Ask Way Down We Go

[Riley Elin]

Riley knew this was one of her much stupider attempts at understanding the disease. It was getting dark, and she was in a hazmat suit, a few armed guards having joined her. They had been reassured that this place had been cleared, but it had been a hub of Frenzy activity in the past. Riley came here to collect samples or remnants of any kind of tissue she could find to help in her research.

She had cautioned the guards to be covered head to toe, warning that the saliva of the creatures was the most dangerous. The location was an abandoned mineshaft, and it led to a long abandoned operation. There had been an incident with the workers and several deaths, but allegedly local Gammorrean authorities went in and cleared out the area and everything had been contained.

Riley felt foolish being here, but there were few other places to get into what was a nest of these creatures. They had been holed up here for days and weeks before they were cleared out, and they were at different stages of their transformation. The information gleaned from here would be critical towards a cure.

She walked behind one of the guards that had a flashlight pointed ahead of them. Riley could see rail tracks leading down a long path through the tunnel, and she felt a sense of unease. Nevertheless, she wasn’t going to let the spooky darkness get in the way of her work.

 

[Darth Invictus]

Ender had run across the disease before when he went on a trek with Lilith chasing down a certain man. They had found a random factory of sorts with the diseased inside. He had never come across anything like it and after surviving the encounter, his curiosity was peaked, to say the least. Tracking stories of the same origins of walking dead, it led him to an abandoned mineshaft in the Outer Rim and he quickly made his way there when he had the time.

When he arrived, he dressed in thick layers of clothing, enough that it would hopefully stop a bite as he saw that the creatures preferred that method of attack. Ender knew that whatever it was, it wasn't airborne as he would have already been infected when he had his first encounter. Never the less, he had a backpack strapped to him that carried medical supplies, a rebreather, and other tools so that he could explore the mineshaft. It wasn't hard to sneak into the mineshaft once he found it. When he reached out with the force and felt the cave, the response that he received was some sort of purgatory, between death and life.

Ender had his vibrosword attached to him and his lightsaber hidden and tucked underneath his clothing securely. Even if they did appear deathly, they still could be killed. When he entered into the mineshaft, he had a flashlight attached to one of the straps of his backpack and turned it on. Whatever the reports were about it being cleared, they were false. There were tracks everywhere, evidence of things being dragged through the dirt with numerous footsteps around the trails. He couldn't quite picture what happened but the smell was atrocious.

As he continued to inspect the scene, he heard footsteps behind him and he snapped his gaze toward the sound. He didn't move as he could tell whatever was approaching was actually living. When Riley entered the cavern he was in, Ender would pull down the cloth over his mouth and his hood, revealing his blueish silver eyes that reflected in the light as he was slightly blinded from the flashlights but able to see the hazmat. "I assume you're here for the same reason then."

 

[Riley Elin]

“CONTACT!” One of the men leveled his gun and prepared to fire almost immediately.

“Wait!” Riley shrieked, all but diving towards him and pushing his hand down. A bolt fired into the ground, echoing throughout the chambers. She glared at the man, and the man glared back, shoving her to the side. Riley stumbled but recovered her footing, “He’s not one of those things! He just talked!”

The men continued to shine the spotlight on the new man for a few more moments before finally lowering it so it wouldn’t blind him. Riley sighed and she walked towards him. She found a person out here all by himself extremely suspicious, but perhaps he knew more than they did.

“We...didn’t think we’d run into anyone here,” Riley said, her eyes wide in surprise. He would be able to make out her face through the plastic front of the hazmat helmet. She looked diminutively small compared to the outfit to where it was almost comical.

Riley was nervous about the echoing noise of the blaster. If there was anything frenzy here, they’d be able to hear. She chewed nervously on her lip, looking around at the man’s surroundings, “Have you….seen anything?”

 

[Darth Invictus]

One of the guards shouted contact and Ender's hand immediately shot to the hilt of his vibro-sword and pulled it out halfway before the guard was interrupted. The woman in the hazmat suit almost tackled the guard as she pushed the weapon down and made the bolt strike the ground instead. Subltely the force built around him, ready to lash out in defense still as he slowly slid his weapon back in the sheath when everyone calmed down.

