The sun couldn't reach inside the cave. As we walked in we felt the temperature drop. We weren't even halfway down the sloped entrance and it felt noticeably colder. I feared how cold it would be at the bottom. What if it was too cold to make it through? I didn't want to cause a fuss, so I kept my mouth shut.

When we got to the bottom my fears had came true. It was freezing. On the surface we would shed whatever clothing we could to keep from over heating. Now we wished we weren't so generous in our removal. We wouldn't have been standing there in shorts and shirts ripped into tank tops. We would have been covered, warm.

We had to keep moving. If we stopped for too long our body temperatures would lower fast. We needed to keep our heat up. If any of us got sick it could mean death. We had no medical supplies to cure even a cold.

We decided it would be best if we kept the flashlight off till it was needed further in the cave. Where the sun didn't give off any light. As we moved we saw that time was coming closer and closer. The light grew dimmer, and the temperature got colder.

It was silent. The kind of silence that pierces the skin. The kind that can make a man insane. I looked at the others hoping it would spark a conversation, but there was nothing. Sara coughed, and the silence was broken. Everyone stared at her, we hoped it was just a cough and not the beginnings of a cold. Marcus aggressively started the conversation.

“You best not get sick. We're not stopping. We're getting the hell out of here as fast as we can, and we don't have time to deal with bodies.”

“Kinda harsh don't you think? Any one of us could be on the brink of death. Maybe you'll catch a cold, and we'll leave you to die.”

I stared at him. I hoped that would make the situation worse. I don't know why I did. We needed something to keep our minds off of the cold, and a opportunity presented itself.

There was a noise in the darkness. A deep breath, a sigh, but it wasn't human. Something moved in the shadows. I pulled my gun to my shoulder, but the cold air kept me from keeping it straight. I didn't want to waste a bullet in case we needed it. Another deep breath, but this one came from a different direction. I saw the fear in my friends eyes.

When traveling you hear stories about zombies eating the flesh off of whoever was too slow or injured to get away, robots turning against humans, mutated animals that were twice their normal size, and aliens that eat you whole. They weren't real. Just stories to pass the time, but your imagination runs wild when you can't see what's hunting you. When you're surrounded by darkness, who knows what lurks in the shadows.

“The flashlight, turn it on.”

I lowered my weapon, and switch on the flashlight. As the light came on a large creature came out of the darkness. Marcus shot at the beast, but a second animal came from behind us. I was knocked to the ground. As my body hit I could see the flashlight bust into a thousand pieces, then the world stopped moving.
I turned on my back and stared at the dark ceiling of the cave. I knew that was the image I'd be seeing for a long time. We didn't know how large this cave was, or how long it would take to get out. If there was even a way out. I saw the large beast standing over me. A bright light flashed, then a complete darkness came over me.

I woke. There was darkness everywhere. My body shook like there was an earthquake in my veins. The rocky ground below me had a soft touch to it. It was too dark to see, but I was laying on something. I tired to look around, but there was nothing. A deep void surrounded me. I never felt so alone.

“Hey, you up?”

The voice came out of thin air. As if God himself spoke. A hand touched my shoulder, and my body jumped.

“Whoa, hey it's ok man. It's us. You're safe.”

“What? Why did you stay? You don't have time for this you should have left.”

Another hand came from the darkness. This time, a women's hand.

“I wasn't going to leave another person to die. I can't have that on my conscience.”

Sara was never a killer. She would kill a man that tried to harm her, but never leave someone to die. Even if they deserved it. It was the medical side of her. That need to help.

I looked around, but it was so dark it seemed my head wasn't moving at all.

“Where is Marcus?”

Sara helped me stand as she explained what had happened after I passed out.

“He left with John. He wouldn't wait. We tried to stop him, but he just kept going. You ok? Can you walk?”

My legs had fallen asleep, but I could still move alright. How were we supposed to find our way through with only 4 matches? How would we survive?