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❝dawn.❞
MIKE CARRIED FLORENCE all the way back to the lodge, keeping his arm wrapped around her waist the whole time to secure her limp figure to him. He wasn't leaving her behind or letting her get killed after everything the had been through. He wasn't breaking his unspoken promise to Josh. He refused.
Meanwhile, Florence found herself stuck in a trance as Mike helped her up the stairs of the lodge. It was there that the two of them found Sam pounding on the front door.
"Sam." Mike spoke, grabbing Sam's attention.
"Shit, Mike. You look terrible." Sam gaped, panting heavily. She looked Mike and Florence over and that was when she noticed that Florence had that distinct distant look in her eyes — and that Josh wasn't with them. Her heart dropped immediately, as she knew exactly what happened. Josh wasn't with them because he wasn't coming back.
"Gonna look worse if we stay out here." Mike told her. He still had Florence safely tucked underneath his arm. He didn't plan on letting her go until he had a place for her to sit and stay until he was sure they were safe. There was no way he was letting her out of his sight after what happened in the caves.
"Okay." Sam breathed before picking up a rock beside the door and using it to break the glass on the door. She had to push away the tragedy of the fact that Josh was gone and focus on getting off of this forsaken mountain. With determination radiating from her body, she reached through the broken glass and opened the door.
Once they were all inside the lodge, Sam looked back at Mike. She had to ask the dreaded question. "Mike, what happened to Josh?"
Florence winced, all of the memories suddenly flooding back to her. Her heart shattered all over again and tears rose in her bloodshot eyes. All she could hear were Josh's pained pleads and screams. All she could see was the Wendigo ripping Josh out of the water and further into the mines. All she could feel was the grieved scream she let fall from her lips. There was so much pain washing over her all at once.
"It got him." Mike answered, despite feeling Florence tense up underneath him. Sam had a right to know what happened to her friend and he had an obligation to tell her.
"Oh, God. What an awful way to go." Sam sighed. She didn't think Josh would make it back when she left them earlier, but knowing that he didn't was somehow worse than that. Even though it felt like a part of Josh, the sane part, had gone away a long time ago, it still hurt knowing that he was dead. She couldn't even begin to imagine how Florence felt.
"What do you think we should do now?" Sam asked Mike after taking a moment to process Josh's death. They had to focus on getting off of the mountain and away from the imminent danger all around them before they could properly grieve.
Mike looked down at Florence. He told Sam, "I gotta find her a place to rest until dawn. One of those things, I think, broke some of her ribs just before she went into the mines looking for Josh. She can't take much more moving around. She definitely can't keep running."
Sam winced, immediately moving to take Florence from Mike so she could get a good look at her ribs to determine the damage. If her injuries were that bad, she definitely couldn't keep moving around and she certainly couldn't run anymore.
Florence remained limp and unmoving as Sam carefully pulled up the several layers she was wearing to get a good look at her ribs. Sam hissed and reeled back slightly at the ghastly sight; there were large blue and purple bruises spread across her torso where her ribs were. They looked fresh and very painful. There was definitely damage done.
"Shit, that's bad." Sam said quietly before lowering Florence's clothes and gently handing her back over to Mike.
Florence didn't even flinch as she was passed around and examined by her friends, for she was miles away inside her head.
"Let's check the basement, might be someone left down there." Mike instructed, grunting as he walked ahead with Florence in his arms and Sam following close behind them.
"Easy." Mike mumbled as he helped Florence get down a couple sets of stairs. Considering she was slowly making her way towards becoming deadweight with how little she was able to move, it was getting harder and harder for Mike to move her. Regardless, he wasn't planning on giving up on her. It was his self-appointed job to get her off this mountain safely and he intended on doing just that.
"Come on, Flo. We're almost there, then you can rest." Mike assured her in hopes of providing her with some encouragement to keep her at least moving her feet. It seemed to help though, because she started moving her feet a little more.
