Inhabited

by Ike Hamill

  “I don’t know. I don’t like it,” Justin said.

  “It’s the way out. Like it or not, we have to go that way.”

  Justin took a look up and down the mine shaft. He turned back to Travis and nodded. Travis stood there on the rung. He figured it was just his imagination, but his legs felt colder down there. It was like the first time he’d gone swimming in the ocean. Below him was an unknowable deep. Anything could be down there in that water. Enormous creatures who barely ventured close enough to the surface to understand sunlight might be swimming beneath him, intrigued by the sight of his legs dangling. Travis fought the urge to climb up out of the shaft.

  Travis reached down with his foot, feeling for the next rung again.

  “Hold up,” Justin said. He leaned over the shaft and opened Travis’s pack. He lifted back up and tied the old length of rope around one of Joy’s flashlights. The yellow beam seemed pathetic as Justin lowered it down into the hole. He set it down on the floor of the tunnel below and it shone like a lonely beacon.

  Travis started down again.

  -o-o-o-o-o-

  He bent his legs and crouched low so he could see down the tunnel. When he had looked both ways, Travis pushed off and jumped down from the wall. Justin was right behind him. Travis stayed put until they were both down.

  They looked up and down the tunnel, using their lights to chase back the darkness. Neither said anything for a minute.

  “Carlos?” Justin called. “You here?”

  Travis nudged his friend’s shoulder. He pointed at the ground. Dark spots were dripped in a trail down the tunnel.

  “Back to back,” Justin whispered.

  Travis nodded and kept his light pointing in the direction of the trail of spots. He saw the rope slithering in his peripheral vision as Justin coiled it up. Travis moved backwards as Justin walked forwards.

  Travis studied the darkness. He watched the edges of his light against the wall, making sure that his beam progressed down the tunnel at the same pace they were walking. He remembered the journal. He remembered the description of the darkness swelling and flooding the tunnel, like a dark liquid.

  Justin stopped.

  “What?” Travis asked, over his shoulder.

  “I thought I saw something move.” Justin pressed back until their spines were touching.

  “You thought you saw it, or you did? Which is it? Those are two different things.”

  “I saw something, but just the edge of something.”

  “Do you see it now?”

  “No.”

  “Then keep moving for fuck’s sake.”

  Justin started shuffling forward again, allowing Travis to back up once more. He felt Justin beginning to turn and glanced to his side to see that they were rounding a corner. That meant they only had two more straight sections and one more corner before they were out. At least that was the way that Travis remembered it.

  “We should just run,” Travis said.

  “We’ll keep going slow,” Justin said. “Slow and safe.”

  At the edge of Travis’s light, in the middle of the tunnel’s floor, the shadow began to advance. Travis reached back.

  “Give me that flashlight,” Travis said.

  “Why?”

  “Just give me the fucking flashlight.”

  As Justin put it in his hand, the shadow grew. It was the shape of a man. It didn’t make sense. For his shadow to be cast towards Travis, the man would have to be lit from behind. If he was, then where was the light?

  Neither the flashlight nor his headlamp were able to chase away the shadow as it grew.

  “I’ve got a shadow back here,” Travis said.

  “Yeah, okay. Let’s move faster,” Justin said.

  Behind Travis, Justin’s back pulled away. Travis kept his light trained down the tunnel, hoping it might keep the shadow at bay. He picked up speed, sneaking glances behind himself to make sure he was keeping on track.

  When they got to the next turn, Justin spun and joined his light to Travis’s. The two of them trained their lights on the shadow and sidestepped along the wall. They were at the last section of mine. To their right, the exit waited.

  The shadow stalked forward. It turned the corner with them. For a second, Travis saw the shadow in profile. It was stretched out. He couldn’t determine if it was thrown by Carlos or not.

  “Should we run?” Travis whispered to Justin.

  Justin’s light whipped away as he turned to see where they were going.

  “Yeah,” Justin said. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  Travis nodded. It was hard to turn his back on the advancing shadow. He kept expecting to see the man emerge from the darkness, but the form stayed just beyond the reach of Travis’s light. Travis backed over a rock and nearly stumbled. He had to turn now, before it was too late.

  He spun, turning his back on the shadow.

  They sprinted. The flames of their headlamps were challenged by the rush of the headwind. The flashlight beam swung wildly in Travis’s pumping hand.

  Justin looked back at the shadow. He barked out a single word.

  “Faster!”

  In the distance, Travis saw the white rectangle of a sign. It was the skull and crossbones posted at the entrance to the mine. They were almost there. He couldn’t stand it. He had to look. With a glance over his shoulder, he saw the terrible truth. The shadow was nipping at their heels. It would be upon them before they got to the open sky.

  He dug deep, pulling out a little speed he didn’t know he possessed. For a second, he pulled beyond Justin. A terrible thought crossed his mind—he didn’t necessarily need to outrun the shadow. As long as he outran his friend, that might be enough.

  Travis didn’t get the opportunity to test his theory.

  Before they reached the exit, a figure sprung from the darkness.

