by Bryan Dunn
The students yelled out and covered their eyes, all of them instantly blinded by the flashing light.
“Sorry, everyone!” Kylie lowered the camera and, after some effort, got the strobe to stop.
* * * *
Fifty yards in front of the class, inside the Fortress of the Blue Giants, a discarded flashlight lay on the chamber floor, its beam pointing up at a sharp angle, illuminating a massive column of salt—one of the chamber’s six “Blue Giants”—that thrust down two hundred feet from the ceiling.
At the base of one of the columns, a man lay sprawled on the ground, his arms jutting from his body at unnatural angles. A yellow hardhat with an American flag sticker and the words “Strategic Petroleum Reserve” stenciled on the front sat upside down next to his head.
Off to his right side, a blue jumpsuit floated in a pool of flesh-colored liquid that looked like melted plastic. It was all that remained of the man’s coworker—the man whose screams had led him into the cavern.
Just out of sight, beyond the light, there was a sound. Something moved through the darkness. Something big.
A swirl of dust was caught in the flashlight’s beam. There was another sound, and then a dark shape swept through the chamber. The flashlight was knocked flat, sending its beam across the chamber, illuminating the worker’s tortured face.
There was a rush of air. The light was blocked. A shadow fell across the man’s face.
The alien creature was right there, towering over him. Seven feet tall now, it looked like a giant bipedal lizard. It had wide-set, lidless eyes the color of dried blood, a sculpted thorax, shiny armored plates on its skin, powerful legs, and bulging arms that tapered to clawed hands with opposable thumbs.
A giant Gila monster. That’s what the still conscious Department of Energy worker thought as he looked up in disbelief at the alien creature.
Two lines of viscous fluid streamed from the corners of the creature’s mouth, and a primal, musky smell bloomed in the man’s nose as he watched the alien position itself over what was left of his coworker. The creature’s lips parted. A plum-colored tongue flicked over a row of glistening teeth.
The conscious worker tried to move back, trying to get away, but his broken body wouldn’t answer his brain’s commands. He watched in horror as the creature lowered its body, opened its mouth, and, in one fluid, shovel-like movement, swept down and swallowed the melted body.
Across the room at the cave’s entrance, Ranger Horn, Kylie, and her students flooded into the chamber, everyone shining their lights around, trying to be the first to see the Blue Giants that the ranger had told them about.
As their lights swept the chamber, raking the giant salt columns and illuminating the bluish cave walls, a girl at the front of the group began to scream.
All heads snapped toward the screaming girl, trying to see what was happening. As flashlight beams fell on the girl, the chamber beyond her was illuminated, and all of them saw what it was.
Startled by the students, the creature lowered its head and disgorged the melted worker, sending his remains spilling to the chamber floor.
A second after that, the creature dropped into a defensive crouch and began moving towards the group.
Recovering from what she’d just seen, Kylie raised her flashlight and yelled over the students’ horrified screams, “Everyone get back! Back against the wall!” She spread her arms and began to corral the group away from the advancing creature.
Chapter 28
Back in the Ballroom chamber, Nick held up a hand stopping the group and said, “Listen.” Everyone came to a halt. Silence, and then they all heard it. Screaming. Kids screaming.
“C’mon,” Nick shouted, motioning with his arm. “Let’s go.”
The men raced down the path toward the screaming voices, the beams of their helmet lamps licking the cavern wall as they snaked down the tunnel.
Up ahead in the Fortress of the Blue Giants chamber, students huddled in a corner, flattening themselves against the cave wall and dowsing their flashlights, trying to make themselves invisible.
Sixty feet in front of the terrified students, Kylie stood facing the creature, her camera still clutched in her trembling fingers. Holy God, she thought to herself, staring at the strangest, scariest-looking thing she’d ever seen. What the hell is that?
Kylie swiveled her head, frantically looking around for Ranger Horn, but he was nowhere in sight. He seemed to have vanished.
She stared at the faces of her terrified students. Some of them had their eyes covered. Some were crying. And some were too petrified with fear to cry.
Where the hell is Ranger Horn?
Ranger Horn was still in the chamber. They just couldn’t see him. When the creature had appeared and the fight or flight response exploded in his brain, he’d chosen the latter. He’d abandoned the group and bolted for a flat piece of limestone, wedging himself between the rock and the ground like a crab disappearing into the depths of a tide pool.
As Kylie searched for some sign of the ranger, the chamber filled with a sharp hissing sound, like steam escaping from a high pressure line.
The terrible sound brought Kylie’s head around with a snap. The creature hissed again. Then she saw its hideous liver-colored tongue flick in and out of its mouth. A second after that, its jaws gaped open. It looked like it was about to attack.
With her legs feeling like they were about to go collapse, she raised her arms, and in a voice she barely recognized, she yelled, “Go on! Get out of here!” She took a step forward. “Go on!”
The creature responded by taking a step toward her.
Shit.
She needed time to think. She needed some help. She needed a fucking elephant gun. Frozen with terror and not wanting to run for fear that it would just encourage an attack, she raised her camera and pressed the shutter button.
Just like before, there was an intense flash and the strobe began firing wildly, uncontrollably.
Startled by the flash, the creature turned its head and closed its eyes, momentarily blinded.
With the camera held high and still flashing like a strobe on the tip of an airplane’s wing, Kylie began to retreat, one careful footstep at a time. Just as she was about to turn and run toward the kids, there was a click, and the strobe stopped.
Shit.
Desperate to keep the creature distracted, Kylie pressed the shutter button again, trying to reactivate the flash. She pressed down again and again, but nothing happened. The malfunctioning strobe had drained the battery. The camera was dead—useless.
As Kylie turned to run, the creature spun toward her, dropped into a crouch, and shot forward, rushing directly for her.
Kylie opened her hand, releasing the camera, and screamed for the kids to duck down.
Nick, Lucas, Ray, and Emmett swept into the chamber, the beams of their lamps raking Kylie and the creature as they skidded to a halt, all of them thinking the same thing: It’s huge!
“Nick!” Kylie yelled as she threw herself forward, thinking that at any second she was about to be grabbed from behind and lifted off her feet.
“Here.” Emmett spun and tossed the shotgun to Nick.
Nick caught the gun as he bolted forward. He racked the pump and leveled the 12-gauge yelling, “Kylie! