CHAPTER 265: 265-LOST HER IN THE TUNNEL

Clementine:

"Guys, aren’t there too many of them? Can’t we just skip this area and find coal somewhere else?" Oriana asked, beginning to second-guess the plan of heading toward those things.

"I don’t think that’s the right idea," Troy replied. "At this point, it’s pretty clear these things are patrolling around the coal. Which means, no matter where we go, we’ll still run into them for the same reason. So why waste time looking somewhere else when the result will be the same?"

Troy disagreed with her openly, and so did I. Even Yorick seemed to agree that we needed to take this chance and fight as many of those things as possible to get our hands on this large cluster of coal.

We were all ready, staring at the earth-eaters in the distance. Then we each held two spears, one in each hand, and began walking toward the coals.

Soon, the earth-eaters noticed us, and they started rushing toward us. I ran forward, jumped onto the wall, took a few steps, and then leapt behind the earth-eater. The others behind me didn’t let it come after me.

I dodged one of the earth-eaters and rolled under the swinging tail of the other, landing on my feet and striking an earth-eater in the eye with my spear. It wasn’t as fast as I expected, and my spear went through its eye. A loud screech escaped its mouth as it hit the ground with its tail. The ground started shaking, the stones dragging under the earth. I gripped my spear tightly, my breath coming out in short, shaky hisses.

"Clementine, watch out!" Troy shouted, running beside me while Yorick fought the other earth-eater. Oriana was behind all of us. Every now and then, I turned around to glance at her and saw how scared she looked. Her eyes were wide, and even the hands holding her spear were shaking.

As the creature charging at me lifted its tail again and slammed it against the tunnel floor, the ground trembled hard enough to throw me off balance. I stumbled, my knees scraping against the dirt. Then I felt someone’s arms catch me.

I turned slightly and looked into Troy’s beautiful eyes. He watched me with such intent, and I saw his jaw clench when he noticed the small scratches on my body, especially on my palms, from falling. He looked away at the one that had swung its tail, almost angry that I’d been hurt because of it.

Then he lunged forward, gripping his spear and shouting. The earth-eater thrashed its head and opened its mouth to swallow Troy, but he charged straight into half of its mouth with his spear. As he stabbed it, my heart stopped for a moment. He didn’t even realize one of his feet was inside its jaw.

"Troy!" I screamed at him, furious at how careless he was.

"Don’t stop!" Troy shouted, warning me that we needed to keep moving before they overpowered us.

I nodded shakily and rushed forward again when the earth-eater in front of me opened its mouth and roared. I threw my spear from a distance, straight into it. It was the first time any of us had done that. Usually, we made sure to get close before striking, probably because we were afraid the spear wouldn’t land right. Besides, they would often shut their mouths quickly and shake their heads.

This time, though, the spear went straight into its mouth, the tip disappearing. The creature screamed and slammed its tail again. The force was so strong I wondered if it would crack the walls or bring the ceiling down on us.

Yorick rushed forward to help me, stabbing another one in the eye. But it closed its eyes, so he had to keep striking nonstop until he finally hit his mark. That one crawled back and tried to swing its tail at him, but he dodged just in time.

At this point, all our faces were covered in sweat and dirt.

"Oriana, stay back!" Yorick suddenly yelled.

When I turned, I saw Oriana on the ground, crawling backward while an earth-eater lunged toward her. Troy bolted in her direction, grabbed the creature by the tail, and pulled it away. His biceps tensed, veins standing out with effort. Oriana scrambled to her feet and ran in the same direction we had come from instead of helping fight the earth-eater.

"Oriana, no!" I screamed, knowing the mental state she was in. She couldn’t defend herself.

At this point, I really began to wonder if our conversation came from her deep need to be someone’s priority. But she didn’t realize that instead of being someone’s priority, she could simply be our friend.

I saw how Yorick and Troy tried to save her. They would’ve done the same for anyone in danger. They didn’t need to be tied to one person to prove their loyalty or to fight for them.

But I guess she didn’t understand that. For some reason, in her mind, there could only be two people together, and if a third came in, everything became unstable. Maybe it was her traumas or her childhood. Maybe somewhere along the way, she’d seen that a person couldn’t handle two relationships at once.

Troy didn’t stop fighting. He lunged at the next earth-eater, driving his spear down its throat. The creature thrashed, shaking the ground one last time before going still. Yorick killed the other one.

I turned toward the last one. Its long body crawled over the others, eyes glowing faintly. It looked straight at me before opening its mouth wide. My heart hammered in my chest, my pulse throbbing in my temples.

"Clementine! Together now!" Yorick called out.

I ran beside him, jumping over broken rocks and the dead bodies of the earth-eaters. As the last creature lifted its tail, I shoved my spear with all my strength into its mouth. Yorick pushed my spear from the back to drive it deeper, and I heard the squishing sound of its heart being pierced.

The creature writhed, its tail striking the tunnel floor one last time before collapsing. It convulsed silently, then went still. Dust filled the air, and the foul stench of the bodies hit our noses.

I sighed, steadying myself against the wall before sliding down to sit. My knees bent and parted as I took deep breaths.

I watched Troy and Yorick stare tiredly at the dead bodies before grabbing my bag and theirs to fill them with coal. My head turned toward the empty space Oriana had left.

"Guys, we need to find her. I don’t think she can save herself," I said, feeling awful for her.

There was one thing I’d learned from the North, the one who lets fear take over dies the next moment.