Britt felt nothing under her feet. She couldn't feel Paul holding onto her. She turned her head away so her headlamp no longer lit up the gruesome remains of Jen.
"Oh my god!" Britt sobbed. Hysterical, she hiccupped. "Jen, Jen, Jeeeen."
After a point she could feel Paul shaking against her back. "Oh my god, Paul." She turned. Why couldn't she think of something else to say? His face was as void of blood as hers felt. "Wh-wh-wh …"
His voice trembled. "I don't know."
Britt dared to glance at the pile of the once-was Jen. All's which remained were bloodied clothes and one foot in one boot. The other boot contained a pool of blood.
Her stomach heaved. A waste of some damn fine organic trail mix. Wiping the bile from her mouth, she grimaced. Repulsed. "We can't just leave her down here."
Paul took a step back. "I'm not picking that up. We should go for help."
Sniffles crinkled Britt's nose. The coppery smell overpowered her. Sickening. "Help for what?"
"Jen."
Her dry laugh echoed in the tunnel. "She's beyond help, Paul."
"We need to call the sheriff."
They did. They needed to do something other than stare at blood and spatter. Britt nodded. She peered into the black beyond Jen's brutality. Who did this to Jen? What?
Amber glowed in a faint pinprick. Eyes or a torch? Britt shook Paul's arm, pointing. "There," she whispered, "there is Jen's killer."
He clutched onto her hand watching the orange glow. It grew brighter. He headed toward the ropes, dragging Britt with him. "He's coming back."
He who? Britt's heart pounded. Imagining a gnarled killer with a hook for a hand, she clawed at the tightening in her chest.
He moved closer. "Oh my god!"
A hum filled the lava tube tickling at all her senses. It came up through the rock and her feet to stir her nerves into a frenzy. Warnings pricked at the back of her neck. Cold and icy. She shivered.
Paul's gulp echoed like gunfire. "We need to go!" He pushed her to go faster.
Britt tripped before getting her feet under her. Panic gripped into hysteria as she fumbled with her carabiners. She dared to glance back. Amber filled the passage, humming like an insane Liberace. Paul pushed her again. She pulled up, up, up, screaming the whole way. What was that?
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