The Hunter

by Kurt Robinson

  Eighteen

  Present Day

  Saturday - 10:30 A.M.

  Adam Hart snapped out of it and cleared his mind. That was the past and the past is now dead. For him to continue living his life the way he wanted and out of prison, he had to kill his best friend. He knew that reconciliation was not possible anymore. He took a deep breath and told Travers to follow him. They walked along the ditch quickly to try to find another entrance to the cave. Adam was also anticipating the arrival of Emily and the chopper with a couple extra men. He wanted this to end; he still had to clean it up after it was all said and done.

  John Watkins made his way through the damp confined spaces of the cave. He had pulled his flashlight out of his backpack and could now see where he was going and if there were any creatures waiting for him. He could feel the blood on the back of his head and neck from when he hit the ground. He still was not all there in the head and felt bad as his head was pounding. He put his hand on the cold cave walls to support himself as he made his way through a few inches of water on the floor of the cave.

  He tried to move as fast as he could. He could hear Cavanah and Lewis behind him, making their way through the water and their yelling. Lewis was tempting John. He ignored them right now and just kept moving, hoping he would find another way out. The cave was too dark and too tight for him. He was slightly claustrophobic; he could not stand tight spaces. Nevertheless, he tried to stay calm and hoped that the cave would open up soon.

  However, John noticed that the ceiling of the cave was getting smaller. He would have to bend over slightly to get through. He hesitated for a second and began to breathe heavily. He shined his flashlight in front of him, and saw that the cave continued and appeared to get bigger, but he had get through the smaller section first. He kept his composure, looked back, and saw the beam of the flashlights of Cavanah and Lewis around a curve in the cave. John turned back around, bent over, and moved forward through the smaller section. As he did, he felt the end of the barrel on his rifle scraping the roof of the cave. After a few more steps and bending down lower, his rifle got stuck. The cave was so small that he couldn’t turn around or push it down. He began to panic and tried to move forward repeatedly but couldn’t as he heard the rifle scraping the rock. He pulled as hard as he could because he knew Cavanah and Lewis were getting closer. He would have a panic attack if he did not move. He tried to squat lower, pull, and that was enough as his barrel came loose from the rock it was hung on. He was flung forward, but got up quickly. Cavanah and Lewis came into view, and ran, since the cave was now bigger.

  “There!” Lewis yelled as they saw John stand up and take off running.

  John turned and saw the flashlights just as Lewis pulled the trigger on his M4, sending a burst of bullets in John’s direction. He didn’t aim, he just fired. Bullets ricocheted off the walls causing sparks and rock to fragment. A couple hit the water on the floor, causing water to be thrown up around John. The echo of the gunshots was devastating; they all had a ringing in their ears now. Not one bullet hit John as he ran through the cave and as he did, he noticed that it got taller and wider.

  Cavanah and Lewis neared the tight space that John was caught in and they heard their radio go off with Adam’s voice, “What’s going on down there? I hear shots. You get him?”

  They stopped before the smaller section and Cavanah pulled out his radio, “No, we’re chasing him. Didn’t hit him. Can’t see shit in this fuckin’ cave.”

  “Stop bitching. Get him and kill him,” Adam said. “We’re looking for another entrance. The chopper’s on its way.”

  “Copy that,” Cavanah said, frustrated. “Go!” he then commanded Lewis, who ducked through the lower section, followed by Cavanah.

  John’s boots splashed through the water as the cave veered to the right and then to a cliff at the top of a large room. He stopped suddenly, shined his flashlight around, and saw that he was at the top of what looked like a very deep and wide cavern. It was a least fifty feet deep, but he saw a way down to his right along the wall. The edges were damp, but looked wide enough for him to make his way down to the bottom, which he barely saw - but could hear rushing water.

  Hearing Cavanah and Lewis coming up behind him, John had no time to hesitate. He quickly, but carefully, stepped on the ledge to his right. It was a narrow ledge, but he was able to get both feet on it back to back. Next, he stepped on the ledge below it, which was slightly bigger with water standing on it. He continued this trend using his flashlight to guide him down the wall of the cave; it was almost as if the steps were there, just waiting for him. However, when he was about twelve feet from the bottom of the huge cavern the next gap between ledges was much larger than all the others were. He couldn’t just step down to this one because it was about a seven foot drop. However, once he reached that one, he could jump down to the bottom, no problem. But first, he would have to hang off the ledge he was on and drop down gently.

