Chapter 9- Jay

The last thing Jay saw was the blur of Alexa running the opposite way, towards the.. Whatever the thing was. He couldn't help it- he stopped, dragging down the others as he did.

"What the hell is she doing!?" Zoey shouted, struggling to break free of Jay's grip on her. "Jay! Stop her!" Alexa was racing away, but as he watched, she'd slipped around the thing, racing the other way, driving it away from the rest of them. It followed her, ignoring the four of them, standing there, watching with horrified eyes.

Jay stared, horrified. Was she going to be alright? As Alexa turned down a corner, leading the thing away, Jay felt a few tears blurr in his eyes as she vanished from view, and the thing screeched again, it's noise farther away now.

She's going to die. She's going to get killed… saving us. He thought, making himself wish he could have gone instead.

"Did she.. Lead it away?" Mason asked, clearly just as shocked as Jay. Zoey was still fighting in Jay's arms. He grabbed her shoulders and looked her square in her tear-filled eyes. Both of them were crying, Zoey was breaking down in sobs.

"Zoey, listen to me, you can't go after her!" He said, keeping his voice low. "She's gone already, okay? We don't need to lose both of you." She stared at him, then nodded weakly. Jay wrapped her in a hug.

"The light stopped…" Mason said, making Jay relize for the first time the intense flickering was gone. It was now bright as ever, it's glow reflecting.

Gail stepped forwards. "According to my calculations, we should keep going. Since we've already lost two, we need to find a way out before more of us end up dead."

Jay wanted to say Alexa wasn't dead, she couldn't be. But… he knew, she was… she was gone.

"We can't keep going, we'll just run into something else!" Mason nearly shouted. Jay could understand, he was just as terrified as the rest of them. Ashley was dead from swinging axes, Alexa died from.. Whatever that was.. And Zoey was still injured.

"We need to, because according to my calculations, that thing will come back for the rest of us once it finishes her!" Gale said, pushing up her glasses.

Mason opened his mouth to argue, but Jay spoke first. "She gave her life so we could get out of here, and if we don't, her sacrifice was pointless."

Mason groaned. "Why couldn't it be a normal camping trip?"

Jay wanted to laugh- but he was too busy dealing with the pang of sadness in his gut to do anything but walk on.

Despite the light, somehow, the hall was still darkened at the end. He was lost- in the run he had no idea where they'd come from, or where they needed to go anymore. He looked at Zoey again, who couldn't stop her tears. He couldn't either- Alexa was his best friend, her and Zoey were. Oh why couldn't he have gone instead of her?

They walked forwards, on and on. Passing nothing but brick walls. He didn't understand this place, why didn't the doors continue anymore? Why did the light stop flickering?

Why did she have to die for me? He thought, making a fresh wave of sorrow wash over him. He didn't know how to live without Alexa snapping at everyone all the time, without her being noisy in the bedroom beside him in his house. How would he go to school without her? How could anyone live without her? He and Zoey walked slightly ahead Mason and Gail, who were trailing behind, being silent for once.

They must have cared a little that she died, He thought, but immediately took it back. She wouldn't have wanted them to care, but she must have known how hard Jay and Zoey would take it. His mind was still buzzing nonstop. He felt fear nonstop, every step he took could be his last. He couldn't let anything happen to anyone else- he had to protect them.

If only I could have protected Alexa he thought bitterly, taking her loss as his fault. I should have stopped her, I should have grabbed her. I should have made her stop…

He already missed her feisty company. He missed her so much… what was he going to do without her forever? Zoey's arm was still around his shoulders, she was still limping. Between the two of them, they were leaving a small trail of tears on the stone floor.

Gail cleared her throat. "Fork in the road," She said, pointing ahead to where the hallway split two ways, left or right. Jay stopped once again, looking down both. They looked about the same, besides the right one having another door on the side.

Gail was beside him, peering down both, squinting her eyes, and pushing up her glasses. "This one," She pointed to the right.

Jay frowned. "They look the same to me."

Gail lifted a brow, and walked a few paces into the left hall, waving her hands towards a small puddle-looking thing. "Blood," She said, trailing her finger from the floor to the wall. "Trailing all around. So, according to my calculations, the right side is safer." He raised his hands in a surrender, allowing Gail to step in front of him and lead the way down the hallway. To his surprise, she stopped a few steps in, pausing at the door.

"What?" Mason said, nearly crashing into her.

"All the other doors had someone- something inside of them," She said, "This one seems to be empty. Maybe it's something we need to go inside of."

"Or maybe it's another fuking trap!" Mason shouted.

