She turned to face a flat rock with another large boulder at one end of it. She liked to sit with her back against the boulder or to stretch out on the rock. As she started towards it, though, the ground began to shake.
“What in the world?” she asked, seemingly only to nature.
She glanced at the lake and saw the water start to vibrate. Suddenly the level seemed to drop. A crack appeared on the other side, advancing rapidly, and the person she had seen on the opposite shore vanished.
“Nooooo!” she shouted helplessly.
Before the sound was even out of her mouth, a crack opened under Ramira’s feet and she dropped. She saw a root and grabbed at it, but the vibrations and her weight were too much. She couldn’t hold on. Down she went with loose dirt falling all around her.
Ramira could not believe what was happening. She reached out, trying to grab anything that would stop or slow her momentum, but there was nothing. The crack tipped her down an angle and she started to slide instead of fall. She felt first a spray and then a wall of water that engulfed her.
The crack funnelled into a tunnel and Ramira was swept into it along with the water. She was plunged into complete darkness and bounced from side to side. At one point she did a complete loop as though she were in a roller coaster. Ramira feared she might collide at any moment with a massive wall. She had gone to many family amusement parks. Several of these had water rides. She had been on one called the Awesome Aussie Twister at Carowinds that had black hole features, where a person was plunged into complete darkness. This tunnel was nothing like that. This was serious.
Ramira’s life flashed before her and her slide seemed to take an eternity. Finally she slammed into a hard surface. The darkness was as black as ink. She could see nothing. Holding up her hand was useless. She couldn’t see that either.
Water continued to flow around and past her. Reaching out she felt only a hard, rough surface. She didn’t know where she was, only that she was far underground.
She ached all over. Tenderly she started feeling her arms and legs, afraid of the worst. Nothing seemed to be broken. Something hard was lodged in her back though. Reaching over her head, she felt her backpack.
Ahhh, Ramira thought, that must be her books pressing into her back. She sat up and removed her backpack.
Thinking she might use her cellphone for a light, she reached into her pocket for it. Nothing. It must have fallen out in all of the tumbling.
Ramira knew she was in trouble and needed help. Trying to stand she bumped her head against something hard. “Ouch,” she said reflexively and sat back down.
“Help,” she hollered desperately. “Can anyone hear me?”
The only response was silence.
“Someone, anyone, please, I’m in here,” Ramira screamed. “Is anyone out there? I’m down here. Helpppp!”
She started feeling around. She was against a cool, rock wall. She held out both arms to tell the width of the place and both extended fully. Reaching up and slowly trying to stand, her hands came to the roof of the cave. This was what she had bumped her head into.
Sitting back down, Ramira tried to reason out her dilemma and come up with the best possible solution. She could not see a thing, so trying to feel her way in the complete darkness might not be good. She had heard and seen in movies where caves had drop-offs that people could fall into. She definitely didn’t want to do that. Maybe there were mines close by where people worked. If so, her best bet was to stay put for now and see if someone could hear her. With this in mind, she hollered for help again.
“Can anyone hear me? Is anyone out there?” She shouted, then paused to listen.
Suddenly from down the tunnel Ramira heard a shrieking sound. Could it be help? She hollered louder.
“Help! Someone please help me,” she shouted hoping that whoever it was could hear her.
The shrieking diminished, replaced by a thunderous roar heading her way. All at once Ramira was enveloped in a fluttering of wings. Bats swarmed past her. All she knew in the darkness was that she was being attacked, or so it felt. Kneeling in a fetal position, she covered her head with her hands, trying to protect herself. She screamed hysterically.
The cave was swarming with flying rodents; they filled the small enclosure. With this maniacal swarming around her, she didn’t stop screaming until she needed breath. The bustle diminished after forty-five seconds, a stretch of time that had seemed like hours. Soon the thunderous roar stopped as the bats disappeared further up the cave.
Ramira opened her eyes and looked around, expecting to see only complete darkness again. But down the cave a glimmer of light was visible. It grew stronger.
Feeling that help might be near, she hollered, “Hello. Is someone there?”
Suddenly the light dimmed and disappeared.
3
Hearing the scream, Zaac knew someone else was down here with him and that person was female. As soon as he was sure the bats had left, he rushed across the cavern toward the cave to the right. At the beginning, he was able to walk upright, but eventually he had to stoop to keep going.
He started toward a bend when he heard a female voice call out, “Hello. Is someone there?”
Zaac was getting ready to respond when his headlamp dimmed and went out. The battery had drained. It hadn’t occurred to him this morning that he would be using his headlamp much less needing a fresh battery for it.
“Hello,” he shouted, “I’m here. I just need to get my flashlight and I’ll be right there.”
He felt around his backpack until he located the zipper. Reaching in, he found the flashlight and turned it on.
“I found it. I’m coming. Just hold on!” Zaac shouted, hurrying forward.
As he rounded the bend, Zaac saw a young girl with blonde hair about his age kneeling on the cave floor. Her clothes were wet and disheveled. She appeared as frightened as anyone he had ever seen.
