Void

by D Haltinner

  Her flashlight clicked on ten feet away, illuminating her face as if she was telling a ghost story around a camp fire. Her eyes were tense with worry and her lower lip was quivering just enough to send a ripple down her throat.

  “What’s wrong?”

  The light pulled back, shining on the arm that held her revolver. A man’s arm, the hairy wrist protruding out of a green jacket.

  The barrel of the gun was pressed up against the side of Audrey’s head.

  Chapter 63

  “Not smart to leave the poor girl alone,” the man said. The burly man.

  Darren’s heart sped up as his armpits moistened. “Let her go.”

  “Are you armed?”

  “Does it look like I am?”

  “Where’s the gun you had before?”

  “In the backpack.”

  “Drop the backpack on the floor.”

  Darren let it slide off his shoulders and set it down in front of him.

  “Kick it over here.”

  Darren put his foot against the side of it and pushed it with his leg so it would slide along the floor. It stopped a foot from Audrey.

  “Will you let her go now?” Darren asked.

  “I don’t know,” the man said. “Think she’ll behave this time? She did take a shot at me while you were gone.”

  “Too bad she missed,” Darren said.

  The man laughed. “Not from my point of view.”

  “She’s no match for you without a gun,” Darren said.

  “No, I suppose not.” He shoved her forward. “Go to your man.”

  Audrey tripped over the backpack with a cry of shock, falling to her hands and knees. Darren stepped forward to help her.

  “Stop,” the burly man said, leveling the gun at Darren.

  Darren stopped.

  Audrey climbed back to her feet and wobbled toward Darren, collapsing into his arms.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice weak.

  Darren pulled her into a hug and ran a hand over her scalp as he kissed her forehead. “It’s okay,” he said. “As long as you’re okay.”

  “Are we done with our sappy reunion yet?” the man said.

  Neither Darren nor Audrey moved.

  The man sighed, lowering the gun. The flashlight beam flashed across his face as he adjusted his grip on it.

  It was the burly man that had suggested that Darren and Audrey should be killed in their meeting yesterday. Maybe he’ll have the opportunity now.

  “The others should be here in a minute,” the man said. “So what do you say we just kick back until they arrive?”

  Darren kept his eyes on the man as he walked across the room. He left the beam of light shining in Darren’s eyes, but Darren could still make out the silhouette of the man as he used the side of the gun to explore the wall.

  The overhead lights came on when the man found the light switch someone had installed into the tunnel. Darren squinted at the light as the man tucked Audrey’s flashlight in his pocket and walked toward the table. Audrey left her face buried into Darren’s chest, her hands grasping at his shirt.

  “So,” the man said. He pulled out a chair from the table and sat down, balancing the gun’s barrel on the edge to keep it pointed at Darren. “You two meet on campus?”

  “Fuck you,” Audrey yelled into Darren’s chest.

  The man laughed. “She is a feisty one, isn’t she?” he said. “I don’t have either of you in my class, do I?”

  Darren shook his head.

  “That’s a good thing,” the man said. “I never had to kill one of my own students before.”

  Audrey’s grip on Darren’s shirt tightened.

  “Maybe,” the man said. “Just maybe, if you tell me why the hell you two are trying to get in the way, I won’t kill you, how’s that?”

  Darren opened his mouth to speak. He intended to tell the man that they were going to stop what was inside the void, but Audrey spoke before he could utter a syllable.

  “Fuck you!” she yelled into the shirt.

  The man laughed. “I like her! She’s got spunk!” he said. He twisted the chair and crossed his legs. “I suppose it doesn’t matter anyways. You’re interfering with our efforts here, so either way we can’t let you continue.”

  “You don’t know what you’re doing,” Darren said.

  “I think I have a better idea than you do Mr. Ansari.”

  “I doubt that very much.”

  The burly man crossed his arms, resting the gun on his elbow. “So tell me then,” he said. “Why would you be wasting time scaring off people with a gun? Just can’t get that terrorist part of you under control?”

  “We’re trying to save them.”

  “And scaring the shit out of people will save them?” He laughed. “You two really have no idea what you stepped into, do you?”

  “If you think that,” Darren said. “Then why not tell us what’s going on?”

  “That would be too easy.”

  “Try it.”

  “I’ll tell you one thing.” He leveled his eyes with Darren’s. “You two don’t have the slightest idea what’s down that tunnel. Not the slightest.”

  “Then why don’t you tell us what it is.”

  “And help you interfere? No thank you.”

  “You seem to have us under control now.”

  “Those mind games don’t work with me Mr. Ansari.”

  The sound of a metal door slamming shut echoed into the room from the adjacent half.

  “Well,” the man said, standing up. “Looks like backup has arrived.”

  A wet spot grew on the front of Darren’s shirt as Audrey started to cry and it soaked through his jacket like it was nonexistent. He squeezed her tighter, but that only made her body began to shake.

  Darren lowered his lips to her ear and whispered. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “No secrets,” the man said.

  Professor Coleman burst into the room with the balding man behind him. Coleman’s eyes went straight to Darren, then Audrey. “Where’s Jack?”

  The burly man rolled his eyes.

