"This is my favorite part of the job."

"Really? Because I hate this."

My friend Danielle and I were volunteering at Sardis Park. Unlike Danielle, I enjoyed picking up all the litter and walking around the entire park. She's acting like this is the hardest thing she's ever done.

"I don't see why you're whining so much," I told her." You love giving tours, and we're walking on most of the same trails."

"Yes, but we never do it for this long. Ugh!"

She just drops her trash bag and sits on a fallen tree. That's one of the highlights of this forest. We have almost as many dead trees as the ones still standing.

"Fine," I said because I hate when people quit and I'm the only fool still trying. We aren't actually getting paid anyway. This is just community service. But don't get comfortable. We still have to go to that tree that fell yesterday on the west side of the park. The trail is blocked off, but David told us to make sure no one is still using it."

Either she was glad this is our last assignment for today, or she was anxious to get away from the mosquitoes, because she hopped up instantly and said, "Let's go."

She also left her bag behind for me to pick up.

Typical.

The sky was grayish with huge clouds, and the constant wind felt amazing. The air was very warm, and it hadn't started raining yet.

"Hey Allen, I just realized," Danielle started as we got near the blocked trail.

"What if we see a homeless person living on the trail? I don't wanna be the person that has to tell them to move."

I hadn't considered that. "Neither do I."

She laughed. "But you're the guy. You should be the one to tell them to move."

I smiled and shook my head. "Nope. No way. I'm gonna take my ass to the nearest McDonald's, get something to eat, and go home. I'll just say we didn't see anything."

"But you were the main one saying we weren't done yet though."

Just then, I tried to hop over a tree trunk and slipped on the edge.

Danielle laughed her hysterically while I dusted myself off.

"Alright, I'm going to get you for laughing just- oh, we're here."

This tree might've been the biggest in the park, or maybe not because I never pay attention to Danielle when she does the tours. I never bothered learning the information because I work with and maintain the plants.

"Hey, is this the biggest tree in the park?"

She was so busy inspecting the tree I didn't think she heard me.

"Heck no. It's not even in the top ten. In fact, the one behind you it's almost twice this size."

I looked back, and she was right.

"In my defense, it's hard to tell because this one has fallen down."

"Whatever, you need to see this."

Danielle moved out of the way to let me see. Under the tree, there was a giant slab of wood. I remembered the park director telling us not to mess with it. No one is sure why it was there, just that the previous owner had built it before he sold his land to Rhena Durham, the woman that founded this park. Two hundred and seventy one acres filled with dying trees and homeless hippies. I hope she got a good price for it.

"I thought this was bolted down." said Danielle.

"Someone must have recently opened it."

"Who would though?"

"You tell me."

Danielle started to move the slab away, revealing a dark drop down. The sky was getting darker, and the clouds were almost as dark as black, so there wasn't much light to actually see into the passageway. She had already started to put her feet in before I realized she was planning.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

She looked back at me and rolled her eyes. I hated that look. I feel her judging me through her eyelids.

"OK, fine. Let's go."

I wasn't going to let her go first because that would make me look like a bigger sissy, so I jumped right on in without thinking about how deep it was, or what I might land on. Needless to say, I almost broke my ankle. I didn't actually land on my face, but I'm not gonna say I didn't taste dirt either.

Danielle landed close by a second later, with the grace of Spider-Man. She didn't even make a sly comment about me falling, her eyes were trying to adjust to the darkness.

"Hold on, lemme get my phone."

She whispered as she fumbled next to me.

Then we heard the sound of something coughing, and some liquid spilling on the ground. Instantly, we both froze. Maybe there actually was a homeless person down here.

"Did you hear that?" She whispered to me, her face almost completely hidden in the dark bunker.

"Yea," I whispered back, trying not to make a sound.

"Maybe, it's just an animal."

"There are still animals that can rip our faces off, Allen." She says in a condescending tone like it's my fault we came down here.

She started to reach for her phone again, and suddenly, I felt a wave nausea wash over me. It seemed like this little bunker had filled with heat. I thought I was going to vomit. It felt like I didn't even have the energy to stand up anymore either. I started to lean towards the wall for support, and then I saw Danielle fall to the ground.

"Danielle? Are you okay? Danielle!!" I slid to my knees and crawled to her, swallowing back the bile in my throat. I felt my way through the darkness to where I thought she was and finally came across her body. She was way too hot. She had passed out from the heat. How was I going to tell the park manager this, or why we were down here in the first place?

