Chapter Text
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Joshua frantically looked around, but all he could see was black static. "where's mike? d-did that thing kill him?”
Josh could feel his head throbbing. Honestly, that was all he could feel. Everything was numb, cold and wet, he couldn't even think. Not that he even wanted to think about what was happening right now. Was that really Hannah? Th-That monster? Was Sam right? "no. No way. This is all just another one of my delusions. I'm fucking crazy. I'll snap back into reality any second now... But this feels too real, way too real to be one of my made up scenarios. What the fuck am I supposed to do?"
Real or not, Josh knew he had to get out of there, he can't keep letting his own mind torture him like this. Josh stumbled forward, dragging his feet as he used all of his strength to move forward. He couldn't see a way out, he couldn't see anything. He wasn't even sure if his eyes were even open at this point. Josh reached out in-front of himself, trying to get a better idea of where he was. All he got was a shooting pain that traveled up his arm, spreading through the entire left side of his body. "Shit! This is real, Ash stabbed me. Fuck. FuckFuckfuck. I'm gonna bleed out down here. Sam left us and now I'm going to die down here. GOD I just want Sam, Why'd she leave us?”
Josh collapsed to his knees, wrapping his arms around his own head, trying to shield himself from the pain, the loneliness. "I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry... Alan was right... This was all a dumb idea and now I'm going to die. Now i deserve to die. Why did I act so selfish? I'm a spoiled BRAT and I DESERVE TO DIE DOWN HERE!" His eyes flooded with tears, he curled up onto his side. Everything was starting to sink in. "I'm going to end up just like Hannah." He thought. He knew he was going to die alone, but he didn’t imagine anything like this. He let his body sink into the cold, mud caked ground. He started to let his mind drift, What else was he supposed to do?
Josh started to think about his friends, well, ex-friends. Fuck I hope they’re all okay . Regret settled over him like the icy snow outside. I really went too far this time . He remembered how distraught Mike was over Jessica’s supposed death. But Mike apologized, so that must mean she’s still alive… Or maybe just that someone else had killed her. And that thing dragged Mike down, maybe he’s dead too now. God, what did I do? At least Sam got away. Hopefully Chris got out of here too. For all I know, everyone is dead and it’s all my fault.
His thoughts were cut off by a high screeching and a dim light. Josh pressed his palms against the sides of his head, in efforts to stop the maddening noise. “Go AWAY!” He yelled back. “Leave me ALONE! You’re not real!” But the noise only grew louder, and the light drifted closer. “STOP! GO AWAY!” Normally, Josh would assume it was his mind and try to brush it off. But after all that went on today, with all the fucked up shit he’s gone through, anything could be real. The noise got louder, heading straight for his skull. Josh closed his eyes, begging for it to be over. Just Kill me already. The noise was unbearable at this point. The noise sounded as if someone were twisting a cat's joints in circles. It reminded him of all the screaming he had caused. All the pain. One scream got to him in particular. The god awful noise that Sam let out in the cinema room. When she saw Josh clean cut in half. Josh couldn’t help but cringe when he heard that noise. That was the moment he first started to regret everything. Her pain replayed over and over again in his head. He couldn’t take it, Tears gushed from his eyes. Whatever this thing was, he deserved whatever it was about to do to him.
He felt pressure on his side, cold palms pressing into his torso. He didn’t dare open his eyes. He didn’t want to know what was happening. He was too scared that he’d investigate and see that tall creature that looked so much like his dear sister. He just curled up more and sobbed. The presence of hands promptly turned into a million thick, burning needles. Josh could already imagine all the blood, but before he could scream, the pain was gone. Everything was gone and he felt numb again. He was terrified, scared out of his wits and he had no idea what was happening.
For hours on end, Josh just laid there. Unable to move, unable to see. He tried to sleep, but it was too cold, his body was way too stiff to ever relax that much. He didn’t say anything, he couldn’t think about what was happening. He was just there, paralyzed. His arm didn’t hurt anymore, neither did his head, but somehow he was still in pain. Joshua felt so weak, he just wanted to die already. He didn’t like suffering like this. No concept of time, he didn’t even know where he was at.
His pain was starting to distinguish itself a bit more. It was coming from his gut. It felt like his stomach was caving in. Twisting and turning, trying to rip itself out of his body. He needed food, he’s been hungry before, starving even, he remembered that he used to be too fucked up to eat. It hurt, but it was never this bad. He wanted to scream but all he could do was let out quiet sobs. He shook and shifted to clench his stomach, digging his nails into his own flesh. I can’t take this. Make it stop… please… make it stop . Josh couldn’t move again, his sobbing slowly quietly, not sure if he was calming down, or just losing feeling again. Everything slowed until time itself seemed to stop. Then his mind went black.
Josh weaved in and out of consciousness. Waking up to just feel the same hunger throughout his entire body. He could barely crawl through the mine, searching for something to eat. Most of the time, he blacked out before he could find anything. Now and again he would find a rodent that had gotten lost and started to rot for some reason or another. They never helped. The hunger was always the same, crippling pain weakening him more and more every day.