"Good." Mike praised, "Almost there."
Florence heard Mike — distantly. She appreciated his encouragement more than she could vocalize in that moment. She wasn't actively trying to give up on him, but she was stuck so far away that it was hard to move, especially with how much pain she was in. After everything she and her friends had been through and how much they lost, all she wanted to do was lay down and sleep for years. She couldn't give up, yet, though. Not when they were so close to being rescued. Soon, they would be off the mountain that did nothing but tear them apart and torture them. Once she was home and healed, she could mourn the loss of her best friends and her beloved boyfriend.
Even in her trance of sorts, Florence was still holding on to some hope.
"How do you rate our chances of survival?" Sam jokingly asked Mike as they neared the doors that lead to the basement.
"I'm trying not to think about it." Mike sighed.
A sudden screech echoed from what seemed to be the basement. Then came a rush of their friends all running for their lives and practically knocking Sam, Mike, and Florence over in the process. It all happened in a matter of a few chaotic seconds.
"Go! Run!" Ashley wailed.
"Get out of here!" Chris roared, "Go, go, go!"
"Go! We gotta go!" Emily screamed, running after Ashley and Chris.
Mike hiked Florence up and began sprinting as fast as he possibly could behind his friends. He winced a little, as he knew that running had to have been hurting her. Despite this, in a life or death situation, she would have to bare the pain if she wanted to live. And he wasn't willing to give her the choice of living or dying — he was getting her out of the lodge and off the mountain whether she wanted it or not.
Sam slammed the door shut behind everyone and ran for her life.
Several Wendigos screeched as they pounded through the door and began spreading out in search of the group. Their clouded eyes darted all around as they looked all around the lodge. They jumped from place to place, never staying in one part of the lodge for more than a couple seconds.
Once Mike got Florence back upstairs where everyone else was, he immediately froze as he saw a Wendigo hanging from the decorative chandelier. It was staring down at all of them.
"Don't move, Flo." Mike whispered to her, cradling her as close as possible.
Sam was the last one to run up, heavy pants and whimpers escaping her lips.
"Don't move." Mike warned her in a hushed voice, "Don't fucking move a muscle."
Everyone stayed frozen in their places, an adrenaline-filled mixture of terror and the will to survive collectively coursing through their veins. They were all determined to make it out alive after everything they had gone through, so they remained still and breathed as quietly as they could manage.
Two more Wendigos crawled upstairs and began fighting with the one that jumped down from the chandelier. They seemed like they were trying to kill each other to keep from imposing on one another's territory. Possessive creatures, indeed.
Enraged screeches and wails echoed around the lodge.
One of the Wendigos killed another by throwing it against the fireplace where it broke a pipe, allowing gas to leak into the air. Mike began to devise a plan to set the lodge alight to kill the Wendigos; after all, the only way to truly kill them was to light them on fire and ensure that they burned. However, he wouldn't be able to act out his plan if he had to carry Florence around with him. It would draw too much attention to him and it would ultimately get the both of them killed. She had to snap out of it just long enough for him to get them out of their current situation if any of them wanted to survive.
"Florence, please snap out of it." Mike whispered to her, desperately hoping and praying she was listening. "If we're gonna make it out of here, I need you to stand here on your own. You gotta hold yourself up long enough for me to make us a way out."
Florence heard Mike. With every passing second, she was fighting to gain enough strength to uphold herself. Despite the excruciating pain rolling through her body in agonizing waves and the unyielding memory of Josh being taken playing on repeat in her head, she was pushing to take back control of her body. She needed to in order to make it out alive, she knew that. Mike was counting on her.
"Can you do that for me?" Mike asked hopefully.