The sound of the bolt would slowly echo throughout the entire mineshaft until finally dissolving. His eyes flicked between the new group when the flashlights were finally directed away from him, able to see that it was a small group. The woman approached him and he arched his eyebrow at her slightly, "I could say the same to you." Ender really hadn't expected company, well at least some that wasn't alive. He practically towered over her but her suit made her quite bulky. It made him feel unprepared still but he trusted his natural speed to avoid being bitten.

When she asked if he saw anything, he just shook his head before tilting his shoulder so his flashlight would shine on the ground, "There is something here though." She would be able to see the crowd of footsteps and trails of things being dragged. Ender brought his gaze down the tunnel that the rail continued to go down, "And hopefully we didn't wake it up." His light shined down the tunnel and he half expecting something to jump out as if on cue but nothing happened. He smirked softly before pulling up the cloth over his mouth and nose as well as his hood.

"Care to join then? Safer together." Ender wanted to learn more about the disease and this woman looked like a scientist and possibly a walking well of information about what he was here for. As of that moment, she was the only important individual in the room to him with her guards as only collateral.

 

[Riley Elin]

Riley quirked an eyebrow as he turned her comment back on her, “I’m a doctor, if you must know. I’m trying to research the disease and..” She didn’t want to reveal too readily that she was looking for a cure. Shockingly, she learned that there were many out there that wanted to weaponize it. Riley simply cleared her throat, trying to get a sense of whether he was friendly or not.

She followed his flashlight as he pointed out the footsteps. Riley grimaced at the sight, not too thrilled at seeing activity here. When he mentioned hoping they didn’t wake anything up, the man sounded curiously relaxed. Why wasn’t he scared out of his mind? That was when one of the guards stepped up.

“Hold up,” He said gruffly, “Who are you exactly and why are you here? This isn’t some place to come have a kriffing picnic. Are you part of a research crew?”

Riley had been opening her mouth to suggest working together, but she shut up as the guard asked his questions. In truth, she was curious about some of the answers herself. From his attire and demeanor, he was oddly out of place here.

 

[Darth Invictus]

The woman, without much prompt, confirmed his suspicion of being a doctor and told him that she was specifically looking into the disease. She was the key to what he needed in order to find out more about this sickness and it quite lucky that he had just happened to run into her. He noticed she stopped herself before continuing any further and he smirked slightly, "Pleasure to have your acquaintance as well doctor."

Ender planned on continuing down the tunnel but one of the guards questioned after he asked for them to join forces. He wasn't expecting company, so he didn't have a story off the top of his head but when the guard offered him an in, he took it gracefully and replied, "You can say that. Name's Hal, I'm a merc." He wasn't completely lying, he used to be a merc/bounty hunter and technically still was but he had just been more preoccupied with the Sith. "Other research teams have heard of this sickness and they hired me to scope out possible locations before they send their team in. This is the second one for me."

His eyes flicked at the guards and then to the doctor, "That's why I wasn't expecting company. At least not the likes of you." The arrival of the doctor couldn't have turned out better for him. "Now, should we stand here and continue talking and see if we wake up whatever is in here?" He directed the question mostly to the guard who questioned him before he turned and started to walk down the railroad and further into the tunnel.

Ender's footsteps were miraculously light and he barely moved with a sound. If the group continued on with him, he would slow his stride enough so he was shoulder to shoulder with the woman, "So doc, have you discovered anything that could help combat this yet?" He spoke in a hushed tone as he swung his flashlight left to right continuously, constantly on guard as they went deeper.

 

[Riley Elin]

The guard shifted uncomfortably as the man answered, and so did Riley. This meant that there had been others having ventured down this path that never made it back out. There was an uncomfortable silence which was broken by Riley clearing her throat, “Look, another person with the means to fend off against those things is better for all of us,” She stared at the guard next to her who simply grunted in response.