Gail shot him a glare. "Language. Anyways, what do you two think?" She tipped her head at Jay and Zoey. He took a deep breath. "I agree with you both, I think we need to go inside though, Mason."

"Hell no, I am not going in there!" He exclaimed, taking a step back. "You three are more than welcome to! I'm not ending up like Ashley or Alexa!" Jay felt coldness sweep inside of him at the mention of Alexa's name. Zoey gave mason a look, and he glanced towards his shoes. "Sorry."

"Gail, see if it's unlocked?" Jay asked. She nodded, and rested her hand on the cool metal for a moment, before pushing down, and letting the door slowly creak open, the sound echoing around them. Jay felt shivers. This was like a horror movie.

"I'll go first," He volunteered. Gail stepped back, leaving a path for him to go through. He let Zoey sit outside with Mason, while he entered the room first. Gail was right; nothing alive was inside here. A dresser sat in one corner, an old, hospital bed in the other. He could tell from here- the bed was soaked in blood, and it didn't look old. Gail stepped in behind him, adjusting her glasses.

He couldn't see anything useful. Why did we have to come here in the first place? He thought, frustrated, as he headed towards the dresser, opening the drawers, top to bottom. Nothing. Nothing. As he pulled the third and last drawer, it scraped the bottom of the solid floor, a creaking sound echoing around them. Zoey's head came from around the corner. Luckily she wasn't too badly injured, she seemed able to walk better on her own now, and she limp-walked over to Jay.

"What is that?"

He pulled out a long, wickedly sharp sword.. It's blade seemed to sparkle in the light. Zoey gently took it from him, staring at it for a moment.

"Alexa would have loved this," She said sadly, tracing her finger along the carved wooden handle. Jay nodded in agreement, then stood, walking to the opposite end of the room. Gale was studying the bed, and the medical experiments around it.

"This looks fresh," Jay said, nodding towards the blood. Gale narrowed her eyes at the equipment, picking up what looked to be a syringe filled with a weird blue liquid.

"It is," She agreed. "But this looks weird, and according to my calculations, this," She tapped the syringe, "Is not any type of medicine we know, it's something new and weird."

Jay frowned, confused. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, I think someone or something may be here experimenting on other things. Maybe it's what was going to happen to Zoey." She lowered her voice, but tipped her head back to Zoey, who was studying the rest of the room.

"Really?" He asked. Gale shrugged. "Like I said, according to my calculations." She set the syringe back on the table, heading back outside with Mason. Jay looked at it for a moment, wondering what it could even do. Was she right? Was this what could have happened to Zoey?

What could happen to Alexa, if she somehow escaped the thing? He dismissed the thought in an instant, there was no way she could have outrun it. She had to be dead, there wasn't any way she could still be alive.. Right?

Yet a part of him still hoped she'd just find them, teasing him when he said he thought she was dead.

No time for this right now, we need to get out of here. He thought, glancing towards Zoey, who was still fingering the sword. He tipped his head back towards her. "Zoey? Let's go, before something ends up coming out of the wall." He tried to joke, but Zoey didn't laugh. She handed him the sword back.

"Let's go," She agreed. She gave him a quick smile, and headed out. Jay looked around once more, taking a quick glance around, before heading out once more.

"Well?" Mason demanded.

"Nothing interesting, besides this," He said, lifting the sword, but then something flashed at the edge of his vision. He whipped his head around, to the room they were just in. Was he imagining it? He swore he saw something…

"What the..?" Zoey turned, looking around Jay. She must have seen it too- so it wasn't fake, whatever it was. Then the bed in the corner moved. Jay's eyes froze open, as his heart began beating hard against his chest. His blood was turned to ice. His hands were trembling, as he slowly looked towards the bed. It was shaking so violently, and of course, the lights began flickering. Faster than before, on, off, on, off, light, dark, light, dark.

"Holy shit!" Mason cursed. Zoey grabbed Jay's hand, stopping him from going any farther in the room. She pulled him back a little ways. The lights came more intense, and Jay, for a heartbeat, thought he saw something slithering from under the bed.

He wasn't wrong.

He felt fear crawling farther up his spine, frozen in place from fear, as a legless body began crawling from under the bed. It's arms were so long, so much longer than any humans. It's legs were missing, bloody stumps in its place. It had no eyes, but a mouth, and it widened, showing its teeth.

Jay couldn't move as the thing looked up at him. It's head began twitching, little jerky movements, and let out a growl- sounding noise. Mason grabbed the door handle, making the creature jerk it's head towards him.

