Five rocks were stacked on the bottom, four rocks in the middle layer, and three rocks on the top layer.
The rock stacking was continued after every five turns he made, each time using a different pattern.
* * * * *
Restlessness was beginning to increase with every passing moment, and the maze-like passageway was taking its toll.
He didn't come across any of his rock patterns, which told him that he wasn't going in circles. But he wasn't discovering a way out of the maze, either.
Tricks were being played with his mind, and he was starting to see things at the corner of his eye that weren't really there.
On the verge of an anxiety attack, he tried to steady his breathing. But it didn't work, and the harder he tried to calm himself down, the more the anxiety persisted.
The sky had now grown dark, and the gaps in the cave roof were behind him, leaving him stranded in what felt like a dismal pit of horrifying darkness, having no idea whether or not he would ever get out of there alive.
Chapter 7
He wasn't sure how much time had passed by, but to him, it felt like hours. He was clawing his way through the dark with one hand, still carrying his suitcase with the other hand, which was slowing him down.
The idea of getting rid of the suitcase occurred to him. But since he didn't know if he would ever be able to go back home again, his suitcase contained all the belongings he had left.
The darkness had gotten so thick that he couldn't see anything at all.
After reaching another dead end, he moved his hand across the left side of the cave wall to look for an opening. But instead of finding an opening, he slipped on the ice and dropped his suitcase.
He listened to the suitcase tumble away from him.
The tumbling stopped, and then after a five to ten moments of silence, a loud crash echoed through the cave. His suitcase had fallen into some sort of gap in the cave floor that led to a dangerous drop. A five to ten second fall would have been enough to kill him, or at the very least, injure him significantly.
He carefully rose back up and tried not to step near the gap. But he wasn't sure where exactly the gap was. If he made a mistake, he would either end up backtracking or falling into the gap.
He took several steps backward and clawed away at the right side of the cave wall, hoping to find another gap in the wall that he could go through.
When he managed to locate an opening, he continued his walk, treading slower than ever to prevent a dangerous fall.
* * * * *
Finally, there was a small patch of light up ahead, which brought him a tremendous deal of relief. As he walked through a series of more twists and turns, the light became brighter. Additionally, he heard voices.
Perhaps there are some explorers in the cave, he thought happily.
A cave as unique as this one was certainly worthy of exploration.
But as he got closer to the source of the light, his instincts told him that something was wrong. There was something wrong with the sounds of the voices. They sounded too harsh, condescending, and ruthless.
He peaked around the corner of the cave wall and saw a large group of people that appeared to be operating in some sort of underground bunker.
Tables, chairs, and computers were set up all throughout the area. Rifles and ammunition were lying out in the open.
There was even an intercom, although the voice that currently blared through the loudspeaker was highly indistinguishable.
To his far right was a metal staircase, but there was no way he would be able to get to it without being seen.
Straight ahead was another gap was in the wall, about seventy-five yards ahead of him. He would have to try that exit first.
He didn't know what he had just stumbled upon, but he was more than hesitant to approach what were probably the only humans in the cave.
He would have to get past them somehow.
As many of them as there were, they looked distracted as they moved back and forth busily, as if they were in the midst of a major project.
There was no other way to go but forward. He would have to take his chances.
Chapter 8
He crouched down and stayed low, and when the coast looked clear, he dashed from the passageway to a large boulder for cover.
Although he could hear the voices in the bunker, he could not hear the words clearly enough to understand what they were saying.
He turned his head slightly and peaked out at the strangers from behind the boulder.
One of them looked in his direction, which prompted Cody to turn away rapidly and sink back down behind the boulder. He cringed, wondering whether he had been caught.
He waited fifteen seconds, then peaked again.
The man was still looking in Cody's direction, but his eyes were elsewhere.
Cody waited for the man to look away, and then he headed to the next line of cover, which happened to be a large block of ice this time.
The gap in the wall on the far side of the bunker was only about twenty yards away now. One more sprint, and he would hopefully be out of there.
Now he heard a heavy set of footsteps moving toward him.
He debated about what to do next. If the person was going to find him anyway, it would be a good idea to at least get a head start by running now. But if he ran when the person was never going to find him, he would only end up giving away his position needlessly.
He decided to wait, and after a very anxious minute, he was relieved to realize that he made the right decision.
The footsteps went back the same way they came, leaving Cody in the clear.
He sprinted toward the gap in the wall, staying low. But when he reached his destination, he found himself standing in the midst of a dead end.
