Darwin's Quest: The Search for the Ultimate Survivor

by Jonathan P. Brazee

  Chapter 13

  By the next afternoon, we were getting pretty frustrated. We’d had no contact from any of the show staff, and sitting here staring at each other was getting quite old. At least Josh had rejoined us and seemed back to his normal self. Of course his normal self was still pretty aggressive.

  “I tell you, we need to go see for ourselves!”

  “We’ve been over this,” Hamlin said for the umpteenth time. “They’ll get us when they’re ready. We just need to sit tight.”

  “And what if they don’t come? I’m sick of smoked venison and river water.”

  “And you want to face those things again? For what?”

  Actually, I saw Josh’s point. Something was drastically wrong, and I wouldn’t mind being a little more proactive. I think Alfhid agreed, but neither one of us stood up to Hamlin and Lindadawn.

  “Look, we don’t have to go very far. Only to the other side of the clearing to the tunnel. We don’t have to trek all the way across Indian Country.”

  “And you know where the door to the tunnel is?” asked Lindadawn.

  “Yea, actually, I do. I looked when I came out. Didn’t you, Corter?” he turned to ask me.

  I didn’t want to get in the middle of this, and I hadn’t really thought to look too closely as I exited the door. But I did glance at it. “I think I might be able to find it.”

  “See? Corter’s with me.”

  I wasn’t, really, at least not 100%, but I didn’t challenge him on that. More of me was with him than against him on this.

  Hamlin seemed to consider it. Then he shook his head. “Still too dangerous. And what if we can’t get the door open?”

  “I tell you what. If we can’t get that door open, we come back and forget about it for now. But let’s give it a shot.”

  Alfhid finally spoke up. “I think it might be worth a try,’” she simply said.

  Hamlin looked around again. I wondered how much he might still be posturing for the cams and how much was the real Hamlin. Maybe the viewers were still a factor, because he surprised me by agreeing.

  “OK. How about this. Five of us go try. The others watch for anything coming to give us some warning. If we can’t get it open, then we give it up.”

  Josh beamed. “You’ve got it!”

  Lindadawn seemed taken aback by Hamlin’s seeming capitulation, but she didn’t object. We started trying to figure out who should go. Hamlin and Josh were no-brainer choices. I was chosen as I had been in the tunnels before. Mike was chosen, well, because he was Mike, and he had proven his worth before. And Yash wouldn’t hear of being left behind. When we saw that it was an all-male team, we decided to add Alfhid, so six would make the trip. The other three would stay back at Haven.

  With no way to hold water, we all drank our fill, almost emptying the basin. By then we all had our own Spears 2.0, so we moved forward to the bridge. Hamlin put his arm around Lindadawn’s shoulders.

  “Just keep a close eye. You see anything, and I mean anything, shout out, then get out of the way ‘cause we’ll be rushing back.”

  She gave him a squeeze. “You take care, now.”

  One by one, we crossed the bridge. It was another beautiful Darwin’s Quest day, sunny and pleasantly warm, yet I could feel the nervous sweat build under my shirt. My eyes scanned the distant peak for the pterosaur, but it wasn’t in sight.

  With all six of us across, we moved out in a line abreast. As we approached the rock wall, Josh and I moved forward. I was looking for something to let me know just where the door was, but Josh walked unerringly up to it, out his spear down, and leaned forward.

  “See? Here it is. This line is the seam.” He pointed to a spot on the wall. I looked at the spot, and yes, I could see a faint line. He tried to get a grasp on it, but his fingers could not get purchase. Hamlin moved in, and both of them tried together, but the door wouldn’t budge. Josh stood back to look at it, then picked up his spear. Using the point of the blade, he forced the tip into the seam, getting it in a few centimeters. Shifting back, he held onto the back of the shaft and started applying sidewise pressure, trying to force the door open. He had barely moved the shaft when the stone head snapped.

  “The flint is too brittle for this. It’ll never work.” Mike seemed pretty adamant about that.

  We all stood back and looked at the door, as if it might suddenly decide to open on its own. Yash finally cleared his voice.

