Chapter 269: It Wanted To Escape

Eric looked at him. "What?"

"Look around us. Nothing is happening. No attacks, no tricks, no infected." Aaron glanced toward the empty passage behind them. "Nothing is guarding this place."

Eric’s eyes moved across the quiet mine.

"If the hive mind is smart enough to make us attack each other," Aaron continued, "wouldn’t the place where it’s supposed to be hiding have more guards? More of those tricks meant to kill us?"

Eric’s expression changed as the thought settled in.

"You’re right," he murmured. "Team B is also nowhere to be found. You said Gideon is strong. He should have reached this place before us."

Aaron turned back toward the hole.

He did not know whether the white mass below was real or another illusion. The hive mind had already manipulated his memories, his senses, and his judgment. There was no reason to believe it would stop now.

Yet every instinct he had was telling him to leave.

The walkie-talkie at his waist suddenly crackled.

Aaron jolted and pulled it free.

"Aaron, you there?"

The voice was familiar. Calm, slightly amused, and unmistakably Gideon’s.

Relief loosened something in Aaron’s chest. After the disaster caused by Wade, he had tried to contact Team B, but no one had answered. Not Jade. Not Kilian.

"Yes," Aaron replied. "Where are you? We think we found the hive mind."

"Ah, yes. That giant white blob on the deep ground." Gideon chuckled through the radio. "We arrived there fifteen minutes ago. You’re late."

Aaron stared at the mass below.

"Anyway," Gideon continued, "put the C4 there and get out before you detonate it. Team B already did that. We’re on our way out."

Aaron remained silent.

The voice was Gideon’s. The words sounded like something he would say. Even the impatient amusement was familiar.

Still, something inside Aaron hesitated.

"Why don’t you just kill it with your sword?" he asked. "You’re strong enough to do that, aren’t you?"

Silence answered him. Then Gideon laughed.

"Ah, yes. I can’t. Your men started killing each other. I need to get them out. Besides, that C4 is enough to destroy the thing. They’re weak."

Aaron’s eyes remained fixed on the white mass.

"I see," he said slowly. "I’ll catch up later."

"Good. Let’s get this done. The mine makes me uncomfortable."

The transmission ended in a flat line.

For a moment, Aaron did not move.

"Should we do it, lead?" Eric asked.

Aaron lowered the walkie-talkie.

It had been Gideon. He was certain of it. The voice, the tone, the casual way he spoke about the danger, everything sounded right.

But what if it wasn’t?

Aaron closed his eyes and tried so hard to remember Gideon’s decision and behavior. Every word he uses, every action he has done. And still the hesitation keeps building inside.

"Aaron?"

Eric’s voice echoed through the chamber, pulling him back from his thoughts.

Aaron opened his eyes and looked at the younger man, who was standing a few steps away with one hand resting near the C4 attached to his vest.

"You’ve been quiet." Eric glanced toward the hole, then back at him. "Should we really do this?"

Aaron looked down to the enormous white mass continued moving beneath them. It was difficult to tell where its body ended and the surrounding parasite began.

"Lead?"

Aaron had known Gideon long enough to understand that the man could be careless, cruel, and completely unreasonable, but there was one thing Gideon had never been, leaving an enemy and giving it to other.

Aaron’s eyes remained fixed on the white mass below them. "Gideon would be strong enough to defeat this himself."

"But he said his men started killing each other..."

"He could still kill it. Have you ever seen him fight? Even once?"

Aaron shook his head slowly. "He’s unstoppable. Sometimes, I don’t think he’s even human anymore."

He paused, then pointed toward the hive mind below. "Look at this. It’s soft, it’s huge, and it’s practically a perfect training ground for him."

Eric blinked at him. "So you think that wasn’t Gideon? It was the hive mind manipulating us again?"

Aaron didn’t answer, but it made sense.

The white strands below them continued to move.

One of them slowly stretched upward along the wall, its wet surface sliding over the stone.

Another followed until Aaron noticed that the pale growth covering the sides of the chamber was no longer motionless.

It was climbing toward them.

"Eric," Aaron said quietly. "Get away from the hole, it started to move."

Eric turned his head and stepped backward. His expression slowly changed as he noticed the white strands creeping upward through the cracks.

