Adlai stepped into another wet puddle, grimacing at the feeling of water doing its best to penetrate into his shoes. The actual radio function was still broken, but the GPS function worked. There was a problem however.

“Adlai?” Averi called him over.

“What is it?”

“There are two signals.”

“What?”

“There are two signals, and I don’t know which one is from the research station. They’re both in the same direction, but they split off right about here.”

“Let’s head to both then, if there are others they might be able to help us.”

Shawna butted in. “How do you know that?”

“What do you mean?” Adlai said.

“How do you know they’ll help us? Should we even trust them? Hell, I tried to kill you and you knew me. What makes them any different?”

“Let’s just head towards the signal now, and we’ll make that decision once we hit the fork.”

“Alright boss-man.” Averi picked up the radio and shoved it into a pack.

“I hope you make the right decision.”

Adlai watched as Shawna got up, spear in hand. He sighed, rising from his squatting position. She seemed to be feeling better after the campfire session, but she was unreadable as ever. He felt his cheeks flush; why was he so awkward?

Something caught his eye far away. A quick flash of blue. Strange.

The mud squelched under his feet as he walked down the slight incline. It was getting darker the farther they headed, and Adlai’s eyes strained against the blackness. Two blips of light stood out in front of him, Averi and Shawna. The terrain wasn’t cooperating with his efforts at all. Every step was sucked in and held. All Adlai could think about now was a warm fire and somewhere dry to sit.

Darkness seemed to swallow everything into its dark maw as the trio continued to walk. Adlai took small steps. No use risking an injury to the darkness. In the distance, the two blips of light clumped around something. He increased his pace, hoping they’d found a camp site.

Unfortunately for him, he’d only get one of those two things he had wanted. Adlai nursed a hot cup of water, staring despondently at his shoes uncomfortably close to the crackling fire. The farther they went in this direction, the wetter it seemed to get. The caves smelled musty, and the humidity was near unbearable. Averi was the only one who seemed to be enjoying this change of pace. She had been covered in mud; the puddles she had seen were too good to refuse. Now she sat shivering next to the fire, a bright smile on her face.

Shawna sat next to him, her shoulder nearly touching his. He could feel his cheeks flushing in the cold, and was glad for the darkness. “Adlai, do you think it’s gonna keep getting darker?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Come on, you’re the science guy. Do you remember anything about this?”

There were the underwater caves. Adlai vaguely remembered a passing comment or two on them. The professor had never stopped to talk about them for reasons Adlai had conveniently forgotten.

“-I really don’t remember much beyond that.”

Shawna frowned slightly. “We’ll have to be very careful. Watch yourself.”

She used his shoulder to get up and pulled her spear out of the soft ground. Adlai stared at her figure slowly melting into the dark. He sighed, staring into the now lukewarm cup of water. Averi was shaking the dried mud off her clothes now. The ceiling was a swirling pitch black, with a few splotches of purple; intrusions of the night sky.

As they walked, that canvas of speckled blackness slowly grew darker and darker, only lit by the three lanterns the group carried. The stone slowly gave way to puddles of water reflecting the orange glow of the light he carried. Noises slowly faded away the deeper they went, and Adlai felt something watching.

It was a strange feeling, prickling the hairs on his nape, and his stomach churned with anxiety. Adlai put a hand on the smooth rubber handle of his hatchet. The feeling of having a weapon was nice, but after seeing the hunter, it wasn’t much of a comfort. He could only hope that all he was feeling was nerves.

The path only got darker and wetter. Adlai found himself in ankle deep water, the only light coming from the lanterns they held. The moldy smell had given way to an overwhelming stench of rotten flesh. A glimmering row of lights appeared in Adlai’s peripheral.

Averi apparently caught sight of them too. “Adlai…”

He couldn’t see Shawna, but she knew her spear was raised. Adlai lifted his own hatchet.

Adlai stepped closer, suppressing a laugh when he saw the origin of the glowing, a vaguely worm shaped alien, with strange flipper-like legs running down its sides. The alien was hardly the size of his leg, but beyond that he couldn’t make out much detail. That was of course, before it jumped at his face.

His hatchet cleaved halfway through the wriggling body. It shuddered for a moment then fell still. A breath of relief ripped out of his throat, and he looked up towards the ceiling. He froze as he saw hundreds of rows of light. As if on cue, the massive horde of aliens fell together.

The mud squelched beneath his feet as he ran towards his companions, the sound of hundreds of legs scraping against stone filling his ears. He grabbed Averi by the arm, his eyes locked on Shawna who was still farther ahead, apparently unaware of what was happening. Adlai swore under his breath and ran even faster. He wouldn't leave her again.

He took a deep ragged breath. “SHAWNA! RUN!”

The light stood still for a moment and began to grow until Shawna’s sweating face pushed through the darkness.

“Not.. me.. away..” Adlai gasped through breaths.

“There are more ahead moron.” Shawna whirled her spear. “We can take em.” “What??” Averi’s voice was shaking with fear. Her fingers dug into Adlai’s arm, and he could feel her shivering.

“No choice” Adlai raised his own hatchet.

The squirming aliens crawled closer to him, their moist shells glistening under the flickering light of the lanterns. Adlai turned to look at Shawna, her teeth bared in a battle-hungry grin. He couldn’t help but feel invigorated just being in her presence. Averi on the other hand, was in a pitiful state, shivering like a soaked dog. In a glowing wave, the horde of aliens hit the trio. His hatchet seemed to have a mind of its own, crunching through shells and carving flesh and he couldn’t help but laugh. His blood sang in his ears and the noises faded to a dull roar as he cleaved through the aliens.

A prickling sensation broke his adrenaline fueled rush, and he looked down to see one of the aliens wrapped around his leg, a proboscis piercing his calf. That feeling of untouchableness melted into panic as more and more aliens took advantage of the momentary lull. Adlai shouted in pain as another proboscis stabbed into his shoulder, his hatchet hanging limply from a numb arm.

Each step seemed to take ages as he tried to push past the growing ball of aliens covering him. Adlai could feel the venom in his body, slowly rendering his limbs useless. It was getting harder to breathe, each labored breath taking longer than the next. Dark spots started swimming through his vision and he felt like throwing up until he saw another clump of aliens swarming over something. Averi.

Adlai found himself screaming again, pushing through the numbness. Through sheer will power and rage he pulled his leg out of the mess of aliens, hot blood running down his back. He hobbled to the clump of aliens, his hatchet somehow still in his numb arm. With his one good arm he ripped the aliens off his sister; his mind completely blank. His legs buckled, and he caught himself from falling, sweat and blood dripping from his face. His back prickled with the feeling of hundreds of legs crawling over him and the world started to turn dark.

A bright light lit up his fuzzy vision, a starburst of bright orange against a blurry gray background. The horde crawled off of his now nearly completely paralyzed body and an unclear figure stepped into his line of sight; a dark silhouette against a fiery background. He felt a hand wrap around his arm, the warmth of the grip battling the cold numbness he felt. Rocks pulled at the rips in his clothes as he was dragged across the cold, stony ground. His eyelids were leaden as the world slowly began to lose shape around him, palettes of color slowly swirling into dull grays, highlighted by the occasional streak of orange or blue.