They are dead 3

5

"Where are we going?" she said as she tried to keep up with his fast pace. Luke was now dragging her by the arm, not because of any other reason other than to pull her along quicker than she could go. In any other situation, she would not have appreciated it, it would have been an annoyance; a sign of weakness. She hardly ever held the hand of her now ex-boyfriend. She was just never into it and she thought it was a stupid thing to do. Now, however, it was different.

If Luke had not grabbed her by the hand and pulled her along, she didn't know if she would have actually moved from the shop. Where, in the past, it would have been weird to even hold the hand of a guy in a romantic way, now she saw his fair and light-skinned hand in hers as a comfort in the chaos that was surrounding them.

"We're getting away from that as fast as possible."

"Don't you have friends?" she asked, wondering if there wasn't anyone else who he had to be with or a friend who had actually known him better than she had.

"Not anymore." He looked back at her and the words made a knot in her stomach as she realised the weight thereof. Did he mean that she was the only acquaintance that he had in this nightmare that was happening around them? They ran around the small pathways and down towards the entrance of the caves. Nomonde stopped and pulled her hand from his grip.

"What are you doing?"

"The caves."

"What? Are you serious?"

"I know it sounds weird -"

"Luke, you're crazy! Tracey - that thing - will find us!"

"There are people down there!"

"So?" she asked as if this was going to change her mind in any way. How would going down there help them in any way?

"We need to warn them," he said now, regaining his breath at the opportunity that Nomonde created when they stopped. Was he really this 'hero'? He must have been, seeing as the other people were the last thing she had thought of. It was natural to run for one's own safety and to get out of danger's way. How he had managed to think of other people in this situation was crazy. She nodded and now sped down the stairs, the steps thudding under their feet as they descended into the darkness.

The cold, damp air hit their sweaty faces as they now plunged into the unknown of the pit, their eyes still adjusting to its darkness. They could hear sounds up ahead, the blissful laughter of a few people and the ignorant singing of someone who was testing out the acoustics. Luke came to a stop when he entered the first area and his face turned serious as he tried to figure out how to approach the whole situation. She could see that he was out of breath and out of words. Despite having a dislike towards talking in front of people, Nomonde took the chance to speak and do what Luke had still been deciding to do.

"Everybody! You have to leave the cave! Now!"

Nothing.

A few people turned around and some laughed uncomfortably, shaking their heads at the silly teenagers making a fuss. The tour guide turned around, seeing the distress on their faces and made his way to them.

"What's going on?"

"There's an emergency up top. Everyone needs to leave." Nomonde said, trying to get the seriousness of the situation across to the man. It had seemed to work until a call for help rang out from the front of the group, echoing through the hollowness of the caves.

"My boy! Wake up! He won't up!" a man said not too far from where they were and kneeled down after looking up at someone who would be willing to help. Luke moved forward and was about to follow the tour guide when he was stopped by Nomonde's soft hand pressing him backwards on the chest.

"Luke, look at his face," she said and pointed in the boy's direction. Without a doubt, the boy that was being held by the father had a strange yellow tint around his cheeks and a greyish glare over his pupils. Luke now stepped forward again and moved just a little towards the crowd, pushing Nomonde's hand downwards.

"I know what's wrong with him. Everybody, this is serious! You have to leave the cave!"

"What's wrong with you?" a voice came from the crowd.

"Can't you see the boy is unconscious? He needs help."

"You don't understand!" Nomonde tried to explain and aid in Luke's plea but no one listened.

"You have to get out of here now!" Luke screamed at the top of his lungs but everybody except the tour guide ignored him.

"I think you better leave okay? Make yourself useful and go get help. Make space everybody! Let's make some space." the tour guide now said towards the crowd, but they barely moved.

"What do we do?" Nomonde asked softly.

"We need to get out of here." Luke warned.

"I think it's best if you listen to your boyfriend." the tour guide said  arrogantly and it sent an angry wave over Nomonde.

"We can't leave them with that boy! You saw what happened." she said loudly now at Luke.

"They will find out soon enough that they have to leave and they aren't making it easy for us to help," Luke said and started jogging back but Nomonde wasn't budging.

"You're in danger. You need to get away from that boy!" she screamed and now some of the people were trying to shove her away, trying to hush her and cursing her. Luke grabbed her by the hand again but this time it was not a comforting feeling. It was annoying and condescending, like a parent grabbing a little child's hand to force them to come along. She slapped his hand away with great force and irritation. Luke knew that she wasn't going to follow him peacefully and he grabbed her around the waist.

"Get away from him!" Nomonde screamed a blood curling scream but her shrills were completely ignored and so was the few kicks and scratches at Luke. He wasn't very strong but with the adrenaline running through his veins it made it easy to pick her up and drag her up the stairs, up towards the cave's mouth, away from the danger. She kicked and screamed and cried, yelling over and over again as her yells rang through the hollow walls of the cave. As her shouting became a soft whimer her eyes filled with tears and her arms went limp in Luke's grip. From the dark, an eerie moaning arose and she couldn't ignore the horrific cries and howls of shock and terror that seeped through the underground belly of the earth.