Chapter 4

We walked through the cave in silence. Only the sound of our shoes tapping along the dirt and rocks could be heard. We followed the blood trail for a while before that too disappeared.

Looking at nothing but rocks and a dark holed tunnel was starting to bore me despite the fact that we didn't know if we were walking into a trap. It felt like we had been walking for hours, but in reality it was most likely about an hour.

I was lost in my head and thinking about the aftermath, circumstances and possibilities and just thinking about it just made me more and more mad the more I thought about it.

Looking over to her direction the flashlight shone enough light that we could see each other. She had a naturally healthy normal weight body and her white hair and light fair skin along with a pretty face and perky small nose made her look like a celebrity on tv. If she said she was a model, I would have believed it.

However this so-called beauty was a complete nincompoop who apparently isn't heroic. Just a complete idiot that lets her own emotions control her actions.

I must have been showing my anger because she gave me a side eye and was starting to act nervous.

I heaved out a big sigh and Elizabeth very nervously and cautiously asks

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm glad you asked" I grumbled.

"I was just thinking that a certain idiot didn't follow my orders and ran in blindly and because of that now i'm trapped and might be killed in this cave!"

She got angry at my remark.

"What kind of leader abandons their own troops. Do you not care if someone's life is in danger! You're a shameless coward!"

"I made that decision as a leader to prioritize everyone else's safety first! If I had recklessly charged in without thinking and got trapped and Harold couldn't handle the situation then everyone's lives would have also been in danger and not just that man already dragged away. Luckily the situation wasn't as dire when Anthony told us, but If I had not tried to stop you either then you would have died as well! If you had just listened we wouldn't have been in this situation in the first place!

I finished venting out my frustration and stared forward into the dark tunnel.

"...Sorry." Elizabeth said very softly that I almost didn't hear her.

Looking at her with a sad expression I wondered if I was being too harsh. What she did was very dumb, but it wasn't like she was doing it on purpose.

A bat had appeared in the ceiling and was woken up by the light.

Elizabeth hadn't noticed it yet and it flew past us.

She screamed and flinched when it dove over her head.

I laughed out loud.

"You should have seen your face"

She stomped the ground and pouted.

"I didn't see it. You'd get scared too if something appeared out of nowhere.

"No I wouldn't"

"So then what are you scared of?"

"What am I afraid of…"

I put my hand on my chin and thought about it.

And don't say nothing because I wouldn't believe you anyways"

"I'd say I'm afraid of not having something to strive for that makes my life meaningless and to end up alone"

She smirked. "You sound like an old lonely man"

"I meant like having no one around anymore. No one cares about you and you end up dying forgotten in the world. I think the term is called the third death in Mexican culture. The tradition is Los Días de los Muertos"

"I was expecting you to say you're afraid of spiders or something. You didn't have to go that deep."

It became silent again so I asked her another question.

"Why did you join the military?"

I looked at her and she looked back deciding what to say.

The only thing was I knew her background because I had looked over her documents alongside the others yesterday. She was the daughter of one of the largest investors in the world. The man Gerald Grace was a big shareholder in the military itself.

She had money, beauty and power. I was baffled myself when I read her documents. She could have done anything else, why did she join the military and risk her own life not to mention stepping in and trying to save others which would have gotten her killed.

"To find my own sense of purpose"

Her answer was very vague.

I decided I'd just tell her.

"I ran a background check on you along with the others. It was part of the process"

She stopped walking. And I turn to face her.

"Why is the daughter of one of the most influential investors in the world doing soldier's work and risking their life for someone else?"

"My father always boasted about how much he earns through the military. I imagine that the things I got to eat, see and do were because other people were sacrificing their lives just so I could have a safe life."

That was an answer that surprised me, but I still wondered.

"Everything's already handed to you, but you ran away and joined the military?"

She lowered her head and the flashlight and let it hang to her side.

"My father treats everyone like a tool to be used to either gain or lose money. If you weren't an asset, you were dead in his eyes."