"We need to run!" He shouted, slamming the door shut as the creature came running. It rammed itself into the door, making it shake. Jay could see the hinges were already becoming weak, as the creature relentlessly rammed itself into the door, again and again, making it squeak as it began crawling up the door towards the glass.

"Jay!" Zoey's voice shouted. She was far away, when had she left? He looked over, still paraylazed with fear, to see her racing back towards him from the end of the hall they were originally headed towards. She grabbed his wrist, and began dragging him with her, as she caught up with Gail and Mason, who began running once more.

"Shit, SHIT!" Mason cursed, as they could all hear the door go flying into the opposite wall behind them, a ghostlike howl after it. Jay still felt numb. He couldn't do anything besides keep up with Zoey, who was dragging him still.

"We're going to die!" MAson shouted. The light was blurring Jay's vision, distracting him as he finally could feel himself again, the numbness wearing off. His mind began to move out of mush.

What would Alexa do? He thought frantically. He realized he hadn't dropped the sword yet, it was still in his free hand, while the other was still holding Zoey's. He didn't want to. He really didn't want to, but there was no way they could run forever, this thing wouldn't give up. He had no choice.

You know Alexa would have done it in a heartbeat, He thought, as his hand let go of Zoey's. He didn't know if she called for him to come back or not- but he wouldn't let them die.

The creature seemed to stop- as if it knew Jay's plan. Could it? He wondered, as he held it high, the only thing he could see was it's hideous face- ripped out eyes, missing legs, low moans, the horrid, bloodstained dress from the waist down, and he could now see the missing ears, the hair that seemed to be ripped out in chunks, before he closed his eyes in fear, and slammed the sword down on the creature.

A moment later, Jay realized he wasn't dead. He popped one eye open, taking a risky glance around. The thing's head was rolling around the ground near his feat. He let out a scream, and kept back. Thick red blood was pouring from its neck. He stared in shock for a moment, hardly able to believe what he'd done. Did he just kill it?!

"Jay!" Zoey shouted, and a moment later, he felt hands around his shoulders.

"Holy shit," Mason said, earring a glare from Gail. He looked at it nervously, stopping beside Jay, who was gripping the sword tightly, blood coating the end.

Gail pushed her glasses up. "According to my calculations, you should make sure it's dead." She commented. He held out the sword to her, "Go ahead, I'm not getting near that thing."

She stepped back. "No thanks, according to my calculations it could still be alive, therefore, it could kill us all." Jay wanted to get a closer look- but he didn't risk it. He took another few paces back from it.

"We should still go. Like Gail said, it could easily be alive." Jay said.

"I don't know about that, looks pretty dead to me." Zoey said, looking skeptical though. Jay held his hands up, shooting a glare at the lightbulb as it's flickering slowed, and came to a halt, light once again.

"This is insane…" Mason said, taking a breath and running his hands through his hair. "Fucking monsters, what the hell even is this!?"

"It is not highly possible for this to exist," Gail said, pushing her glasses up.

"But it does," Jay said. "It's killed two of us, so we need to go. Just in case." He felt another, fresh stab of sorrow for Alexa. He took another deep breath, slowly backing away, before turning around and starting another walk down the hall. He wondered how much longer this could go on… he was freaking starving, his stomach was practically screaming, he was sure the others felt the same. His throat was also as dry as could be, he turned to Gail.

"Got any food in there? Water?" He asked, not slowing down. She thought for a moment, then nodded, pulling two water bottles out.

"Seriously?!" Mason shouted at her. "You had these the whole time!?" He took it from her, chugging half the bottle.

"You never asked," She said, "So, technically, why would I ask you?" She glared at him.

"Gail. What the hell else do you have in there?" Jay asked, knowing if she mentioned one word about food-

"... Water purifier, a flashlight, and a spear... And… hotdogs." She said slowly. Jay stared at her.

"Are. You. KIDDING ME!?" Mason shouted, "Dude, you are THE WORST!" Gail wrinkled her nose, "WHAT? You NEVER asked!"

"Holy-" Jay started, but calmed himself. "Gail, we're starving, may we please have some of your hotdogs?" He asked, making it very clear that now, he in fact DID ask.

She sighed, and crouched down, her back to the wall. She drew out a pack of pre-cooked hotdogs, opened it, hanging them each half of one.

"We need to eat as little as possible," She informed them, eating hers in small bites. "So we can save them, who knows how long we're going to be in here."

Jay ate his in a single bite, poured half the water bottle down his mouth to wash away the horrible, cold and slimy taste, before passing it off to Zoey, who finished the rest. Jay was still starving, but a little bit of his hunger was easing away.

"What now?"

"We keep walking."