Chapter 2 : What is left at the end 

The young man with dirty blonde hair was rather out there—his stature, his demeanor, even the way he looked at them. The best way Matthew could describe him was someone who occupied his space. He kept a measured distance between himself and people, both physically and mentally. He was reasonably tall, almost the same height as Parker when Matthew first saw him, but after a mental measure, he decided on six foot three inches. His eyes were a dark brown, and he was languid in his posture, yet exuded a rigid aura.

The young man pulled on his sparse yet clearly visible beard and asked carefreely, "May I have the gloves? I have something to say."

Parker was ready to hand over the gloves without thinking much about what the man was going to say when Matthew asked very offhandedly, "You have an idea about where we are?"

The man looked at Matthew almost like you would look at a noisy fly but said neutrally, "Not a single clue. The name's Thomas, by the way, since intros were the original assignment."

Parker, who had originally not been doubtful, now asked, "Then what do you wanna say?"

Thomas gave an annoyed sigh but said evenly, "I'm gonna get a group of decently strong people, and we're going to leave the cave through the exit over there."

Many people stood consecutively, their eyes widening. The templewas massive, its ceiling high, and the torches that lined the walls far above made it difficult to see beyond a certain distance. But they could see a patch of blurry darkness in the distance, where people were standing and looking out at it.

"Why didn't anyone say anything?" Kirk exclaimed before running toward the apparent exit.

Many others followed immediately after. Jesse and Adelina looked as if they wanted to go but turned back to Parker and Matthew, who both had dark looks on their faces. Parker asked, "Why do you need strong people to leave?"

"I woke up close by and originally tried to leave with several others, but I heard one of them screaming, followed by this ungodly clattering sound—like bones smashing against each other. So I'm assuming something got them, and I'm preparing to go kill it." Thomas replied in a matter-of-fact way.

A creature that makes sounds like a clap of bone… a shoebill maybe? But it killed people. How and why is it outside our only exit? To prevent people from escaping? How does he plan on even killing it? it's killed more than three people who ran out almost immediately—of course, I'm assuming three—it could be more or less.*

Parker looked dismayed but handed him the glove. Thomas didn't climb too high and instead stood on the fountain, balancing against the statue before shouting, "HEY!... Thanks for your attention. As we all know at this point, there's an exit—but a guard dog. So, if you're confident in your skills, I say we kill it before whoever dumped us here comes back."

A lot of people weren't listening, instead standing in large groups at two points. Matthew surmised there must be some other exit on the opposite side. Some people gathered at the fountain and began speaking when someone started screaming. Suddenly, everyone was screaming, running from the exit Thomas had pointed out. People ran in all directions, but Parker immediately charged toward the exit. Matthew followed close behind, forgetting danger based on two theories he had. He also needed to gain more trust among the people who would be leading them.

Parker and Thomas both raced toward the exit, deceptively fast, with Matthew and the girls following hesitantly. At the exit—tall and wide—lay a boy with his side torn open, blood leaking profusely from him.

Jesse quickly pushed her way to the front, screaming, "Give him space!" She tore the boy's ragged shirt and asked Parker to hold him still before stuffing a piece of cloth into the wound, ignoring the boy's weak cries. She then wrapped a strip of cloth around his waist, tying it tightly to apply pressure.

The boy's whimpers cut through the now silent, watchful hall like a sword—cutting through their doubts, forcing them to face the grim reality. A normal boy, most likely their age, was dying on the floor. A deep hopelessness began to form in their eyes, their bodies forfeiting strength. Matthew watched all of this as usual, taking in everyone's reaction to build better pictures .

Parker urged the boy to breathe repeatedly and stay calm.

How closely related bleeding out and panic are… both inextricably linked, both statistically and mentally.

Thomas looked on with an annoyed frown. "What did this to you?"

Jesse glared at him, shrieking, "Let him rest! Don't raise his pulse, goddammit!"

Thomas ignored her pointedly and kept his gaze on the boy. The boy's dark eyes stared into the intensity of Thomas's bright brown eyes. There was resignation in them. He scanned the room weakly, searching for some comfort—only to find horror. His eyes settled in that moment, and he smiled weakly.

"A fucking monster."

Everyone stared in disbelief, yet they held their breath—something resembling respect for the boy and his defiant smile. Thomas said nothing, waiting as the boy continued,

"It was like a giant ant. Its body was all white and crusty. No eyes, though, but it saw us when we stepped out. It had… hhhhuh ahhh fuck, it had six legs as thick as me and was as big as a fucking truck. We tried to run, but its jaws spread so wide, and it jumped at us so fast… I was lucky… on the edge of the group. When its jaws snapped, I landed back in the cave hole with just this. But the others… it—it tore them apart. It looked in my direction but wouldn't enter the cave."

"Is it too big?" Parker mumbled.

"The exit's big enough, but it just ignored me. My head feels light… fuck, what's going to happen to me?" the boy groaned weakly, his breath ragged and tortured.

Thomas turned and left the boy, while people began speaking and freaking out, all to the same tune: what was going to happen if they left? What was the inhuman monster? Joshua walked toward the exit, drawing many gasps, but none were brave enough to follow him.

Matthew and the rest gathered around the boy. Jesse gave him some water, and it began to occur to Matthew—what would they do without food or water if they were here for more than six hours? Adelina was praying frantically, while Parker placed a reassuring hand on both her shoulder and the injured boy's chest, trying to comfort them.

In that moment, he knew—they had no choice but to die here or die out there.

He stood and said, "I'm going to follow Joshua and check what's happening outside."

Jesse immediately refused. "Are you trying to fucking die? Just wait here! We don't have to rush to make any decisions."

