Still, she could not sit in the darkness forever. She thought about Eric. She was sure he would come in after her when she did not come out, despite whatever protest Robert would mount. Odds were that he would not be as lucky as she had been. She had to act quickly.
Standing, her legs shook with a mixture of adrenaline and fatigue. She put one hand against the wall for balance, and blindly reached ahead with the other. In this manner, she began shuffling across the floor, always keeping one hand on the wall. Staying close to it, she kept both feet on the floor, shuffling along. This way, she would not drift off course and back into the water.
Abby crept along for what seemed like forever. She developed a system where she shuffled one foot way ahead, feeling to make sure there was ground. Then, she would slowly bring the other foot in line to the same position. Every few steps she called out to Emily, hoping she was in here. If she could not respond, at least she would hear Abby’s voice and know that she was not alone.
Her front foot slipped off the edge directly in front of her. In her panic she flailed out with her arms, losing her balance. Her other foot slipped out from under her on the damp floor, and she landed on her tailbone with a thud. Feet dangling over the edge, she put her hands out to feel in front of her. Her right hand clanged off something that felt like a bar or a pipe. She grabbed on and pulled it. Whatever it was, it was solid as a rock. It did not budge.
She felt along the length of the object, as far as she could from her seated position. It seemed to have no end. Not one that she could feel anyway. She moved her arms below it and felt nothing but air. Moving her arms above it, her left hand smacked into another object that seemed to be the same size. The object seemed to be a long metal pipe, like a railing.
Abby backed up so her feet were entirely on the ledge. She kept her hand on the cool metal pipe, feeling along its length. To her right, she met up with the wall, to her left, the pipe bent and went back toward the direction where she had just come from, running parallel to the wall about five feet away from it. Keeping her right hand on what she was thinking of as a railing, she stretched her arms as far as she could until her left hand felt the dampness of the wall.
She began walking back in the other direction like this, back in the direction from where she had come. She had more confidence this time. Having already been this way, and having the benefit of a guide on each side, the railing to her right and the wall to her left, she moved quickly.
It did not take her long to cover the distance. She would guess that she had shuffled along about fifty feet from one side to the other. She let out a little yelp at the end when she walked face first into another rock wall, bumping her forehead. She felt in front of her, and the wall was completely blocking her path. She had obviously reached the other end of the ledge. Feeling her way down to the ground, she sat.
Trapped in the darkness, she wished that she could see something. She held her hand inches from her face, but could not make out a thing. The blackness was wholly encompassing. She needed a light, a fire, anything to help her figure a way out.
She remembered her knife, still strapped to her leg. The handle was packed with cotton, and there was a flint. She had been starting their fires with this for the past few weeks. It took very little to get the kindling going. Once she had figured out that she could just use the flint to light up dry leaves instead of the cotton, she had stopped using the cotton all together. There was plenty left.
Kneeling down on the cool damp rock, she wondering if the surface would be suitable for her plan. It would have to be. The waterproof cover on the back of the handle opened with a pop. Feeling inside with her fingers, she pulled out a small wad of cotton. It would not burn for long, but she would get seven to ten seconds of bright flame before it turned into a glowing ember and floated away – hopefully long enough for her to see something useful. Her eyes were completely adjusted to the pitch black, so any tiny bit of light would be enough for her to see with. At least that is what she had convinced herself.
Abby fluffed and set up the cotton on the ground and positioned the flint over it. Carefully, she scraped the back edge of her knife down the length of the flint, sending a showing of sparks down onto the rock. The cotton did not catch. Nor did it catch on the second try. Adjusting the angle of the flint, she finally got it to catch on the third try.
Abby looked up as soon as the cotton lit so that the light would not blind her. She took in as much as she could in the few seconds that it burned. Mostly, she was looking at rock. She still could not see the water below, but she could hear it just fine. There was in fact a railing next to her that ran the length of the ledge. On the far side, where she had just walked from, there was what looked like a ladder going up. The light burned out before she could figure out where it went to, but she was satisfied. At least she had found something worth investigating.
Holding onto the railing to guide her, she swiftly walked to the far side of the ledge in the darkness. Once she was on the other side, she began feeling around for the ladder. She knew approximately where it was, but finding it in the dark was a bit challenging. Abby wanted to make sure she was directly at the base of it when she lit the last wad of cotton. This would give her the best chance of seeing what was up there.
As she felt the smooth wall, her arm knocked into something with a hard edge that scraped her forearm. Feeling around the object, it seemed to be a large metal box attached to the wall. To the left of the metal box, she found the ladder. She squatted at the base of the ladder and prepared to light her last bit of cotton when she had an idea.
Standing up, she found the box on the wall again, and knocked on it. It was definitely metal. It was also about six feet above of the floor. Stretching her arms as high as she could, she was just able to reach over the top of it. If she could set the cotton on top of it, it would be that much closer to where she was trying to see. She only had one shot and decided to go for it.