They moved with strange purpose, curling around the stone and pulling themselves higher.

A small piece of rock suddenly fell from above and struck Eric on the shoulder.

He flinched. "Shit."

Another piece landed beside Aaron’s boot.

Eric looked upward, his expression tightening. "We need to put the C4 down. Now. Before this whole place comes down on us. That’s the only weapon able to destroy it."

Aaron followed his gaze. The ceiling above them was covered in the same white material and pale mushrooms that spread throughout the mine.

At first, he had assumed the growth was simply covering the stone, but now that the dust had begun falling, he could see the large crack hidden beneath it.

It ran across the ceiling above the hole.

The white tissue had covered it almost completely, masking the damage from anyone looking up from below.

Several smaller cracks spread outward from the main fracture, and with every faint movement from the hive mind, more dirt slipped through the gaps..

The realization came suddenly. The hive mind had not brought them here to destroy them. It had brought them here to destroy the mine.

The C4 was not meant to be placed beside the hive mind so they could escape afterward. It was meant to bring down the ceiling, collapse the tunnels, and open a path through the sealed sections of the mine.

It wanted to get out.

"Aaron!" Eric shouted. "We need to move!"

Aaron grabbed Eric by the shoulder. "We need to find Gideon."

Eric stared at him. "So what? What choice we have?" He continue, drops of sweats rolled down his temple.

A sudden crack split through the chamber. The sound came from the wall beside Eric.

"Eric, listen—"

Before either of them could react, a thick white strand burst from the growth and wrapped around Eric’s torso.

It tightened around his chest and waist, then pulled him backward with such force that his boots left the ground.

"Eric!"

Aaron grabbed his arm.

Eric slammed against the stone near the edge of the hole, his rifle slipping from his hand as he struggled against the tendril.

The white material moved like a muscle, tightening around his body while several smaller strands spread across the ground beneath them.

"Lead!" Eric shouted. "Get it off me!"

Aaron pulled him toward himself, planting his feet against the ground as the tendril dragged Eric in the opposite direction.

The strength behind it was far greater than anything Aaron expected. His shoulder burned as he fought against it, and the grip around Eric’s arm began to slip.

"Hold on!"

"I’m trying! Don’t let go of me!"

The tendril pulled again, dragging both of them several inches across the stone toward the edge of the hole.

Aaron managed to grab the front of Eric’s vest with his free hand, but another strand suddenly whipped across the floor and struck his leg.

His balance broke, forcing him down onto one knee for a moment, and that was enough for his grip to loosen.

Eric was ripped away from him.

His body was dragged toward the hole, his boots scraping against the stone before the tendril lifted him completely off the ground.

Aaron lunged forward and caught his wrist just before he was pulled over the edge.

"ERIC! Fuck!"

Eric reached toward him with his free hand. "Lead!"

Aaron tightened his grip until his fingers hurt, his arm straining as he tried to pull Eric back. For one desperate moment, he thought he could hold him.

Then the tendril jerked downward with enough force to wrench Eric’s body away from him.

Aaron’s fingers slipped.

"NO! Shit!"

Eric disappeared over the edge, his scream echoing through the chamber as the white mass below shifted and opened to receive him.

Aaron remained sprawled at the edge and hit his fists to the ground, staring down as Eric’s body struck the pale surface far below.

The hive mind rippled violently beneath the impact, and before Eric could even push himself up, several white strands surged over him.

Eric tried to stand, but the white tissue moved around his legs. Several strands rose from the mass and wrapped around his body, pulling him down as he struggled.

"GET ME OUT!"

Aaron raised his rifle and fired into the mass.

The bullets struck the pale tissue, but the damage closed almost immediately.

Eric’s hands broke through the surface for one last moment, his fingers clawing desperately at the white flesh before another strand wrapped around his chest and dragged him beneath it.

His scream became muffled, then it stopped.

Aaron remained at the edge, staring down at the place where Eric had disappeared. His breathing grew heavier, and his hand tightened around the rifle until his knuckles turned pale.

He was the only one left. He should have taken Eric faster from that place and they will survive. And then he realized that... the hive mind now has some of the C4.