Bill stepped out from the perimeter where he was standing watch, hefting his rifle onto his shoulder. "We're with you boss." The bloodied hunter replied without hesitation, and others quickly began to rise to follow his lead. Nearly a dozen hunters came forward, and then most of the deputies joined the procession. As they walked towards the Sheriff, another voice broke through the crowd. "Like hell we are!" One of the youngest hunters shouted. "This whole forest is full of monsters, and we just got ambushed by a bunch of fuckin' rats. What the bloody hell makes you think somethin's in that damned cave gonna change anythin?" This outburst gave the men pause, the vulgar youngster had a point. The orange vested hunter paused mid stride, and stared at the dissenter for a brief moment before he sighed. "You have a family boy?" The hunter quietly asked. "Yeah?" The boy replied, confused by the sudden shift. "Parents? Siblings? Kids?" "My ma and my sisters..." "Kid, you want these beasts to make it to the town? Want to see your family torn apart like our friends there?" The orange vested hunter gestured to the pile of their honored dead. "N-No sir!" The boy choked out. "But all the more reason to get the hell out of here! I don't want my family nowhere near this place! The minute I get back, we're leavin!" The men around the camp began to nervously stir, the boy had good sense. They wanted to protect their homes, but their families came first. Much more of this and they would be wiped out, and who would save their families then? "How. How do you plan to leave Greendale?" "Take my truck, drive down the road and never come back!" The youth replied. "Which road?" Pike continued to pressure the boy. "The only one, the one through the pass." "The one that cuts through this here forest we're in now?" "That... Yeah?" "And if the beasts swarm the road, run you off or block it, and you can't get through, then what? Turn around, try to make it back to the safety of the town? Sit in your car with your ma and hope the rats can't chew through the door? Hope a goblin can't break the glass with a rock? What if something worse comes out?" "I-" The boy started to speak, but the bloodied axeman cut him off harshly. "I'll tell you what happens. You die. They die. And everyone behind you dies. Everyone in the town dies. Now we have a chance to put an end to this, right now." Bill raised his voice and addressed the crowd. "Brothers, I don't got a clue whats goin on here. But if you haven't noticed, the boss here has led us this far. The trail became a mess hours ago, with paths goin every which way. But the boss here has led us straight into the fiercest fightin, and tracked down these monsters beter'n any of us could. Now I think he knows what hes on about, and I plan on followin him into that cave. Y'all can come, and do somethin about it, or sit here and hope someone else saves your sorry asses. I'm gonna fight for my kid an my wife." After his speech he finished his march over to Sheriff Pike with the other brave men following behind. They stood around the Sheriff, casting accusing glares upon the hesitant men around them. "But what's in there?" Shouted another dissenter, "What the hell is in that cave?" "Your turn boss" Bill muttered to Pike. Pike sighed, and raised his voice once more. "The monsters are getting stronger and more numerous the closer we have come. We are near their home, their den. The largest group of rats we've come across was waiting just outside this cave. In the last few hours, we have seen bloodthirsty, mutated beasts and creatures of wild fantasy. Something in this forest is corrupting these things, making them into monsters, and I know that true evil lurks within that cave. I feel it. Deep in my bones I know it's in there. I know not what lies ahead, but if we cannot put an end to this, we cannot return. We have lost too many men to get here, and we may never get this chance again. It must be stopped, no matter the cost. The rest of you will stand watch here, I will not force any among you to follow. But for those who do, who join me in this, we will protect our homes! We will protect our families! We will avenge our brothers! Once more I ask you, follow me!" As he cast his gaze around the clearing, two men stepped forwards. They were large, powerful men, each was over six feet tall and as strong as an ox. They were covered from head to toe in blood despite their best efforts at wiping themselves off. He had seen them nearby in the thick of the last battle with their huge crowbars, bludgeoning the wild rodents with their absurd strength. He had wondered why anyone would bring such a crude weapon on a hunt, but after seeing them in action he was glad they had. He knew these mighty men from town, the Ulster boys, Earl and Duke. The two were nearly identical brothers, twins if Pike recalled correctly. They could only be told apart by their great bushy beards and their hair that was hidden under their caps. Duke's hair was a bright, sun bleached blond, and Earl's was a rich, dark red. They worked construction with their father and sister, mainly demolition work, and when the Sheriff put out his emergency call, they had rushed over with what they had at the work site. Earl had even brought a splitting maul that he had strapped to his back. Sheriff pike was glad to have these men along, he would have need of their strength in the depths of the cave. As the two giants marched over, he noticed someone else behind them, just barely visible between the two brothers. Lana, their sister, and the town librarian had joined the hunt and wanted to see it through to the end. She was rather slim compared with her brothers, but she was an