Chapter Nineteen: Tension

                                    

                                          

Asher's sitting down on a chair. His hands are clasped together, his elbows are resting on his knees, one of which is swiftly moving up and down. His heart's beating rapidly and his face is full of worry. There was only one thing on his mind. Was she okay? Had the other found them in time...or were they too late? His knee starts going up and down even faster. 
If she dies, it'll be his fault. His fault.
"My fault," Asher whispers.



FLASHBACK

"Penny?"
Brooke, April, Sam, and Penny all stay still in shock for a few moments before they snap back into reality.
"Phoenix!" April shouts, running towards the two.
Brooke follows, but Sam stays on his knees, not being able to move. Penny starts taking steps towards Asher and the limp body in his arms.
"What..W-what happened?" April asks once she reaches them, staring in shock at all of the blood.
Phoenix is out cold. Her face is pale and it looks like she's barely breathing.
"I..I don't know," Asher answers shakily.
He's still breathing heavily.
"What do you mean you don't know?! You were with her, weren't you?!" April shouts at him, grabbing him by the color of his hoodie.
Asher presses his lips together, his hands starting to shake. This was all his fault.
"Enough, April," Brooke says, grabbing onto her shoulder and moving her back, forcing her to let go of Asher's hoodie.
April looks down at her hand. Blood. Phoenix's blood.
"We need to get her down to the main room, now," Brooke demands.
"B-but," April says, feeling a little light headed now.
"Ape, the only way I can help her is if we get down there."
April holds back her tears and nods. They walk back to Sam and Brooke crouches down in front of him, trying to ignore the bodies right next to her.
"Sam, we have to go. Phoenix is bleeding out and she won't be able to hold on for much longer."
Sam's lip is quivering as he stares at Phoenix's body, her arm drenched in blood. He looks back at Brooke, a slight bit of panic in his eyes.
"Sam, please. We have to go," Brooke pleads.
Sam clenches his fists together and shuts his eyes, trying to think of something to calm him down. His mind flashes to an image of June. June. He can't let her see this. If he can't take it, there's no way she'll be able to handle it. At all. Sam opens his eyes and takes a deep breath, then stands up.
"Let's go," he states.
All four of them, along with Phoenix, rush back over to the hatch at the end of the first hall. Asher keeps applying pressure to Phoenix's wound, Brooke doing the same with her right hand. Once they reach the end, Sam opens the hatch and climbs down. There was only one main thing on his mind right now. June.
"What happened? Did you find anything?" June asks, standing up straight from leaning on the wall.
Sam quickly grabs onto June's shoulders and forces her to look straight at him.
"Sam?"
"Listen to me. We don't know what happened-"
"You're scaring me," June interrupts him.