chapter ten:
aching wounds

one hour till dawn

Screaming, the constant nagging of it nearly burst Hazel's eardrums as she opened her eyes. She could feel herself being dragged and felt the air struggling to stay inside of her lungs as she blinked rapidly. She winced when she was let go of, her body sinking into the hard ground as she rubbed at her head.

"You're not real!" Josh's loud chanting and begging slammed into her eardrums as she sat up weakly, her eyes looking towards the boy who was freaking out. "Joshua?" she cringed at how bad her voice sounded as she stood up weakly from the ground.

She waddled almost as she approached the boy, truth be told she was exhausted and running on pure adrenaline. Josh kept talking to himself as he looked around, another episode from the looks of it. Hazel grabbed a hold of his shoulders "Joshua?".

She saw his eyes unfocus and almost glaze over as she held onto his shoulders. "It's not safe, we gotta get out of here" she tried to get him to walk forward but he didn't move an inch. She was weak and could barely walk as she clung onto Josh, hoping he'd snap out of it eventually. She kept dragging him along as she limped along the mines, given she didn't have her boots and her clothes were ruined. She could feel the chill of the storm increasing the more she walked forward.

"Josh! Hazel!" the girl clung onto Josh's arm as she stopped moving and turned. Sam and Mike ran towards the duo "you're alive" Hazel groaned when Sam hugged her, Josh kept muttering to himself.

"What's the matter with him?" Mike looked at Josh "he's tripping or something. How long have you been down here?" Hazel groaned "not long, I woke up and Josh was just like this. Wouldn't respond to me".

Mike slaps Josh quickly, the boy flinching "Josh!" Josh frowned "M...Mike?" Mike let out a relieved breath "Josh, hey man". "Don't h-hit me, p-please" Josh rubbed at his face as Mike moved back.

You were deep in it, man. Full mental jacket" Josh looked at Hazel "what happened to you?". He blinked, likely trying to see if this was still real or not, as Hazel held onto herself weakly. "What didn't happen" she mumbled as Mike took his jacket off and pushed it over her shoulders. She didn't get much warmth but she was glad for the jacket.

"Josh... Hannah was down here for... weeks... a month?! She dug Beth up!" Sam's ranting made Hazel feel uneasy as she looked around the mines. "Let's just get the fuck out of here, we don't have time to sit here and exactly chitchat".

Sam moved forward "Okay Josh, do you have the key for the cable car?" The boy reached into his overalls "uh yeah, here". He gave her the keys and she took it quickly "okay good, you guys see that over there? That means a direct way out. C'mon".

"There's no way Josh is gonna make it up there, let alone Hazel. She can barely stand on her own without almost falling over, they're not exactly Lara Croft" Hazel chucked weakly as she held onto Josh's arm, the boy didn't push her away or even flinch at the touch. He just let out a breath as she struggled to stand up fully Sam sighed softly "you're right, can you help me up? I can go back to tell the others we're okay".

Mike moved forward pushing Sam upwards and she grabbed a hold of a rock "you bring them back the way we came and we'll all meet at the lodge". She began to slowly climb upwards "be careful, all of you". Hazel smiled sadly as Sam disappeared from her sights, she pushed her hands into Josh's pockets desperately seeking warmth as she shivered.

"Alright, let's go you fucked up son of a bitch and I guess you can come too Miss Carrie". She rolled her eyes as she walked slowly forward "fine Michael Myers, but you're not the one who's bleeding out here or just pushed a baby out of your vagina".

Mike cringed "I didn't want that inside of my head" she limped forward and huffed "it wasn't exactly ideal, or fun for that matter. God it's freezing down here". She held herself more as she limped forward, Josh walked beside her, his pace a lot more quicker than hers making her grumble.

"You didn't... You didn't have to hit me so much, man" Josh kept walking and Hazel sighed as she watched them both go back and forth. "Ah, yeah...I'm sorry about that, man. I thought you killed Jess, I was wrong. Apparently about all of it".

They pushed open a door and Hazel gagged at the stench "gross it stinks in here". She waddled forward as Mike helped her near the edge of the pathway. "We just go straight ahead, and exit right down there, just a bit of cold water and we'll be okay".

Hazel groaned as Mike got into the water "I'm gonna freeze to death out here Michael". She cried out softly as she got into the water "hey careful Haze" she whined in discomfort as she moved slowly forward.

Mike screamed as he was pulled under the water and Hazel stopped moving "shit" Josh screamed as the wendigo stood up grabbing a hold of him. "No, you're not real! No, you're not real!" Hazel cried out as her arm was grabbed and she was dragged under the water. She coughed as she tasted the water enter her lungs, her arm was tugged forward and she clung onto Mike as she struggled to catch her breath.

She could hear Josh's screams fading away as she shivered and held onto Mike. "We can't stay here" she looked at Mike "are you crazy, we have to get Joshua". Mike climbed out of the water "he's as good as dead now, you saw it take him away.

