Barely Alive - Josh Washington x Reader

Chapter 20

"Josh!"

You quickly pushed the door open. As you wanted to walk towards Josh, mike grabbed your wrists and stopped you from going to him. You turned to him with a confused expression, but followed his gaze towards Josh. He was mumbling things to himself, often moving his arms violently around him. You looked at him with slight fear in your eyes, and you slowly approached him.

"J-Josh?" Even though you were standing in front of him, he did not seem to see you.
"You can't tell me what to do!" Josh cried to himself. You felt a lump in your throat as you watched him. He was most definitely hallucinating, and you didn't know how to get him back.

"Okay... Okay... I trust you... I trust you..." You looked at Mike in defeat, and he shrugged.

"What's the matter with him, Mike?" Sam asked. Genuinely confused what was happening.

"He's tripping or something..." Out of nowhere Mike slaps Josh in his face. You gasp and hits Mike's shoulder in anger.

"What was that for?" Even though you didn't approve of his actions, Josh seemed to get back to reality, and finally noticed your presence.

"M...Mike? Don't h-hit me, p-please..." You stared at him with wide eyes, before cupping his cheek.

"Josh? Are you okay?" He stared at you in awe, almost like he couldn't believe you were there.

"You were deep in it, man. Full mental jacket." He didn't even listen to Mike. His eyes were on you as you stroked his cheek. He nodded at you absentmindedly and glanced back over his shoulder. 

"Do you have the key to the cable car?" He nods at you, grabbing the key from his pocket. He hands it to Sam, who securely puts it away. She looks around the cave, before pointing at a rock wall.

"There's no way Josh is gonna make it up there." Mike points out and you agree.

"He's in no mental state, it's too dangerous." Sam sighs, and walks towards the wall. She inspects it before making up a plan.

"Okay. If you help me up, I can tell the others that we're okay. You guys take Josh back the way we came, and we all meet at the lodge." 

You nodded and you wished each other good luck, before separating. As you walked back, you intertwined your fingers with Josh' to guide him around the caves, and you immediately noticed the tight grip. 

"We're not going anywhere Josh." You told him reassuringly, but he only hummed in response. The two of you followed Mike back through the mines.

Josh seemed a bit off, but you couldn't blame him in a situation like this. He just had a full, what seemed like, panic attack, and he had gone through hell to end up all the way back here in the mines.

 As you walked through the heavy metal door, your eyes widened as you remembered the drop in the water. Mike was just dropping down and you turned to Josh.

"We have to go through the water. Keep your hands raised and move fast,  got it?" 

Josh nodded, and you pulled him towards the water. You sighed and let your body drop into the ice cold liquid, and took some steps forward. Mike was waiting for the both of you in the water, and you could see him visibly shiver.

 You heard Josh get into the water behind you, anxiously looking around as he followed you. You smiled and motioned him to move. 

The water was piercing through your skin and you could feel your legs become numb. You just kept following Mike through the water, often glancing back at Josh. He was close behind you and shivering as well.

As you looked back towards Mike, your eyes widened as you didn't see him. The water was creating circles, and you knew he had to be under water. 

You cursed to yourself and looked back at Josh, who was staring at the water, with wide eyes, as if he had seen what happened. With a snap of your fingers you caught his attention, and you calmly asked him what happened.

But as Josh started to explain what he saw, something rose from the water, and you turned back with a gasp. In front of you stood another wendigo, towering over the two of you and scanning the area intimidatingly.

"Hold your breath!" You instructed Josh before grabbing his arm and pulling him under water.

 The water was too dirty to see through, but you could feel the water move as the wendigo searched through the water. You carefully swam a bit forwards, and you pulled Josh with you. You felt him tug at your arm, before you suddenly got pulled out of the water. 

Josh was grabbed by the wendigo, but still had his firm grip on you. Dangling from his hand, your eyes widened as the wendigo screeched into his face and inspected his appearance.

You called out for Josh, but he was staring at the wendigo with wide eyes, well actually, staring at a certain tattoo on its right arm.

"H-Hannah?" 

The creature screeched loudly in his face, before pulling him over her shoulder. You felt your hand slip from his grip

"No, not again..." You said to yourself, and tightened your grip around his wrist. Hannah noticed the extra weight and turned to you. She bared her teeth and narrowed her eyes. Josh looked at you.
"Y/n, let go." You shook your head, and squealed as the wendigo turned to you.

"No, I'm not letting go! I can't lose you again!" 

"This isn't a fucking movie, let go!" He snapped at you, and harshly pulled his wrist out of your grip. You fell back into the water, disappearing out of the wendigo's sight. The lack of air made you dizzy, but you just stayed under the water. You could hear the faint screams of Josh being carried away, and you closed your eyes.

"I'm so sorry..."