The Dark Road Series Collection

by Bruno Miller

  Once he got Joel started with the hand pump, he let him go and got Gunner’s collapsible bowl out and filled it with water. Ben grabbed himself a Cliff Bar out of the back as Gunner began to lap at the water loudly.

  “You want anything to eat?” Ben asked.

  “Sure.” Joel didn’t look up from the pump as he cranked the handle around and around.

  “Don’t wear yourself out there. Pace yourself. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Ben grabbed two more Cliff Bars out of the bag, figuring Allie would want one, too.

  He began to wonder when she would finish up and join them back at the truck. He looked at the store, checking for any sign of her, but no Allie yet. He’d give her another minute or two before he started to worry. He didn’t want to risk invading her privacy, but his concern was beginning to outweigh that feeling as the minutes ticked by.

  “I think it’s full. Whoops!” Joel stopped pumping and pulled the short section of hose out of the truck as fuel overflowed from the fill spout. “Crap.”

  “Pump it in reverse for a bit and get the excess fuel out of the line before you roll it up. That way it won’t spill gas everywhere,” Ben instructed.

  “Okay.” Joel did just that and cranked the handle in the opposite direction for a little while until all the fuel was out.

  “It’s empty now.” Ben watched Joel but occasionally glanced back at the store. He fully expected to see Allie walking out any second now.

  Joel pulled the long end of the hose out of the underground tank and replaced the locking cap before he rolled the hose up and stuffed it back into the cooler.

  “Is Allie feeling okay, or did she say anything to you about being car sick?” Ben looked at Joel.

  “No, she hasn’t said anything like that to me,” Joel replied.

  “I wonder what’s taking so long. It’s been a while.” Ben checked his watch and decided he would risk coming off as nosey for the sake of making sure she was all right. He could live with her thinking he was a little overbearing, but he wouldn’t be able to live with the fact of something happening to her. “Let’s go check on her. How about pulling the truck over to the front of the store?”

  “Will do.”

  Ben turned and began walking toward the store but stopped to call back to Joel. “Don’t forget the radio.” He pointed to the rear bumper of the truck, where the small walkie-talkie still sat.

  “Got it.” Joel gave him a thumbs-up.

  The Blazer’s engine revved to life as Ben neared the store. Joel would be pulling up any second.

  Upon entering the store, Ben immediately looked back to the bathroom door before quickly scanning the rest of the place for anything out of the ordinary. The bathroom door was still closed. He went over and rapped on it lightly with his knuckles a few times.

  “Allie, you okay in there?” Ben half whispered through the door.

  He waited for a second or two but heard nothing. He knocked louder this time.

  Boom, boom, boom. The hollow door vibrated like a big drum. Ben’s blood pressure shot up. He called out again in a normal voice. “Allie… Allie, are you okay?”

  He got nothing again. His brain instinctively kicked into high gear. Just then, the Blazer arrived outside the store.

  Joel and Gunner piled out and jogged around the front of the truck before making their way inside.

  “She okay?” Joel asked.

  Ben shook his head. “She’s not answering.”

  “What do you mean?” Joel said, his voice raised.

  “Allie, I’m coming in!” Ben grabbed the door handle and turned it freely. “It’s not locked!”

  He looked back at Joel for a split-second before focusing his attention on the door. He opened it slowly at first and then flung it wide once his brain accepted the terrible fact that the bathroom was empty.

  And Allie was gone.

  Chapter Six

  “She’s gone!” The words came out of Ben’s mouth almost before he believed it himself.

  “What do you mean?” Joel repeated the question like a broken record, obviously in denial about what he had just heard.

  Allie’s walkie-talkie was on the floor in the corner of the bathroom. Ben picked it up and looked it over. Allie wouldn’t voluntarily leave this behind, which meant wherever she’d gone, it hadn’t been of her own free will.

  Someone had taken her, although for the time being, Ben kept that thought to himself. No need to scare Joel.

  “Here’s the radio. She wouldn’t have left that. She’s here somewhere. There’s nowhere else to go for miles in any direction.” Ben pulled his gun out and began to give the interior a second look. Had he missed something when he checked the place over earlier?

  “I thought you said the place was empty?” Joel asked.

  “It was. I looked it over. I didn’t see anything or anyone,” Ben insisted.

  “Where could she be then? It doesn’t make any sense.” Joel looked around, too. “Dad, check out Gunner.”

  Ben turned.

  Gunner was acting odd and pacing back and forth near the oversized double doors that led to the back storage room. The dog looked at Joel and started to whine.

  “What is it, boy?” Joel asked Gunner in a lowered tone.

  Gunner sat by the doors the way he would at home if he needed to be let out into the yard.

  Ben’s eyes narrowed. “I was in that room before when Allie and I came in. It’s just an empty room with some built-in shelves. There’s nothing in there.”

  “Gunner disagrees with you.” Joel nodded at the doorway. “What do you think?”

  “I think it’s time for you to get your gun out before we take a look.” Ben walked over to the double doors and peeked through one of the two small square glass windows set about head height. He didn’t see anything with what little light the lone window on the back wall let in.

