calluses and scars are the main thing, which you have. You weren't lying when you said you've been working your life away."
"Half of them are from Phil's."
"What's that?" She asked him.
"I worked at a full service gas station for a couple of months," He wiggled his fingers in between them, assessing his own hand, "The rubber handles on the gas pumps always tore my skin up."
"Is that why you quit? Poor thing," She crooned with a pout. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"No, the mechanics at the garage started teaching me stuff and would have me pick up their slack, but then one day I may or may not have sent some lady off with oil where her windshield wiper fluid was supposed to be. My boss gave me the boot after she gave the station a very, very nice phone call," He recalled the incident with an embarrassed laugh at his own expense. Meg giggled too, then stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing them face to face.
"I like this," She whispered.
"Making fun of my stupidity?"
"No," She said with a grin, "Talking like we aren't stuck in this place. You help me forget."
His arms found their way around her waist as he too whispered, "Good. I like forgetting with you too."
The breath of distance between them was closed by a soft kiss. They couldn't get enough of each other. Especially with the magical way their affectionate exchanges could rise above all the turmoil and present them the long lost tastes of happiness. It was addicting. In their minds, what they possessed felt just as beautiful as fluttering doves and pink skies, even if a landscape of miserable decay was what really surrounded that thinly veiled paradise.
Meg pulled away only to go in for another kiss when she saw the pure bliss in his gaze, feeling his arms grow tighter around her. She didn't want to leave them. Didn't want to be apart from him, ever.
When they finally came up for air some seconds later, Meg's eyes opened back up only to discover that she couldn't see an inch in front of her face. She yelped and pushed herself away from him, granting her clear vision once more. Much to her horror, Meg discovered that a wispy cloud of black fog was weaving through the room, sourcing from the open shute that had been just above their heads.
"Dwight!" She shouted into the black void that was overtaking the cellar at an alarming rate. Meg received no response, enlisting her to call his name again to no avail. The fog had taken him. Seeing no other reason not to, she flung herself into the darkness to follow him, as much as it pained her to have to go through another trial.
Unbeknownst to Jake and Kate upstairs, the fog that had claimed Meg and Dwight began to climb the cellar stairwell, licking at the floor with a fervent hunger to steal them away from the arms of safety.
Jake had been organizing a bin of chalk pouches when he heard Kate's wobbling voice calling his name from nearby. He paused to glance at her confusedly, then his gaze was directed toward the other room by her pointing finger. Alas, his attention was brought to the fog billowing across the lab floor. The only reaction he could muster was a deep sigh as he faced forward again, nestled the bin into the cabinet above him, then closed the cabinet door.
"Of course," He said under his breath. Then he was facing Kate again. "Get ready. We're gonna be going in."
Her attitude had changed a lot since they talked everything through. He could tell she was still very scared and had the lingering look of confusion in her eyes, however she behaved like a lit candle that refused to die even in the midst of an unrelenting storm. Her voice was soft and her manners polite. She handled the daunting information with grace and asked a lot of good questions, much to his surprise. Even though one may believe she was very fragile at first glance, Jake had a sneaking suspicion that Kate would turn out to be a great fighter, but also a great source of hope for the survivors who'd come across her. Because she made bearing the weight of their circumstances look startlingly easy, yet not in a delusional way.
"Generators first, right?" She asked him as she drew near, keeping her eyes on the fog that was edging closer.
"Mhm," Jake hummed, "Try to find a partner. You're going to need someone to look after you and vice versa."
"Okay."
On the island counter sat the bin full of medical supplies. With the final few moments until they'd be taken, Jake packed them a practical med-kit, throwing in gauze and a bottle of white powder and a few bandages. That way they had enough to help them but not too much to possibly go to waste should the kit get lost. When he snapped the clasps shut, the wall of darkness was crashing silently around the counter.
"See you soon," Was the last thing he said to Kate before taking a dip in the void.