by Rob Buckman
“PENN! You fucking maniac! What the hell are you doing?”
Almost magically, the creatures hesitated, their heads waving back and forth, seeking their prey. Slowly, one by one they disappeared back beneath the mud, and within a few moments it was as if they were never there. All that remained were the dead, or dying worms. Ellis slumped to the wet ground, sobbing from exhaustion and relief as she wiped her face clean.
“Oh God!” She breathed. “Thank Christ, that's over.” Penn let out a long sigh, and tossing the dead worm he was still holding aside, slumping down beside her, shaking like a leaf as post battle shock set in. He’d never felt more feared in his life than at that moment, but not for himself, but for the Sub-Major. That said more about his feeling for her than he wanted to examine.
“Thanks,” he breathed, “for pulling me out of the worm.” He sat there, breathing heavily for a moment waiting to the adrenaline rush to pass.
“I couldn't leave without you, could I?” Ellis answered with a shaky laugh. ”But why the hell did you have to spray me with that gunk! Shit! I can still taste it,” she said, turning her head to spit of to the side.
“Had to, to cover your scent. That was what attracted them.”
“In that case, I'm glad you did. Thanks.”
For a moment, she leaned against him, saying more in that motion than she could in words. In all, they sat there for ten minutes before Penn carefully peeled off his shirt. Ellis winced when she saw his back, immediately reaching into her pack for a med kit. She used the spray liberally over his back to clean and seal the wounds, hearing Penn hiss as the solution flush, and cleaned out any debris, and toxin before hardening.
“Thanks,” he said, giving her a reassuring smile. He carefully redressed, and retrieving their packs they starting off again. He'd doctor the cuts on his legs later when he got the chance, if there was a later that is.
“If you're right, and this place is conjuring up things we want, or fear, where the hell did the worms come from?” Ellis asked after a while. Penn shrugged.
”Who knows, maybe one of us thought about rotten corpses or graveyards.”
“Well, it wasn't me,” Ellis snorted. ”I for one do not think about things like that.”
“You sure?” Ellis looked at him, and smiled slightly.
“Well, maybe once in a while.”
“Apparently it doesn't take much to trigger a response from whatever is controlling this place, so be careful of what you think about.” Ellis thumped him on the arm.
“Me! It’s not just me here. What about you?”
“I have my thoughts under perfect control.”
“Yeah, I just bet you do, but then again, men do have a one track mind when it comes to getting into a girl's pants.”
“I wasn't… I didn't…” Penn spluttered in guilty outrage.
“Yeah, in a pig's eye.” Ellis grinned at him.
Penn attempted to keep them walking, or sloshing along, in a reasonably straight line, hoping they were actually getting somewhere. At first, he just wanted to get as far away from the island as he could in case more worms showed up. He had no way of knowing how long the worm blood would cover their scent. Twenty minutes later, they were out of sight of the island, and hopefully the detection range of the worms. Soon after that, they climbed out onto high ground and thankfully, a wall came into view. This in turn led them to opening, and after scraping off as much of the muck as they could, and applying burn cream to Penn's face and hands, they carried on. At no time did Penn mention turning back. He waited until they reached a more lighted area, and some clean water before stopping to wash off the worm blood, and the filth. Much as Ellis hated to admit it, they give up any hope of connecting up with the others. Each group was now on its own to make their way to the Prize. Somewhere in this maze there had to be a control room that controlled the gravitational effect, or so she hoped. That was her anchor, her one hope of even going home again.
The inside of the pyramid made little sense, sometimes they had a roof over their heads, at other times, what looked like open sky, but had to be an illusion. There was just one way to go, from chamber to chamber with no way of going back. On most occasions there was no back, just a blank wall, or the chamber stretching away into the distance. Water was no problem, as they found indoor streams issuing from the rock, and sometimes river that just suddenly vanished into the ground. Soon after the worm chamber, they entered a smallish room, smallish at least compared to some of the other rooms, or chambers. And took time to strip down to wash themselves, and their clothes clean off the putrid filth and get rid of the stench. It also gave Penn the opportunity to doctor the deep puncture wounds in his legs in private, and swallow a couple of pain pills without Ellis seeing. It wasn't some misplaced macho pride that made him cove up how painful the wounds were, but her fervent hope they were getting somewhere.
Penn knew better. Without know how, he knew the pyramid was testing them, for what, or why he couldn't say. But until the tests were concluded, they be fighting their way through this madhouse for a long time, or until they were dead. On face value, that was a distinct possibility. Penn dressed in his wet, but clean BDU, feeling a lot better now the painkillers had kicked in. Slipping into his body harness, he automatically checked all three knives, finding the edges, sharp and clean. Again, they had saved his life, so he treated them with a lot of respect.
