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Stuart took the lead, bringing the shaken group towards the tower. Everyone's mind was in chaos, but neither of them could speak a word--it was too unreal for them to process. Grace was being especially observant, being wary of any movements in the brush around them, carefully positioning herself in the middle of the group in case something went wrong.

And indeed, something went wrong.

Just when the tower was within sight, the sound of something very large rising up out of the ground echoed throughout the air, causing the group to stop and look.

What they saw was terrifying: a 20 foot long worm, covered in spines, howling and baring its hundred sets of pointed fangs. Around the giant worm were a dozen smaller ones, ranging from 3 to 5 feet long.

"Stuart, Grace!" Adam's strong voice rang sharply. "Give me the codes, I'll get to the tower and distract those things! You guys get somewhere safe!"

"Adam, NO!" Sarah cried.

Grace did not argue, quickly shoving the codes into Adam's hands, who ran off as Stuart looked grim. "Stuart! Let's go! We've gotta find somewhere safe!" She remembered something she had seen in the security cameras--some sort of hidden passage in the jungle, not far from the communications tower. Damn, it's the only hope we've got. But those monsters are chasing Adam for now, since he's making all that noise... What a fool. Where will death get you? She shook her head and turned. "Everyone, follow me! Stuart, do you remember that passage I showed you?"

Stuart nodded. "You go with the others. I have to find Matt and Ashley. Be careful, everyone!" His eyes were not the same anymore; the bright-eyed middle-aged man now looked grim, hopeless, but more than anything...he was desperate to save as many of them as he could. He thought he was distant from them all, but after spending time with them for these few weeks...they were like family.

And their lives, their blood, was on his hands.

He had to do anything, everything he could, to save them.

As the group split yet again, Erica was forced to drag a crying Sarah along with herself and Grace as she led them to a secret passage that would--hopefully--keep them safe.

Ashley and Matt and run into their own trouble. Her screams and cries of guilt and terror echoed throughout the jungle, waking another cluster of monsters from their slumber underground. The girl completely lost her mind when she saw the beasts, and she ran despite Matt's efforts to stop her.

Though the worms had poor eyesight, they sensed prey based on vibrations...thus, they were attracted to Ashley's position. She was pinned down by a huge glob of sticky green gunk that was shot out by the largest worm, and the slime seemed to seep into her skin and mouth and eyes. It was thick and suffocating, but she continued to struggle even as the liquid oozed down her throat, covering her entire body with a scratchy, crawly feeling. Matt yelled, trying to run to her aid, but Stuart found him.

He knew there was no hope for Ashley as the huge worm and the smaller ones began to drag her body away, planning to do who-knows-what with the unfortunate woman, but he at least had to save Matt. That was his duty. "No! We can't leave her...!" Matt cried.

"I'm sorry, Matt! There's nothing we can do!" Stuart looked like he was on the verge of tears as Ashley's cries grew weaker and weaker as the slime coated the inside of her throat, but she continued to struggle, even as the goo hardened on her limbs. The worms dragged her away surprisingly gently and carefully, until they all disappeared underground...

Meanwhile, Grace and the others reached the secret passage, which led to an abandoned science facility. There were gas lamps lighting the room with a dim glow, and they found all sorts of interesting, horrifying things.

There was an old computer terminal, perhaps 20 or 30 years old that seemed to have power, and Erica immediately tried to boot it up and access its contents. Sarah was bawling in a corner as Grace barricaded the door, trying to come up with a way to get them off that godforsaken island.

"W-We let him go alone... H-How is he gonna have a chance to..." Sarah blubbered.

"...Adam is a hero," Grace said. "He is doing that to save us all." I'm thankful for that at least, because I'd never put my ass on the line for anyone. How can I slip away and get to Raul? I hope the mansion's safe... I need to get away from these people. Just have to think of a plan... Stay calm, Grace... She glanced at the other two women, wondering how easily she'd be able to sacrifice them to save herself if needed. Sarah would probably be the easiest one to convince, but Erica... Erica was an enigma.

"Grace, Sarah... I've accessed the files on this terminal," Erica said apprehensively, as if she could not believe her eyes. "Look at this... THIS is what those things are... A damned science experiment...! A FAILED one!"

Grace came to investigate further and was shocked by what they discovered, while Sarah took this chance to sneak out of the facility in hopes of helping Adam.