Without a word, they all began to walk, going deeper into the tunnel. She didn’t like how the man had kept talking about ‘waking something up’. Had he seen more than he let on? Did he watch other researchers like herself die? She found herself walking near him, feeling fear creep down her spine. Riley had many questions for him, but she knew it would only make the other guards panic.

The man broke the silence first and Riley had to think about her words carefully. He had asked his questions in terms of combating it, and that made her more inclined to reveal her true pursuits, “The main positive thing I’ve found recently is that they can starve,” She thought back to the Onderon fiasco, “If appropriate containment measures are taken, we can starve them out. As for actually being able to stop the disease… it mutates quicker than anything I’ve ever seen. It has no restrictions based on species or races,” Riley sighed, shaking her head, “So other than hacking your limbs off if you’ve been bitten, there’s no other way to do much about it.”

She noticed that she and the man had both stepped up ahead of the rest of the group. The guards were getting nervous and they moved slower, inspecting the ground and the walls thoroughly. Riley glanced back and then looked to the man next to her again.

“Be real with me...did something happen? Did your research detail die?” The fear was unmistakable in her voice, “We’re here because we’re told everything was cleared out. I need to know if that’s not the case…”

 

[Darth Invictus]

Thankfully, Doc found it sensible to have another body in their group in case they got attacked. Secretly, he was about worth about ten men compared to the guards she had but he had to limit his powers to hide his nature and it reduced him to just sword. She gave some context about the disease to Ender when he asked and he was thankful. He hadn't been bitten or seen someone be, so he didn't know what the effects would be if he had gotten bit or what he would have to do until she told him.

Ender thought over her words for a moment before replying, "So if we contain it, we can choke it out and kill it. If it reaches a major public center however, the whole galaxy could be a victim and spread like we've never seen before." The possibility was both exhilarating and terrifying. If it could be controlled, it could be a weapon with unbound potential but if that control was lost even for a second, it could devastate the galaxy and change life as they knew it. Ender pointed out a possibility that could happen quite soon, "If they can starve, that means they'll run out of food out here. They'll eventually migrate to the nearest city or town. It will look like a five-course meal." The effects could be catastrophic.

The two pulled ahead of her guard detail and she questioned him about the other research team, the fear in her voice was palpable. If she was terrified, that wouldn't help anyone and specifically him so he gave an answer that would soothe her, "No, the first location was just empty except for waste. I was sent to scope this one so they didn't waste their time."

Ender's flashlight caught something red against a rock and his hand instantly shot out against the Doc's chest to keep her from moving ahead. He shined the flashlight forward and there were piles of animal carcasses, some stacked on top of each other with their stomachs or intestines ripped out. Ender held his light there for a moment before glancing back at Riley, "Does it look clear to you Doc?"

 

[Riley Elin]

Riley grimaced as he spelled out worst case scenarios. Boy was this guy a grim one… She said nothing in response, simply walking next to him for a while. She glanced over her shoulder, noting how the guards awkwardly kept slowing down and hesitating to pick up the pace. Riley shook her head and sighed, “Look at them…” She muttered under her breath, “They acted so macho when we first started walking in..”

She ran into the man’s arm as he extended it to stop her. She jerked back, confusion on her face as she looked where his flashlight pointed. Riley yelped slightly and quickly brought her hands over the facemask, forgetting there was a barrier in the way. She stared at the animal carcasses as the man casually asked his question.

“The stacking is very odd,” She said after a moment, “It looks like a distinctly sentient action. The creatures are too mindless to do something like that,” The sight was very strange. Riley kept walking deeper in, getting a sinking feeling at the pit of her stomach. She looked at the walls and saw etchings that clearly marked days passing by.

“Oh my god…” She said quietly, going even deeper in. The tunnels opened up to an internal cave system. Old wheelbarrows and some pick axes were scattered here and there. She could see some of the axes with old blood on them. Riley spotted a humanoid skeleton a short distance away, and there was a mining helmet next to the head.