  Coleman came further into the room, his eyes locked on Darren’s. “Where’s Jack?”

  The balding man reached out to Coleman’s arm.

  “He’s dead,” Darren said.

  Coleman’s face contorted as if he had a casket dropped on his toe. “Jack?”

  Darren nodded.

  “How?”

  The balding man yanked Coleman’s arm. “Not n-”

  “How?” Coleman yelled.

  “The thing in the void got him,” Darren said. “Pulled him deeper in.”

  A pair of tears ran down Coleman’s cheeks as his eyes turned red. “Why were you in there?” he yelled. “Why was he in there?”

  Darren said nothing.

  The balding man pulled Coleman around. “I’m sorry about your son, but it’s not the time,” he said. “The blackness is going to grow again in a matter of minutes and we have to start getting things ready.”

  Coleman wiped at his eyes and yanked his arm free from the other man’s grip. “No!”

  “Yes,” the man said and regripped Coleman’s arm. “There will be time to grieve later, we have bigger things to worry about right now.”

  “Fuck you,” Coleman said. “Kurt promised me that Jack wouldn’t be hurt.”

  “Kurt isn’t in control of what’s down that tunnel, none of us are, and you know that.”

  “You knew the risks,” the burly man said, sounding annoyed.

  “Jack wasn’t supposed to be a risk!” Coleman said, snapping at the man.

  The burly man rolled his eyes. He held the gun out to Coleman. “Would shooting these two make you feel better?”

  Audrey’s body tensed.

  “Yeah, it would as a matter of fact.” He took the gun from the burly man and pointed it at Darren, then at Audrey, taking a step toward them. “You two let Jack in there. You two are the ones who should be at fault
.”

  Darren stumbled back, Audrey pushing harder against him.

  “You two should have died, not my Jack!”

  “I thought Kurt said not to kill them,” the balding man said.

  “Kurt said to stop them, no matter what,” the burly man said. “And I see nothing wrong with letting Coleman solve the problem for us.”

  The balding man raised his hands in the air. “I don’t want to be a part of it.”

  “Then close your eyes,” the burly man said.

  “Come on man, jus-”

  “Shut up!” Coleman yelled. “Both of you!”

  Audrey squirmed in Darren’s arms.

  The balding man stepped backwards.

  “These two let Jack get himself killed, so they need to be punished,” Coleman said.

  “Then punish them,” the burly man said.

  “Shut up! I don’t need you two crack heads chattering behind me!”

  The burly man smiled and waved to Darren.

  Darren squeezed Audrey tighter.

  Audrey whimpered.

  “You couldn’t just stay out of this,” Coleman said. “I know it was you who dragged my son into all this, so I blame you.”

  “He-” Darren started to say.

  “It was you two,” Coleman said, interrupting Darren. “You two should have been the ones to die. Not my Jack.”

  Audrey’s knees buckled, but she stayed standing, crying into Darren’s chest.

  “For your sake,” Coleman said. “I hope I have better aim than I think.”

  A burst of wind blew across Darren’s face, and all went dark.

  Chapter 64

  “What the hell?” Coleman said.

  Darren opened his eyes. He pushed Audrey off of him. “Run,” he said to her.

  Audrey pulled away from Darren and vanished into the darkness that now surrounded them.

  Darren dived toward where he last saw the backpack.

  A gunshot boomed, the sudden burst of orange light visible for less than a second as the bullet flew through the air and bounced off the metal ladder behind Darren, sounding off a light ding that was almost inaudible as Darren’s ears still rang from the gunshot.

  Audrey screamed, but her voice was moving away.

  “Stop them!” the burly man yelled from somewhere near where the table was.

  Darren hit the ground, his hands sliding out along the rough cement, and his knees crashing into the floor with an audible thunk. His right hand brushed the strap of Jack’s backpack, so he snapped his arm out, grasping into the dark with his fingers until they got a hold of the fabric.

  Footsteps echoed in the room, wild and erratic. One set swept by Darren’s feet, rustling the leg of his pants. “Where are you cocksucker?” the burly man yelled.

  “Block the door,” Coleman yelled. He was near where the light switch had been on the wall.

  “I can’t see the door!” the balding man yelled from somewhere across the room.

  There was the sound of breaking glass from the next room. Audrey had gotten out.

  A relief came over Darren for a moment, knowing that Audrey had gotten away, but it was replaced by fear for himself when he tried to scramble to his feet and his knee gave out under his weight. He tried again to scramble to his feet, his shoes scarping against the cement, but when he got his knees again, a kick connected to his stomach, sending him sprawling against the floor, fighting to pull a breath back into his lungs as he pulled the backpack toward himself.

  “Found you,” the burly man said. “Boy was that luck.”

  Darren anticipated another kick would be coming, so he rolled himself away from the man’s voice again, bumping against the wall. He tried to keep his lungs quiet as he fought the paralysis brought on by the kick, and it seemed to work when the man’s next kick missed him.

  “Cocksucker!” he yelled.

  Darren slid forward and climbed to his feet. Stable, this time, he swung the backpack in front of him and began to turn against the wall away from his assailant, and away from the light switch that Coleman had been fighting with.