  Once again, he couldn’t waste any time. He got down, turned around, and stuck his legs off the ledge and began to hang down the ledge by his hands. As he was getting ready to hang off the ledge, Cavanah and Lewis reached the cavern. The wall curved around making it easy to see them, so he stopped for a second and watched them. However, he realized that was a dimwitted mistake because he had his flashlight in his mouth and they saw him.

  “There!” Lewis roared and pointed. He fired in the direction of John once more. The bullets hit the surface of the ledge right in front of John’s face; shards of rock flew up and scratched his face. He dropped down behind the rock, which was wet and slippery. As the bullets continued to shatter the rock, he lost his grip and fell down back first.

  Lewis ceased fire. John’s back, although cushioned by his backpack, hit the edge of the ledge below him. He rolled over and landed on his stomach, facedown, on the cave floor. In extreme pain, he lay there not moving, not wanting to move. Cavanah and Lewis could not see John now because he landed behind a rock, but they saw his flashlight and its beam on the ground shinning towards the rushing water. They also saw how John got down there, so they began making their way down to John as fast as they could. After a few more ledge jumps, they could see John lying there, not moving. They hurried.

  John opened his eyes and felt a sharp pain on the side of his lower back. His headache was now much worse. He reached for the spot on his back where the pain was and then his forehead, to feel for blood. His hand and forehead felt wet but he had no idea whether it was blood or water. He turned his head to the left and saw his flashlight; he reached over, picked it up, and shined it on his hand. He noticed it was bleeding.

  Cavanah and Lewis didn’t notice John move because they were concentrating on climbing down. They were about four more jumps from the bottom when John rolled over on his left side, the side that was not injured. John was now facing the wall ledges he had just fallen down and looked up and saw two beams of light shining toward the cave ceiling and then realized who it was. They hadn’t seen him yet, so he tried to get up, but just as he tried to push up, Lewis glanced that way and saw that John was trying to get up.

  “Shit! He’s up,” Lewis told Cavanah.

  “Fuck,” Cavanah responded as he turned to look.

  They moved faster as John forced himself to stand, he was having a hard time breathing now. Every time he took a breath, it seemed to hurt. Nevertheless, he pushed himself up and got on his feet. Lewis and Cavanah were now on the second to last ledge. John made his way toward the rushing water, which was like a mini river about two feet wide. John jumped over the water, grimaced as he landed on the other side, and saw a large stalagmite to the right near the river. He made his way over to it and got behind it for cover just as Cavanah and Lewis reached the bottom.

  The two officers brought up their weapons, saw the flashlight beam once again behind the stalagmite, and fired a barrage of bullets toward John and his cover. Quick bright flashes of light filled the dark cave as bullets and buckshot ripped apart that ha
lf of the stalagmite. John ducked down and got as small as he could behind his cover to protect himself. The loud shots echoed again as the deafening sound filled the cave; John had to cover his ears it was so loud. As the bright flashes lit the cave up, John saw that the fast rushing water went into what looked like a small cave to his right, which had to lead to either a way out of the cave or just closer to a way out.

  Cavanah and Lewis continued to fill the stalagmite with lead; Cavanah was pumping his shotgun as fast as he could, until he finally ran dry. Lewis had spent his magazine as well. He reached for a new magazine inside his coat, but realized he was out. He threw the M4 on the ground and pulled out his Sig Sauer P226 9mm stainless steel pistol from its holster and pointed it at the stalagmite. Cavanah was loading new shells into his shotgun. Lewis then realized that his only light source was the flashlight mounted to his M4 that was now on the ground. He looked at the M4, with his pistol still aimed at the stalagmite, and bent down to pick it up. Cavanah finished loading his shotgun and pumped it to load a shell.