  “Um, would a steel knife work?”

  “Yea, probably, but since we don’t have any knives, the question is moot.”

  Yash looked skyward, then sighed. He took off his loose shirt to reveal a cloth belt hanging over his shoulder and neck. And on the belt, he took out a small knife. “This is my kirpan. Try it.”

  We looked at him in amazement. He had smuggled a knife with him the whole time? “Were did you get that?” demanded Hamlin.

  “All Sikh men carry a kirpan. It is one of our five kakars.”

  “Your five what? And why didn’t you say anything before?”

  “I had to sign a waiver with GBC not to use it nor mention it.”

  “But, wha….”

  Alfhid cut him off. “We can discuss this later, boys, but right now, maybe we’d better see if we can get this door open? I don’t really like sitting here waiting for something to wander by.”

  “She’s right,” Josh said. He held out his hand, and Yash handed him the knife. Josh removed it from the metal sheath. It was a beautiful blade, bright and shiny with a nicely curved handle. The question was whether it was just for show or if it could do the job. Josh easily slid the blade into the crack.

  “OK, get ready. When I pry this open, grab the edges.”

  We got into position, hands ready. Josh pushed the blade into the seam and leaned back, and the door began to crack open. We could see a few centimeters of the side of the door, and we tried to grab it. But the knife slipped, and the door slammed closed.

  “Come on, Josh,” Hamlin said. “We’ve got to get this open, or we have to go back. That was our deal.”

  “I know, I know.” He paused. “OK, when I get it open, don’t try for the back edge. I think it’s too far for this knife. Just push as hard as you can back towards the hinges. Just hold it there for a minute, and I’ll get the knife deeper.”

  We got back in position. It was hard to get five of us where we could get pressure. Yash was kneeling on the ground, taking the lowest position, so I didn’t know how effective he would be. And we had to make room for Josh, too, of course.

  Josh started putting pressure on the small blade. As the door inched open, we all started pushing along the exposed edge, down the width of the door.

  “OK, I’m going to move it now. Hold it!”

  Josh removed the knife, and the door started to slide back a bit. He quickly shoved the knife back in, resetting it deeper. With the knife in deeper, we could relax for a second.

  “Here it goes again!”

  This time, when he levered open the door, the back edge of the door became visible. Risking fingers, Hamlin reached in and pulled back, flinging the door open and sending the rest of us sprawling. From down on the ground, I looked up and into the dark opening.

  “Guys! I think you’d better hurry! Something is getting closer!” Lindadawn shouted from back on the bridge.

  We didn’t need any more encouragement. With a rush, we were in and closing the door. It was not quite cavern-dark in the tunnel. There were faint emergency lights along the track, probably battery-powered. And as our eyes adjusted, we could see the faint outlines of each other.

  “Well, lead on!” Hamlin’s voice came out of the darkness. I didn’t know if he was talking to Josh or me, so I just carefully made my way to the rail and started slowly walking. I could hear the rest follow in trace. I used the faint lights as a guide, but straddling the rail kept me on course. It was awkward walking that way, but I thought that was better then wandering into the wall or anything in the path.

&n
bsp; “Shit,” someone whispered as I heard them trip.

  I am not sure why we were whispering. We wanted to be found, after all. But whispering seemed somehow appropriate. The trip by railcar had taken a few minutes. Stumbling along in the dark, well, the trip kept going on and on. I constantly looked ahead, expecting to see something. A doorway, a light, a window—anything. But we just kept walking in the warm, humid tunnel. I could hear the footsteps and heavy breathing of the others behind me. Twice I was jabbed by Josh’s spear as he stumbled into me, his hurried apology coming right after.

  Mike called out for a break, so we sat there on the rails, really not able to see each other, as we caught our breath. Then it was back on our feet for more walking, endless walking. I was about ready to call for another break myself when I thought I could see a faint glow ahead. I wondered if it was my imagination, but as we got closer, I could see that we were finally coming to the end of the line. The rail car was sitting in front of us, lit by the light coming through a window. We stepped off the rail and up to the platform. It felt great to see some light, even if it wasn’t that bright. But the emergency light up on the wall of the corridor put out more light than the small lights along the rail, at least.