Rushing up to her, he knelt down and asked, “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I don’t think so. My body aches all over though,” responded Ramira looking up at him with relief. The guy standing in front of her was about her age. He had brown hair with clear cut features. Even though she didn’t know him, his face seemed strangely familiar. “I’m not sure what happened. One moment I was standing looking at the beautiful scenery and the next minute the earth opened up and swallowed me.”
“The same thing happened to me. I think we had a major earthquake that opened the ground and took us down into these underground caves. I’m Zaac. What’s your name?” He smiled at her.
“Ramira. I didn’t know that this area had any underground caves.” She stated glancing around at the rock walls.
“I didn’t either but here we are. Hopefully we can find a way out.”
Noticing what appeared to be little scratches or small lacerations on her neck and around her hands, Zaac asked, “Were you bitten by any of the bats or are these scratches from the fall?”
“I don’t know,” Ramira said. “I didn’t know what was happening when they came up the tunnel. It sounded like a stampede, then I was surrounded.”
“Do you think you can stand?”
“Yes. I tried standing earlier but I hit my head. I’m so glad to have someone else down here with me. How is it that you have a flashlight?”
“I was mountain biking. One time I got caught out after dark and didn’t have a light. Since then I’ve started carrying a headlamp and flashlight just in case. I also have some fire starter materials. I’ve never had to use them before, but I think they may come in handy down here. Remnants of my Boy Scout days.” Zaac laughed.
“It’s so nice to have some light. I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. I thought I could use my cellphone for light but it must have gotten lost in the fall.” Ramira thought for a moment.
“You must be the guy I saw on the other side of the lake with a bicycle. When the quake started I saw a crack open up and head right toward you and down you
went.”
“Yep. That would be me. I was mountain biking and took a small break. I was getting ready to start up the trail when the quake hit. It all happened so fast I didn’t even have a chance to react.”
Zaac knew that time was of the essence. “We had better get started,” he said. “I’m not sure how long this might take. I’ve only got one set of spare batteries for the flashlight and one set for the headlamp.”
“Any idea which way we should go?”
Zaac pointed back down the tunnel, “The bats flew this way so maybe there might be a way out up ahead.”
“Okay. You lead and I’ll follow.” Ramira stood up.
“Stay close to me and watch your head,”
“I’ll stay so close you’ll think I’m your shadow. Just don’t get us lost.”
“Very funny,” Zaac said, laughing. “I don’t really think I can do any worse than we already are.”
Zaac started in the direction the bats took. They had to bend low to keep from bumping their heads. The tunnel starting sloping downward after they had traveled around one hundred yards. Soon they had to stoop even lower and were reduced to bear walking. It was back-breaking and progress was agonizingly slow.
When they reached yet another bend that angled around to the right, Ramira asked with a strain in her voice, “Can we stop for a few minutes? This is tiring.”
“Sure. I was starting to get a little tired myself.” Zaac turned and sat down. They leaned back against the cave wall.
“While we don’t need the light, it might be best to turn it off. We have to conserve the batteries.” He was checking with her, wanting her agreement.
“Do we really have to? If you turn it off, everything will be completely dark. That gives me the creeps,” Ramira said with a little shudder.
“I don’t like it either, but we don’t know how long we might need the light.”
“I know you’re right but it still makes my skin crawl. Would you mind if I got close to you so I can feel you beside me?” She pleaded with her eyes. “I don’t think it would be as scary that way.”
“You can hold on to my arm if that will make you feel better.” He scooted towards her.
Ramira snuggled up and wrapped her arms around his left arm. “You can turn off the flashlight now,” she said with a little more assurance than she felt.
“Here goes.” He turned off the light. Everything went black again. He could feel her grip tighten on his arm.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes. It isn’t as bad, knowing you are here with me. When I first landed down in these caves, in complete darkness, I was frightened to death. It’s terrible not knowing where you are, not being able to see anything.” Ramira shivered.
“I didn’t know where I was either, but I did have some lights to turn on. I’m sure it was awful to have been in your shoes.”
Suddenly a small rumble sounded next to Ramira. The sound caused her to jump.
“What was that?” she asked apprehensively.
Zaac laughed. “I think that was my stomach. With all of the excitement, I haven’t really thought much about food. I think my stomach is protesting this lack of attention.”
Ramira laughed. “I thought it sounded like a stomach rumbling, but in the darkness, it startled me. Now that you mentioned it, I’m a little hungry myself.”
Turning on his flashlight, Zaac looked in his backpack. “I’ve got five energy bars, two apples, some beef jerky, three bottles of Gatorade and three and a half bottles of water.”
“I wasn’t planning on spending a long time out today. All I have is a ham sandwich, a bag of Goldfish crackers, a Snickers Bar, a couple of bottles of water and a Mountain Dew,” Ramira added.
“The way I see it is we have two choices. We can eat our fill thinking we might get out of here in a couple of hours.” Zaac hoped this would be the case but he doubted it. “Or we can ration the food not knowing how long we might be here. What do you think?”
Ramira thought about the two choices. “Maybe we ought to eat sparingly. It would probably be best to conserve the food.”
