*warning: unedited, so there are probably a bunch of mistakes. if you spot any, feel free to point them out. i just really wanted to get this chapter out asap to show that i actually am working on this story still*

Marisa hit the bottom of the hole with a "thud", wincing as pain shot up her body. The baskets flew from out of her hands, but she didn't notice, too focused on catching her breath.

Once she understood that she was okay, she grabbed the baskets again, cleaning up any spilled berries, and looked around, her eyes adjusting. She was inside a long tunnel, dirt occasionally falling from the ceiling. Plants were growing from the sides, but there were also dead plants. Very dead plants, like they had been dead for years. They were barely holding together, so fragile that they looked like they would disintegrate at the touch. However, while it wasn't the most clean passageway, it didn't look like rushed construction. No, the thing-or person-who made that took their sweet time.

"Marisa!" A voice shouted from down the tunnel. Marisa's head shot up, and when she saw the two figures she jumped from her current position on the ground to greet them, running as fast as she could. She leaped into Sparna's arms, grinning a wide smile as she did so. Sparna squeezed her, holding her tight, then let go, and Marisa hugged Liam. She told him she was glad that he was okay, and he returned it.

"We weren't sure you were coming," Liam said. "We wouldn't have been mad, you know, if you were too... scared."

"Shut up. I'm here, okay?" Marisa snapped. Sparna smiled, however it quickly faded.

"There is no way that these tunnels just... formed," She said. "Something made it."

"Or someone," Liam corrected.

Sparna nodded. "Or someone. But my point still stands. It was definitely made for a reason. We need to look around."

"Just a second." Marisa rushed back to where she fell and quickly cleaned up the few scattered berries and picked up the two baskets, handing the one with the bird to Sparna and keeping the other.

"Alright," said Marisa, releasing a deep breath. She paused, tapping her foot. "Are we really doing this?"

"Yes," Liam said without hesitation. "Who knows? We might just stumble upon a stash of food or something."

"Is it worth the risk?"

"Marisa, everything we've done has been a risk so far. You chose you jump down here."

"You're right," Marisa agreed quickly. "I'm sorry. I'm ready now."

"Good," said Liam, nodding. Sparna and him turned around to face the tunnel. They started walking, Marisa ending up gripping Sparna's free hand. It wasn't even that she was scared; it was more the paranoia that the ground was going to slip from under her again.

For a little while the tunnel was pretty empty-just crumbling walls and dead plants sticking up from the ground. It seemed like they were just going in a circle, because of all the twists and turns. Sparna asked the group if they should just head back, but the other two disagreed, saying that there might be something of use down there. 

Then, finally, they stumbled upon something of interest.

"W-What?" Marisa stuttered, staring in awe at what was in front of her. "How-"

"I don't know," Sparna interrupted, shaking her head.

"Is it possible that..." Liam started.

"I don't know," Sparna repeated.

While they were too in shock to think straight, one thing was for sure. That skeleton in front of them wasn't there by accident.

"There were people here?!" Marisa exclaimed, complete shock in her voice. "That's impossible!"

"How is it impossible?" Liam asked.

"They wouldn't be able to survive! There's no food! We're barely surviving as it is!"

"Well, obviously someone lived here," Sparna said. "They would have had to scout all over the island to find this entrance if they just crashed here like we did. It's still almost impossible that I found it. The odds are so slim..."

"Wait," Liam started. "Is it possible that there's another food source that we haven't seen yet?"

"Of course not!" Marisa snapped. "We looked everywhere!"

Liam interrupted her next sentence. "No we didn't! Did you see how large this island is? We just stopped because of the fucking monsters chasing us!"

"Guys!" Sparna yelled. Marisa and Liam stopped, both of them turning their head to her. "Come on! I bet he has supplies down here."

"If the supplies are as old as that skeleton is, we might not want to use it," Liam whispered. Marisa glared at him, and Sparna gave him a playful shove with a small smile.