Matthew put on a sympathetic look and said sheepishly, "It's not dangerous, and I also worry about Joshua. I'll be right back!"

"Matthew, wait!"

He didn't listen and ran off.

Now what I needed was information. Sitting down would only limit me. And Joshua wasn't a fool—if anything, he was probably the smartest of all of us. But he had no social skills. Even with limited speaking, Joshua showed a high degree of antisocial behavior, signs of dislike and disconnection from people. It wasn't obvious, but all this time, he was the one I had been watching the most.

He finally reached the end of the winding tunnel and was greeted by the strange white lights ahead. The walls were white, with some portions browner than others. The ground wasn't as smooth, and soft-looking bulbs of glowing moss clung to the walls and roof but not the ground.

Why don't they grow on the ground? he originally thought, but the question quickly shifted to why is the moss glowing white? And why is a cave that has never seen human touch so purposely bright?

The ant-like creatures of this place most likely didn't need light. So why is there light here at all? He looked around quietly, making assumptions while also searching for the creature. A large pool of blood in front of him and torn-apart limbs scattered about made bile rise to his throat. His nose wrinkled in disgust before he closed his eyes to think.

The limestone walls and moss suggest water may be close by—probably on my left where the air is cooler. And most likely insects too. Things like woodlice and cave crickets for food, supplemented with some moss. Is it horrible? Yes. Will we at least not be hungry? Yes.

He kicked a moderately sized piece of stone loose from the wall and threw it hard against the cave floor outside. Then he waited, his skin cold and breath held tightly.

Many seconds passed, he got colder and colder. He refused to blink hoping that it would be the difference between life and death.

He crawled closer and closer to the edge, ignoring everything in him screaming to turn back. There was an eye, partially crushed outside watching him. For a moment he left his body and began to watch the details of the scene

It could be waiting—just out of view, just at the edge of the cave, silent and patient. Waiting for prey to cross the boundary, only to be torn apart by its jaws.

He didn't move. The anticipation was unbearable. Then—

"Matthew!"

Parker's voice nearly made his heart jump straight out of his throat. He gritted his teeth, then shouted back in a shaky voice.

Parker arrived shortly after, with Jesse and Adelina right behind him. They were all pale, walking slowly, their eyes glued to the cave beyond Matthew. He had forgotten he was standing at the edge.

Jesse hissed, outraged. "Come here! Now!"

Matthew shuffled over, embarrassed, making an effort to appear regretful. Jesse cursed at him for being dumb, smacking his shoulder. Parker, initially smiling sheepishly, turned serious. "Wait—where's Joshua?"

Matthew froze. He had forgotten the excuse he made for coming here. Quickly, he composed a lie. Thankfully, his head was down, so they hadn't seen his expression.

"I didn't meet him here, but I heard footsteps when I got here. I called out to him, but he didn't answer."

Parker clicked his tongue in irritation. "Is he trying to get himself killed?"

Jesse grimaced as she looked at the bodies and blood gruesomely painting the walls of the eerily shining cave. Serene in its view yet disfigured horrifically . Adelina had turned away, refusing to look, while Parker focused on other things. They all silently returned to the original cavern, sitting near the people tending to the injured boy.

Parker frowned. "How much water do you have left?"

Jesse shook her head, frowning. She had cleaned the boy's wound, given him water, and wetted pieces of cloth to place in his armpits and groin to lower his body temperature. The bottle was big, but not much was left.

Adelina sighed. "If only that fountain worked."

She said it casually, but it set off alarms in Matthew's head—and Parker's, it seemed. They both walked over to the fountain, where Thomas and a group of ten strong-looking guys stood nearby. The group gave them careful glances but ignored them.

Parker leaned over the fountain, but Matthew was already examining the ground around it. He smiled. "Moss. And it's still wet and cold."

Parker grinned. "So we might still have water, but food is a problem." His gaze shifted to Thomas and his group, deep in thought.

Matthew, however, was watching a girl. When he mentioned the moss, the others had looked confused—but she had a knowing expression.

"If we could find someone experienced in cave exploration, we could find insects or non-toxic lichen to manage," Matthew suggested, loud enough for the girl to hear.

Parker made a disgusted face at the mention of eating bugs, but Matthew ignored him, walking back toward the group.

There's still a lot to consider. Most likely, before we got here, those monsters had to be eating something else. The presence of light—and the fact that they have no eyes—suggests adaptations for complete darkness. If their prey share that blindness, we could use it to trap them.

He left under the assumption that the girl would follow. She had the traits of someone who relied on others—no exterior signs of confidence or capability.

They returned to the others and informed them about the water, telling them to stay put while they carried whatever containers they could find back to the fountain to collect it.

He had hoped the girl would follow them back, but his assumptions about her seemed inaccurate; he had memorized her face and would find her later. She was still there, watching them. Her eyes widened as she saw them returning with bottles. She took a backpack from the ground and weakly searched for her own bottle.

Matthew took the initiative and walked over. He crouched down as she watched him shyly, then offered a soft smile. "I can help get water. It might get a little dangerous there. I'm Matthew, by the way."

She smiled hesitantly. "My name's Asha. Um… thank you very much."

She handed him the bottle, and Matthew took in everything he could—matching details, making assumptions about the best way to act.

He returned to the fountain, where Parker greeted him with a sleazy smile. Matthew rolled his eyes and smacked his shoulder playfully, mumbling, "Fuck off."

Then he fell quiet, staring at the black obsidian-like glass of the fountain and the mysterious statue atop it.

When the water comes, there'll be a rush. People will lose control of whatever they have left in them.