  That window had been covered with an old sheet turned makeshift curtain, and the filtered light cast the room in a dim yellowish glow.

  Ben pushed the left-hand door open slightly and glanced in. He whispered to Joel. “I’ll clear left. You clear right.”

  Joel nodded in agreement.

  “Gunner, stay.” Ben made eye contact with the dog before he and Joel pushed the doors open simultaneously and went in.

  Once inside the room, they could immediately see that they were the only ones there. The room was empty. Unable to resist anymore, Gunner seized the opportunity the wide-open doors offered. He bolted through the opening and into the room.

  “Gunner, no,” Joel scolded.

  “Wait. Let him go.” Ben let his door close slowly on the spring-loaded hinge and held onto it until the last couple inches. He followed Gunner over to a black rubber floor mat that was located off to the side.

  Gunner sniffed at the mat and followed the edge around with his nose close to the ground.

  Now that Gunner had brought the mat to Ben’s attention, he thought it looked a little out of place. It was close to the edge of some built-in shelves, and a good part of the mat extended under them.

  Gunner seemed unwilling to leave the mat alone and began pawing at the edge, causing it to flip up and then flop right back down when he stopped.

  “Help me move this, will you?” Ben motioned to the corner of the mat by Joel’s foot as he grabbed the corner closest to him. Together, they dragged the mat several feet backward across the concrete floor.

  Joel pointed. “Look!”

  Ben was already looking at the roughly three-foot by three-foot trapdoor that was recessed into the floor. The door had hinges at one end and an old rusty clasp that looked like it doubled as a pull handle at the other end.

  “Is the truck locked, Joel?” Ben asked quietly.

  “I don’t think. No, it’s not,” Joel whispered back.

  “How about locking the truck up and grabbing a flashlight or two, then getting back in here before we open this up? If someone took Allie, they could be using her as a diversion to steal
the truck. We need to cover our butts here.”

  Joel swallowed hard and nodded. Ben opened the door he had just closed and held it for Joel. He could see the truck through the empty store. It looked clear. He didn’t see anyone around.

  “Go ahead, and come right back.” He looked at Joel, who hadn’t moved yet. “Joel?”

  Joel snapped his head up quickly as if he had been in deep thought. “Yeah, sorry. I got it.” He started for the door.

  Ben thought for a second about having Joel take Gunner and stay at the truck to keep an eye out, but he decided against it, thinking he might need Joel with him for backup. Besides, right now Gunner was the only one that had Allie’s trail, and Ben wanted every advantage he could get.

  Ben put his hand on Joel’s shoulder as he went by, causing him to pause. “Hey, it’ll be okay. We’ll get her back. We won’t stop looking until we do. I promise.”

  “I know.” Joel nodded and put his head down before continuing on to the truck.

  Ben knew he was worried; he had every right to be. This wasn’t looking good.

  But how was Ben supposed to know there was a hidden access under that mat? At least that’s what he kept telling himself, but it didn’t seem to diminish the guilt he felt over the situation.

  He knew better and should have trusted his instincts and stayed with her until she was done. Now she was gone, and it was on him to make it right. Whoever had taken Allie had been lying in wait here for someone to take advantage of, but it wasn’t going to be any of them.

  Not today.

  Chapter Seven

  Ben kept one eye on the hatch and the other on Joel as he swiftly moved around the truck and made sure it was locked before sprinting back to Ben and through the door he held open.

  “How are we going to do this?” Joel huffed.

  Ben held his finger up to his lips as he let the door close slowly once again. Getting down on his hands and knees, he put his head near the floor. He pressed his ear to the top of the door hatch and stayed that way for at least a minute.

  Joel was getting restless and shuffled around nearby.

  Ben held his hand up with his finger in the air, signaling for Joel to be patient just a bit longer. Finally, he sat back on his heels and whispered, “Nothing.”

  “Do you think she’s down there?” Joel asked.

  “I don’t know, but we’re going to find out.”

  He got his pocket knife out and shimmied it under the edge of the floor hatch, slowly twisting the knife so the hatch lifted. He stopped when there was a gap about a finger’s width wide on the leading edge of the hatch, opposite of the hinged side. Then he got down even farther and into a push-up position.

  The old laminate floor was cool under his hands as he lowered himself to get a better angle on the small opening he had made in the hatch.

  He strained to see, but there wasn’t really enough light to make out anything significant. It appeared to be a small empty room with what looked like a pile of rags in one corner. He couldn’t see the far side, but he did notice a small amount of light coming from somewhere past what his small opening allowed him to see.

  Ben got up off the floor and stood silent for a minute while crouching over with his hands on his knees.

  “There’s a room down there. I can’t see the whole thing, and what I can see, I can barely make out. Get on the other side and we’ll lift this hatch slowly.”

  Ben wanted to avoid using the rusty clasp to pull the door up, thinking the potential for the old metal noisy parts to give them away was too great. With him on the right side and Joel on the left, they wedged their fingers into the small opening.