It wasn't even three turns that they found what they were looking for. There were piles of weapons scattered everywhere, which included assortments of rope, knives, spears, and even a bow and arrows. As for food, well, all of it was either completely decomposed or extremely close to that point.

"Jackpot!" Liam exclaimed. He threw his weak wooden knife onto the ground and grabbed the rope, swinging it over his shoulder. That was definitely come in handy later on. Sparna, however, gravitated more towards the knives, and Marisa the bow and arrows.

"Now this is what I call supplies," Marisa said with a grin. She looked up at the top of the tunnel. "Thank you, whoever left these!"

Sparna looked at the wall, and immediately noticed something shoved into it. She couldn't tell exactly what it was, but she could definitely tell that it didn't look as old as everything else. She crept towards it, and lightly tugged on it. Unsurprisingly, it didn't budge. She gradually pulled harder, and finally, pulled with all of her might.

That was her mistake.

The trio started to feel the ground rumble, the walls shaking. Pieces of dirt and rock crumbled from the ceiling, falling onto their heads and into their eyes.

"What's going on?" Liam asked rhetorically. Slowly, it got worse and worse, and Sparna grabbed all of her stuff, struggling not to shake.

"We need to find a way out!" She yelled. "Someone lived here, there has to be one!"

There was no time to disagree. The three raced around every corner, silently praying to find something they could use to escape. Bigger and bigger rocks fell near them, the dust and dirt nearly choking them. It was impossible to outrun, since it was coming from every angle at once.

Liam's legs suddenly buckled under him, and he prayed for them to just keep running. With much difficulty, he kept on, swallowing up all of his pain.

It was almost two minutes of fright and near-death rock falls before they found an escape way. A tall ladder was right in front of them, the top peeking out of the ground, daylight shining through. Sparna and Liam pushed Marisa forward first, and she handed them all of her supplies except the berries she held, quickly making her way up the rungs. Once she was at the top, Sparna tossed her her supplies, and Liam pushed her forward.

"You first!" She urged, having to shout to make him hear her, but he kept on shoving her.

"I'll be right behind you!" Liam yelled. Sparna didn't have any time to argue. She quickly climbed up the rungs, moving as fast as possible without tipping over the ladder. Marisa reached her arm down for Sparna to grab on to, and she did. Marisa heaved as Sparna pushed against the wooden steps, and yelped when one snapped under her foot, the crumbs of the old wood falling down. Sparna held onto Marisa wrist, thankful that she caught her. Her other hand with the bird dangled at her side, and she quickly grabbed the side of the ladder, pushing the basket handle back in her grasp. Liam steadied it at the bottom, and finally, Sparna was at the top.

Liam grabbed the edge of the ladder, taking his first step onto the closest rung on the ground. The sound of rocks falling down filled their ears, and Liam sweat even more, trying to move fast enough to escape in time but not too fast that he fell.

He was only two inches away from Sparna's hand now. He reached, holding the ladder with one of his hands. 

That's when it all ended.

Sparna reached down to catch him, but it was too late. He was falling to the ground, the broken ladder plummeting down with him. She let out a scream, still extending her hand down as if he could still grab it. He yelled, but it was all covered up by the sounds of rocks smashing the ground, eventually hitting the body of Liam Parker and stopping his cries. 

Sparna's lip trembled as she processed what she just saw, her whole body paralyzed. The rocks were still falling, but she didn't hear them. She didn't hear anything.

Everything was silent.

Marisa's eyes widened. "The monsters," She muttered, looking down at her hands. Then, she stood up, yelling at Sparna. "The monsters! They probably heard us! We have to get back to the group!"

"Sparna, come on!" Marisa pulled Sparna by the wrist, but Sparna continued looking back at the hole in shock. "It'll find us, we need to go!"

Finally, Marisa dragged Sparna to get her going, and Sparna turned around, her mouth still wide open as she jogged with Marisa.