excellent marksman with a crossbow. As the trio joined the ranks of the brave volunteers, more men from the crowd slowly trickled forwards. All told another two dozen men joined their ranks. Pike rested his gaze on each man in turn and nearly all of them were the veterans from the vanguard, the men who had seen the fiercest fighting that day. They were the men he had led in the chaotic melee, those who had fought with knife and fist to put the bastards down, and they were all well armed. The left wing might have been slaughtered, but the men of the line had dealt the most damage to their foes. They were those most hellbent on revenge, those with the greatest surge of strength from their numerous victims, and those who had been most willing to loot the bodies of their comrades for the sake of continuing the hunt. Each man had a rifle, a shotgun, as well as multiple sidearms and close weapons. These brave men were ready for war. A quick headcount put them just under fifty men, but the rest of the task-force were restless, even angry. Brent, the head of the rearguard angrily interrupted Pike's silent assessment. "This is insane. We need to call the Army, or the Guard! Someone! This isn't something we are supposed to do!" "You think they will believe it? Diane already tried. We called her hours ago with an update." "We can prove it! We have that!" Brent shouted desperately as he pointed at the 'goblin' that they had captured after the first fight. "We have pictures, we have video for fucks sake. We can haul some of the bodies back!" "You really think the army is going to mobilize because some redneck town says they found giant rats and goblins? You think they are going to take this anymore seriously than bigfoot? Or wendigos? Until we can drop the corpses of these things on the doorstep of someone important enough to get something done, we are on our own. We can't wait. Were going in, and putting an end to this. Now." "We couldn't beat them on the open field, and you expect us to crawl into the caves, their home, and put ourselves at their mercy!?" "No." Pike dryly replied. "I expect you to wait here and watch our backs. I am only taking these brave men with me, you need only hold your position and keep watch." "We are to wait here!? In the middle of the forest at night!?" The deputy cried. "If you would prefer to try and make it back in the dark, go ahead. But in this clearing you can use your lights and keep watch on our surroundings. Out there you won't see them till you step on them. A pack or horde could be just out of sight. Blindly marching through that dense forest is asking to die." "I.... Fuck. Alright." The deputy groaned. "You're really doing this Gerry?" He sighed as he gestured to the cave. "I am." Pike spoke firmly. "I leave these men to you." The Sheriff turned and marched walked towards the cave, calling out assignments. "Bill, Earl, Duke, and you two with me. Deputies, gather up the rest in groups of ten." The five men he had called out quickly formed up behind him as his four deputies who had joined the cave expedition quickly formed up the ranks. With only half a day's marching and fighting, the men were learning quickly. They stopped just in front of the entrance, staring into its maw. The cave tunnel was wide enough for three men to stand abreast which was impressive for a random cave in the woods, and it only took him a moment to decide who would take the front. "Bill and Earl, you two take point with me. Anyone have tape?" Bill quickly tossed him a roll of bright orange duct-tape, which the Sheriff used to bind his flashlight onto the brim of his hat. As stupid as it looked with the bright orange tape clashing garishly with his olive drab Sheriff's cap, he needed light as they stepped into the abyss ahead and with more guns than lights, this was their best bet. The tape was passed around, and soon everyone had a light awkwardly taped to their heads. As pike stepped into the cave and his makeshift headlamp illuminated the earthen walls he was surprised by the appearance. It wasn't natural. The walls were rounded, with seemingly natural slopes blending the walls, floor, and ceiling together in a rounded square shape. But despite the natural rounding, the cave was a straight path, the walls even. Pike first thought of an old mine tunnel but there were no supports or tracks. It was too even, too straight for a work of nature. Within a few steps, the tunnel opened up into a room. The shape of the room was jarringly square, despite being hewn from dirt, but that was the last thing on his mind as he saw its contents. A fierce battle had raged here not long ago. The floor was covered with skeletons. A dozen of the goblins surrounded by the ruins of over a hundred rats. It might not have been impressive compared to the battle they had fought a short time ago, but all of those bodies crammed into the small room made it almost impossible to see the pools of blood on the floor. They carefully made their way across the bone yard, rodent bones cracking and shattering with every step, and then stepped into the passage on the other side. The next room they came to was larger than the first, but no less crowded with skeletal remains. This time, the path split ahead. There was a tunnel to both the north and south, but as the hunters tried to guess which path they should take Pike gruffly provided the answer. "Right." And without any explanation he took the northern path. Pike was sweating. There was no question of which way to march, the energy in the air clearly radiated from one direction. The closer they had come in the forest, the more powerful the presence was. Now that he had stepped foot inside the cave, he was