“I think….I think perfectly healthy humans were trapped down here with the creatures,” Riley said barely above a whisper. She crouched down next to the humanoid figure, studying the anatomy. She shook her head, “This isn’t a starved frenzy creature. This was just regular person. But….how..”

 

[Darth Invictus]

Doc pointed out that her guards acted macho when they first entered but quickly changed. Ender chuckled softly that she would be able to hear, making his previous internal statement about being worth more than her guards even true without his powers. "Nothing will touch you as long as I'm standing." His flashlight slowly canvased the stacks of animals before continuing to follow Doc. When he had encountered them, they did seem pretty mindless since one had just walked into his blade but this was saying otherwise.

They stepped into a huge tunnel system, bloody tools laid out everywhere. There was a skeleton in the corner and she immediately made her way to it. It looked like a normal human and Ender shone his flashlight over it for her to see clearly as she inspected it. When she commented about how there could have been humans that been trapped with the creatures, he twisted his body and scanned the room they were in before speaking up.

"The sound. The miners must have drawn them in by mining at the location. That would explain how they got trapped and the animals being dragged in." They were getting deeper so he kept his voice quiet enough that it almost wouldn't be heard by the Doc. When he came across one of the frenzy creatures with Lilith, it didn't notice him until Ender stepped close enough that he could be heard.

One of the tunnels that split off from the cavern they were in was dirtier than the rest, mud collected at the entrance of it with branches and other things. "Doc," Ender brought his light over there before slowly walking to it. The mud and dead tracked in fauna continued for a little bit and when he turned the corner and shined his flashlight upwards, it made him stop in his tracks.

The entire tunnel was clogged, it was filled with branches, carcasses, dead plants, tightly compacted against each other to form a solid wall. There was a hole in the center of it, it wide enough for maybe Ender to go through if he crawled. He slowly started to back up with the doctor, until there were quite a few meters between the structure and them. Ender stared at the crude structure and whispered in a hushed tone, "They're building a nest." She said they mutated fast, could that affect their intelligence too?

 

[Riley Elin]

Riley quirked an eyebrow as he boldly swore to protect her, “You sound like a Holomovie hero,” She blurted out. However, she immediately felt embarrassed for saying that loud, managing a sheepish smile as she followed deeper into the tunneling system. His description sounded accurate, but something about it was off.

“The shaft was closed from the outside,” She said quietly, rising to her full height again, “A lot of times when there are infection scares, they hastily move to quarantine without evaluating if people are actually sick,” It was a horrific thought. She had even seen cases where women and children were locked behind boundaries and left to fend for themselves.

Riley saw the crude structure, feeling uneasy as she spotted it. His words caused a chill to run down her spine as she stared at the opening. Riley shook her head, “That’s not possible,” She said, “They’re not capable of sentient thoughts. The disease completely destroys the cerebral cortex and…”

She could hear some faint noises on the other side of the structure. Riley looked alarmed, stepping back slightly, “Uh...there shouldn’t be anything in there. Maybe it’s just rats…” Riley’s voice was weak and fear was clear. She glanced over her shoulder again, not seeing any of the ‘guards’. She had a feeling they turned back the moment they saw a dead body.

“Kriff.”

 

[Darth Invictus]

Both stood there and the Doc explained that it shouldn't have been possible but then they heard the noises coming inside from nest. "I don't want to see the type of rats you deal with Doc." He continued in his hushed tone and when she glanced over her shoulder, so did he. The guards were gone and that left the two of them there. With this nest or whatever it was in front of them, it was time for them to leave. "We should head back to the entrance. Can you collect your samples anywhere back where we found the body?"

Ender was about to lead them out of there but that's when a sound would echo throughout the entire cave system. It was blaster bolts, one after another before eventually screams. Whatever happened, they ran into something. It made him freeze once more and he immediately flicked his flashlight over to the hole they had just found. They would be able to hear movement inside it before it quickly became frantic as it clearly heard the sound of the blaster.

