The Travelers, part 2

As they continued to walk back the way they had come, vast clouds of mist descended upon them and obscured the way. They could not see three feet in front of them and Taylor stumbled once, then twice. Frank tripped in a small hole in the pavement. Taylor heard him grumble under his breath. Finally, when the mist had become so thick they could barely see one another through it, they stopped.
"How long have we been walking?" Taylor asked.
Frank shrugged. "Hour, hour and a half."
"I wonder how long this will take," Taylor said.
Frank laughed sarcastically. "Gee, I don't know, but I think that we were at least ten miles from Hughston when we crashed."
"No need to be so sarcastic," Taylor said shortly.
Frank kicked a pebble that was next to his foot. It skidded several feet in front of him and stopped. Frank growled; Taylor assumed he was annoyed it hadn't gone farther.
"Why did I agree to go to this party with you?" he asked her, too loudly.
Taylor wheeled around and glared at him. "Don't go and blame this on me! You asked me, remember?"
"Yeah, I am asking you," Frank said, "Asking you why I was so crazy. I thought you were one of those sensible girls, the kind who doesn't accept random directions they get off of some random person's blog!"
"Oh, really?" Taylor shouted, "Why was I so stupid to even consider going out with you? I thought you were the kind of guy who didn't yell at girls, especially not on your first date with them!"
A twig cracked somewhere to their left, somewhere in the deep woods. Taylor and Frank didn't seem to notice, or if they did, they were too wrapped up in their argument.
"Maybe, if you hate me that much, you should just walk on the other side of the road!" Frank shot back at her.
"Maybe I will!" Taylor shouted.
With one last glare at Frank, she stomped across the road and continued to walk up the slope. She walked briskly, trying to avoid thinking about Frank, whom she assumed was walking just across from her, somewhere on the other side of the thick mist. Suddenly she heard twigs snapping and leaves rustling, and then the sounds of a struggle. She couldn't see anything, but she heard Frank's deep, gruff voice talking to someone, yelling, even pleading. Then she heard nothing but the swish, swish, of someone running, with difficulty, through the woods. Then, finally, nothing.
"Frank!" Taylor yelled.
She heard the drip, drip of the trees, heavy with mist, but she heard no reply from Frank. Drawing a shaky breath, Taylor ran back across the road and climbed down the steep bank. Then, she cautiously put one foot forward--and found herself in the deep, dark blackness of the woods.
'The Travelers', Copyright 2012, by Katy Allie. All rights reserved.