She then looked up to face me with an angry expression. I could see that her eyes were becoming wet and she frowned.

"Would you like every step in your life predetermined and set before you were ever born?!"

She was trying very hard to hold back her tears. Her mouth quivered and her cheeks were flushed.

I had clearly touched upon a sensitive topic.

Taking the flashlight from her hand gently I then turn around.

"I'll take the lead."

My footsteps trudge along and she trails behind. Controlling her emotions, I only heard quiet sniffles as we continued to walk in silence for a while.

The sound of droplets hitting the ground became louder as we walked. The long seemingly endless tunnel was finally ending.

It seemed to be a dome shaped open space that had the top open allowing some light to enter into the dark room. As we got closer the sound of soft crunching became audible.

I moved the flashlight upwards and noticed that a bunch of bats were hanging upside down sleeping.

We had entered the area and I continued to move the lights upwards. A drop of water hit my shoulder. At least that's what I thought until I looked up.

I was greeted by two Echos busily munching on the dead soldier covered in mucus. They must have hatched earlier because two eggs sacks were broken behind them

As soon as I faced the lights toward them, they hissed.

"Arrgghh"

screaming in surprise I dropped the flashlight onto the ground.

"What happened?!"

She approached me when the head of the soldier fell onto the ground in front of her. She froze.

My panic caused the bats to stir from sleep and soon the entire room was covered by the sound of bats fluttering around and shrieking. They all flooded out through the way we came from.

"Where are they!?"

She aimed her gun in the direction of where I looked.

"We can't shoot! We might attract more!"

"What about the bats, they're already making so much sound!"

"They're different"

The Two Echos who were above on the ledge had disappeared somewhere.

"Stay close to me!"

I pick up the flashlight and start flashing it around the room widely.

Rows and rows of egg sacks were displayed on both sides. And carcasses of dead animals along with some metals were laid out.

It seemed they were getting ready to feed the newly hatched Echos.

"Over there!"

She points in the direction to her left and I move the flashlight over.

The Echo hissed once again and came running towards us.

"Hold it in front of me"

I hand the flashlight over to her and go after the Echo.

It didn't give much of a fight as I stabbed it with my sword. I spotted movement on the corner of my eye and told her to follow my movement.

I chased the dark figure in the shadows of the room until the flashlight shone in front of the Echo scurrying in the darkness.

Stabbing the creature it groaned in pain.

I jog back to Elizabeth.

"We need to take care of this infestation so we can call for rescue through that hole"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you know that Echos are able to block frequencies. We need to clear this area so we can call for backup"

"Right, sorry I don't remember studying that during the tests"

"Hand me your combat knife and shine the light over"

She takes her knife out from her side and hands it to me.

I start jogging to the rows of egg sacks and start cutting up the Egg Sacks.

The bodies of the Echos start hyperventilating and making noise as they fall to the floor. After a few moments they become lifeless.

I continue cutting out each egg sack and moving onto the other row.

I went on to finish destroying the sacks and moved onto the other side of the cave. By the time I was done destroying each one, the sunlight outside had turned into a deep orange and red.

I checked my pocket and my phone was broken. Probably from earlier when I slammed into the wall.

Calling out to Elizabeth I asked if she had a phone with her.

She pulled hers out and handed it to me.

I start inputting the numbers to contact Forrest and press call. The phone starts ringing as if I disconnected.

Exasperated, I dial the number again.

"Did I miss one? I swear I got all of-"

The sound of Elizabeth's gun being cocked made me stop mid sentence.

I turn around to look at her.

"Uh Elizabeth?"

She looked directly at me and aimed her gun towards my face. She said nothing.

"Elizabeth?" I gulped.

*Bang

I flinched at the sound and blinked.

*Screeee

I turned around and the Scouting Echo from earlier fell to the ground with a bullet in between its four eyes.

"Jesus you scared me"

"See you do get scared" She smiled.

"You could have at least warned me"

"Right… Next time I should scream 'Behind You!' and have it jump from my sudden movements"

"How do you know that you wouldn't accidentally shoot me"

She immediately changed the subject before I could notice.