  John heard the M4 hit the ground and saw the beam of light it projected to his left, and then heard Cavanah reloading his shotgun. John then turned off his flashlight and pulled out his custom Para Ordnance 1911 Double-Stack, stainless steel .45 ACP from its holster. John was a great shot; he had been shooting since he was a young teenager. As soon as he heard the shotgun pump in the new shell, he swiftly spun around, revealed himself from behind the stalagmite, aimed the 1911 at the light on the ground, and shot it out. Next, he turned to the flashlight on Cavanah’s shotgun and shot it out. He couldn’t see where they were because of the bright lights and he didn’t want to waste any ammo by just shooting, so he decided to take out their light source. Both Cavanah and Lewis jumped, as Cavanah was certain some glass had cut his face, and cursed.

  “Fuck,” Lewis yelled.

  “Goddamnit!” Cavanah followed as his hand reached for his face where he felt blood and few fragments of glass stuck in his cheek and forehead.

  John had moved back behind his cover and it was now pitch black. No light was visible anywhere, not even in the slightest. The mini river, in front of Cavanah and Lewis, could be heard - but that was it. John’s plan was to follow the rushing water, or more likely, jump in it and hope that it would take him out of the cave. He could hear the water, but there was no way he would get to it without Cavanah and Lewis hearing his footsteps and taking shots at him. He decided to distract them with his flashlight and then make a run for the water. Now, the only thing was how to do it? He would improvise.

  “Alright, you motherfucker!” Lewis wailed. “Where are you!?” He then fired two rounds from his Sig Sauer into the air to intimidate John, but it was actually to allow him to see for a split second. Cavanah was still next to him and he saw the partially destroyed stalagmite in front of him.

  John heard slowly moving footsteps after the two shots and he knew they were heading toward him. Quickly, he felt for and grabbed one of the pieces of rocks that had been destroyed by the gunfire and then launched it to his right. When it hit in the distance and made a noise, both Cavanah and Lewis turned in that direction, although they couldn’t see a damn thing.

  “Come on you son of a bitch!” Cavanah howled.

  John could tell that it had worked, so he quietly turned on his flashlight. Covering the beam, and then, hoping they were looking to the right, he threw it to the left but as far as he could to the other side of the rushing water, almost where they all climbed down. It worked because they heard it hit the ground and turned quickly in that direction and saw the light laying there, about twenty feet away. Without thinking, they opened fire at the light. They hit the flashlight and it bounced into the air, but it didn’t go out.

  John saw this as his opportunity and took off toward the rushing water, but halfway there, they stopped firing. They heard his footsteps and jerked their heads in that direction. With the little amount of light from John’s flashlight, they saw him jump head first into the little river and be carried away into a tunnel by the water. They fired at John but missed him as bullets struck the water and entrance to the tunnel. Both Cavanah and Lewis ran toward the water and jumped in, Cavanah first, headfirst.

  John lay on his stomach in the cold water as it took him downhill. The surface was as smooth as could be, even above him where the water once carved through the rock. It was still almost pitch black. He kept his head close to the water so he wouldn’t hit it in case the ceiling changed levels above him. The water was now penetrating his clothes and was even colder.

  The tunnel leveled out and John could see another large opening in the cave, with light making its way through. As he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, his rifle barrel, once again, got caught on a rock above him. He was jerked to a stop. He was now sitting in the tunnel with the water going around him. He tried to free himself as fast as he could, but the awkward angle was preventing him from doing so.

  As he was jerking at his bag, now almost freezing from the water, Cavanah all of a sudden slammed into John and knocked him free, breaking his rifle in half at the stock and barrel. The impact was painful for both men, but they were moving through the tunnel of rushing water again. They had to regain themselves and as they did, they entered the opening in the cave where there was light and realized what was happening again. John had rolled over on his back from the impact and Cavanah was on top of him. Cavanah realized it was John too and sat up in the large opening. He held up his shotgun and aimed it at John’s face.