It took a moment, but Florence regained enough consciousness to slowly nod in case of drawing attention to herself through the small movement. She was strong enough to stand on her own now, her willpower would be enough to keep her up. After all of the pain and grief she suffered, she couldn't even move on her own without Mike's help. But, he had gotten her this far and now it was time for her to let him get everyone out. He was stepping up to save everyone like he always boasted he would do — Mike the hero, ever-courageous and eternally brave. Now, all he had to do was enact his plan and they would be able to escape with their lives. He'd be their hero.
Mike looked at Florence once more to ensure that she was alright on her own before he slowly began to move towards an exposed lightbulb that he would have to shatter if he wanted to start a fire. With the gas already leaking into the air from the broken pipe, if the lightbulb were to be broken, all he would have to do to start a fire would be to flip the light switch that was — fortunately — right beside the door they could all run out of. His plan was perfect. As long as he didn't die trying to enact it.
The remaining two Wendigos fighting one another allowed Mike to slowly make his way towards the lightbulb. Fortunately for him, he made it to the lightbulb just as the second to last Wendigo was killed, leaving the last one alive.
To cause a distraction for Mike, Sam stepped backwards and ended up stepping on an old board. A loud creak sounded and grabbed the final Wendigo's attention. It screeched in Sam's direction, seemingly looking right through her because she remained completely still.
Mike enclosed his hand around the lightbulb and squeezed as hard as he could, breaking the glass within seconds. That was the signal that everyone else in the lodge took to run out, one by one, as quietly as possible.
Chris was the first one to run out of the front door while the Wendigo was distracted enough.
After the glass broke and made a shattering sound, the Wendigo turned around and prepared itself to lunge towards Mike.
Florence watched the scene before her and immediately thought back to the last hour or more when all Mike had done was save her and make sure that she got out alive. She had to return the favor. It was the right thing to do.
"Hey!" Florence yelled, catching the Wendigo's attention and bringing it towards her and away from Mike. Her heart raced in her chest, thumping painfully fast against her seething ribs. She prayed that as long as she stood perfectly still, she wouldn't be seen by the screeching monster before her.
Ashley was next to run out the front door.
Florence remained as still as she could, holding her breath, as the Wendigo walked up to her and roared directly in her ear.
Emily ran out of the door next.
Florence — with enough adrenaline coursing through her veins to move despite her injuries — then grabbed ahold of Sam who would've been right in the Wendigo's line of fire. She hurriedly tucked herself and Sam behind one of the wooden pillars supporting the staircase to hide. The two girls held their breath and remained perfectly still. As they did so, another Wendigo came into the house and alerted the Wendigo beside them. This gave them just enough time to move to another hiding place.
Another screech sounded.
"Now or never." Sam told Florence, panting heavily.
This was their only chance.
The two girls grasped each other's hands and made a run for it.
Florence's ribs ached intensely and her head throbbed as she ran, but she kept going nonetheless.
Sam's hand was tightly gripped in her own, their fingers intertwined with pure strength and determination. They were determined to make it out alive, to make it out together.
The Wendigo wearing torn and tattered miner's clothing lunged for Sam and Florence but the Wendigo who used to be Hannah, their best and dearly beloved friend, grabbed ahold of it before it could get its hands on the girls. Maybe it was Hannah's way of protecting the girls one last time. Maybe Hannah really was somewhere inside the Wendigo and she wanted her friends to survive. Maybe.
The last thing Sam did before she threw herself and Florence out of the lodge was flip the light switch. In an instant, the lodge was set ablaze.
Roaring flames burst into the air, immediately working to burn down the Washington lodge and all of the cursed, cannibalistic creatures that laid inside of it — even the Wendigo that once was Hannah Washington. Their burning bodies screeched and thrashed as their souls were finally freed through the purification of the fire.
Sam and Florence were thrown into the snow where the rest of their friends were, both of them landing on the powdery ground with pained grunts.
Even though they were traumatized and in excruciating pain, they were alive.
They were all alive.
Behind the lodge which had been engulfed in flames and smoke, much to their joy, the sun was rising.
They survived until dawn.
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