"Mommy?…Mommy…Hicc!" Soft choked sobs echoed through the cavern. She had run quite a distance after successfully escaping and was looking for the entrance to the bunker. The appearance of these sobs caused her to be momentarily distracted.
It sounded like a child but Riley took caution not to trust everything she heard when the Act was still going on so she kept quiet.
"I want Mommy Hicc!"
"Sssh! Keep quiet Mari." a hushed voice silenced the first.
"But Mommy…" the voice quivered with indistinguishable sadness.
"Keep quiet. The grown-ups said they are coming back." a childish voice silenced the previous voice.
This time the other voice did not respond but Riley could hear almost faint whimpering.
Riley recognized those voices but did not lower her guard and cautiously walked towards them. Her surroundings became clearer as light bounced on every surface illuminating the cavern. That light came from a single lantern whose flame seemed fragile, flickering in the darkness and the lantern was in the hands of a chubby child Rikey knew all too well.
"Tori!"
"Riles?" The child was at first confused but after seeing her, her face immediately lit up. She gave the lantern to Pee and ran to hug her. The other children recognized her as well and barreled towards her with Pee lagging with the lantern.
For the first time in a while, a smile graced Riley's lips as she hugged the children and ruffled their hair.
"What are you all doing here?" Her brows furrowed with worry.
"The grown-ups left us here." Tori chirped
"Why?"
"They had to go out and do something."
"Why? It's dangerous out there!"
"They went to look for you, Dad and Grandma," Pee added, her voice trembling.
"Haa…Looking for us." She understood. Their journey had taken too long which had made them worry enough to go out in search of them.
"Did everyone go?"
"No…Only those who could move. My mommy went as well! " Another child quipped.
Riley looked at her and asked," What do you mean by those that can move?"
Tori inched closer and whispered in her ear," It happened a little while after you left. The sick people stopped moving and their hearts were no longer making that 'dun dun' sound."
"I think they died," she added nonchalantly.
Her words shook Riley to the core. The cold had grown serious. And with its growth came the death of the villagers. The ones who most likely died were probably those on the verge of death, including the children.
She narrowed her eyes and looked at Tori. ' The way she said it was chilling. How can a child speak of death so lightly?'
Riley immediately threw away those thoughts.
Perhaps she didn't understand it. It was better that way, especially after what happened to Hilda.
"I see…So do you know how many went?"
"It was 10!"
"No! It was 9."
"I am the oldest. So it's 11!"
Another round of debate ensued. The range was 9 and above. Considering the village had about 30 people including children and with about 11 having died with these 8 children meant 11 had gone. They had left the children there with the assumption of their safety because they had broken the lock for the bunker. Riley didn't know why the lock mattered but she remembered Hilda mentioning something about safety.
'If so, why didn't they use the tunnels to find us.'Though she thought that, she was relieved they hadn't. Isaac had mentioned the tunnels were supposed to be safe because of some ancient mechanisms but that seemed to have changed when she entered them.
Thwack!
The children's chatter halted immediately.
Her eyes narrowed as she searched for the source. She motioned the children to draw closer to her and borrowed the lantern from Pee.
With the lantern, she shone in every place but there was nothing.
'Is it a false alarm?'
Thwack!
'Again!'
Thwack!
Thwack!
Each time they heard, the children flinched and Riley would comfort them. She wished she could look for the sound but leaving the children would be irresponsible.
'Ha…'
She scooped baby Tobias up and carried him at her back. After instructing the kids to stick close to her, they moved to look for the entrance to the bunker.
When they found it, there was a rope ladder which probably was added for the children to go back in. She left the children and climbed upwards.
As the hatch was already wide open, she crawled through and found herself in the bunker once again. The first thing she noticed was the bodies covered head to toe by white sheets.
She crouched next to one and placed her ear close to its chest.
'Nothing…' She did the same with the rest of the bodies but there was no beat. At the far corner, she noticed a body clumsily covered as her eyes were exposed.
'Hers was recent. She must have been the one to take care of the kids.'
As she walked further, she noticed the door outside was unlocked and pushed it open. The world outside was calm. She could vaguely make out the calls of certain birds, the sky was clear and the air was refreshing.
She stepped out and found the world had gone back to how it was.
"It's over. It's finally over!" she laughed with stubborn tears streaming down her face.
**********
She brought the kids to the bunker and made them food to eat whilst she went to look for Isaac. With the Act over and done with, she wasn't afraid of encountering any hidden danger. She went to search for him with a lantern in hand.
'Please let there be at least a body.' Though part of her hoped he was still alive, she knew very well human abilities could only go so far especially those of an Extra.
The caverns didn't look as terrifying as they had when she first entered which was probably due to the Act ending. The Act naturally aroused fear and with Hilda's death, Nicholas' injuries and the possible death of Isaac, the caverns felt more like a storage of bad memories than a place to be scared off.
Speaking of Nicholas, she had left him with the kids and made them swear not to harm him.
Thwack!
Warning bells immediately started ringing in her head. She inched closer, making sure to not make a sound.
She moved her lantern to reveal an alive Village Head, struggling to stand up.
"Village Head!"
He looked up and grinned."Hey, kid. Told ya I would be fine."