Shortly after Sarah snuck away, Stuart returned to the underground lab with Matt. "What the...? Is this a...science lab...?" Stuart looked around the room in disbelief, but his face quickly darkened. "Where's Sarah?!"

"Sarah? She's over th--" Grace glanced over to the corner, but Sarah was gone. "She... did she leave?!"

Matt crumpled to the floor, his face completely white as he held his head in horror. "What's...gonna happen...? Are we all...going to die...?"

"Stuart, you need to see this..." Erica said, her mind not even registering that Sarah was gone. She was far too aghast by the data she had uncovered on the terminal.

Outside, Sarah managed to reach the communications tower without any trouble, touting a large branch as she charged through the front doors. "Adam!" she cried. "Adam...!! Where are you?!" The tower was dark and gloomy. She was frightened as she looked upon an old, rusty, rickety ladder that led to the top. She dropped the branch and swallowed her fears, climbing to the top of the tower. The higher she went, the louder a strange scratching noise became...

...and then she heard Adam's voice--groans.

She climbed the ladder as fast as she could, her heart racing, and when she reached the top, she found the door to the engineering room flung open. Adam was lying in a pool of his own blood, surrounded by the corpses of smaller worms. He was alive, but only barely. "A-Adam...!" Sarah ran to him, but it was already too late; however, she had no idea...

"S-Sarah.... why are you...?" He could hardly see. He felt something horrible inside of him...squirming, crawling, scratching and reaching... he felt something gnawing away at him, but it was only faint at first. "I...the codes... I-I can't feel my fingers--"

His fingers had been gnawed off to the bone by the dozen tiny worms that had fallen all over him when he entered the room, but his eyes were failing him.

Sarah was crying, but she found the bloodied codes beside his body and quickly entered them into the emergency terminal and pounded the red S.O.S. button with her fist before dropping to his side. "Adam... Adam..." She cried his name, but there was nothing she could do. She knew he was dying, but she wanted to...

"Aaah... S-Sarah... My body... it hurts...! Y-You should...r-run..."

Blood began to ooze from his eyes as something chewed its way out from his sockets, and a second later, two small worms emerged from his eyes, squirting blood directly into Sarah's face. She let out a blood-curdling scream as his body began to shake; she saw things crawling underneath his skin, in his arms and under his shirt. She turned and ran in horror as something burst from his chest--a bloody, two-foot long worm.

It was a Queen, a worm who had just feasted on the healthy heart of its prey. Sarah tried to slide down the ladder as quickly as she could, but the Queen was intelligent, even though it was newly born. It let out a hissing cry, rallying all nearby lesser worms to its side, before slithering down the ladder.

Sarah was face-to-face with the newborn Queen--a beast with huge fangs and pincers on its mouth, covered in small bristles that would eventually evolve into spines. She let out a scream as she fell to the floor and turned to run, but there were a dozen medium-sized worms awaiting her there.

The Queen let out another cry, the command to KILL.

Sarah tried to charge her way through, but three of the smaller worms latched onto her legs with their fangs, leeching her blood, and she tripped and fell onto the ground, crying and screaming and struggling and pulling herself along in the dirt as the Queen snaked closer and closer.

The Queen curled around one of Sarah's legs, coiling around her torso as it hissed and dripped corrosive saliva from its fangs, burning through Sarah's clothes and flesh.

And mercilessly, instinctively, the Queen clacked its pincers as it positioned its head directly above Sarah's heart...

...and plunged its fangs into her soft, warm body, eager to have another hearty feast. Sarah's death was quick, at least; once the Queen had her fill, she allowed her underlings to partake of the fresh kill as well.

Unfortunately for Ashley, she had a much, much worse fate in store for her...

The Queen that had captured her brought her to a dark place: the belly of the Matriarch, the Mother of Worms. Ashley's live body had been plastered to the Matriarch's slimy cavity and injected with a hundred thousand eggs carrying larvae that would feast on her innards and burst from her body before the sun had set. Since her mouth had been glued shut with the slimy ooze, she couldn't even scream as the tiny critters hatched inside of her and began their swim through her bloodstream in search of fresh food.

Only Stuart, Grace, Matt and Erica remained...

...but would any of them be able to escape the depths of this Hell, now that they had awakened the demons of Rhondoa Island?