  “Where’d you go?” The burly man yelled. “God damn flashlight.”

  Darren reached the corner and ran along the next wall toward the door leading to the next room. He knew the balding man would be somewhere in this direction, but there was no way he was going to be able to see him.

  “What the hell’s going on?” Coleman yelled from somewhere behind Darren.

  “He’s getting away, that’s what!” the burly man yelled.

  “Where is he?” the balding man yelled from somewhere to Darren’s left.

  “I don't know,” Burly yelled. “I can’t see shit!”

  “I told you it was about to expand again!” the balding man was close.

  But not close enough. Darren found the doorway and ran out of the room, leaving the three men alone.

  He ran into the next room, unable to see anything. He knew the direction that the tunnel was in, but he couldn’t remember all the obstacles in the way. He wanted to yell out and make sure Audrey had reached safety, but that would be too risky and bring the three men running.

  He hoped she made it out okay. She could be hiding in the room, but all Darren could do was hope she didn’t stop here. Not in the den of the men.

  Darren fought the backpack onto his back and ran. He knew it was only a matter of time until he ran into something, but when he finally did, he realized he had somehow managed to flee in a straight line and had hit a desk on the side wall. The noise of him running into the desk wasn’t as loud as the breaking glass, but Darren knew that it would be enough to guide the men if they made it into the room yet.

  Darren pulled away from the desk, heard a shout across the room, and then kept running toward where the door should be. He had to move slower to keep checking the wall for the opening into the tunnel. When he found it, he didn’t hesitate to push through and into the cement tomb.

  He slammed the door shut behind him on purpose. It would give his position to the men, but if Audrey was hiding in the room, it would also let her know which way he went. He hoped she made it out okay.

  Darren ran through the darkness, leaving his hand on the wall to guide him. He had forgotten about the cave in, but by the time his hand found the broken wall, he was already falling onto his face from having tripped over a piece of cement.

  He hit hard, but the black dirt that was mixed in with the cement provided a small amount of cushion. He felt the contents of the backpack shift on his back and heard the clink of the glass liquor bottle, but no liquids came gushing out onto his jacket. He climbed back to his feet, feeling the unforgiving pain shooting through both knees, and started to run again. Darren made it down the steps into the wide tunnel and stopped at the bottom to catch his breath. He tried to listen for any sign of the man pursuing him, but could hear nothing but his own lungs.

  Darren bent over his legs and let out a dry cough. The stale air of the tunnel didn’t help to get his lungs working again.

  “Darren?” Audrey’s voice lifted out of the darkness. It didn’t sound too far away.

  “Audrey? Where are you?”

  “Across the trench, the other steps.”

  “Hold on, I’ll be right over.”

  Darren moved forward with caution, feeling for the trench with his toes. When he found the edge, he took three large strides back, and hoping that he hadn’t measured too small, ran forward those three steps and jumped over the trench.

  He landed on the other side without a hitch and moved toward the other tunnel, having to call Audrey to guide him. His hands found the wall of the tunnel and he started to follow it to his right, bumping Audrey in the shoulder.

  “Oh God,” he said, pulling Audrey into his arms. “I was so worried about you.”

  “I made it out okay,” she said. She sniffled. “I was more worried about you.”

  “We’re both safe.”

  “For now.”

  “We got away f
rom them.”

  “Yeah, but we’re not done yet.”

  Darren sighed. “I know, don’t remind me.”

  “We both need reminding,” Audrey said. “We don’t have a lot of time. And now we’ll probably have those guys on our asses the whole time too.”

  “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about them too much. They‘re as blind as we are down here.”

  “We’re not blind anymore.”

  Darren relaxed his hold on Audrey. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I know a way for us to see.”

  “How? It’s impossible. Only sunlight can penetrate the void.”

  “You’re thinking too specific,” Audrey said. “Turn around.”

  Darren let go of Audrey and turned around like she asked. “What do you mean?”

  Audrey rummaged through the backpack. “What is the sun?”

  “The sun is a mass of incandescent gas. A gigantic nuclear furnace. Where hydrogen converts into helium at a temperature of millions of degrees.”

  Audrey laughed. “Someone listens too much to ‘They Might Be Giants’.”

  “The sun is hot. The sun is not a place where we can live. And even tho-”

  “Okay, that’s enough, but now you’re being too specific. Ahh, here it is.” She pulled something out of the backpack and zipped it closed.

  “I’m lost.”

  “Okay, what would a child call the sun?”

  “A big ball of fire?”

  “Exactly, now remember when Professor Coleman fired the gun?”

  “Yeah, but what are you getting at?”

  Click, click.

  “What are you-”

  Another click and a small flame appeared in mid air.

  “Bloody hell,” Darren said. “I can see it.”

  Audrey pulled the flame toward her, illuminating her face and body. It was the lighter Darren bought as a backup to light the candles in case the flashlight failed.

  “Fire breaks through the void,” Audrey said. “I don’t know how or why, but it does.” She took her thumb off the button, and the light vanished.

  “We’ll be able to see to travel south down the tunnel.”

  “We will.”

  “Why didn’t we realize that before?”

  “We had no reason to believe it would work.”