  Chapter Thirty-Five — Night

  KRISTIN MADE IT TO the top of the pile of rocks and surveyed the desert. By the winding access road, the highway was miles away. It seemed smarter to cut the distance by walking a straight line through the scrub. Despite the logic, she wasn’t convinced until she saw the lights of the cars. The rising air played tricks with the headlights. It made them dance and shimmer, but they were beautiful. They represented civilization and safety.

  She began to pick her way down the rocks.

  Kristin veered away from a dark bush. It could be hiding anything. She oriented herself with the stars before the highway dropped below the line of low hills she was going to have to cross.

  “This is stupid,” she whispered. “I’m five minutes into this and I’m already making bad decisions and second-guessing them.”

  She picked up her pace. The decision was made. It was time to commit and see it through.

  Kristin couldn’t keep her eyes off the stars. The sky was so deep and black, she could almost imagine that she could see which stars were closer to the Earth.

  She ran into a bush and resolved to keep her eyes pointed at the ground. It was difficult though. After being in the cave, the idea of limitless space had an undeniable appeal.

  Somewhere off in the night, a truck blared its horn and Kristin stopped.

  She blinked and tried to figure out what she had just seen. She was walking downhill and still a bit elevated from her surroundings. Because of that, the desert floor spread out before her and she had a decent view of all the rocks and bushes in the starlight. That’s not what confused her. There had been a few dark spots across the terrain and they had grown lighter when the horn sounded.

  Any other night, she might have dismissed the phenomenon as a trick of her eyes. Tonight was different.

  Kristin waited.

  When nothing happened, she cautiously crept towards one of the bright spots. It didn’t look any different than the surrounding desert. There were a couple of bushes in the center of the spot. Kristin gave them space, but kept her attention focused there.

  The effect was so gradual that she would ha
ve missed it if she hadn’t been paying attention. From below the bushes, the shadows began to pool and then grow. They seeped outward like water soaking into fabric. Kristin backed away. She turned and saw that she was backing near another spot where the shadows were growing. She had to change direction.

  Kristin panicked and ran for a rock. She climbed its face and turned in time to see the shadows finish their expanse. Once they were done growing, it was impossible to detect them. Sure, the sand was a little darker, but it all looked perfectly natural. She could have wandered right into one of those shadows. It was just dumb luck that she hadn’t.

  Kristin glanced around. She found some loose rocks on top of her boulder. She lifted one and brought it to her shoulder. The distance was difficult to judge in the night, but she did her best. She flung her rock at the center of one of the shadows.

  It hit the sand to the right of the bushes.

  The impact was far enough away that she couldn’t really even see it in the dark. Kristin was beginning to doubt the whole thing. Had there really been growing shadows, or was she just stressed out and over-tired?

  She turned a slow circle on top of her boulder and realized that she didn’t even really know where the shadows where. The whole scene just looked perfectly normal.

  Just for safety, she picked up a much bigger rock. She aimed a bit more carefully and threw it at the bushes.

  She heard a couple of things.

  First, the rock tagged the branches of the bush and then fell to the sand. Right after that, it must have tumbled into a hole. She heard it ring against stones as it tumbled. The last sound it made—a big, reverberating thunk—sounded like it came after a decent drop.

  The shadows retracted.

  They all sucked down back into their holes. At the same time.

  Kristin had an epiphany. She imagined the shadows like big nets, all radiating out from their holes. They waited—delicately triggered traps—for a sound, or maybe motion, and then retracted, pulling their prey. Once deployed, they were impossible to detect.

  Kristin glanced back in the direction of the highway. She couldn’t see it, but knew the direction once she oriented herself with the stars. The shadows were already beginning to creep their fingers back out across the sand.

  She ran.

  Chapter Thirty-Six — Darkness

  ROGER LISTENED TO HER feet retreating down the cave. He lowered himself to the floor of the cave and leaned back against the wall. The sad eyes of the portrait kept drawing his attention. Roger reached up and shut off his light.

  After a few seconds, he let his eyes drift shut. They weren’t doing him any good.

  He crossed his legs and wrapped his hands around his bare foot. The rock had been sapping the heat from his foot. His own flesh felt cold and foreign.

  A breeze swept down the cave.

  The air felt warm at first. When it cooled down, it brought a foul smell. Roger wrinkled his nose and tucked his chin to his chest. He pulled his shirt up over his nose and smelled his own sweat instead. It had been a long day. He tried to imagine how many hours he’d been in the cave and realized that he didn’t have a clue.

  Something brushed his foot.

  Roger held perfectly still. He controlled his urge to turn on his light. As the sensation moved up his leg he squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath. As his oxygen ran out, Roger heard his heartbeat in his ears. He imagined fingers of smoke moving over his body, probing for weakness.

  -o-o-o-o-o-

  “Hello?”

  He saw a red glow through his eyelids. Roger cheated one eye open and saw Florida standing there, shining her light at his face. He exhaled slowly.

  “You’re taking a nap?” she asked.

  “No,” he said, shaking off his paralysis. “I was… I was sitting here in the dark, and…”

  She raised her eyebrows.

  “I don’t know,” he said.

