Chapter 6

 "Where is he?"

"He's not here." said Bree.

Before another word could be spoken, Sadie was off and running again.

 "Hey, wait a minute! Stop!"

Bree couldn't believe how fast Sadie was up and out of the cave, especially after being unconscious. He was quick to give chase.

"Sadie! Where are you going? You're not strong enough to be out here on your own!"

Sadie wouldn't hear any of it. Sure, she was exhausted and her head was pounding, but she couldn't stop. He found her. He found her and saved her.

Suddenly, Sadie found herself face-to-face with the ground. Bree immediately followed on top of her, grasping her wrists and pulling them behind her back.

"Get off me!" Sadie screamed.

"You shut up and calm down!" Bree retaliated. 

Sadie continued the struggle until she had no strength left and her body went limp. Bree loosened his grip and helped her to her feet.

"Look, I don't know who you are or what you're going through, but I do know that you need help. You can't go through life alone. Sooner or later, something may happen, and no one will be there when it does."

When they returned to the cave, the boys were all huddled around the fire, roasting a skinned raccoon. They kept quiet, with solemn looks on their faces, and didn't dare make any eye contact with Sadie. The silence drove Sadie crazy as she fidgeted with a small twig.

"So..... where do you all come from?" she asked.

"We come from almost everywhere." Dune replied.

"Dune." Bree interrupted. "Don't bother."

"She deserves some answers, Bree." Felix piped in. "I'm from a town about 20 miles from here. Although, it's more of a ghost town now."

"Believe it or not, I was once living in a high-class mansion." Dune added.

"And what about you, Bree?" Sadie questioned.

"I've never really been from anywhere." He replied solemnly.

"How did you all find each other?" She continued.

"It was all purely coincidental." said Felix. "We all just.... became one."

"Well, isn't there a reason you're all in a cave in the middle of the forest? I just don't.."

"Alright!" Bree suddenly yelled. Everyone was startled by his sudden outburst.

"What? Was it something I..." Sadie inquired.

"Just stop. We don't need to tell you anything." Bree got up and grabbed a small knife under a stone. "You don't need to know anything about us!" He stormed out of the cave.

The cave fell silent once more as Dune and Felix hung there heads. Sadie had  never felt more confused in her life. All of a sudden, a flash of white caught the corner of her eye. Sadie turned and saw a paper floating down to the cave floor. Dune saw it too and quickly caught it before Sadie had a chance to move.

"Where is he? Where's Ephraim?" She asked in a frenzy.

Dune said nothing. He merely pointed his finger up to the top of the cave.

"What? Where is he? I need to know!" She turned to Felix, but he remained silent.

"Dune, give me the paper. Please..."

And with that, Dune disappeared into the darkness of the cave.

"Come back here!" Sadie cried as she gave chase.

The deeper into the cave they went, the harder it became to see. Finally it was pitch black. All Sadie had to go by was the pitter-patter of Dune's feet. Sadie had no idea how Dune was getting through the cave so swiftly. She was getting bashed and banged all over the place. She soon decided to walk along the wall, placing her hands on the rough surface. As she continued her way down, deeper and deeper, she felt a warm liquid trickling down her face. Blood, she figured, from ramming into the wall, but she paid no attention to it. She needed that paper.

Without warning, the wall vanished. Sadie soon discovered that the wall wasn't gone, there was a hole in it. Still unable to see, Sadie felt around and realized that it was a tunnel. Without a second thought, she squeezed herself into the small opening and continued her search. That little scamp had to have gone in here.

After crawling for quite some time, the tunnel abruptly stopped. Sadie stumbled up and worried she was at a dead end. She then saw a dim light shining from above. She felt against the wall and discovered small crevices leading up to the light, almost like a ladder. Slowly, she began to climb.