One of the creatures suddenly sprouted from the hole as it crawled out. It was pale and it didn't seem to be bothered by the flashlight. When it looked up, the two would be able to see that where the eyes should have been, the flesh was fused together instead. It opened its mouth, its teeth somewhat larger than humans as it let out three screeches. After the third, it snapped its head toward the pair and let out a clicking noise.

Ender held his breath the entire time but when it swung its head over to them, he said one word to the Doc, "Run." When the word left his mouth, the creature let out a sort of ear-piercing scream before sprinting towards them. It flailed both its arms as it ran and its legs to a certain extent. It was unnatural quick and it descended upon the two but Ender's vibro-sword slid smoothly out of its sheath and sliced the creature's head in half as it made no attempt to dodge it.

More would spill out from the hole, two at a time now as they crawled over another and each made a sound to try and locate him and Riley. "Go, go!" Ender stayed between the doctor as they would run out the cave, making sure nothing got to close to the both of them.

 

[Riley Elin]

Riley was about to say something when the blaster bolts erupted back from the way they came. Her eyes went wide, and panic began to set in. However, the man keeping his cool actually helped her keep her composure. She knew running in that direction was a bad idea, but was the alternative any better? She heard more scurrying noises from behind the hole and saw something beginning to crawl through.

While her immediate instinct would have been to scream, she felt paralyzed with fear. She noticed the creature looked very different than the others she had seen and the flashlight didn’t startle it. It...was missing its eyes. Riley didn’t even realize when she had reached over to grab the wrist of the man next to her, completely terrified and trembling where she stood. She was too afraid to even breathe, watching the creature scurry about before making some noises.

As it snapped its head towards them almost with unnatural speed, the man spoke and Riley didn’t need to be told twice. She broke into a run as quick as she could, unable to see anything properly in her ridiculous suit. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she ran for her life, not even looking back to see how the man managed to cut up the one that was chasing them.

She could hear screeching and scurrying behind them. Riley looked back to see if the man was still with her when she tripped over the handle of an ax. With a cry, she toppled straight to the ground, landing with a thud. She scrambled to get to her feet, but she knew she would get overrun in seconds. Riley was convinced this was the end for her.

 

[Darth Invictus]

With the creature being dealt with, it gave the doctor to run out of the cave free of disturbance. Ender was behind her but he slowed down slightly, letting her take front and put some distance between them. When she turned around the corner, he spun on his foot to face the incoming group. When it had just been one creature before, there were now at least double digits of them as he couldn't count them so quickly.

They needed to be slowed down somehow and with the Doctor already ahead of him, he used the force while he was hidden. A powerful blast of it would erupt from his arms and travel down the tight cave, knocking back the first few rows of the creatures as they hit the ones behind them and made them stumble or trip over each other. Not needing another confirmation they were slowed at least somewhat, Ender immediately split from where he stood and chased after the doctor.

When she tripped over the handle of the ax and landed, the oxygen tank connected to her suit was punctured by one of the sharp rocks. There would be a small gash and a stream of oxygen would start to shoot out from the hole, creating a sort of high pitched whine throughout the cave. She would start to hear footsteps behind her before a pair of hands touched her but when she was flipped over, she would see it was Ender staring down at her as he grabbed the front layer of her hazmat suit. "We need to get this off." It was a ringing dinner bell.

Ender's gaze scanned over the suit quickly, first just trying the tank but unable to see a latch or anything in the dark. As he did this, the doctor would be able to see and hear behind him the creatures exiting from the caves, their heads turning in unison as they heard the whistling of the air. The entire swarm was heading directly for her now, their screams piercing the cave. Ender, however, didn't even glance back, his hands still running over the suit quickly.

When he realized this was taking too long, he simply grabbed the front of her suit and brought his sword through it, cutting open a massive hole to get out of. Ender pulled the suit and tank off of her with a sharp tug and when the creatures were about less than a few meters away, he spun and hurled the tank and suit off into the darkness. The creatures peeled around them like a divider, turning around as they followed the whistling air and completely ignored the two.