"Penn! Over here." Looking around over the low growing shrubbery, Pen saw Ellis beckoning him from an opening in a wall. "This could be the way out." She added as he walked up.
Grabbing his pack, he walked over and entered the room. He should have known better, but Ellis distracted him for a moment. As they entered another chamber, the doorway behind them quickly closed, plunging them into complete darkness.
“Oh Shit! Not again.”
CHAPTER - TWENTY FOUR:
“Damn it!” Penn swore as he'd just managed to get a quick glimpse inside the room, or cave in front of them. Penn put his arm out to stop Ellis from moving, pushing her until they both had their backs to the wall. Even that quick glance before the portal closed was enough to tell him that this place was another trap.
“Shit,” Ellis muttered, “doesn't this place every run out of obstacles?”
“I have the feeling that's the point.”
“But why? What's is the point?”
“To protect the control room, or this prize, whatever that is, I suppose. We'll know that when we get to wherever this leads.”
“Now what do we do?” she whispered in his ear, her soft breath caressing his neck.
No matter what he did to his eyes, he couldn't see a thing, not even an infrared signature. This place was about as black as a bottom of a coal mine at midnight, on a moonless night. Penn heard Ellis fumbling around in her pack, guessing she was looking for another flare. He was right.
“Close your eye.” She said popping the flare.
Ellis threw it as far as she could, but instead of landing on a floor, it vanished into a pit. In the vanishing light, they both saw what they faced. They could see the other side, some hundred yards from where they stood.
“Is that what I think is it?” Ellis asked.
“Yeah. It's a maze.”
It was a maze, but one where they were standing on top of the walls with a drop of unknown depth on either side. Between then and the far wall lay a series of narrow ledges, or pathways, and the way the flare vanished down the pit, and slowing fading from sight before hitting bottom gave them some idea of how deep the drop off was. With no residual glow from the flare, it meant the pit was very deep. With a sharp crack, Ellis popped another flare, but the resulting light was a disappointment. It was as if the place was deliberately sucking up the light, and even holding it over her head they could barely see a couple of feet in front of them. With no way back, they had to go forward, and with Penn in the lead they edged sideways along the ledge with their backpacks scraping the wall. The flare didn’t last long enough for th
em to make any real progress and soon died, plunging them back into the darkness just as they reached the end of the ledge. The wall turned sharply to the right, but with no ledge to follow, the dying flare showed them they had a choice of three branching pathways, rather like walking along the top of a two foot wide wall. With light, it would be nerve-wracking to say the least, but in total darkness there was the added challenge of balance. Without something for the eye to fix on, human's lost the sense of a fixed horizon, and prone to losing their balance.
“Oh shit!” Ellis muttered. ”Penn, do you have any flares in your pack? I can't reach mine.”
“I do. But they are way down inside, and I don't fancy you digging around in there. This just isn't the place to do that right now.”
“Okay, smart ass, what do we do without light?”
“As part of your training, did you ever do the blind man bluff walking thing?”
“What?”
“You know. Go around blind folded for a week.”
“No I can't say I have, just blind man's bluff when I was a kid, is all. You?”
“Yes. I had to do it several time.”
“Would you hurry up and get to the point, my legs are getting a little shaky out here.” Ellis felt her legs beginning to tremble.
“Hold on to me and steady yourself.” Penn felt her grab his pack.
“So what's your idea?”
“Listen.” She did, hearing their voices echoed around them.
“So?” She asked.
“Now listen.” Adjusting his hearing, he struck two knives together, producing a ringing sound.
“Don't tell me you are going to navigate your way through this maze by echo location.” She snorted.
“You have a better idea?” A moment later, the sound of steel on steel rang out again.
Penn turned to his head to the left and struck the knives together. The sound was different this time, bouncing back quicker. He turned the other way. This time the sound didn't come back to them so quickly. He angled the knives down and struck them again, but couldn't tell from the sound which wall continued on, or which one ended up leading nowhere.
“I think the opposite wall off to our left. Hold onto me and shuffle forward very carefully.”
They shuffled forward, Ellis holding onto his pack for more reasons than one. If separated, she knew she'd never be able to carry on. Even now, the darkness was starting to get to her, disorienting, suffocating, and stirring up dark memories from her childhood. Inch by slow inch Penn led her forward, feeling ahead with his foot before transferring his weight. Every few second he struck the knives together, hearing the echo get shorter and shorter the closer the came to the wall. After what felt like hours, he at last he touched the wall, letting out a soft sigh of relieved. The disappointment was that it wasn't the far wall, just another obstacle to get by.