"You saved me and I saved you, were even now"

"I saved you twice already"

"If you're talking about that Echo that digs, you were the one who said to distract it. I'd say that was a team effort"

"Whatever"

I press call again and I hear a familiar voice over the phone.

"Who the hell is this! I swear if you're doing a scam I'll find you and I will send your asses to jail!"

"Forrest!"

"Uh wah… Ren?"

"Yes"

"Where are you, we've received a report saying that you and two others were trapped in a possible Guardian Echo nest!"

"False alarm. It seemed to be just a small group of Echos and Mole Echos who were soon going to create a nest. However one of the members is dead. Eaten by Echos. The man's name is Jeremy Fildoa. There's a hole in the ceiling of the cave we're at. We can be rescued from there. I'm sending the coordinate location to you."

"Got It. I'll send it over to the rescue team that's going to head to your location"

"Thanks"

"Anything else?"

"No We're good, we already got rid of the nest, we'll just wait for the rescue"

"Alright"

Forrest hangs up and I hand the phone back over to Elizabeth.

"Now we wait"

I paced back and forth in the middle of the open room for a while scanning our surroundings while Elizabeth sat down on the ground meditating.

The sun was gone and the stars began to appear in the sky. She opened her eyes and lay down on the ground looking up to the ceiling.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm stargazing, I've never got to do it before so why not now"

"We can't just let our guard down"

"There's only one entrance to the area and you said it yourself. 'Now we wait'"

I was hesitant, but I sat down next to her and lay down looking up into the sky.

"It's nice to have a moment to relax. Sometimes a little breather helps more than you think" she said.

The sky was clear and stars filled the night sky. They shone brightly.

"See that over there?"

She pointed and I followed her finger to a certain star.

"That's called the crane and if you look over here…"

She points to the right.

"Near it is the bear"

I watched her finger trace over the stars in the sky. I could now see the outline of a bear with one paw lifted.

"How much do you know about stars and constellations?"

"Just a bit. I remember reading about it when I was younger when I wanted to go to space"

"You wanted to be an astronaut?"

"No, I remember reading about the animals in the sky and how they looked so free and about the endless worlds and possibilities out there"

I turned my head to her. She looked up into the sky with a hand outstretched as if she was trying to hold onto the stars.

"If you were an animal, what animal would you be?"

"Uh I dunno, I don't really ask myself questions like this"

"Well I'd be a bird."

She then looked at me. I could see the stars in the sky reflecting from her eyes"

"I think you'd be an Elephant"

"How so?"

"Just a feeling"

She turned to look back at the sky and so did I.

Neither of us talked the rest of the night. We just quietly gazed at the stars and listened to our own thoughts in our heads.

At some point I look back over to Elizabeth who had her eyes closed.

I continued to stare into the night sky until the sound of propellers in the distance became louder and louder.

The sky above the dome was then covered by a helicopter that was floating above. A bright light was directed down towards us and I stood up with a hand shielding my eyes.

Elizabeth opened her eyes and got up as well.

The wind blown towards us caused us to squint. Her hair flailed around wildly.

The person above used a large microphone to speak.

"Ren and Elizabeth, Please send us the body of the deceased member first.

I tap Elizabeth and walk over to the side. She helps me lift up the headless body.

A hatch opens under the helicopter and a long metal crane drops down and takes the body from us. We watch it take the body and close the hatch.

A long ladder was dropped down towards us and Elizabeth steps onto it and starts climbing.

I run back to the entrance of the cave and she pauses.

"Where are you going?"

"Give me a sec."

I search around the entrance and find the head of the man.

Picking up the man's head I carry it.

Climbing up the ladder I reach the top. The man with the microphone helps me up.

The dead body lay over on the other side and I went and placed the head next to it.

The man begins to pull up the long ladder and shuts the doors when he finishes.

The helicopter began moving and I sat down on one of the seats.

Feeling a lot safer I was able to close my eyes and get some rest for the rest of the trip.