Into The Depths of Oregon

53.

"Shine your light down that way." Clarissa flashed her flash light into the darkness in front of them and it was like it hit a wall. The light ended in the black, but there was clearly something else beyond it.

"I'm terrified and I can't even say why." Gilbert snorted a little bit of a laugh.

"First time you come across true black is always terrifying, I remember my first time, West Virginia coal mine, which is kind of funny considering underground exterminators came from West Virginia, anyway I'm getting lost in this story." Gilbert reached into his bag and tossed a flare into the darkness that pushed it back, Clarissa could hear a hissing, "Anyway, was deep in an abandoned mine a family had gone missing near when I found it, I'd heard of it, but never heard the noises it makes, this one made a slightly wimpering like from a child, it was trying to trick me to push me in, but all the same I worried, worried someone from that family was alive in that dark, even when I knew they couldn't be." Clarissa shivered at that thought.

"So what causes true black?"

"Lots of things, lots of evil things." Gilbert cracked another flare and kept it next to himself and attached it to his jump suit, he motioned Clarissa forward. "It's what I brought the rest of my kit for, we have to get through its usual bullshit first though." Clarissa smiled though she didn't feel it.

"Well it is what they pay us for right?"

"When we don't kill the people paying us, yes, this is the job they pay us for."

****
"I'm starting to suspect you don't know where you are going." It had been hours and with darkness all over Clarissa couldn't even tell if they'd moved anywhere but her legs hurt from the walking so she figured they had to have gone somewhere.

"I know where I'm going, have you ever explored a tunnel in true black? No, so let me do my thing, we have plenty of flares don't worry." Clarissa wasn't worried about the flares, but now that he mentioned it, she started to feel maybe she should have been.

"I just was saying..."

"You were just complaining, like you've been doing this whole trip, god damn its like being on a job with my nephew, be quiet and let me think." Clarissa felt like she'd just been scolded by a parent. She hoped it was just the current situation, but had felt Gilbert had been more of a jerk as of late and she couldn't figure out why or what she'd done. She decided to just follow Gilbert in the True Black and hope whatever they were there to kill would show up before she became too tired to keep walking.

Hours had gone by, the True Black and Gilbert had not relented. Clarissa felt her legs becoming leaden with each step, but didn't want to risk Gilbert's wrath should she mention it. Clarissa could feel sleep coming, but she knew she didn't want to sleep there, couldn't sleep there, but she couldn't help it, she closed her eyes once and Gilbert was gone and the black was all that remained. She was alone in it now, without a flare as Gilbert was the one who had those in his bag. And all Clarissa could feel was tired, it pulled at her and eventually she couldn't fight it any longer and she went to sleep.