Chapter 5

On the surface ...

The sun was now setting and the two boys had not yet returned from their mission.

A strong wind was blowing.

Fortunately, the tree trunks did not move violently and did not bend at his behest. Their leaves remained completely motionless and impassive, occasionally rustling, but otherwise totally ignoring the nature they should have partaken of.

A spider slowly withdrew its web.

The sky was covered with clouds of a dull gray color. He foretold that, soon, there would be a long storm, and that it was, therefore, necessary to get busy and repair themselves.

Gaia had cooked a delicious dinner based on meat and fish, Samuele, on the other hand, had neatly arranged the seeds and prepared some dyes with the few flowers found near the pond.

Alarmed by the signs of a possible downpour, the two companions decided to collect the primitive wooden tools and with them the resources they had collected.

Although numerous, they would never have been enough for all four boys to survive more than ten hours. There, time flowed extremely differently from reality.

Although they had worked all day, they still hadn't collected enough material to make beds.

"Samuel, I know it will seem like a crazy undertaking, but I think we should go and find them," Joy said, after a long silence, trying in every way to convince her friend, frightened by the darkness they would soon encounter; who immediately replied with a firm voice, stubborn to desist: "If I'm not mistaken, they told us to wait for them here!" It is better not to go further! ».

"They might have gotten into trouble in the meantime!" Joy roared, glaring at him with a look full of reproach and contempt.

«Do as you wish, I go down below».

Samuel, afraid of being completely alone, replied that he would follow her.

So they set off following the dirt road that, from the point where they first found themselves, led to the entrance to the tunnel.

Meanwhile in the mine ...

Jane

"Franci, would you by any chance have some wood to lend me?" I asked hopefully.

I had noticed a detail that had indirectly suggested that I take advantage of the situation.

I just had a great idea.

"How much do you need?"

"Just to create a fishing rod," I replied with conviction, with the air of someone who knows exactly what to do.

So, I headed for a source of clear water that, from a wall, flowed along an artificial channel dug into the rock, disappearing towards the end of the cave and then rejoining with other streams, forming a lake.

I began to fish, waiting concentrated and motionless for a fish to fall into my trap, take the bait, and start pulling the line.

Suddenly I noticed bubbles near the hook.

It was the signal I was waiting for.

I held my breath for a long time and, when the moment was right, I pulled back the hook and, with it, my prey.

A salmon, green, white, and pink.

Never seen anything more beautiful.

I placed it delicately in a bucket and continued to fish without stopping.

After about half an hour, I removed the fishing rod and checked my haul: ten cod and four salmon.

"It's amazing to think how many useful things can be found in a puddle in such a strange world," admitted Francis.

"It's not exactly the best to fish in what appears to be the drain of a sewer, in a cave now uninhabited, but we have to make do with the same," I confirmed, glancing superficially at the source.

I ate a salmon to see if it was poisoned, very much hoping otherwise.

Negative.

I divided my food in half with my partner and, considering the luck I had had up to that moment, I decided to try to do another launch, hoping for something better.

Many memories came to my mind and with them, the nostalgia for what is dearest to me ever returned, the family.

A few years ago, at the age of eleven or twelve, I went fishing with my father and my brother. We left at about half-past five in the morning, only to return home in the evening. We walked a long stretch of road, passing through a grove that aroused a lot of fear at night because of the waterfall and the various animals that lived there.

With my relatives, I had learned a good technique, but I no longer remembered what exactly it consisted of.

There is no point in awakening memories, I thought.

Some, especially the most beautiful ones, only hurt.

As the last trophy, perhaps for my dedication or my love for culture and art in general, I came across a book.

I hastily picked up my diary and wrote about this moment, quietly saying the following words as they came straight out of the pen:

"And, as much as I seek,

to foresee things,

it will always be there

something unpredictable,

magnificent or horrible,

already marked

on my path ".

"This is my definition of destiny," I said, withdrawing the various sheets.

I looked at the book. It was very thick, signed by an unknown author. Although it looked very old, the cover was in a modest state. You could read the title, written in a very strange way.

"Jane," the boy interrupted me, "you said we shouldn't talk about it with our other companions, but if they found this book they'd start wondering how, where and when we found it."

«You're right ... Let's leave it here in a box, one day we will come back to take it back».

"Wait, can't we open it first and see what it looks like and what it says?"

As soon as he said it, the previous words unleashed demons: we heard moans coming from inside the walls.

It was night and we were sure that something was, unfortunately for us, awakening.

"We ran out of torches, now it will be all dark, this is the last," I whisper.

"You are scared?" Vallefra1058 asked, perhaps as a joke. I never understood the reason for that question, in a somewhat inadequate context.

"I'm not afraid of the dark itself, but of what it hides."

"Be careful!" Fra exclaimed, throwing himself on someone behind me.

I quickly turned on myself, to understand the reason for that indiscreet exclamation, as it could easily have revealed our position to the monsters.

I was petrified.

There is no use talking or shouting when you are in front of one of these ...

"Orenfhhrfh," the creature said, in one voice.

I was wondering if I would be able to decipher the message later. Whatever she was saying was no good, it was some kind of warning or a moan.

The creature began to crawl quickly towards us, dragging its legs and putting its hands forward, involuntarily approaching the torch I had placed on the ground to risk the darkness. Thanks to the glow of this, it was possible to distinguish the strong features of the face, the empty eye sockets, the greenish color of the skin, and the rugged and wrinkled clothing, like the skin itself.

It had a strong rotten smell, and its breath was no exception.

Suddenly he lost his balance and tripped over a ditch one meter wide by two meters high, exactly enough space to lock up a person.

We heard another deafening noise, this time slightly higher, followed by others fainter but of equal importance. The zombie casually turned to the dark side of the cave. His skull was split open, and from it came a black, putrid substance like bitumen. Despite this, the creature smiled, looking at us as when in a restaurant you are waiting for the main course and once finished, you have to run somewhere immediately otherwise you will arrive late. She looked at us from head to toe more or less like this, like this, with that desire to eat us as soon as possible.