  Each holding their guns in their free hands, they slowly lifted the heavy wooden hatch back on its hinges. The room below was empty in the immediate area under the hatch, and steep wooden steps led down into the space. They continued to lift until the hatch folded back onto the floor.

  They laid it down softly, and Ben moved around to the front of the hole in the floor to get a better look at what they were dealing with.

  Gunner paced uneasily back and forth at the top of the opening edge, looking down into the darkness.

  Ben held out his hand. “Did you bring a flashlight?”

  “I got two of them.” Joel pulled out two small palm-sized LED flashlights from his back pocket and handed one to his dad.

  Ben integrated the light into his two-handed pistol grip before starting his descent into the room. He kept the flashlight off but his thumb on the button, ready to turn it on in a split-second if needed.

  He did his best to navigate with the small amount of light the open hatch provided. There was no need to make himself a target with the flashlight any more than necessary. And when it was necessary, it would be quick.

  Flash and dash, as he liked to call the technique. He’d use the light in short bursts, only when needed, and move around after he used it so as to not provide the enemy with a trajectory indicator.

  Pretty simple stuff really and just plain common sense, he thought, but it was surprising how many people seemed to lose their common sense in a high-stress situation like this and forget the basics.

  Ben glanced at Joel before continuing down the stairs. Joel was still up on the floor outside the hatch, waiting for Gunner to move farther down the steps. Ben put his hand out flat in front of Gunner and signaled for him to stay. Gunner sat his back end down on the top step with his front legs still standing on the second tread down, where he waited impatiently.

  Ben traversed the last couple steps while his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit space. He could see now that it wasn’t a room at all.

  It was tunnel entrance.

  The tunnel itself was lit by a few weak LEDs strung along a wire that followed the ceiling until it ran out of sight down the passageway. The tunnel must’ve gone 50 yards before it turned to the left and continued beyond what he could see from the entrance.

  Ben looked around the room he was in, his eyes adjusting to the low level of light. In the corner was an old metal folding chair. The chair was open and positioned behind the steps leading down into the dark, musty room. Trash and empty bottles surrounded the chair and littered the corner of the room.

  Gunner made it down a few more steps and then jumped the rest of the way, clearing the last few stairs altogether. He immediately began to work his way around the room, letting his nose lead. He stopped at something on the loose dirt floor that caught his interest for a second. Taking in several heavy breaths through his nose, he moved on and wandered a few feet down the small passageway.

  There, Gunner stopped and looked back at Joel, who had just stepped off the last stair tread and entered the room. Joel glanced at the tunnel with wide eyes as he headed over to where Gunner had shown interest.

  “What’d you find, boy?” Joel bent down and picked something out of the dirt. He stood up and wiped it on his shirt before holding it up to the light trickling in from the room above.

  “What is it?” Ben asked.

  “Allie’s been here!” Joel looked at his dad. “This is the stone from the Rio Grande that I gave Allie last night.”

  “Are you sure?” Ben raised his eyebrows.

  “Positive. I remember the way it’s smoothed over and the colors. I’m telling you, this is the one I gave her last night. She had it in her pocket.”

  “I believe you, Joel.”

  That was enough to convince Ben that Allie had been taken captive and had been brought down here through this tunnel to God knows where. He hated to leave the truck unmanned, but it was as secure as it could be, and it was tucked in off the road, so it wouldn’t be very visible from the main drag.

  But none of that really mattered. All that mattered right now was getting to Allie—as fast as they could. If anything happened to her, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

  But first, Ben wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be trapped down there. If someone were to close the hatch and lock it while they were exploring
the tunnel, they’d be screwed. He didn’t want to add “trapped in a hole” to their list of current problems.

  “Hang on,” he told Joel. Then he ascended the stairs in a few long strides. Once topside he picked the hatch up off the floor. With the one end attached by two brass hinges, he raised the free end until it was at 90 degrees with the floor. He put all his weight behind several powerful yet quiet shoves until the hinges were badly bent. He lowered the hatch and saw that it was no longer lockable, let alone closeable. Then he felt satisfied they were relatively safe from being trapped.

  Joel looked at him with a confused look on his face.

  “I don’t want to get stuck down here. This could all be a setup. You never know. At least we know we can get out that way if we need to,” Ben explained.

  “Good thinking,” Joel said.

  “Smart thinking. Always think a few steps ahead and have an exit strategy.” Ben used Joel’s shoulder for support on his way back down the steep stairway, giving him a little squeeze on the way by and doing his best to project confidence.

  Joel nodded as he passed.

  “I need you to bring up the rear. You’re my eyes and ears. Stay about 10 feet back at all times unless I call you up to me. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  “Flash and dash, only if you need to. Hopefully these lights run the length of this thing and we won’t need our flashlights at all.” Ben glanced at the low ceiling before crouching down and heading into the cramped, dark tunnel.

  Chapter Eight

  They followed Gunner down the poorly lit passage, guns at the ready. The tunnel couldn’t have been more than five feet high and about the same in width.

  To make matters worse, the ceiling had been shored up with wooden planks that were held up with a six-inch timber every 10 feet or so. It was a tight fit and slow going.