  She put her hand out to help him to his feet. “While you were napping, I think I found a way out.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah,” she said.

  “Why did you come back?” he asked. He flipped on his light when she turned to lead the way. “Why didn’t you leave and grab Dr. Deb’s team for help?”

  “It’s not that simple. I need your help,” she said.

  The cave sloped down and to the right. Roger’s bare foot landed on a rock. He hopped on his good foot for a couple of paces. Florida glanced back at him.

  “You need help?”

  “There’s a rock in the way. I think that both of us can move it,” she said.

  “And it leads out?”

  “Yeah. Well no, but yeah. It’s easier if I show you.”

  -o-o-o-o-o-

  It didn’t lead out.

  Roger understood what she meant, but it definitely didn’t lead out.

  The cave twisted and turned and it seemed to narrow each time. The floor was littered with jagged rocks that had fallen from the walls. He had to place his feet carefully. Florida stopped. She motioned him to squeeze by. He saw the issue.

  Right in the center of their passage, a big rock was stuck between the walls. It was like a puzzle. It looked like if the rock could be lifted, they might be able to push it through to the other side.

  “What makes you think we want to go through there?” he asked.

  “Can’t you see?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “Here.” She backed up and ducked by him so they could change places. Roger had to stand on his toes, but then he understood. The cave on the other side looked to be a decent size. The walls were rounded, but the floor was flat. In fact, it looked unnaturally flat. It looked manmade. His light picked up a different texture on the left. He had to squeeze his head into the narrow place between two rocks before he got a good look at it.

  It was wood. It looked like a wooden door, or at least the edge of one.

  “They blocked up some of the mine entrances,” she said. “I think that’s one of them.”

  “We’ll need a lever or something to lift this rock,” he said.

  “Maybe. I was able to jiggle it. Maybe if you get down you can muscle it up?”

  Roger put his hands on the rock and gave it a shove. It didn’t budge.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I think it’s kinda wedged right now. Just get down and see if you can lift it,” she said.

  Roger pointed his light down at the jagged rocks. He scanned the edges of the wedged rock and looked for any debris they might be able to move to give them more of a chance. There was nothing. Roger lowered himself carefully down.

  Lying on the rocks was even worse than it looked, and it had looked excruciating. Sharp edges bit into every square inch of his back, and the pain was amplified as soon as he tried to exert upward force on the stuck rock.

  Florida tried to straddle him, but her foot slipped. Her shoe pinched the skin of his shoulder and he grunted with pain.

  “Sorry,” she said. “Try to lift it.”

  “What do you think I’m doing?” he yelled.

  He pressed even harder, using his own arm as a lever. A sharp edge bit into his elbow, tasting his blood.

  “Higher,” she said.

  “How about you help?”

  “You have to lift it so I can roll it out of the way,” she said.

  Roger arched his back away from the rocks, but it only pushed his shoulders down even harder. He planted his feet and tensed up his thighs, recruiting them into the effort. For the first time, he felt the thing shift.

  Sand and debris tumbled into his eyes. He clenched his jaw and grunted through his teeth.

  “That’s it! A little more,” she said.

  Roger’s muscles seemed to hum with the effort. Florida started grunting too. At first he thought she was making fun of him. She gave one more triumphant grunt and the rock rolled through the gap. Roger pulled his fingers back too late. The rock had tumbled over the tips of two of his fingers. The stingin
g pain filled up his head. He sucked in a breath and pulled his hand to his chest.

  “Yes!” she said.

  Her foot brushed his nose as she climbed over him.

  Roger sat up and saw her light exploring the room. Behind them, the cave seemed to eat his light. He didn’t waste any time crawling through the hole to join her. She was already working on the door.

  “I think it’s nailed into place,” she said.

  “Nailed into rock?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not a carpenter.”

  “Kick it down,” he said. He flexed his fingers as feeling started to return to the crushed tips.

  Florida stood back from the door and thrust her foot forward. She planted her heel in the center of the door. It shook from the impact. Dust rained down from the frame. Florida kicked several more times while Roger stood back and watched.

  The room was small enough that it didn’t warrant exploration. A simple sweep of his light was enough. Aside from the hole where they’d come in and the rock on the floor, the door was the only feature.

  Florida kicked one more time and gave up.

  She backed away. Roger scanned the door with his headlamp. There was not much to it. The wood was old and deeply grained. The frame didn’t look particularly thick. The hinges on the left extended into bands of black metal. It didn’t have a latch or a handle.

  “Wait a sec,” he said.

  She turned and let him by.

  It was the hinges that tipped him off. If he could see the hinges on the side, then kicking the door might not be the best approach. He worked his fingers into the tiny gap between the top of the door and the frame. His recently-crushed fingers flared with pain, but he did his best to ignore it as he pulled. The rusty hinges groaned as the door swung inwards.

  He opened the door and revealed what was on the other side.

  “Are you…” Florida began. She didn’t finish the question.

  They were looking at a solid face of stone. The door had opened inward to reveal nothing but flat rock. Roger slapped his palm against it. It was as solid as the walls around them.