 

[Riley Elin]

Riley felt hands grab her and she yelped out loud, spinning around to prepare to fight it off. She quickly realized it was the man from before, and she realized her damn suit was making all the noise. Panic set in completely and she found it difficult to breathe all of a sudden. Her chest rapidly rose and fell, and she could hear the shrill noise from the tank and the droves of creatures coming.

For a second she was frozen in terror, gasping and wheezing for air and having a full on anxiety attack. However, she glanced over at the man again, watching how he methodically worked to try and help the suit off, “Okay, okay, okay,” She repeated quietly, her body beginning to function again. She rapidly brought her arms up to help take the suit off, but by then he had already resorted to cutting into it. Riley closed her eyes, hearing the prominent sound of the vibroblade somehow over everything else. It buzzed through the suit and she suddenly felt a lot more vulnerable.

Riley didn’t stop there, hastily helping to get it off and springing out of it. She watched as the suit was hurled through the air and took the creatures in that direction. She didn’t waste a moment, turning and breaking into a run in the opposite direction. Riley felt more agile without the suit, and she made sure to keep her gaze trained forward instead of looking back again.

She noticed that the blaster bolts had stopped from the direction of the entrance. However, she could hear a wave of movements coming from the entrance. Riley thought quick on her feet, ducking into a small alcove into the side of the tunnel she was running in. She reached out and grabbed a hold of the man’s arm as he would pass, yanking him into the tiny crevice as well.

Not even seconds later, a wave of the creatures rushed directly past them and towards the shrill noise from her tank. Riley was pressed up against the man and her chest rapidly rose and fell, and she was still having a panic attack and trying to contain it. She took rapid, shallow breaths, trying to calm herself. She put hands over her mouth to keep quiet, feeling something prod at her side. Riley looked over to see a human skeleton cramped into the crevice, its elbow digging into her side. She closed her eyes and looked away, counting numbers backwards to calm down.

It took moments for the horde to pass, but one lone creature trailed behind. Its mouth was bloody and it carried a severed arm between its jaws. It was crawling on all fours, plopping the arm down and eating it a mere foot away from where she and the man were crammed in the crevice.

 

[Darth Invictus]

Doc was having a panic attack and Ender didn't blame her, she was trapped in a suit that was acting as a homing beacon for the creatures. But impressively, she quickly composed herself to help take off the suit in order to throw it. It was like a wave being split down the middle, the creatures halting their advance as they did a complete one-eighty to chase after the oxygen tank. They had no regard for each other as they basically trampled over each other to get to what they thought was food. Like the doctor, he didn't wait there long to see how they reacted and instead turned around after her and sprinted down the tunnel.

The Doc had pulled ahead of him and even with the flashlight, he had lost her for a second. That's when the fear started to fill him as he thought she had been snagged but that's when something grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a tiny crevice in the wall. He was ready to fight with just his fists in the cramped space but when it was the Doc, he slid in beside her without complaint. Ender placed his arms above and outside the Doc's head, having her press into his torso as he breathed heavily as well but quieter.

Even without the force, he could sense the panic bubbling through her and when he glanced to his left and saw the skeleton, that didn't help. Looking down at her, he whispered quickly and quietly before the horde could come through and hear her, "Doc, easy, easy." His eyes would meet hers and he would hold it there, hoping to transfer some of his calmness to her. "You have to breathe slower. I wasn't lying earlier, nothing will lay a hand on you." The window to talk closed as the horde passed them moments later.

When they did, it left a straggler and that carried a souvenir with it that must have been one of her guards. With the two of them cramped in there, there wasn't much space and at the slightest movement, the bones shifted beside them. The creature snapped it's head toward the crevice, letting out a couple of clicking sounds as it slowly crawled over and dropped the arm. The horde was still too close for Ender to kill it as it would alert the others before they would even manage to get out. He slowly slid one of his arms down the wall without a sound, placing it between the doctor and the creature as he stared at with sweat coming down his forehead.