  John grabbed the barrel of the shotgun and jerked it to the side just as Cavanah pulled the trigger, sending rock and water flying into the air. With water splashing around them and traveling at a high rate of speed, John yanked the shotgun forward and landed a fist on Cavanah’s cheek, which caused a cut and blood to appear. John was able loosen the shotgun from Cavanah’s grip, thanks to the rushing water, and tossed it to the side in the opening as they flew by it. Cavanah tried to grab it, but failed. He returned the punch to John’s face. That hit made his head pound once again. As Cavanah reared up for another punch, John moved his head just in time and Cavanah’s fist hit the rock below the water.

  Cavanah’s fist then surged with pain as he gave out a yell and held his fist to his body. They felt like they were flying as they continued speeding down the violent water slide. Cavanah looked in front of them and saw that large opening was coming to an end and they were about to enter another small tunnel. John was about to grab one of the wounds Cavanah suffered in the barn, but Cavanah saw him in time, grabbed his hand, squeezed, and shoved John down. Cavanah then lie flat on top of John just as they entered the tunnel, narrowly missing the top of the tunnel.

  As they entered the tunnel, Cavanah sat up slightly, grabbed John’s shirt and began slamming him violently up and down against the rock as they slid. John’s head and shoulders were bouncing off the water and rock as more light began shinning into the tunnel. John was able to get his hands back around the front of Cavanah, more above him, and then bring them down in a fast motion on the inside of Cavanah’s elbow joints. That caused Cavanah’s elbows to collapse and he fell on John, but then John quickly pushed him up until he came into contact with the ceiling of the tunnel.

  John pushed as hard as he could and the back of Cavanah’s head and neck scraped against the ceiling. Even though it had been smoothed by the water over the thousands of years, it was still rock. Cavanah screamed in pain as the rock removed the flesh from the back of his head and neck. Blood began to flow down around his head and neck, down to his nose, and then dripped on John. The flesh on the back of his head was now gone and the rock was scraping on his skull now.

  “FUCK!” Cavanah yelled as loud as he could and then tried to punch John again, but could not reach him now. He swung again and missed again, swung once more and still missed. He then brought his arm down on John’s elbow, performing the same move John had on him, and caused his elbow to collapse. His head now free from the rock ceiling, and fa
ce covered with streaks of blood from streams coming from all around the back of his head. He groaned and breathed heavily for a second as the pain ceased, but then resumed with greater intensity with the back of his head and neck getting warm.

  Cavanah was weak now and couldn’t follow through after his hit on John. He sat on top of John, while they continued their violent slide, and looked up and saw light in front of them. He also saw a low hanging rock that had broken from the top of the tunnel somehow in the tunnel’s long history. Just as he saw it coming so did John, who also looked in front of them once the light began to get brighter.

  Cavanah tried to react by pushing down on John’s arms once again, so he could get low and miss the low hanging sharp rock; he had grown too weak from the blood loss. John grabbed his collar and shoved him upward toward the ceiling. Cavanah looked forward, screamed, and the rock smashed into his head, crushing his nose, causing his forehead to cave in and crush his skull, breaking his jaw, knocking teeth loose, and causing massive rips and gashes in his skin. Blood instantly sprayed all over the cave wall, in the water, and on John. Cavanah was knocked flat on his back, with his knees bent, in the water at John’s feet.

  With Cavanah’s now lifeless body on John, they exited the cave. The rushing water led into a shallow creek out of a bank with vines hanging down in front of the tunnel. John rolled into the middle of the creek, soaking wet and freezing cold. Cavanah’s blood-covered body landed beside John. He finally got a good look at his face, which was disfigured and grotesque. Blood turned the clear water into crimson. John realized that Lewis was right behind them and even heard him screaming coming down the tunnel.

  He shot up, pulled his broken rifle that was still wrapped around him with the strap and held against his back by his backpack, and ran to the opening to stand beside it. Next thing he knew, Lewis came sliding out feet first - he must have flipped around during one of the bigger openings in the tunnel. As soon as Lewis began to sit up and he saw Cavanah lying in the blood-filled water. John walked up behind him. Lewis heard the footsteps and turned around just as John connected the butt end of his favorite rifle to his head, knocking him out cold. Lewis fell over on his side, with a gash on his forehead, into the water. Half of his face was under water as he lie there with blood flowing from the laceration on his head.