The End of a Journey

The gravel beneath my feet crunched under the pressure of my body. Step after step I wandered cautiously, searching and scanning every corner of the world. I wouldn’t give up, not now. Not after we had come so far. It was the end of all our adventures, the final journey to find the entrance to the place that would answer all our questions. There was no way I could leave after everything we’d been through. I could sense the entrance was nearby but the world was shy and suspicious of those who came looking and was determined to keep it well hidden. Only those with the perseverance and patience of gods would prove themselves worthy. I desperately hoped I could be such a person but time was against me, yet again.

“Lena! Hurry up, we’re losing light!” Jessica called out from the makeshift campsite.

“I’m coming!” I yelled back, with an overwhelming sense of disappointment. Why weren’t they all searching? Why was it just me? Did they even want to find it? What were they doing here?

“You can’t be trekking cliffsides like that when the sun’s gone,” Cade warned, gesturing for me to join the others around the fire. I pleaded for him to stop lecturing me and grumpily slumped down onto the fallen tree trunk.

“Find anything?” Eric piped up, joining the rest of us. I glared at him. Had I found something we wouldn’t be sitting around a fire waiting for daylight.

“It’s alright, we’ll find it eventually,” Cade reassured.

“We will if we’re strategic about it,” Jessica murmured, directing passive anger at my late evening searched.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped. Her eyes rolled so forcefully they might’ve fallen back into her skull. Eric chuckled at the drama. With weary eyes, Cade began scanning the perimeter, “Has anyone seen Claudia?”

A strange silence fell over the group. Immediately, we all stood and began calling for her. Jessica handed each of us a torch and suggested searching in pairs.

“Well, there’s no point searching the way you came back in Lena, let’s head inland,” Cade suggested. Eric and Jessica quickly began searching down a different path. I felt a terrible sense of disconnection from the others like I had done something to make them despise me and our goal.

“What’s going on, Cade?” I begged. His soft eyes were fixed on the area ahead.

“It’s the whole journey. It’s exhausting everyone. We just want some comfort and a break to catch up.”

I swallowed his words but struggled to digest them. Cade wasn’t one to lie but something still felt unspoken. We called for Claudia for the next ten minutes hoping to hear any indication of a response, but the night was quiet.

We looked for another hour before returning to camp. Jessica and Eric were in a heated argument.

“You were with her last! What the fuck happened?” She screamed at him.

“Oh yeah, ‘caz it’s my responsibility to babysit anyone who happens to be in the same area? Get off your high horse!” Eric snapped back. It was odd to see Eric genuinely angry.

“Yes! It is! She’s the youngest and least experienced, how did you manage to lose her?”

The arguing carried on as Cade and I approached. Jessica’s head turned violently towards us as we arrived, “Did you find her?”

It felt like death would consume me if I said anything other than ‘yes.’

“No. I guess you guys didn’t either,” Cade replied, with a heavy heart.

“This is bad. This is so bad. What the fuck are we going to do?” Jessica said in a panicked whisper. She scrunched her fingers into her scalp and sat down on the log. Eric’s hands were clenched into tight fists. We had lost members before, but never at nightfall. And never permanently.

“I’m going to keep looking,” I announced, “Eric, where did you see her last?”

He pointed towards the downward slope into the forest without a word. I nodded promptly and moved into the darkness.

“You’d better go with her,” Cade said, “She hasn’t been that way before.”

“I think you might be in a better state of mind,” Eric mumbled back.

With a deep sigh, Cade picked up another couple of torches and slipped them into his pocket as backups. Before long he caught up to me.

“We’ll find her,” he reassured.

“I know. I can’t help but to feel like everyone blames me for every bad thing that’s happened on this journey,” I admitted.

“I don’t.”

“Well, thanks. I don’t think you can speak for the others though.”

“If we find the entrance, I’m sure they’ll be happy to share the responsibility,” Cade pointed out.

The corners of my mouth lifted slightly and for a moment I was comforted. It only took a few more steps until we found Claudia. She was completely unconscious and foaming at the mouth. The image of her wretched state burned in my mind. Suddenly, I felt extremely unsafe.

“Claudia!” Cade yelped, ducking down to her side and feeling for a pulse. I couldn’t bear to ask if she was still alive. After a few moments, he whispered, “there’s a pulse.”

He scooped her up and began sprinting back towards the campsite. The others stood with wide eyes as we rushed towards the fire.

“Get the med-kit!” I yelled. Jessica gasped in horror as Claudia’s body was placed onto the bedding.

“Oh, gods… is she okay?” Jessica asked.

“She has a weak pulse,” Cade said, reaching out to grab the med-kit off Eric.

He got to work immediately; searching her body for any bite marks and inviting us to help.

“There!” Eric said, pointing to her calf muscle. The blood had practically dried but two distinct holes in her leg led us to believe a snake had struck her.

“Oh no, oh shit,” Jessica whispered.

“Jess, try to radio for help,” Cade urged.

Like a twisted and terrible sign to mark my success, a headache accompanied by a vision plagued my mind; I could see the entrance and an ancient stone wall. Blood was smeared on it stating that a sacrifice had been made and the entrance would now reveal itself.

Snapping back into the present, Jess was still struggling with the radio signal.

A panicked Cade chimed in, “I can’t find her pulse.”