Setting the cotton on top of the box, she stood on her toes. Reaching as high as she could, she began scraping the knife against the flint. Sparks flew everywhere. Everywhere, it seemed, except onto the cotton. She needed to get higher. Climbing to the second rung of the ladder she leaned to the side, against the box, where she could arrange the knife and flint over the top.
She leaned carefully against the box, as she had to remove both hands from the ladder to scrape the flint. She arranged herself well enough that she was able to run the knife down the flint, but then promptly lost her balance, slipping off the ladder and onto the hard, rock floor. There was a faint glow above her, though. The cotton had caught fire. She jumped up and strained her eyes to see as high as she could. The ladder led to a landing, maybe ten feet above. It was impossible to see where it led to from there, if anywhere.
Her eyes rested on the metal box in front of her. She noticed a large lever on the right side of it. Just as the cotton burned out, she saw two words emblazoned across the front in red block letters: “Emergency Shutdown.”
********************
Eric called ahead to Robert, “How much further?” He was having a hell of a time keeping up with the old guy.
Robert was silent and continued bounding up the hill.
Looking out to sea, Eric saw that they were very high above the cavern at this point. They had been running up the side of the hill for at least fifteen minutes, and he was exhausted. “Hey!” he yelled, stopping. “I asked you a question. Where are we going? Where is this other way in? They have been in the water for twenty minutes, at least. If we don’t get in there soon, who knows if we’ll be able to help them.”
Robert was several feet ahead when he stopped. Turning, he stood looking at Eric. He was sweating heavily, and looked to have somehow lost his deep tan. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, as though he wanted to say something, but just could not find the words. He was speechless.
“What is it?”
He whispered sadly. “There is no other way in Eric.”
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“What are you talking about? You said there’s another way in. Where is it?”
Robert yelled, “There is no other way!”
“Then what the hell are we doing up here?”
“The cove is a death trap. No one who goes in comes out. That is a fact. Period. I am sorry, but Abby and Emily are gone. Nothing can be done about that. I could not let all three of you kill yourselves.”
Eric slowly walked toward Robert. “I’ve been chasing you up this hill while they’ve been drowning? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“I am sorry. I truly am. I really liked Abby. I wish she had listened to me.” Robert’s lip quivered a bit, “But what is done is done. We cannot change that. It is too late for them now.”
Eric shook his head in disbelief.
“Come back to my camp with me. This has to be a lot for you to process. Come back with me. Rest, eat. We will figure out how to move on together.” He placed his hand on Eric’s shoulder, “What do you say?”
Eric locked eyes with him. If he could kill someone with a stare, Robert would be lying lifeless on the ground. He turned to walk back in the direction they had come from.
Robert trotted up behind him, “Eric, you cannot help them, they are gone.”
Eric continued to storm down the hill.
“Eric, you cannot go in after them. They are dead by now, and you will be to if you are foolish enough not to listen to me.”
With his back turned to Robert, Eric spoke, “I can’t just leave her.”
Robert spoke harshly, “You do not have a choice. She is gone.”
The anger rose in Eric’s voice as he turned to face Robert, “Now! Now she’s gone. When we were standing there at the water I could have jumped in, I could have helped her.”
“No, you could not have helped her. You would just be with her.” Robert went to put his hand on Eric’s shoulder.
Eric slapped it away and pointed at him, “You have all the answers, don’t you. Well let me tell you, I would rather be with her, dead, than be stuck here without her.” He shoved Robert. “You had me chasing you up this goddamn hill when I could have been trying to help her.” He shoved him again, harder. When Robert didn’t fight back, Eric shoved him again, causing Robert to trip backwards and catch himself.
Robert stared at him and backed away. “I understand you are angry Eric, but you cannot blame me for trying to save your life.”
Eric shot back, “I can when I could have been saving hers!” Twisting his body, Eric cocked his fist and shot a right hook to Robert’s jaw that dropped him to the ground like a ragdoll. With that, he took off running straight downhill toward the top of the cavern and the water. He was not returning via the roundabout path they had taken, but was sprinting straight down an extremely steep incline. Tripping over a large rock, he fell and rolled twenty feet, bruising his arm and hip.
Popping back up, he continued his sprint without brushing himself off. Skidding to a stop at the bottom, he stopped just a few feet from the ledge that doubled as the top of the cavern. He looked down at the rushing current below. From this vantage point, there was no doubting the water’s swiftness. It was a long drop. Looking to the left, he saw that he could climb down the rocky side of the cavern entrance and to the beach. That would take too long he decided. It was a long drop to the water, but he had wasted too much time already.
Taking a deep breath, he ran and jumped off the top of the cavern, flinging his body as far from the rocks as he could. His arms and legs flailed as the ground disappeared from under his feet. There was something far out in the water. He only saw it for a split second, but realized instantly what it was. Several hundred yards out to sea, it was Emily’s body, the sun gleaming off her fiery red hair.