The creature stuck its fingers through the crack first, both hands on each side of the wall as they would be able to its fingernails, long, study, and black that was meant to tear flesh. It brought it's face forward next, it's mouth slightly open as blood and drools dripped from its lip. It tilted it's head toward the Doc before letting out a few more clicks and then towards Ender. It let out a hiss but before it could continue further into the crevice another one of the clickers practically headbutted the first out of nowhere and appeared in front of the pair as well.

They both hissed and screeched at each other as it appeared a fight was about to break out. But the new clicker let out a another screech and eventually the one that was inspecting the hole crawled back and followed the second one away and deeper into the tunnel.

 

[Riley Elin]

Riley only half heard what the man was saying, though his tone of voice got through to her more than words did. She slowed down her breathing, inhaling and exhaling softly, counting as she did so. Riley knew how to handle research, knew how to collect samples, but she didn’t know how to react to emergencies where her own life was in risk. She didn’t know what to do when she ran into mutations of the creatures when she expected to run into none.

As the pale creature gnawing on the arm suddenly paused, Riley felt sick to her stomach. She felt the man shift slightly to put his arm in the way between her and the creature. Riley closed her eyes again, trembling in fear as the creature first dug its fingers into the crevice and then leaned its face in.

She could smell its rancid stench emanating mere inches away, some of the drool threatening to fall. It was precisely that saliva that was so deadly, and it threatened to creep onto’s the man’s arm. However, the creature was shoved aside moments later, a small fight breaking out before it scurried deeper into the tunnels.

Riley didn’t move for a few moments, standing very still until it was absolutely certain that none of them were around. She slowly stepped out of the crevice, looking back to see the empty tunnels. By now the creatures had torn her oxygen tank and suit to shreds and there was an eerie silence throughout the entire shaft.

She began to slowly walk back towards the entrance, knowing it wasn’t too far now. Riley kept glancing back to ensure the man was with her, entirely reliant on him now. She stuck close by him as they made their way back up front, and she was nervous about how quiet it was.

After a moment, she arrived near the entrance and was shocked to not see any lights. It took a moment before the man’s flashlight would shine and it became abundantly clear that the entry was sealed off from the outside. Riley’s heart stopped, and for a moment she was rooted in place.

“...They left us…” She said in a quiet whisper, resisting the urge to simply collapse. She couldn’t scream, she couldn’t bang on the entryway for help, she couldn’t do anything. She could only stand there as dread, fear, despair and the crushing sense of impending doom almost overwhelmed her. Her knees felt weak, and she could only stand there and stare at the blocked path, “...They left us..” She repeatedly softly again.

 

[Darth Invictus]

When the creatures finally left them alone and a few moments had passed, Ender took a gulp of air as he pressed his head back against the rock wall. While small spaces weren't too much of a big deal for him, being trapped in a hole with those things outside wouldn't have been pleasant. He moved his arms to let the Doc out before he followed after her and stepped into the tunnel. The whistling of air was gone and that meant their distraction.

They didn't speak as they walked through the tunnel, both of them sticking close together as his eyes scanned left to right constantly. His right arm had the sword in hand and he turned off the function that made it vibrate and turned it into a regular sword so it wouldn't attract anything. When they arrived at the entrance and his flashlight cut through the dust and darkness, it felt like his heart dropped to the floor.

The entrance had been closed off and Ender just closed his eyes, containing the anger and panic that flared in him at the possibility of dying in this mineshaft. Doc was already in a bad condition and if he panicked, it would bounce between them until they tore their hair out. He could sense the emotions that whirled through her and it would have been the same for him if he didn't know how to control it. "Contain it and suffocate them." Ender murmured as his flashlight continued to slowly pass over the entrance, "We would've done the same thing."

He turned around faced the light toward the tunnel they had just come from. It seemed like it was inviting them in now, daring them to explore the labyrinth and the monsters inside. Ender could use the force but he couldn't reveal himself. He didn't know how the Doc would take it but it had the possibility of shattering his only way of learning about the virus. When he turned back around, the cone of light shined on the Doc's back as she was just standing there and staring at the entrance, "Doc..." He spoke calmly and quietly, knowing the possibility wasn't appealing at all but it had to be done, "We need to keep moving and find another exit." Ender stood there a few feet behind her, waiting there as long as it was needed.

