Quintessential | Joshua Washington

Darkness - IV

They were stood before the entrance to the mines, taking in the impenetrable blackness that stretched out before them with apprehension. "It's...dark." Chris commented, breaking silence. Of course, Chris had never been into the mines. Last time he'd been close, but he'd never had to truly venture in them like Sam and Mike had.

"That it is, though the darkness is the least of our problems." Quinn replied casually; Chris looked at her nervously. She dropped onto one knee and unzipped the bags, as promised she handed out guns and ammo to each of them, as well as headbands with light strapped to the front, "Easier to climb without a flashlight in your hand." She explained, "We'll stick together until the path diverges, try not to use the walkie-talkie too much – silence is your friend down here." Quinn looked directly at Chris when she said that. From the bag Stuart had been carrying she removed what appeared to be a make-shift flame thrower.

"Hey don't we get one of those?" Mike asked, eyeing it excitedly.

"You're joking right?" She scoffed, "Like I'd trust any of you with a god damn flamethrower." She placed her shotgun in the holster round her waist and quickly tied her hair into a long braid to keep it out of her way. "Well then, shall we?" She gave them a grin and they all made their way into the mines. 

Quinn would be lying if she said she wasn't a little excited, she had been training for a situation such as this for a good part of her life and to finally be out here without parental supervision was oddly liberating. The only thing she was worried about was her companions, mainly Stuart truth be told; at least Mike and Chris has handled guns before, they'd both had to shoot at moving Wendigo's and lived to tell the tale. Stuart's knowledge however was purely theoretical, he knew how to kill them, contain them, weaken them and capture them; he knew what hurt them and what didn't and he knew how they came to be – but he'd still never even seen one. They were walking for a few minutes when they hit the first hurdle.

"Looks like we've hit a fork already." Sam's quiet voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she saw that the blonde was correct, the mines forked out to the left and to the right before them. "I guess this bye for now." Sam looked at her two friends.

"Yeah...see you on the other side." Chris joked lamely. 

Quinn grabbed Stuarts sleeve and looked up at him earnestly before they moved off. "Be careful, leave the shooting to these guys and Stay sharp; if you find Washington get in contact straight away, okay?" She ordered, Stuart gave her a half smile.

"Oh stop Quinn you're making me blush." She punched him in the arm. "Okay, okay I got it, I'll be super careful." She nodded and turned to the others.

"You two...try not to die will you?" Quinn said to Mike and Chris.

"Not heartfelt warning for us? I'm crushed." Chris replied clutching at his chest dramatically; Mike hit him upside the head.

"Right back at ya'. Stay safe Sam." With that final farewell the group split up and took on the task of searching the humongous mines for any sign of Josh Washington. The group of men took the tunnel to the right, leaving Sam and Quinn to take the left.

"Well then Sammy, let's get going." She murmured, Sam nodded and set off with Quinn, the pair staying as quiet as possible. The last time Sam had found herself here she was driven out of necessity, they'd gone after Mike and she was the only one athletic enough to make it through; back then adrenaline had been coursing through her, keeping both her fear and the cold at bay. This time, she had chosen to come; the darkness and cold both clung to her as she stumbled along, finding it increasingly difficult to keep her worry supressed. "You doing ok?" Quinn's soft voice asked. Sam nodded, the light emitting from her headband bobbing up and down as she did.