After hastily descending down to lower ground, Lukas ran in the direction of the person he saw. They were lying down, which wasn't a very good sign to start with.

However, when he was a mere few feet away, Lukas stopped dead. His eyes were wide, his mouth dropping open. The person lying a few feet away from him, wasn't just anybody....

"Petra!" Lukas gasped, dropping to his knees beside the redhead, gently shaking her.

She was – to his relief – still alive, but not in great shape. Cuts and bruises covered her body, her bandanna stained with blood, armour coated in red dust. Lukas could see a heap of Netherrack debris, suggesting what had happened to Petra.

Lukas looked around, spotting a bag lying close to Petra. It was partially closed, seemingly still having most of it's contents. One escaped water bottle lay beside the bag, badly cracked. Lukas could see the faint stains across the Netherrack, where all the precious water had leaked out of the bottle. He could only hope that there were spares in the bag itself.

"Petra?" Lukas asked again, once again giving her a gentle shake.

Petra groaned slightly, not opening her eyes. Lukas desperately tried to wake her again, repeating her name several times.

Finally her blue eyes opened, squinting slightly. "What...?" Petra muttered in a disorientated voice, reaching up with one hand to touch her head.

"Petra? Can you hear me?" Lukas asked anxiously, not sure if she was registering that he was beside her.

Petra turned her head slightly towards him. For a second they stared into each other's eyes, neither of them moving a muscle. Then Petra seemed to jolt back to reality.

"Lukas?" She gasped, pushing herself upright. As she did, her expression clearly voiced pain. "I've looked everywhere for you and Jesse..."

"What happened to you?" Lukas asked, interrupting her.

"Ghast." Petra muttered, leaning her forehead against the palm of her hand, like she was trying to soothe a splitting headache. "Smart thing. Didn't aim for me, aimed for the ledge I was on." She gestured with her free hand towards something lying a few feet away.

Lukas turned his head, gasping at the sight of Jesse's diamond sword, coated in dry blood. He immediately realised it had to be the same ghast they fought.

"Why are you alone?" Petra asked weakly, looking back over at him. "Where's Jesse? Is she OK?"

"She's back at this cave we've been staying in." Lukas said, raking a hand through his hair. "She's starting to suffer severely from dehydration, she passed out a while back. I had no choice but to leave her there while I looked for a way out... I didn't expect to find you."

"We should get back to her." Petra said, trying to stand up. "There's food and water in the bag..."

Seeing her struggle, Lukas took Petra's arm and helped her to her feet. She nodded a thanks to him.

Lukas picked up both Jesse's sword and Petra's supply bag. He gestured towards the steep path back up to the area where the cave was.

"I can't believe we found each other." Lukas said, taking Petra by the arm to help her walk. "I was beginning to think this portal malfunction would result in our deaths."

"Don't celebrate yet." Petra muttered, winching slightly as she stumbled forward. "We're not out of the fire yet."

"What do you mean?" Lukas asked, his expression changing back to one of concern.

"Damned pig-man ran off with my bag, just about less than five hours ago." Petra muttered. "Chased him for ages to get it back." She stopped for a second to catch her breath.

"What are you trying to say?" Lukas asked, holding his hand out to Petra to help her along. She reluctantly took it.

"I lost track of where I am."

Lukas felt his heart sink into his shoes. Petra didn't know the way back....

"I'm sorry." Petra muttered, looking slightly ashamed.

"You risked your life coming back in for us, there's nothing to be sorry for!" Lukas insisted, not wanting her to feel any form of guilt. "We'll find a way back, especially now that we have some extra time on our hands."

Petra nodded, smiling at him faintly, before looking back down at the ground. Lukas lead her the rest of the way to the cave in silence. He could see she was in clear pain, stumbling every time they crossed an uneven bit of land. Her one arm was wrapped around her stomach, holding her side. Lukas couldn't help but wonder if she perhaps cracked or broke a rib when she fell.