He grabbed Hazel's arm and she turned to look at him angrily "I'm not going without him Michael, so if you don't let go of me, I'll drag your ass with me". He let go of her arm and moved back "you're being ridiculous, you're gonna die if you go after him".

She swam forward towards the direction Josh had disappeared from. "Then you better make sure they make me look hot at my funeral, I'll see you in the morning, try not to get killed by those things".

Hazel groaned when she fell downwards hard into the mines, somehow she ended up back where she started. The water long behind her as she shivered and moved forward. She screamed when a shovel smacked into her face, whoever did it gasped.

"Holy shit Hazel" she winced when the bright lantern light was shoved towards her. "Cut that out Matthew, it's bright as fuck" he moved back "sorry, thought you were one of those things". Jessica was beside the boy shivering as she looked at Hazel "did you get dragged down here too?". Jessica's weak voice made Hazel realize the girl was just as fucked up as her.

She waddled and looked exhausted as she held Matt's arm like a lifeline. "I was swimming, trying to find Josh. It fucking took him somewhere down here, or in this direction. I fell down the stupid waterfall, and of course I'm back in the mines".

Jessica chuckled weakly "makes two of us, I fell down the elevator shaft" Matt set the light down as he smiled weakly "make that three, I fell off the radio tower with Emily, ended up down here".

Hazel shivered "guess we're all here for a reason then, the Gwen Stacy trio, except we survived". Jessica frowned "the what?" Hazel and Matt looked at one another "Gwen Stacy, you know, Peter Parker's girlfriend who falls to her death".

Jessica shrugs as she limps forward "Michael's probably seen it" Hazel huffs "it's Spider-Man". Matt holds in his laugh as they slowly move forward. The walk felt longer than what it was as Hazel moved behind the duo in front of her.

The only source of light was from Matt's lantern and even then he wasn't holding it all that still. Hazel couldn't focus let alone walk without stepping on something sharp every other second. A loud screech enters the air and they all gasp "oh fuck, it must be down here with us. Where do we go?".

Hazel looked around and then let out a silent curse when Matt grabbed a hold of her hand tugging her forward. "Come on, behind here" the boy stood in the middle as he tugged Hazel with him, she groaned and let herself sink into his side as Jessica was on the opposite side of them both.

They all grew still, the screeching was loud and then it faded in the other direction of where they were. "Okay, it's gone for now, but something tells me it's gonna come back if we stay here. Can you both run?".

Hazel chuckled weakly "I'm pure adrenaline Matthew, give me some coffee and maybe I'll run a marathon tomorrow". The boy smiled softly "coffee does sound good, I could go for some actually".

Jessica rubbed at her head "more like ibuprofen or migraine pills. My head is killing me, I don't think I'm gonna be doing anything after this for days". Hazel moved toward the pathway "I'm gonna need a rabies shot or something after this, who knows what the fuck those things are carrying. Sure as shit ain't manners".

The screech behind them made them all tense up as Matt turned "oh fuck, we gotta make a run for it". He looked downwards "if we can get to that metal door, I'll close it while you both make a run for the lodge".

The wendigo growled as it ran forward "don't have to tell me twice" Hazel moved faster and groaned at the pain that spread throughout her body. Matt tugged at the door and Jessica cried as the wendigo got closer "hurry Matt! It's almost here!". The boy struggled with the door "you gotta go fast, Jess you go first".

The girl slipped through the crack of the door and Matt pushed it more "come on Haze, you're next". The girl looked at the wendigo as it pounced forward "there isn't enough time, just get to the lodge" she pushed Matt through the door and it slammed shut behind him.

She heard him and Jessica yelling for her as she grabbed the lantern off the ground. Her breathing increased as she watched two more wendigo appear from down the pathway, they looked ready to kill her at any second as she gulped nervously.

Her hold on the lantern tightened, her hands sweaty and shaking violently from how cold she was. The screeching made her ears ring as she looked at the spilled oil all over the ground. She limped forward crying out as the wendigos claws dug into her stomach. She breathed heavily as it lifted her into the air, its dead eyes glaring at her almost despite being glossed over. She screamed as its claws dug deeper into her flesh, it growled almost mockingly.

The pain increased and she could feel the claws sinking deeper. She breathed heavily as she let her hold loose on the lantern. "I'm so sorry, Hannah" her eyes closed and she let the lantern fall.

—
authors notes:
let's just pretend for the sake of the story Hannah wasn't at the lodge for the final and she was in the mines trying to get Hazels ass. Hazel needed that redemption after she failed to save Hannah and Beth, she blamed herself so much and she deserves the world! With this chapter it concludes the story! Everyone cheer and clap! I actually completed a book for once! Of course I'm making an epilogue so it's technically not fully over with but still! Anyways enjoy! (Yes I'm already working on another until Dawn fic as we speak).