constantly assailed by the malevolent aura. He was swimming in it, it was even difficult to breathe. Whatever rested inside this cave, it was powerful and furious. It wanted to kill. He felt it, felt the danger, but as they walked there was nothing here. They marched deeper and deeper into the cave, their lights driving back the darkness. But they found nothing aside from bones and blood. It was a maze. The passages split over and over and they switched back and forth across the network of tunnels and rooms as they walked the only direct path to their goal. After walking for nearly twenty minutes, the signs of battle abruptly disappeared. It was as if one side had wiped out the enemy, and the fight had ended here. However the cave was still deserted. No life replaced the bones. As they continued on, warier than ever of their surroundings, Pike finally found a skeleton of something other than a rat or a goblin. It seemed to be a lizard, but it could have also been a small rodent as the bones were scattered around. As he carefully scanned the floor for these smaller signs of life, he found dozens and dozens more. Mice, large insect husks, even beetle shells. He imagined there were more buried beneath the mountainous piles of rat and goblins behind him. This cave had once flourished with life, but now all that remained were corpses. The men muttered that something had already come through, that everything was already dead, but Sheriff pike knew better. His foe was still ahead, and so they marched on. They passed through dozens of rooms, each one just as unnaturally shaped with flat, even floors and straight hallways and all devoid of life except for a strange moss that grew in the darkest corners. The only signs of their true foe were the rare rat bones, but they were older, the blood had dried. Then they came to a sloping passage that led down into the depths. Still Pike marched on, unhesitating, unwavering. The second floor was more of the same earthen tunnels. More twists and turns, more forks and switchbacks, and more corpses. The moss was denser here, the skeletons larger. There were some large mice, a few rabbits, a few medium sized rats, a cat, snakes, and a porcupine. These were just what they found as they marched on the shortest path to their goal, countless more must have lurked in the unknown paths. Pike never took a wrong turn, it was like walking into the wind. The evil aura flowed past him, filling every corner of the maze. He knew exactly which way the power was flowing from, he need only point himself into the breeze only he could feel. All was going well, but halfway through the second floor, their lights started to fail. One of the men in the second group lost his as they descended to the second floor, but it was an older flashlight. It didn't come as a surprise and they had plenty more between them. But as they reach the halfway point, the other lights started to drop one after the other and in a matter of minutes they had lost most of their lights. "Fuck!" Bill roared as his light failed as well. "What the hell is this!?" He shouted as he took his cap off to smack the light on a dirt wall, but his percussive maintenance bore no fruits and the light remained dark. "Don't worry! I've got this!" one of the hunters in the third group called out. "Just bring me one of the lights!" Every head along with every remaining light turned to the man as he rummaged through his hefty pack. He quickly pulled out a large bright red case as the lights continued to burn out. Just as he opened the case, the last light failed. "God dammit!" he yelled. "Oh. Hold on." Bill mumbled as he searched through his pockets in the pitch black tunnel. Finally his fingers found hard metal in one of the lower pockets of his cargo pants. All everyone heard was "Got it!" And after a few moments of fumbling and clicking a tiny flame sprouted out of the darkness. "I knew I had my lighter!" He cheerfully announced as he pushed his way through the crowd. "now what've ya got there?" He asked the first man as he leaned over the red case. "Flares." The man cheerfully replied, and inside was a case of dozens of road flares. "Why so many?" Bill asked, grateful for the light but puzzled all the same as his tiny flame illuminated the treasured flares. "Ran in to a pack of wolves at night once, and had to fend them off with a single flare. Scariest thirty minutes of my life, luckily they ran off before it ran out. Now I keep these here, so if it ever happens again I can use more than one and never run out." "You're crazy luggin that big case around, but your crazy just saved our asses." Bill laughed "How many do you have, and how long are they good for?" Pike cut in "Should be fifty in there and bout thirty minutes, give or take." The flare man replied. "Perfect." Pike announced. "Three up front, one for each of the middle groups and and two for the rear makes eight. That gives us six sets, so three hours. If we don't find something after one hour or two rounds of flares, we turn back." Mumblings of agreement supported the cautious approach, no-one wanted to be trapped in the dark, and as they struck their flares they set off into the darkness once more. Just as their first flares were dwindling, they reached the end of the second floor. As they stared at the tunnel leading down below, Pike's vanguard party came to an abrupt halt. "You see that boss?" Bill quietly mumbled. "Yes, yes I do." Pike replied. They stood stunned, until the men behind asked what was going on. There was light down below, and not the red glare of flares or flickering torchlight, a bright yellow light pierced the darkness ahead. If pike had to guess, it would have to be sunlight.