Finally they reached the cave, after ten minutes of walking. It wasn't meant to be that long of a trip, but Petra wasn't in a state to go any quicker.

Stepping inside, the first thing Lukas noticed was that Jesse was awake. She was sitting against the wall, her knees pulled up to her, her head resting on her arms.

Jesse lifted her head, relief spreading across her face. Though at the sight of Petra, her eyes widened, her mouth opening slightly. It took her a few seconds to find her voice.

"Petra!" Jesse finally gasped, using the wall to heave herself upright. She wrapped her arms around the redhead in a big hug.

"Ow, really hurt." Petra yelped, Jesse's embrace a bit too tight for her bruised form. But nonetheless she returned the hug.

"Come, sit down." Lukas insisted once the two pulled away from each other. Neither of them needed telling twice.

"I have water." Petra said, reaching over for her bag, and handing both Jesse and Lukas a bottle of water. "It may be a little warm by now, but it's fluid nonetheless."

"Thank goodness." Jesse breathed, pretending to kiss the water bottle.

Petra reached back into the bag, but to her surprise only her empty bottle was still in there.

"Where's my other bottle of water?" She asked in surprise. "I had a spare!"

"It escaped your bag when you fell." Lukas explained, after taking a large gulp from his bottle. "It broke."

Petra's shoulders sank, and she cursed softly under her breath, having been desperate for some fluid herself.

Jesse, despite being dehydrated herself, immediately held her bottle out to Petra.

"Jesse, no, you need it more than I do." Petra said immediately, pushing the bottle back to Jesse. "I'll be OK, you drink."

Jesse reluctantly looked down at the bottle, obviously feeling guilty.

"Petra's right, you need it." Lukas said. "Don't worry, I'll share mine with her. Out of the three of us, you're in need of water the most."

Jesse still looked reluctant, but her desperation for water was strong. Nodding, she took a small sip of water. At first she gagged slightly, her body wanting to reject the fluid. But after a few small sips, the nausea faded away and she was able to drink comfortably.

"How long have we been in here by now?" Jesse asked, screwing the cap back onto to water bottle.

Lukas and Petra both checked their watches.

"7 Hours." Petra replied.

"6 Hours 58 minutes." Lukas corrected.

"Are you serious?" Petra asked, giving Lukas an annoyed glance. They all chuckled.

"Here." Lukas offered, handing his bottle Petra. "I'm not sure how long you've been unconscious before I found you."

She gratefully took the bottle from Lukas, giving him an appreciative smile. She raised it up to her mouth, thirstily taking a big gulp of water. However, the moment Petra did, she broke into violent coughs, choking on the water.

"Petra, are you OK?" Jesse asked in concern.

Petra gasped slightly in what appeared to be an attempt to speak, before continuing to cough badly into her hand.

"Take it easy." Lukas said, giving Petra a few firm pats on the back to help stop the choking.

A few more coughs racked her body, before Petra managed to catch her breath, lowering her hand that she had been covering her mouth with. Her breathing was heavy and raspy.

"Petra?" Jesse asked uncertainly.

"I'm fine." Petra said hoarsely, closing her eyes for a few seconds. When neither Lukas or Jesse said anything, she opened her eyes again.

"What?" She asked, seeing both of them looking at her with frightened gazes.

"I don't think you're fine, Petra." Jesse said softly.

For a moment Petra just looked at them, confused, before glancing down. She raised her hand slightly, shocked to see droplets of blood staining her palm.

"I think you're hurt more badly than we thought..." Lukas said softly.

___

No, I don't need a calendar, I know this is a day early.

This book, plus Fallen, plus Pieces of Us, needed to be updated to tomorrow. It felt a little crazy to update 3 books on the same day, as I always prefer to space things out a little bit.
Soo... score for you all! 

Our group's now finally back together, but it isn't all sunshine and rainbows. 

Will they make it out of the Nether in time?
Will they make it out at all?

Wide open to all your thoughts and theories!

I hope you all enjoyed your nice and early chapter, and I'll see in 5 days with the next one!