By the time he turned around to head back out, he found himself standing in front of three riflemen.
“What are you doing here?” the rifleman in the middle asked. He was clearly the boss of that underground organization, most notably because his uniform was a different color than all the rest of them down there.
“I got into a car wreck, and now I'm trying to find my way out of here.”
“What does a car wreck have to do with this cave? Who sent you here?”
“The car swerved on some ice, and then it tumbled downward into a pit of some sort. I started walking around to see if I could find a way out of here.”
The boss was visibly upset. “And you just happened to find your way in here?”
“Yeah.”
“Then what were you doing sneaking around?”
“I was afraid that I might have trespassed somewhere, and I didn't want to get into trouble. I really just want to get out of here.”
The riflemen looked at each other and smiled.
“I'm sure you would like to get out of here, now that you've been caught. Now who sent you here? I'm not going to ask you this nicely again.”
“No one.”
“Grab him,” the rifleman ordered.
Chapter 9
Cody sat on a chair at the center of the underground bunker, surrounded by nearly fifteen armed guards.
They frisked him, but they didn't bother restraining him, likely because he was unarmed and extremely outnumbered.
“We've got ways of making you talk,” the boss said. “But I wanted to give you another chance to tell me the truth.”
“I told you the truth,” Cody said.
“Your car crashed into a pit?” the boss scoffed. “There is no pit around here. There is only an ice cave, and if you happened to fall down here in a car, you wouldn't have survived.”
“The driver is dead. I was fortunate enough to not have the passenger's side of the car slam into the cave wall.”
“Or maybe not so fortunate,” the rifleman said, grabbing a piece of rope off of the nearby table. “Once we tie you up, the real interrogation begins. Are you sure there is nothing you want to tell me before we get started? Because your t
hinking might get a little blurry after we begin our procedure.”
The other rifleman handed his boss a syringe.
“You know what this is capable of doing,” the boss said, holding the syringe close to Cody's face. “So why do you want to upset me? If you refuse to cooperate, I'll stick you with this needle, and then you can enjoy the wonderful effects that the rest of the world is experiencing.”
“Why would you unleash that on the world?”
The boss stopped dead in his tracks and stared back at Cody, and for the first time, he became convinced that Cody did not know about the operation. “You really don't know what's happening, do you? Don't your agents inform you as to what is happening before they send you out on a project that involves spying on your enemies?”
Cody stared back at him confusedly. He knew that this group was connected to the pandemic, but he still didn't have all the answers.
“Tell me, how is it out there in the world?” the boss asked.
“People are dying.”
“Are they? Yes, well, that was part of the plan. And those that survive our pandemic will be so brain damaged from the formula that they won't pose much of a threat to us, anyway. Then the world will be mine.”
It was becoming clearer to Cody. A group of terrorists were playing mad scientists, trying to wipe out mankind through the use of a toxic formula that they somehow got out to the public at large.
“I warned these countries long ago that I would poison their water supply if they didn't respect my commands. Now they will know that I was serious. This syringe is filled with a much more potent mix than what the average person in your country drinks through tap water.” He turned toward the two riflemen that were standing nearby, and said, “Tie him up.”
Chapter 10
The two riflemen put down their rifles and picked up the rope.
The boss put his rifle on the nearby table, so that he could grip the syringe with both hands.
The rest of the riflemen were off in the distance, moving about as busily as before.
As the guards with the rope drew closer, Cody elbowed one of them in the abdomen as hard as he could. Then he stood up rapidly and grabbed the chair and swung it at the other guard, smashing it over his head.
Cody dashed toward the rifle that was left on the table, and picked it up just in time to gun down the other guard who had now grabbed his own rifle.
The guards off in the distance were now returning fire, but Cody ran for cover behind one of the computer consoles.
“Cease fire!” the boss shouted, after observing the bullets that had struck and destroyed at least three computers.
Cody took advantage and returned fire, taking out three more riflemen.
An onslaught of bullets were fired in Cody's direction, as the computers were not as important to the terrorists as their own lives.
When they stopped to reload, he made a run for it, heading for the metal staircase.
Apparently, not everyone had stopped to reload at the same time, and they did not hesitate to send a barrage of bullets in Cody's direction.
Sparks flew all over the place, as bullets struck the metal staircase that Cody was taking.
When he reached the top of the staircase, he took out two more riflemen that stood between him and a large door. Then he turned around and returned fire upon the remaining riflemen that had chased him up the stairs.