  I tried the door leading out to the corridor, half expecting it to be locked. But it opened readily. We all crowded out to be greeted by silence. We couldn’t hear anything, any sign of life. Hesitantly, spears at the ready, we moved down the corridor, glad for the emergency lights evenly spaced along the way. Passing a few doors, we opened them and looked in. Each was empty. Finally, we came upon Studio B, the same one where I had made my plea and found out my fate. Hamlin pushed the door open with his spear.

  The studio was as deserted as the other rooms. Cameras stood unattended, sharp shadows from the emergency lights creating a surreal scene. Some papers littered the floor, and one chair was upturned.

  “Olly olly oxen free,” chanted Mike in a quiet voice.

  “Seriously,” Josh added, as we slowly wandered about the studio.

  “OK, I’m going to ask it. Where the hell’s everybody?” asked Alfhid rhetorically.

  Hamlin righted the overturned chair and slid it in place under a desk. “Let’s keep moving. Someone has to be here who can tell us what’s going on.”

  We followed him out the door, past the Green Room and on down to the canteen. A stench hit us as we approached it. Fearing what we might find, we opened the doors. The canteen was better lit with a skylight bringing in the sun, so we could see the trays of half eaten food sitting on the tables, already starting to rot. Here, a number of chairs were overturned, but there didn’t seem to be any damage.

  A bag of Lay’s was on one tray. I picked it up, gave it a sniff, and popped a few in my mouth, the familiar salty taste something different from our smoked fish and venison.

  “Come on Corter! That’s disgusting,” Yash told me.

  ‘Chips don’t spoil like that.”

  “Yea, but the smell here!”

  “So it sucks. But the chips are fine.” I put the bag in my pocket as we moved into the kitchen. The food in the warming trays was pretty ripe, but there was water, Coke, and a case of Dr. Pepper sitting there. Stench or not, we needed liquid, and even Yash managed to down a Coke without gagging over the smell.

  We spent the next hour or so exploring Production City. There wasn’t a soul in sight. It looked as if everyone had just dropped what they were doing and walked out. But we couldn’t figure out why. When we got to the landing zone, we pretty much expected what we would find, and we were not mistaken. The two ships which serviced the production were gone.

  As we were wandering the hangar, Yash called out. “Look at this!”

  We gathered around to see what looked to be a gash in the steel wall, covered with a carbon scorch mark. Alfhid rubbed here finger in the soot and smelled it. She held out her finger for us to see.

  “Something burned here.”

  “Could they have been, well, attacked?” Josh asked, his voice unsure.

  “By who, space pirates?” Hamlin retorted. “You’ve been watching too many Holowood productions.”

  “Well, you tell me something more likely!”

  “OK, you’ve got me there,” he admitted. “I just don’t know what happened.”

  We filed back in and checked the last few storerooms. Empty as the rest.

  “We’re not going to find anything here, I think, and it’s getting late. We should think about heading back,” Hamlin said.

  I thought that was a good idea. We trooped back to the canteen, where we found a couple of boxes and filled them with drinks and snack foods.

  “Hey, Alfhid! Looks like you got your wish!” Mike held up an orange, which he tossed to her. She smiled and took a bite, right through the skin, pulpy orange juice dripping down her chin.

  With each of us loaded down, we made our way back down the corridor. Before we reached the end, a crashed sounded in back of us. We wheeled around.

  “Hello?” Hamlin shouted back, his voice quavering. There wasn’t a response.

  “Something must have just fallen over. We’ve already checked everything.” Josh sounded sure of himself.

  “Yea, you’re probably right.” Yash didn’t sound as sure of himself.

  We turned back and got to the end of the corridor. Opening up the door and getting on the platform, it took a few moments for our eyes to adjust the best they could to the darkness.

  Mike turned the lever on the control box, but the railcar didn’t quiver.

  “It was worth a shot,” he said wistfully. “Well, there’s no use delaying. Let’s get going.” He started walking off into the darkness.

