”Should we go after him, I think we should go and find him.” Tag fidgeted nervously as he spoke. ”He’s out there alone, it’s not safe, he’s not safe.”
The nervous ramblings had started almost as soon as John had left the cave. He had taken the news of Elaine’s death hard, harder then Jane had imagined. He’d looked so small, so broken, not even the shell of the man she had encountered.

”Maybe we should try and find him.” Maura whispered as Tag continued to babble on in the background.

Jane shook her head. Johns reaction was understandable, to her at least. He needed this time alone to deal with everything he’d just heard.

”He’ll come back.” Jane said as she hugged Maura tighter, suddenly acutely aware of the precariousness of life. In the chaos, none of them had really stopped to process the events. Elaine had been good to them both, a kind soul with a gentle heart; a good woman now lost to the world.

A huge crack of thunder made all three jump.

”That’s a good thing.” Maura sighed as the rain began another torrential session. ”They don’t seem to like the rain.”

The eerie silence that filled the cave was strangely comforting to Tag. Listening to the rain crashing through the canopy, he sighed. Maura was right, the shooting had only started when the rain had stopped. With that and the cover of night, John should be OK. Tag said a silent prayer that the older man would at least survive the night.

Another hour passed, the rain drumming a lullaby that soothed Jane.

”OK.” she sighed, shifting from under the warmth of her lover. ”I think we’re as safe as we’re going to be.” Both Tag and Maura looked at her expectantly. ”Maur, we need to get that bucket.” Maura nodded and slipped back into her fire warmed shoes. ”We’ll try and find John too.” She she smiled weakly at Tag.

As they gathered together their shoes and a few other bits, including jumpers to try and protect themselves from the elements, Jane’s stomach dropped into her boots. Nothing about this was right. To leave the relative safety of the cave, even under cover of night, felt like a suicide mission.