22
THERE WAS SO MUCH to process. “What am I waiting for?” Abby asked the question to the darkness that surrounded her. For the past month she had been living on this island with no sign of civilization. Warming herself by fires, eating and drinking what she could find, sleeping on piles of leaves and branches. This very morning, she had woken up on just this sort of bed and drank water from a stream. Now she was standing in some sort of giant pitch-black cavern, and while she not could see it any longer, directly in front of her was a large metal box with a giant lever to be used in emergencies.
Well, if there ever was an emergency this was it. She was effectively blind, and had three choices, none of which were great. Heading up the ladder to another landing could lead to a way out, or it could just lead to another dead end. Once she was up there, she would have no way to find her way around or see any dangers. However she would have further to fall if she were to have a misstep. Jumping back in the water was also out. She had grown tired of fighting for her life surrounded by water. That was not even a choice. The only option she had left was the mystery box in front of her.
She felt the very large lever. It had to be twice the length of her forearm, and at least as thick as her wrist. She wrapped her small hands around it and said a prayer to whoever may have been listening. With a grunt, she yanked the lever as hard as she could. It did not budge. Her shoulders protested the force that she had exerted. It was as though she had tried to yank a rod out of the ground, but it was sunk into concrete. It did not give even the slightest, discernible bit.
Shaking out her hands and shoulders, she paced for a moment before trying again. Wrapping her hands around it, as close to the top as she could get, she put her legs in a wide stance. Pulling down with as much strength as she could manage, her feet came slightly off the ground. She felt the lever move down just an inch or two before she gave up and it sprung back into place. It moved though, and that was all the encouragement she needed.
Taking a metaphorical step back, Abby assessed the situation. She obviously was not big enough or strong enough to pull down the lever. Her full body weight had just been hanging from it, and it only gave a couple of inches. Perhaps she could somehow push it down. She climbed the ladder until her feet were near the top of the box. The metal ladder and box were both a little moist from the condensation, and there was no chance of her drying off either of them with her soaking wet clothes. She would just have to hold on for her life.
Reaching out with her foot, she found the top of the lever. Her legs were much stronger than her arms. She put her weight and the power of her right leg behind it, while keeping her other foot on the ladder and clinging to it with both arms. Pushing, she got it to move a few inches on her first try, but it just bounced back like before, as if it were on a spring. She tried again with her single foot, and again it moved, but not enough.
Gripping the ladder as tight as she could, she inched out onto the box with both feet. The box only came out about six inches from the wall, so there was no room for error. She turned to the side so that her right shoulder was against the wall. This way she was able to still face the ladder and hold on with both hands. Abby did not think that what she was about to do was a good idea, but it was the only option she had.
With her left foot now against the lever, she pressed down until it would not move anymore with just the force of her pushing. Picking up her right foot, she carefully placed it against the lever, so that her full body weight was resting on it. Her weight alone was enough to get it to sink a few more inches. She began to bounce, only slightly, and felt it creep lower with each thrust.
As she balanced for a moment, she reassessed. Was this the best possible plan? Considering the circumstances, yes. She could come up with no other alternatives. Holding on tight to the ladder, she thought about closing her eyes, and then realized it did not make a difference. Either way, she could not see a thing. She bounced a couple of times, building momentum. On the third bounce she pushed her entire weight and strength down against the lever. To her shock, it immediately dropped with a thundering snap.
With the lever suddenly gone, Abby’s feet flew out from under her and she tumbled backwards, losing her grip on the ladder. Lights as bright a
s the sun flashed on overhead. The blinding light caused her eyelids to instinctively snap shut as she fell toward a gigantic swirling vortex of water. Her left leg smacked against the railing, upending her, causing her to fall head first into the massive twenty-yard wide whirlpool below.
She went under immediately, but somehow struggled back to the surface. Being whipped around the edge of the whirlpool so fast, it was very difficult for her to get her bearings. It was as though she were tied to the back of a boat. She was convinced no human had traveled so fast through the water otherwise.
Above her, the giant lights revealed that she was in a massive cavern. The walls, carved out of the rock, reached at least ten stories high. She saw the ladder that she had been able to latch onto when she was sucked under water on her way into this place, but now she was moving too fast to grip it. The best she could do was slam her hand against it, trying to catch it as she flew by. This caused sharp pains to shoot through her wrist and up her arm. Catching it the first time, underwater and blind, was just dumb luck. She quickly abandoned the thought that she could do it again and frantically looked for another way out.
She was out of time. She was being pulled toward the center of the vortex. She tried to swim back toward the edges, but the water was too strong, and her body was too weak. Even if she managed to reach the side, the ledge above was far out of her reach, and there was no way to climb the sheer wall of rock. Exhausted, she had reached her limit. She stopped paddling and floated in the water. She was no more than a cork bobbing in the ocean.
At that moment, Abby gave up.
Despite the violence of the water surging around her, the feeling of complete freedom and liberation washed over her. She did not know why she was here on this island. There was nothing that she could do about her present circumstance. There was nothing left to do but accept it. Abby found herself at peace with that thought more easily than she would have imagined. Somehow, she felt as though she had accomplished what she had set out to do. Whatever that was.
ESCAPE, A New Life Page 16