Josh shivered and squinted his eyes open. He’s gotten a little more used to the dark by now, able to make out where walls end and begin. He squirmed and struggled to his feet. He felt so weak, he had to do something about it, all this pain is too much. Josh clutched his gut and waddled around. He stumbled through the mines until he reached a ledge. Underneath it, water. “O-Oh shit. This is where that… that thing was. When i-it took Mike.” Josh stepped back, terrified. “I can’t go back down there…” His stomach growled and churned, sending a nauseating feeling all the way to his throat, “I guess I don’t really have a choice, do I? I need to stop this pain.”
Josh swallows down the fear and slowly climbs down, his shivers worsening as he lowered into the freezing pond. Josh’s toes hit the bottom, and he tensed up, waiting for something to grab his ankle. He groaned and dragged his body through the water. He could feel the cold getting closer to his bone with every second and he knew he was slowing down. Using what little strength he had left, he found another ledge. He reached his arm out and gripped onto it as tight as he could. Reaching with his other arm, he tried to pull himself up, pushing his feet against the ledge wall. He was almost over, when he lost grip and his upper body dropped back, sending his entire body under the water. Josh panicked and quickly pushed himself to the surface, gasping for air and bolting to cling to the ledge. The damp air was even worse now, the cold wasn’t numbing his pain anymore, it was making it worse. All of his bones ached and he didn’t want to move.
Josh had already accepted death again, ready to let go, just drown himself. He loosened his grip but froze when he smelled something, it smelled wonderful. It was something familiar but Josh couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was. His pain seized and out of nowhere came a bolt of energy. He grabbed tight to the ledge, and this time managed to climb up. His stomach screamed at the smell as it got stronger. Josh pushed himself to his feet and stumbled forward, swaying to each side with every step. He had no clue why his body was so invested in this new scent, but it had to have been something good, something that would save him. After practically dragging his limbs for an hour, he saw a shadow hanging from the ceiling, swaying back and forth. This was where the smell was coming from, maybe it was a deer or something, it’s huge. Josh held out an arm to grab one of the limbs, that's when he felt something, that it wasn’t covered in fur… It was fabric. Josh’s eyes widened as he looked up, to take in the entire image. It was human, a human fucking corpse. Is this seriously what I smelled? Josh wanted to vomit, his gut threw itself into knots, there was no way he was eating that, he’d rather die.
After several minutes of blank stares, Josh broke. I don’t really have the choice now either do I? I’m clearly not dying anytime soon. I’m in so much pain and eating this…. P-person is going to help me. He gripped it’s ankle and tugged, trying to free the body and pull it down. Disturbingly, he heard a crack and the corpse’s leg popped off. Startled, Josh screamed and fell backwards, the leg flopping onto his chest. Josh shoved it away and gagged, his breath heightened and his joints froze. “I-I can’t do this! I-I can’t I just can’t!” Josh was breathing so fast he began to choke on his own air, sitting up only to hunch over and start dry heaving. The pain in his gut begged for attention, causing him to cry out. Josh gripped onto his gut and tried to relax, he had no choice. He turned and grabbed the rotting limb, squeezing his eyes shut before taking a bite. The flesh was soft and wet, causing it to just about dissolve in his mouth. It tasted disgusting, but for some reason he couldn’t stop eating it. He kept sinking his teeth deeper and deeper, stopping only when his teeth slammed into bone, nearly snapping.
Before he realized, the leg was picked clean, and soon was the rest of the body. His pain barely subsided, he knew he needed more. Josh scurried across the floor, grabbing each bone to check for any left residue, or moisture, or anything that could ease his pain more. But he couldn’t find anything. Josh panicked and threw one of the bones into the wall, he needed more, he really needed more. His heart raced as he ran the the other end of the room. Maybe there’s another body somewhere. Another shadow appeared in the distance, a ball. Maybe it was a fruit or something, not what Josh needed. Enraged, he tripped over to grab the figure. He dug his nails in it when he picked it up, that’s when the smell emerged again. Josh’s eyes widened and he took a closer look at the ball, Holy Shit , that’s a face. Josh couldn’t help but lick his lips when he turned the skull in each palm. He hated himself for this but the urge to eat was so fucking strong.
Josh heard a noise, which startled him a bit, but he was too eager to eat to pay much attention. He wrapped his jaw around his ‘fresh’ meal, and started to clean to the bone. In the corner of his eye, Josh saw a light flickering, he hadn’t seen light like that in ages. The light was quickly followed by voices, “Hey! I think there’s a survivor down here!” Josh froze and lifted his head to see too heavily dressed men, waving around flashlights. He’s been in the dark so long, the light actually hurt his eyes.
“H-Hey! Are you alright???” Josh just growled in response, his vision was starting to go all fuzzy and his body numbed. He knew he was about to pass out again. He wanted to be excited, they were probably here to save him. But he was just angry. He was mad that they took so long, that he’d been stuck down here, mad that they didn’t find his sister, that they stopped him from eating. Didn’t they know how much pain he’s been in? As his rage grew, his vision darkened. One of the men shouted. “What the- w-wait! Backup!” Josh stood up and tried to lunge forward but everything faded to black.