'I'm so sorry! I should have never told you to come down here. Marcos, Gina, Alonso...' She cried in a low tone.

Earl followed the echo without saying a word. In his mind, he could turn a corner and maybe see some kind of ghost, translucent when he pointed the flashlight at it.

And what he was might have as well been a ghost...

He followed the voice to a very long passage of the cave. The longest he had seen so far, must have been at least 50 yards straight ahead. And it was wide too, four people Earl's size could walk side by side.

Earl gasped when the light hit a woman sitting on the ground 15 feet away from him.

Her eyes were closed, she thought the light hitting her eyelids were just some kind of vision, no different from the ones she’d been having lately.

She took a slow deep breath, 'God, if you're there. Please forgive me. I never wished to do something so...' her voice cracked before she could finish.

Earl took slow steps towards her. Finally, he said, 'Hi there...'

'God?!' she raised her voice, 'So you are there.'

'I'm not-'

'I know what I did is against everything you stand for. I am sorry. The devil took over me and I couldn't resist but I've changed, there’s not one ounce of evil in me, I promise.'

'Sorry to bother, are you ok?' Earl could see her sitting on a lot of blood.

She opened one eye, to peek at her surroundings and saw the source of the light. Earl spotted blood around her mouth and asked, 'Are you ok?' in a gentle but careful tone.

'Are... Are you real?' She pinched her eyes to try and see who was beyond the light.

'I think so.'

'Oh my...' She stopped realizing the irony in that statement. Then she got on one knee and used her arms to push herself up on her knee. She emitted sounds of struggle as she did so.

'Are you lost down here?'

'Y-Yes,' the lady swiftly used her forearm to try and clean the blood surrounding her mouth but it had dried on her skin already.

'I'm Maxine Patton,' she smiled, 'Have you come to help us? Where’s the rescue team?' She came closer to Earl, trying to look behind him.

'No. I'm the only one here, well, other than you, and...' he kept his flashlight on her face and realized it might be disturbing her, so he pointed it at her feet. She was covered in dry blood, head to toe and was walking towards him.

Earl moved the light along the floor, when he asked gently, 'You said "us" earlier. Who were you referring to? Are there others down here with you?'

She took a step forward, about an arm’s length distance from Earl.

'Ehm...' She shrugged, 'I came here with my colleagues...'

Earl moved the flashlight right next to where the girl was sitting, and stopped. He could count three bodies, naked on the ground. Most of their body's flesh had been chewed and left to rot. Now all three bodies had gone black and putrid, indigestible.

'Oh!' Earl yelled, took a step back and pointed the light at Maxine's face.

She reached for the flashlight and grabbed it.

Earl did what could be called running. It was more like walking quickly.

Her body had barely any muscles. She had spent weeks, maybe months, eating what was left of her partners and now their bodies were too rotten to eat. Her body had contracted some kind of disease that made her feel dehydrated. Now, her once athletic physique was on the brink of collapse. But, if she could get this hold man in her grip, if she could just take a bite into him... She could have lived, maybe a couple weeks more and given her enough energy to try and look for a way out once again.

Her fantasies ran wild while chasing the old man.