Black Plague

Chapter 40

Travis grabbed his side as he slowly rose from the ground. Dazed he looked at the massive hole before him feeling uneasy. The large clearing that was once there was replaced by an unending abyss.

"What the hell happened?" He asked confused.

"The floor must have collapsed after Jessie dragged Animal out of the sky." Lucas said as he appeared by Travis' side. He sported brand new bruises and cuts across his hands.

"Jessie! He must have fallen down with her!" Travis cried out as he ran to the craters edge.

Feeling uneasy as he looked over the edge he carefully scanned the hole. He cursed as he was met with a completely dark abyss.

"Jessie! Jessie can you hear me!" Travis screamed into the pit.

Fear took hold as silence answered him.

"Dammit Cruz answer me!" He said punching the ground beneath him.

"We need to do a headcount to see who else is missing." Lucas said as he bent down beside Travis.

"Has anyone seen Toby?!" A panicked Sarah asked as she appeared from behind an overturned tree.

As her gaze turned towards the hole the color in her face drained.

"Don't tell me." She said as she stepped slowly towards them.

"Where's Rose?" Travis asked his fear now rising to an all new high.

"Rose!" He cried out standing back up.

"I'm over here!" Rose replied drawing everyone's attention to the top of one of the nearby trees. "I figured this might be the best place to stay safe...and now I can't get down." She said sheepishly.

Travis chuckled to himself as he raced over to help Rose down.

"Has anyone seen Lily or Akita?" Lucas asked worriedly.

"They were the closest ones to animal when the floor gave out. I think they fell down with Jessie." Rose said as she let go of a blushing Travis' hand.

"What are we supposed to do now? This wasn't how this was supposed to go down!" Sarah yelled.

"There's nothing we can do but keep moving. We blew a huge hole into Plagues base and I doubt it went unnoticed." Lucas said solemnly.

"What about Jessie and the others? We can't just leave them? We don't even know if they're alive..." Travis asked confused.

"We have to act based on the assumption they're alive, we can't just assume they're dead. I know for a fact that both Toby and Akita won't let any harm come to those two." Lucas replied placing his hand on Travis' shoulder.

"No I can't accept that! We have to do something to help them!" Travis said as he knocked away Lucas' hand.

"Yeah we don't want to abandon the others!" Rose said annoyed.

"Hey settle down!" Sarah yelled smacking the back of Travis head.

"Hey!"

"Now you listen here you little punks, if Lucas says move forward, we move forward!" Sarah said exasperated. "As much as I hate to say it, Toby is pretty reliable. We can count on him to play his part and take care of everyone."

Travis could see she was scared herself, the way she glanced back at the hole left him feeling guilty.

"Fine, but I'm gonna hold you personally responsible if anything happens to them." Travis said rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh are you, who cares. It's not just your friends who fell down there kid. Get some perspective." She said scoffing at Travis.

Feeling his face flush Travis tried to reply but was caught off as Lucas placed his hand on his shoulder once again.