“So what do we eat first?”
“Let’s split the sandwich and one of the apples.”
Zaac pulled out a Yellow Delicious Apple and a bottle of Gatorade. “I think it would be good to drink one of these Gatorades. We could probably use the nutrients.”
“Okay.” Ramira divided the sandwich in half and handed one part to Zaac.
Zaac got out his Leatherman and cut the apple down the middle handing one half to Ramira. They savoured each bite, chewing it slowly as if they were trying to imprint the taste in their minds.
After eating, they both sat quietly, absorbed in their separate thoughts. Zaac couldn’t help wondering whether they would ever find a way out. Plus, he felt the responsibility fell on his shoulders. The caves didn’t have exit signs on them. There was no diagram with a map, saying ‘you are here’. He had no way to know where they were or how to get out.
Ramira was also pondering their predicament. So much for spending time in her favorite spot. She doubted very seriously that she would be able to make the girls’ night. Her parents would be worried sick. Her dad, who was a policeman in the largest city in the western mountains of North Carolina, would put out a full-scale manhunt. With such a massive quake in the area, were there other cracks that opened up and trapped or even killed people? She was sure there would be signs of the crack at the spot that she loved to visit. Would they assume that she had been killed? With these thoughts running through her mind, tears filled her eyes and she started to cry.
“What’s wrong?” Zaac asked.
“I was thinking about my family. What they would think with me not showing up. We were supposed to have a girls’ night tonight. My friends were coming over for dinner. We were going to watch a movie and they planned to spend the night. Now they’ll come over and I won’t even be there. They’ll probably think I’m dead.”
“They might, but from what I can tell, you are very much alive.” Zaac was hoping to calm her down. “It’ll be okay. We’ll find a way out. It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow. But we’ll get out of here.”
“You think so?” she asked with a glimmer of hope.
“Absolutely. We’d better start looking again, though. See if this tunnel we are in goes anywhere. You need help?”
“No thanks. I think I can manage.”
“This crawling is very awkward. I feel like a dog walking on all fours.” Zaac was hoping to lighten the moment.
Ramira laughed. “Me too. Woof.”
They started off again. It reminded him of an exercise they use to do in Junior League Football. Only that exercise wasn’t done in a tunnel. It was done on grass at a football field.
Progress was slow. After they had traveled about a hundred yards, the tunnel shrank. Soon they reached a point where it was only three feet high and close to that in width.
“This doesn’t look good,” Zaac said.
“No it doesn’t. Now what?”
“Let’s stop and rest and think about it. Want some water?”
“I could use a drink.” Ramira pulled a bottle of water out of her pack. After a couple of swallows, she handed it to Zaac.
He took a couple of swallows. “Wow. You can forget how good water tastes.”
“I know what you mean. It’s a little thing, but it matters.”
Looking at the small crawl space, Zaac turned back to Ramira, “I think it might be best if I left my backpack with you. I’ll crawl up the tunnel and see where it leads. Maybe this narrow part is only a little ways then it opens back up.”
“You want to leave me here by myself?” she asked. She couldn’t keep her voice from shaking a little.
“I don’t want to leave you here by yourself,” Zaac said placing his hand on her shoulder. “If you noticed, I said maybe the cave will open back up. But it could narrow down even further. If it does that, I might end up having to crawl out
of the cave backwards. That would be hard enough with just one person, much less two.”
She knew what he said was true, but it didn’t help to relieve her fears. “I still don’t like the idea of being left alone and you going off. What if something were to happen to you? What would I do then?”
“Nothing is going to happen to me. I’ll yell every few minutes to let you know that I’m okay. I’ll use the headlamp and leave you with the flashlight. It will probably be hard enough crawling in that narrow cave without having to hold on to a flashlight.” Zaac handed her the flashlight.
“I need to change the batteries first in the headlamp,” he said. “They died when I was coming toward you at the beginning.”
“Yes I remember. A light was in sight, then total darkness again.” She held the flashlight for him to retrieve the batteries from his backpack.
Once his headlamp was back on, Zaac started to crawl up the small enclosure. “Here goes nothing.”
“Be careful.”
Zaac had to lay on his belly as he started up the cave. This type of crawling required a lot of wriggling. He would inch up onto his elbows and push forward with his knees. Before long, he was sweating.
Ramira watched as the light moved farther and farther away. She didn’t want to turn off the flashlight but she knew she should. “I’m going to turn the flashlight off to save the batteries,” she shouted.
“Good idea,” Zaac hollered back. “I’m okay. I see a bend to the right just ahead. After I get around it, the light will get dimmer. I will keep hollering though.”
Negotiating the bend, he traveled another ninety feet. The cave became even lower. He really had to squirm to get through. The narrow confines only lasted a few feet then the space opened up again to about three feet high.
Stopping for a few minutes to catch his breath, he tried to look ahead. It seemed to open up into a much larger cavern, about fifty to sixty feet in front of him. It was hard to judge distance in total darkness, using only a flashlight or headlamp. His perspective was completely off.
Cave Dwellers Page 2