WHAT THE FUCK WHY IS THIS A THING!

Ughhhhhhhhh.

The interior of the worm, for the record, smells awful. Furthermore, it is slimey and gross, and dark, and whatever air there is to breathe is stale. They're probably lucky that there's air at all.

Morgan has a lighter. She flicks it on. It's not the only light in the belly of the beast that has currently eaten them, because there are several glowing juvenile worm-spawn flying around in here, but it is a more immediate light source than any of those.

"You all okay?"

"Nmrrghagh???"

"Taking that as a yes. Zashy-kins! What about you?"

"I'm fine. Kid! Are you alright?" At some point during the fall he dropped the kid so he starts frantically looking for them.

"Mmmngh," the kid moans from where they fell on, in between two fleshy mounds of the inside of the worm.

"Oh thank goodness," he says, rushing over to the kid and dropping down to one knee to check on them.

They seem alright. Shaken up some, maybe bruised somewhere not visible, but they don't seem very terribly hurt.

Oh, goodie, because the state of the kid was absolutely the forefront priority in her mind, she's so relieved now.

"So my gun can probably cut through this thing but if we're underground when I do it, we're going to be shit out of luck."

"I, I, what, but, we were just. Can worms assassinate people???? Why didn't it just eat them!!"

"It probably just did. They were in the ground. It was in the ground."

"No but I mean, why would it, but if it did then it left them there, I'm. What???"

"...I'd be surprised if the worm had, uh," he spares the kid a glance and rather than saying "killed the parents" he says "done it. It seemed pretty surgical and this, uh... is a very big worm."

The kid gets it anyway and looks away, balling their hands into little fists.

"Ahuh. Unless worms can carry a knife and fit into a diner at the same time I'm not seeing how one would be responsible." She then points at the kid. "Kid did it."

Okay, so, yes the evidence does point in that direction now that she's thinking about it, but, "You can't just say that!!! They were probably his parents!!"

"Why, because he's small and vulnerable looking? That's how they get you. Kids can be cruel. And they're very easily molded to do whatever the hell someone wants. So."

...the kid throws Morgan the most hurt, upset look in the history of mankind. "I, I didn't!" Those being the first words they've said so far. "I, I, I—" And their eyes fill up with tears.

Zash shoots Morgan a pretty dirty look before looking at the kid again.

(Not that he hadn't thought of that, but... he thinks he'd have been able to tell, in the kid's mind. And while the kid is on the more opaque end of minds the emotions he can pick up are all very genuine.)

"Ignore her, she's just in a bad mood, I know you didn't do it."

The kid wipes their eyes angrily, shaking their head, then cries, "I didn't!"

And then they take off.

Oh goddamnit.

"Oh nooooo, the probable murderer is running away, deeper into the belly of the worm, my heart, it breaks."

"And if he's innocent you just consigned a child to be digested by a, a, how fucking big even is this thing, I didn't know worms could get this big."

"Well if he's innocent then clearly he was not long for this world, 'cause he just ran away from the only person who can maybe cut a way out of this thing, so. I think death by worm might be a kindness."

"HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK."