They Wait Below

If you had asked Cassie Nolan two years ago if she knew she would be doing urban exploring as a hobby, she would have laughed. Now that she had gotten her feet wet, so to speak, in this new venture, Cassie was looking for a rarely explored area that she could document. Along her search, she came across various places to visit, but one of them stood out from all of the others. Mick Alden, an old abandoned mining town said to have been left to rot due to poisonous gases leaking out. Along with a cave-in trapping miners deep inside with no possible way to rescue them.

Despite all of this, Cassie was still determined to get documentation. Photographs, pictures, or audio recordings— anything that could prove that there is something still wandering around Mick Alden. She packed her gear into the boot of her car and looked over the GPS directions one more time. There was a determination in her eyes, one that would soon change once she found out the truth. A truth that would change her fate, either it be good or bad— only time will tell.

A dense fog-covered forest surrounds an old mining town of Mick Alden. Rumors say that when the mine collapsed decades ago, it was not an accident. Cassie, a thrill-seeking urban explorer, decides to investigate. To find out the reason behind the sudden collapse and if there was any clue left behind by any miners who may have survived. Once inside Mick Alden, Cassie notices biohazard posters pinned to the front of the doors.

Inside the furniture was overturned, and there were old footprints as if someone was in a hurry to get out. Everything was left as if the owner would be back at any time. At the edge of town was the mine itself, with stains at its entrance. She could hear something crawling and scraping across the stone. Cassie took a step back, beginning to have second thoughts about this exploration. Picking one of the houses as a base, she geared up and entered the mining tunnels.

There is a raspy breathing coming from ahead of her. Cassie shines her flashlight ahead of herself, watching a pale figure pulling itself forward on broken limbs. Had this been one of the miners who had been in the collapse? It turned its head to the side, listening for something or for Cassie herself to make another noise. She held her breath, trying her best to calm her heartbeat, watching it lumber off down another path.

Once it was out of sight, Cassie went down the path that the undead had come from. She could hear more of them further down the path. Their fingers scraped across the rocks and dirt, each creating a maddening hiss. Some of the tunnels had collapsed, with skeletal remains crushed underneath the rubble and green gas leaking out of the cracks. If this gas is toxic, she shouldn't linger here for very long, considering what it did to that thing they encountered.

Navigating through the tunnels, she made sure to watch her footing and did her best to stay alert. Behind her, she was being watched by many hungry eyes. The eyes of the undead miners that hadn't had a fresh meal in ages. A scuffling along the rocks and dirt caused Cassie to freeze in place. Shining the light from her flashlight behind and above her, looking for what caused the sound.

With nothing in sight, Cassie exhales the breath she had been holding and continues forward. At the end of the tunnel, there is an old, rusted ladder that leads up and out. Grabbing one of the rungs, she shakes it to check the stability before pulling herself up. As she ascends to check the hatch overhead, cold, bony fingers close around her ankle. It yanked her down and off the ladder with such a force that she hit her head hard against it on the way down.

When Cassie opened her eyes, she saw pale figures hovering over her with hunger in their discolored eyes. She wanted to scream, to jump up and run away, but fear made her stiffen. Gnarled fingers tore into flesh, ripping it from anywhere they could, and Cassie's screams were soon drowned out by the sound of chewing and slurping of sinews and blood. They feasted until they had their fill, leaving behind scraps for the scavengers who might come across the remains. She shouldn't have come here, ignoring the online warnings informing explorers not to enter the mines.

A warning that the dead miners didn't stay dead, and it was the reason for the people who lived there to abandon it. Closing it off from the outside world in order to protect outsiders from getting in. Now Cassie's thoughts began to fade; she closed her eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep. An incredible smell entered her senses, and a hunger rumbled in her stomach. Getting up on creaky limbs, she sniffed the air in search of that wonderful smell, hobbling towards it.

Cassie Nolan was now considered missing. She had told her friends that she would be gone just a few hours and never returned home. Even though they reported her gone within the first forty-eight hours, that had turned into a week. The police hadn't even begun a search, thinking she had probably just run away, but Cassie wasn't that type of person. They made their way to Mick Alden and went through each of the old, abandoned houses, finding her gear inside one of them.

It was laid out in an organized manner as if she would return at any moment. The only logical answer they could come up with was that she was still down inside the tunnels. The question was who was going to be the one to go down there and find her. After a childish game of paper, rock, and scissors, it ended up being Brandon who lost. Taking one of the charged headlamps, he defended himself into the tunnels of the mine.

The air was thick and suffocating, making it hard to breathe, so he put on the respirator mask tied at his hip. Now about to breathe, he headed further in, shining the flashlight around. Brandon was looking for any clue that would tell them about what happened to Cassie. Hobbling footsteps were coming down the path ahead of him, thinking it could be her, he called out. “Cassie, is that you?! Are you hurt? If you can hear me, say something.” Brandon called out, hearing the footsteps stop.

“C-cassie?”

A gurgling groan emitted from the darkness, and a clicking croak made him take a step back, lowering the flashlight. As his heart pulsed in his ears, he tried to calm his erratic breathing. Brandon felt that whatever this was. Was no longer Cassie anymore. If she was still in here somewhere, whatever she had become was no longer human. A snapping of teeth echoed around the tunnel, and shuffling feet continued forward. Even with the light lowered, Brandon could make out the bloody, tattered body in front of him.

It was Cassie… dropping his flashlight, he sprinted back down the way he came, busting open the door of the small entrance to the mine. He closed it behind him using anything to barricade it from what was no longer their friend from getting out. Brandon's friends tried to comfort him and ask what was wrong, but he insisted on them getting out of there. Once they had gathered up everything and were in the safety of the car, he finally told them what he saw. They suggested calling the cops, but Brandon protested, saying that whatever was down there was no longer Cassie, and what had done that to her was too.

Post dated 12/26/25 : Mick Alden Mines , Garrison County

This is a warning to any urban explorer or supernatural investigator. Do not go into Mick Alden Mines! There are things down there that aren't human. You may not make it out alive! If you were to let those things out, then you have doomed us all.