Before the carbon dioxide buildup started affecting her judgement, because she would need all her wits about her if she had any hope in hell of fighting off the merfolk and getting out of the cave system alive.

The problem was Marty. Elsa had no idea when he was going to regain consciousness. What if he didn’t?

She would have to leave him.

Could she do that?

If he didn’t wake up soon, his death was all but guaranteed, and if she stayed with him, hers was too.

Did she really have a choice?

She wanted to shake him until he opened his eyes, but she didn’t because…

Because you need him to remain unconscious, need him to offer you an excuse to remain where you are. Because you’re scared to get in the water.

You’re scared of what’s in the water—

“Marty,” she said, her voice sounding double its usual volume in the stagnant dark. “You need to wake up so we can get out of here. We can do it together. We both have knives. It’s scared of knives. I’ve already scared it away twice. Maybe it’s even gone? You need to wake up so we can get out of here.”

She listened for a response. Nothing. In fact, she couldn’t even hear his ragged breathing anymore.

“Marty?” She punched on her light. “Marty!”

His head still rested on her thigh. His mouth was slightly parted.

She pressed her fingers against his throat, positive she wasn’t going to find a pulse.

It was there, strong and regular.

“I wasn’t going to leave you,” she said softly. “I wasn’t going to leave you. I won’t leave you. Either we both get out of here together, or neither of us do. So please wake up, Marty. I need you.”

He didn’t wake up, and she reluctantly turned off the light.

“Oh God,” she whispered. She didn’t like how the words sounded in the dark—small, lost, wretched—and so she said nothing more.

∆∆∆

Time ticked on. She had no idea how much; she had stopped keeping track. She simply sat in the same place with her back to the wall and stared into the blackness. With nothing to see, her thoughts and memories assumed an outsized focus and clarity, almost as if they were playing on a screen before her.