Salvation [Until Dawn]

❄️ Chapter 8 ❄️

"We need to find another way out of here," Gwendolyn told Michael as the two of them made their continuous way through decrepit, broken tunnelways. "I don't know how long we've been walking this way – we might just come out of the mountain itself," She stopped at a sudden noise.

Gwendolyn quietly turned around to look at a nearby wall, noticing a grate in the wall. Someone was walking around in their bare feet – her grey eyes widened when she realised that it was Samantha.

"Samantha!" Gwendolyn breathed as she rushed toward the grate, reaching through it to get her attention. "Samantha! It's me, Gwen! And Mike! Sam!"

"Wendy!" Samantha exclaimed as she knelt down next to the grate to look at the muddy Gwendolyn and Michael. "Mike! What are you doing there! There's a g – Oh, guys, thank God you found me,"

"It's okay," Michael assured her. "You're okay," Gwendolyn nodded, trying to smile at Samantha but unsure why she was dressed in just a dirty towel.

"But I don't understand..." Samantha said. "How did you two get here? How did you find me?"

"There's some fucking maniac up here on the mountain –" Michael started angrily.

"Yeah, I've noticed," Samantha replied.

"We were chasing him," Gwendolyn told her. "He lives in these tunnels – an entire web of tunnels. We were just trying to find our way out of here when we saw you in this grate,"

"Only the two of you?" Samantha asked, staring at them. "Where's – where's Jessica, Mike? And where are Chris and Ashley, Gwen? Are they not with you two?"

"I don't know where they are," Gwendolyn replied. "Chris, Ash and I were knocked out one by one and I was separated from them – I woke up in a shed and found my way to Mike and Jessica –"

"Jessica was taken, and we had to leave her behind," Michael said, still incensed. "We chased her down to the mines but she's probably dead by now –"

"What?!" Samantha yelped, shocked as she turned to look at Gwendolyn, who nodded solemnly.

"He killed her, Sam," Michael responded. "There's some maniac on the mountain who is trying to kill us. All of us. And I swear to God, when everyone is safe and accounted for, I am gonna hunt that fucker down and rip his nuts off one at a goddamn time,"

"Listen, this guy who you're talking about... he attacked me," Samantha said, and Gwendolyn and Michael quickly looked at her in concern. "He showed me these videos, too, and one of them showed Josh being killed... just... ripped apart by this huge fucking sawblade..."

"W-what?" Gwendolyn asked, staring at Samantha in disbelief. "What did you say...? Joshua... was just ripped apart... when, how, where?! You're not joking, are you?!"

"Calm down, Gwen!" Michael said, grabbing Gwendolyn's arms as she swayed slightly at the thought of Joshua being dead. "Gwendolyn, you can't give up right now!"

"I'm sorry, Gwen," Samantha apologised, frowning at her reaction. "I couldn't do anything – but this guy, I think he's living down here, and whoever the hell he is, he's obsessed with Hannah and Beth!"

"We saw that, too, didn't we?" Michael asked Gwendolyn, trying to get her mind off of Joshua. "Back there?" He looked at Samantha. "We found these clippings about their disappearance,"

"But here is the crazy thing, Gwen, listen," Samantha said. "I found these plans, like, blueprints for a crazy machine just like the one Josh was in, but it's fake... it was for a dummy,"

"Sam, slow down..." Michael trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Gwendolyn asked Samantha. "What sort of dummy? Are you saying that –"