“Are we there yet?” Ellis asked. Penn burst out laughing; remembering an old joke his father told him.
“What's so funny?” Ellis asked in a huffy tone.
“You ever hear the joke about the kids in the back seat of the car. They were constantly asking if they were there yet.” Now it was Ellis's turn to laugh.
“So I'm the kid in the back seat now?”
“Sort of, and I hate to tell you this, but no we not there yet.”
“Shit!” Was Ellis's eloquent reply.
The respite wasn't long before Penn had them moving again. With no wall behind them now, losing their balance in the blackness was a distinct possibility. Inch by inch he felt their way around the wall, or pillar to the next path. Twice Penn guessed wrong, coming to a dead end, or his searching foot finding nothing ahead of them. Hugging each other tightly, they did an awkward sort of shuffle dance to turn around. Penn knew that if either one of them lost their balance for a second, they would both plunge off the ledge to their death. After what seemed like an eternity, Penn called for a rest after he reached another wall with a wider ledge. With shaking legs, they slid down into a sitting position.
“Tell me we are getting somewhere.”
“I wish I could,” he replied, sucking a long drink out of his camel pack.
As if on cue, a light gradually pervaded the chamber, at first so low it was almost impossible to call it light. It grew slowly, from somewhere above, and they both saw the huge domed roof above them.
“Oh shit!” Ellis sounded as if she was about to scream.
As the light strengthened, the true nature of the space took shape. She gripped Penn's arm so hard it hurt. Somehow, Penn had successfully negotiated their way across the quarter mile space of narrow pathways by sound alone. Ellis preferred not to look to see how deep the drop off was. A slight grating noise drew their attention to their left, and they saw the opening to another passageway.
“I think that's our invitation to carry on.”
“I wish it was an opening to a nice place to take a proper bath, and sleep.” Ellis grouched, carefully getting to her feet.
“We live in hope, Princess.” Penn said over his shoulder as he led off.
They pressed on, stoically, no matter what obstacles they encountered. Fortunately, both had climbing experience, and they were able to navigate the sheer cliffs, rushing rivers of frigid water, and lakes of sinking acid. Still, even their incredible endurance was bound to fail at some point. As if sensing their needs, the passageway led to a secluded rocky grotto on a fern covered hillside, complete with waterfall and a soft carpet of velvety moss-like vegetation. A thick veil of dangling vines with bright yellow fruit surrounded the place, and without thinking twice, Penn picked one and started munching.
"Not a bad place to spend the night.”
“Penn! That fruit could be poisonous!”
“It's not. Here, try one, they're delicious.” He picked another and handed it to her. Ellis took a small, cautious bite, finding the fruit tart and sweet at the same time. Juice trickled down her chin. Of all the things this place had thrown at them, poison fruit as a way to kill them, seemed tame by comparison.
"Yum!” She said around a mouthful of fruit. ”I suppose you dreamed all this up.” Ellis waved hand around as she licked her fingers. Penn just smiled, and shook his head.
"No, but if I had, this would be about as perfect a place I could think of.” Ellis laughed.
"I, on the other hand, would have preferred a five star hotel back at the Capital with room service to boot no less.”
"Just what I thought, spoiled rotten," Penn laughed, dumping his pack.
"Barbarian,” she smiled.
It wasn't long before Penn was checking the place out. He found enough driftwood at the bottom of the waterfall to light a fire, looking around as he did. The grotto was definitely a room, be it a large one, as he could see all four walls from where he stood. What he couldn't see was a roof, or sky, just the ever present, sourceless glow above him. Before he got a fire going, and helped prepare a meal, he wedged the canteen of wine between the rocks to cool, and between the two of them, it didn't take long to rustle up a hot meal from MRE's, with the sweet fruit as dessert.
"What do you think this place is?” Ellis asked, sipping from the canteen and savoring the wine.
"You mean the pyramid?” He glanced upward at the unseen ceiling and shrugged. ”I don't agree with those dickheads in the Capital.” He murmured between bites of food.
"You think the prize is a myth?"
"I just have a feeling it's not what they think it is.” Ellis didn't say anything, just sat there considering Penn's words.
After they finished the meal, both lay back on the velvet turf and fell silent, contented, enjoying the moment, and the sound of falling water. After a while, Penn reached over and grabbed his pack, rummaging about inside until he came up with a towel, and a bar of soap.
"I don't know about you, lady, but I stink, so I'm off to take a bath.” He walked off, whistling to himself as he headed toward the waterfall. Ellis watched him go with mixed feelings.
“D
amn you, Penn,” she sighed. ”You are about to complicate my life all to hell and gone.” Her thoughts drifted to how they'd come to met. Suddenly, she grew angry. This had to be a setup!