 

[Riley Elin]

Riley was breathing hard and quickly again, but she knew she couldn’t be loud. The things in here had fine tuned hearing after losing use of their eyes. She didn’t know how these creatures operated - what if the disease was airborne now? She had no clue whether they could already be exposed or not.

She looked at the man, beyond shocked at his words. Riley glared at him, though she knew he was right, “I would never leave anyone behind!” She hissed, “I’m a doctor! I took an oath to protect and serve people,” Riley glanced back towards the tunnels, tears now freely beginning to stream down her face, “I...I’d never just leave,” Her voice was breaking as the reality of the situation fell on her. It was crushing weight, and she almost collapsed beneath it.

“How are you so calm?” Riley suddenly looked at him, wiping her face, “Are you...immune?” There were cases with diseases often where some people had natural immunities. He didn’t express any sort of panic or loss of composure, and she could imagine it was only because he wasn’t afraid of the things for one reason or another.

Deciding that standing around was doing them no good, she started to walk again. Riley had to stop from hyperventilating, the entrance being closed meaning they had limited air supply in here. She came across the bodies littered on the ground - the ‘guards’ that had come in with her. Riley crouched down and quickly began to put on their protective gear, having been left in nothing but her lab coat.

She looked ridiculous in the gear much larger than her, but it was better than nothing. Riley popped on a helmet and looked down at the various guns on the ground, “You...know how to use those?” She asked quietly, looking at the man. Did guns even make sense with how much noise they made?

 

[Darth Invictus]

Ender waited there for her as he remained perfectly silent. The Doc snapped at him but he didn't respond back. He could already sense the uncertainty in her when the words left her mouth and he didn't need to start an argument over it or freak her out more. Tears streamed down her voice but he didn't move still as he didn't offer any words to comfort. He figured nothing would make this situation better until they actually got out of the cave system.

Doc had tears stream down her face but Ender didn't comment as she wiped them away before asking how he was so calm. She followed up with asking if he was immune and that made him scoff softly, "If one of us doesn't remain calm then we'll die. If at least one of us is, then we have a chance." It was one of those situations where if someone stood next to someone that was freaking out, it brought clarity to the other. By all means, he wasn't doing well internally but he could compartmentalize it now where it wouldn't be an obstacle for him. "We should get moving Doc."

They started walking back the way the came, Ender more alert than before as his vibro-sword remained out in the open and in his hand. The bodies of the guards came into their view and the smell was pretty bad but both of them would have to stomach it for now. There was gear there and the Doc smartly picked up a couple of the pieces as he stood guard for her. When she asked him if he knew how to handle something, he glanced down and found that she was referring to a blaster. Ender glanced at her then back at the weapon before eventually bending over and picking it up.

He walked over to her as he held two in his hand and stopped directly in front of her. Ender slipped one of them onto his belt for himself while holding the other in front of Doc. "This is safety." He flicked the button up and down, "Safe, unsafe. For the rest, you extend, aim, and pull the trigger. That's the basics of it." There wasn't time for him to give a full safety course about weapons in the cave. Ender paused for a moment before finally handing the weapon over to her. He didn't want to say the words in his head next but she had to know, "This is your last resort. If we don't find an exit or if I get killed in here, shoot yourself in the head and spare yourself."

Ender's gaze held against hers for a moment to convey that he was serious about what he said. He had seen how the creatures dealt with their prey and so did she, it wasn't pretty. He then crouched down to slip out a knife from his boot and handed it to her as well, "You stab them in the head quick and remember to pull the blade out. That's the only way you'll kill them quickly." There was a moment of silence until he just gave her a nod, "Let's get moving then Doc." He turned around and started to walk back towards where they find the minecart and equipment, remembering the tunnels that split off into different directions.