I started to try to shake her awake when I noticed it seemed to be getting brighter in the bunker. I looked up slightly, and my eyes focused on a torch in the wall that had been lit. But why was it lit? And who did it? While I was struggling to understand, three other torches lit up the entire room, revealing what the inside looked like.

I almost lost my damn mind. In the farthest side of the bunker, there were three people, two grown men, and one woman. They were beaten, bloodied, and tied up. There were silver chains connected to the ceiling, holding their hands above their heads. Their ankles were also chained, but the chains connected to the wall behind them.

The all had ratted, torn jeans on but were shirtless, even the girl. Her hair looked terrible, dirty and ripped, and there were traces of her hair on the floor to prove it. Despite being ripped, it was long. Not Rapunzel long, but it covered most of her chest and probably went all the way down her back. She was on the far right, and the men next to her didn't look any better.

One of their skin had a reddish tinge to it like he had been burned or spray tanned all over his body. And the one on the left, it looked as if he was a puppet. His body was bent weirdly compared to the other two.

They were either standing or being lifted by the chains. Their bodies were completely vertical. He, however, was a different story. The chains holding his arms was way longer because he was on his knees while his arms were raised. I noticed his chest moving up and down, and realized with a shock that they were all still alive.

"ALLEN! GET UP! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU??!!!" Danielle's voice was almost as scary as the people in the corner, mostly because it sounded far away, and not right under me. I looked to where I heard it, and there she was, on her side and holding her stomach. She tried to stand up and fell again. She started convulsing all over and then she threw up, turning away from me and spewing chunks in the corner.

If she was over there, then what was I holding? Now it was my turn to vomit. Now that the room was fully lit, I could clearly see that I was holding a gigantic, dead, dog. It was near twice my size, and its body was hot, so hot. I frantically pushed its body off me and scrambled towards the wall.

The thought of it was too much. I vomited so badly my head started to hurt, and I saw spots. I couldn't blink it out my eyes, just like I'd never get the image of that dog out of my head. Danielle put her hand on my shoulder.

"Allen, those people..." I stood up and tried to ignore the taste in my mouth. This time, I looked at everything in the room.

There were two torches on each side of the bunker. The walls, ceiling, and ground were all made up of dirt. I also saw some of the torture the devices some maniac must have left the last time he, or she, was here.

There was blood streaming down their bodies and puddles on the floor. A lot of it was dry, which made me which made me try to figure out how long they'd been down here. The two men were muscular, but their rib cages were visible, so I'd guess they'd been down here for days, maybe even a week or two.

Danielle

I started to move towards the people before Allen, who looked like he was about to toss his cookies a second time. That dog.... I can't believe he thought that huge dog was me! I'd slap him if we weren't so scared right now. On the other hand, though, I'd probably be just as shaken up as he is if I was holding a dead animal without realizing it. I approached the one that was kneeling down. His chest was moving up and down way faster than before, but his eyes remained closed. Allen moved towards the girl. I wanted to tell that pervert to come over here and back me up, but my mouth couldn't form the words.

I had to breathe in and out to calm myself down, and my vomit breathe wasn't making it any easier. "H-hey," I stuttered and noticed that my voice sounded really small.

"Can you hear me? Are you okay?" A very stupid question to ask, but I had to say something.

He opened his eyes simultaneously, and his dead-shot, wide-eyed stare almost gave me a heart attack. I shrieked and screamed Allen's name, which caused the other two to wake up. Allen also took a step back from the girl, but his eyes remained locked on her.

"Allen!" I pleaded. "Help me." He turned around, blinked, and helped me up. "They won't speak," He told me after he wiped dirt off my clothes. "She won't respond."

I nudged him out of the way. "Maybe it's because of the way you've been looking at her, pervert." He looked at me, in shock, and launched into an explanation of how he wasn't looking at her that way, but I ignored him.

All three of them were looking at us, but none of them made a sound. The man in the middle looked the strongest, physically. He looked like he could take more of this torture, while the guy on the ground looked like he was ready to die. He stared at me in a way that made me feel like the hostage, not him. It made me feel naked and vulnerable, and all of the little courage I had completely vanished. "Danielle..." Allen poked my shoulder but I didn't reply. Is this how he felt when he was gazing into that girl's eyes? He seemed to give up on trying to snap me of it and decided to play the hero.

He stepped closer to the girl, and, in a very comforting tone, asked her, "Why won't you speak? Is there something wrong?" He touched her chin, but she didn't flinch. Then, softly but forcefully, he tried to open her mouth as a pool of blood came out of it.