“Kill him!” the boss shouted. “He's getting away!”
Cody rushed over to the door, but it was locked. Next to the door was a computer console with a password written on a piece of paper that was taped to the desk.
It said:
Open lock: 577339.
Until then, they didn't expect intruders to be frequenting their hidden bunker, so they had no problem keeping the password out in the open.
Cody typed in the password, and a moment later, he heard a snapping sound. Another moment after that, the door slid open automatically.
More gunshots were fired.
Cody returned fire, but only managed to fire three shots before he ran out of ammo. He threw the gun in the direction of his assailants, before turning around and storming through the open door.
A metal bridge stood in front of him, providing a way across a very rough terrain fifty yards below. He ran across, before heading into a narrow tunnel.
* * * * *
The tunnel was filled with dim lights that stretched across the roof. It reminded Cody of a highway tunnel.
He kept running until he reached another door. The door was unlocked, and he entered with ease. He closed the door behind himself, but there was no lock to seal it with. He walked all the way to the end of the room to search for another door.
Directly above him was a ladder that led to a hatch. He was just starting to ascend the ladder when the door on the other side of the room opened. What followed was a series of gunshots that were fired in his direction.
He left the ladder and ran behind the cave wall.
“Just come out with your hands up, and we'll kill you quick,” the boss said.
No response.
The boss signaled the other rifleman to advance.
They moved in cautiously. When they rounded the corner, it looked as if Cody had disappeared.
Before they could look up, Cody came crashing down upon them. For the first time, he had found a place in the cave that actually had a climbable wall.
The boss hit the ground hard, while the other rifleman staggered backward and tried to regain his balance.
Cody charged forward, knocking the rifleman down to the ground. The rifle slid across a long patch of ice, and came to a stop five yards away from them.
The guard took a swing at Cody, striking him in the face. He pulled out a knife and tried to stab him. But Cody resisted, grabbing the guard's arm and preventing him from violently shifting the blade forward.
“It's all over for you,” the guard taunted. He was gaining the upper hand, moving the knife closer to Cody's face.
Cody grabbed a thick icicle from the wall and jabbed it into the guard's neck.
The guard cried out in pain. He dropped the knife and rolled over, his state of consciousness rapidly fading from his eyes.
The boss got back up and pulled the trigger on his rifle, but it jammed. He threw it down in frustration and ran for the other rifle.
Cody ran for the ladder and began his ascent.
The boss secured the rifle and began firing maniacally, screaming in aggravation. But he ran out of ammo before he could calm himself down enough to aim accurately. He threw down the gun and followed Cody up the ladder.
When Cody reached the top, he held on to the ladder with one hand, while using the other to open the hatch.
He pushed repeatedly, but to no avail. He tried using both hands to push the hatch open, while trying not to fall off the ladder.
After the fourth push, the hatch finally opened. He hoisted himself up, only to notice a pair of hands grabbing his ankle.
Cody struggled his way out and broke free, but before he could stand up, the boss had already followed him through the hatch.
He swung madly at Cody, both his fists flailing in the air. Then he tackled him to the ground and struck him in the face.
“This is the last place you should be,” the boss said. “You should have never come here. I still don't know who you're working for, but if you tell me now, I'll send your boss I nice letter telling him about how much you screamed while I tortured you.”
Cody kicked the terrorist boss off of him. Then he returned the favor, striking him in the face and sending him staggering backward. He punched him again, sending him even further back.
“Actually, I work for myself,” Cody said, sending one more punch in his direction.
The terrorist boss lost his balance entirely and fell down the hatch to his death.
Cody closed the hatch, and said, “It was nice to meet you, too.”
He looked around and found himself
standing in the middle of the wilderness. The lighting off in the distance let him know that he wasn't entirely in the middle of nowhere, though. He could already see the town from where he was standing.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper with Rachel's address on it. Then he started walking toward the town. Upon his arrival, he would have quite a story to tell indeed; a story that would involve both good and bad news. He remained confident, however, that the good news would outweigh the bad, especially when he knew that Eric did not die in vain.
Thank you for taking the time and money to read this story.
More from Blaze Eastwood
Warfare Season: An Apocalyptic Thriller. Available at all Amazon stores, including U.S. and U.K.
For all other books, simply go to the Blaze Eastwood author page here.
Ice Cave: Pandemic Survival Fiction Page 3