The right path of a split

It felt like nearly an hour of walking down that gradual corridor, sinking steadily lower and lower into the earth before the three Bravos came to their first split. The left route of the t-junction was heavy with an ominous, glowing fungus. It's pale green light pulsed against the walls, sending long shadows arching up from every scrape and protuberance. The other path was far darker, lacking the fungal growths, and the three could only see just as far as their flames illuminated.

For a moment, the trio simply stood there, staring, none of them quite ready to jump into the first important decision of their mission. Despite the relative brightness and warmth of their surroundings, Emmaline still clung to her flame, not lowering it even for a second. Perhaps it wasn't the warmth and light from it that she truly wanted, but the vague sense of familiar security amidst the strange surroundings.

The red flicker of the fire mixed with the green glow of the mushrooms, holding each other at bay and providing what felt like a small bubble of safety for the Bravos to cling to. Liv masked her hesitation under a scruntinous scowl, but Skye's fearful expression was clearly written across her face.

"Are there... sounds? From down that way," Liv asked, nodding down the right passage. "Yeah, I definitely hear something."

Emmaline strained her ears, but could only come up with a shrug, and a faint, distant humming. It sounded almost like the bustling confusion of a city, far off in the distance. "Think we should investigate?"

Liv nodded. Her face was brusquely confident as always, but Emmaline could sense some apprehension.

"Maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves?" Skye wondered. "What if we find something dangerous? We can't help the others if we..."

"Well we haven't found anything yet." Liv said harshly. Her face stayed turned toward the passage, ears still straining for that sound. "We're not gonna go running back with our tails between our legs from literally nothing."

"Don't be mean, Liv" Emmaline chided, stepping up beside the sniper with a soft smile. "Let's just keep moving, okay?"

Following Emmaline's lead, they began to head off to the right. They had never reached an agreement, or even spoken a word about which path to take, but perhaps due to the slight discomfort they all felt at the glowing fungus, or perhaps due to some unconscious force beckoning them onward, the three women moved in unison without another moment of hesitation.

***

This chapter was co-authored by Sixth (https://chyoa.com/user/Sixth) Please check him out!