Episode 23

Alaire's jeans, now moist from trudging through the snow, stuck to her skinny legs and numbed her skin. The gunshots finally stopped, and it took every effort for her to not turn around. We just have to wait this out, she reminded herself.
Gerald, the still missing detective, tipped off one of his friends from the police force about their whereabouts just before arriving. It was a plan B of sorts - assuming that everything wasn't going to go as smoothly as they hoped. Might as well catch the villains if they were going to die anyway. 
"Rrrgh," Dylan groaned. His arm looked bent out of shape.
"Can you keep going?" Alaire asked.
"Yeah," Dylan nodded, "Well, I'm definitely not going to fall behind. No thank you."
"Good."
"When is help coming?" he asked.
"I don't know..." Alaire confessed, "Hopefully soon. Keep an eye out for the detective or any signs of..."
"What?"
Finally, something that wasn't snow or tree roots appeared in their path. It looked like a short metal pipe sticking out of the ground. At first, it didn't appear too significant, until Alaire and Dylan heard something coming from inside the pipe.
Alaire pressed her ear against the opening and waited. Voices echoed from the other side, although it sounded like they were far away, deep into the ground.
"There's people..." Alaire breathed, "No... the victims. The other missing students! HELLO!"
She wasn't sure it would work or not, but the shouting from down the pipe got more excited. Their volume grew as if they were getting closer.
"HELLO!" Alaire called again. Dylan had a deeper voice that carried much farther than her own, "HEY!"
"... help! Help us!"
"Oh my gosh," Alaire beamed, "We found them!"
"Yeah, but how do we get them out?" Dylan started kicking away the piles of snow, "We need a shovel, and my arm is pretty useless."
Alaire scooped the snow surrounding the pipe, throwing it behind her. How badly she wanted someone to find them back when she was trapped in the Thanato Project. She knew exactly what these kids were going through. Even though her hands turned blue, she continued digging, while Dyaln continued to help (sort of) with his legs.
Her fingers found the earth as dirt burrowed into her nails, "No..."
"See," Dylan's face blushed from the cold, "We need a shovel."
"Even then," Alaire pondered, "We don't know if it will get us inside, or them out."
"Please, help!"
Their voices were sounding clearer every second. This gave Alaire an idea.
"Hello!" she said.
"Yes! We're here! Help!"
"Ok... um. What do you see down there? Is there any sign of an opening?"
"I think we would've used it by now..." a male voice said. Another voice called up, "I think we're in some kind of sewage system! There's not much around us right now. Just tunnels!"
Tunnels. That meant there had to be an opening somewhere.
"Is Detective Robinson with you?"
Alaire's eyes widened, "Yes! He... he was."
"I'm his partner, Ryan Nelson!" the voice sounded ecstatic, "Tell him we're here!"
Dylan and Alaire shared a painful glance. Right now, she wanted to worry about finding the exit to these sewers, "We're going to find a way to get you out!"
"How are we going to do that?" Dylan said in a hushed tone.
"I don't know."
They searched the surrounding area for anything suspicious, but they were bombarded with more white snow. Frustrated, Alaire picked up a large stick and started dragging it behind her as she walked down a tree infested path.
"Follow me, but don't step on my trail," Alaire said, "I want to be able to find this pipe again if we have to."
They were so close now, Alaire thought. It was frustrating having terrorized people just beneath them with no way to get them out. She peered over her shoulder every few steps to check on her trail the stick was making. Dylan was getting progressively slower - Alaire imagined from the adrenaline wearing off. He grit his teeth and continued anyway, of which she was grateful. Being alone would suck.
Something began to stink. It gave Alaire hope, remembering the victims were trapped in a sewer, so perhaps they were getting closer to an opening. The smell didn't remind her so much of sewage, though. The scent was thick and heavy with rust.
The two approached a clearing and were baffled by what they saw.  In the opposite direction of where the cabin was located was a small lake. Unfrozen.
"Sick!" Dylan spat.
The body of water wasn't clear, but red. The smell of rust was actually the blood - a whole pond's worth. Fresh blood trickling down a creek formed in the ice, along with a hint of steam from the top.
"What the crap is this?" Dylan asked.
"Maybe... an entrance?" Alaire followed the creek until it came to an end.
A tunnel, big enough for humans to squeeze through. The warm blood spilled from the tunnel's exit.
"Yes!" Alaire gasped, "That has to be where they are!"
"And you're happy about this?" Dylan mumbled, still distraught with the gory pond.
She was too excited to argue. Her legs were crouched as she readied to enter the tunnel, when a not very welcoming sound greeted her. Chills ran down her spine, and she froze in place.
Not too far from the exit was one of the monsters. The gurgling throat noises confirmed it. Though dark inside the tunnel, as it crawled closer towards Alaire, it's hideous features were brought to light. It's hot and rancid breath blew against her face. She closed her eyes.