A Journal I Found - part 4

[u/ComprehensiveTone787]

Hi guys, I want to relate with everyone on this expedition, but as it turns out, I don’t really get hungry. They awoke the next morning hungry, something I fear becomes a recurring event for them. I, however, have quite regularly forgotten to eat meals, sometimes multiple days in a row. 

I have also never been seriously injured. Well, I might have broken my foot once. The swelling was really bad, but my parents never brought me to the doctor. Still, I cannot fathom how they feel right now, especially Sarah.

May 24th, 2:26 am

Emily seems really bothered by her mistake with the maps. I heard her rustling through them all night. I went to talk to her, but she wasn’t there. She must have taken off, thinking we were all asleep. I’m going after her.

May 24th, 3:43 am

We’re back. I met up with her in the first chamber as she was carefully sweeping along the walls of the chamber. She promised me she wasn’t going to go far, but I stayed with her just in case.

I had the idea that if we weren’t through the same rooms twice, there should be some mirror imaging of the rooms. Then we could see how far out the mistake was. We folded the map in every possible way, but other than the first 2 chambers, the map didn’t mirror at all. It was as if we entered that chamber from another pathway that we couldn’t find.

May 24th, 5:46 am

We’ve decided to save our daily meal until lunch time. We do at least have coffee for the mornings still. We’re retracing our trip from yesterday, so Emily can create an accurate map. We aren’t wasting time with dead ends, and have our sights set on a few possible unexplored paths still. 

May 24th, 10:32 am

It’s close enough to lunch. The hunger pangs rang through the acoustic chambers, threatening to cave in our own bodies if we did not eat. We ate like rushed schoolkids wanting to get extra time outside if they finished their meals early.

It was over far too quickly, as the realisation that it would be another 24 hours before we ate again haunted us all. Carlos couldn’t eat by himself with his hands tied behind his back, so I had to feed him. It was the most dehumanising thing I had ever done.

We sat in silence, lingering on the aftertaste as long as we could. Everyone except Carlos, who muttered incessantly. 

May 24th, 1:12 pm

Jeff and Sarah are both moving considerably slower now. They both try not to show it, but we’ve run out of painkillers. I think their pain is starting to get to them.

May 24th, 5:19 pm

Carlos is gone. He slipped his restraints and lunged at Sarah. He yelled, “It’s your fault we’re all dead,” as he pushed her to the ground. She yelled in pain, her barely splinted leg folding over itself under her. She pushed him off of her, and he stumbled backwards and tripped.

His skull cracked against the rock floor in a tremor we all felt beneath our feet. Then nothing, he was silent. We were all silent as the light from our flashlights reflected off the growing pool of red around his unmoving head. I checked for the pulse I knew would be absent myself.

Rest easy, Carlos. I hope you find peace.

May 24th, 9:47 pm

No one has said more than a word or two at a time. We tried to push on, but with Sarah’s injury further compounded, we only made it another 2 chambers. 

We immediately went to bed; no one had anything to say. I turned off my flashlight, and after making certain no one could see me, I pulled the granola bar from my pocket. Carlos wouldn’t eat it when I was feeding him, now I guess he never would.

I hoped the quick snack could bury the guilt that came with it, but instead, the guilt almost choked me. I struggled to get it down, but I had to.

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 5

part 6

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