Liam had been so brave and daring, and even surprisingly kind and caring. He jumped in the hole after Sparna fell without a second thought. He always made sure that she was okay, being her support when she was upset. Now he was just... gone.

The world really swallowed people up out of the blue. One moment they're right beside you, everything seemingly perfectly fine, and the next, they're sucked out from your life forever.

It was hard to believe that it was true, even if she witnessed it with her own eyes.

Maybe part of it was that she just didn't want it to be true.

***

Nico gripped Ty's hand tighter, putting their intertwined hands on his lap. "Why hasn't she come back yet?" He asked anxiously. "She should have come back by now."

"You say that every few minutes. Give her time," Ty reasoned.

"I have! Too much time! She could be in danger right now and I'm not there to help her!"

"She's alright, Nico. She can handle herself. Plus, the whole point of her going in secret was to make sure you and everyone else stayed out of trouble."

"We're supposed to be there for each other, Ty, not waiting in a cave as four of us battle for their lives!"

Ty stroked their thumb against Nico's to calm him down. "You should trust your sister. She's been turning into a real badass, you know. If anyone can battle a monster, it's her."

Nico looked up at Ty and gave them a fake reassuring smile, but went back to worrying again. He squeezed Ty's hand, keeping his firm grip as he pondered what could possibly happening to the other group at that very second.

"Guys! Open up!"

The yell came from behind the cave "door", and Nico scrambled up as soon as he heard it. Zeke and Naya joined him, and all three of them tugged on the door to get it loose.

"Please hurry!" A female voice cried, however Nico couldn't tell who it belonged it.

"You know, you could help, too!" Naya fired back, grunting.

"We are!"

Finally, after many heaves and pulls, the rock budged open enough for someone to slip through. Marisa entered first, and right after her, was Nico's sister.

"Sparna!" He yelled. Nico jumped into her arms, squeezing so hard he was surprised he didn't suffocate her. Sparna held him close to her, brushing his hair. He was close to tears, his lip trembling. "I'm so g-glad you're okay. I w-was sc-scared you w-weren't coming b-b-back."

"I'm okay, Neeks," She whispered, trying to catch her own breath. "I'm here. I'm here."

"You got food!" Ty said with an excited grin. Marisa nodded. They asked her if they could take a few berries, in which agreed to.

"Where's William and Liam?" Talon asked, worried.

"They're gone," Marisa said shakily. "William ate p-poisoned berries and L-Liam got crushed by r-rocks."

Eira put her hand to her mouth. Zeke looked down at the ground, heart dropping. Liam and him were actually pretty good friends before they crashed. One time, Liam even invited Zeke to a concert, only having two spare tickets, giving the other to his girlfriend at the time, Addison. And Zeke still thought of Liam after the crash, even if Liam ended up hanging out with Sparna more on the island and Zeke spending time with Marisa and Orion. Now that he was gone...

"They'll be deeply missed," Zeke said, sniffing. He wiped his eyes. Marisa put her hand on his shoulder furthest from her, resting her head on the other as she tried her best to comfort him.

"S-Something else happened," Jayed started, voice shaking, looking down.

"What do you mean?" Sparna asked, letting go of a resistant Nico.

"While you four-two, I guess-were gone..." He paused, not sure he could go on.

"Yeah?"

He hesitated, tears filling up his eyes. His voice was quick, for he knew if it was too slow he would full on sob. "Quinn had an attack. His sickness acted up while we were sleeping. We woke up to him coughing uncontrollably, and we tried to help him, but we couldn't. He died."

Marisa's mouth fell open. Jayed let out a sharp cry, putting his hands to his face, and Hedi gave him a side hug, stroking his shoulder to calm him down.

"We can't just sit around while everyone's dying!" Lany yelled. "What kind of friends are we?"

"Lany's right," Hedi agreed. "They can't die in vain. We need to survive. For them."

"Well then, if that's the goal, then one thing's for sure." Sparna paused, standing up straighter and gripping her knife even tighter. "We need to get out of this cave right now."