  This time, I was second to last with Josh bringing up the rear. Now I had to worry about climbing up Alfhid’s butt while I walked. I put my spear crosswise over my box of food so it couldn’t poke her.

  Carrying the food was harder than just carrying our spears, so we had to stop more often to rest. On the third stop, while we were huffing for breath, Josh suddenly said “Shh! Did you hear that?”

  I strained to listen. At first, I thought he was imagining things, but then I heard it too. Way down the tunnel, back the way we had just come, I could hear something. What that something was, I couldn’t tell. It could have been the railcar. It could have been a door opening. But it was so far away, that by the time whatever it was had bounced and reverberated from down the tunnel, it had been distorted beyond recognition.

  “Hello!” shouted Josh back down the tunnel. “Is anybody there?”

  Silence greeted us.

  “Let’s go back,” he suggested.

  Mike did not seem to think it was a good idea. His voice came back to us from the darkness. “I think it might be a good idea if we got going again. And not back there.”

  “What if it’s somebody? We need to see.”

  “If it’s somebody, they’d be shouting back. Let’s go,” he pressed urgently.

  “I’m with you, Mike.” Alfhid got up and moved on. She must have hit Hamlin in front of her as I heard a grunt and her murmured apology.

  We all started moving, feeling our way ahead, yet one ear attuned to the tunnel behind us. I thought I could hear things, but with our own footsteps and breathing, it was hard to tell. Josh kept stopping behind me, I assume to listen. Then I could hear his rapid footsteps as he caught up to us.

  In the darkness, it was hard to keep track of the time. We walked another 15 minutes? 30 minutes? An hour? We had to have been getting close, I thought.

  My mind was in economy mode, just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. My arms were cramping from carrying the food box. I was trying to shift the box up to my shoulder when a primordial scream echoed from behind us, unbearably loud.

  “Run,” I screamed back, forcing myself into motion. I took three steps before falling over Alfhid in the darkness. My food went flying, my box disintegrating. I tried to haul her up, but she was tangled with Hamlin. I could h
ear Yash and Mike ahead, yelling back at us to get going.

  I got to my feet and managed to help the other two up. Something brushed by me, and my heart stopped before I realized it was Josh, sidling past us. I could now hear serious crashing behind us as something was coming our way. I started running again, pushing Alfhid ahead. I almost went down again after stepping on some cans, but I somehow stayed on my feet.

  Where we’d been so careful with our footing before, afraid to misstep, now we were plunging pell-mell down the tunnel, trusting our feet and instincts to keep us upright. Turning an ankle now just wasn’t an option.

  There was another scream somewhere back, but more of a scream of anger than of pursuit as something fell heavily, right where we had just been. Our cans of Dr. Pepper, now scattered on the tunnel floor, may have claimed a victim. I just hoped it would stay claimed. But I could hear it scramble up, scream again, then start back after us.

  Up ahead, light suddenly flared. Has the power come back on? I wondered for a brief second. But no, it was the door back out of the tunnel. Mike and Yash were there, their shadowy figures urging us on. Josh made it, too, and he was out the door and gone. Mike stepped out through the opening and only Yash was left, our beacon.

  Our nemesis was right behind us. Its heavy footsteps were clear, making a different sound when claws hit the rail than when they hit the floor. And it was close. Very close. Somehow, I had a moment to acknowledge the deja vous aspect of this. I didn’t want this to be a habit, being chased by large carnivores.

  The door was close. 20 meters… 10… 5. Hamlin got through first, brushing Yash back. Alfhid and I were right behind him. With all our instincts yelling RUN, it was very hard to stop and close the door. Just as it closed, something big and strong hit it, pushing it forward before it fell back. The same something big and strong hit it again.

  “Alfhid, Yash, get out of here!” Hamlin shouted. Alfhid took off, but Yash looked uncertain for a second.

  “I said get going! We can’t all get on that bridge at once.”

  Yash nodded and ran off. Hamlin and I held the door fast. Whatever was on the other side really wanted to get on this side, and while it was stronger than both of us put together, it couldn’t quite seem to figure out doors and continual pressure. Each hit jarred me to my heels, but we held.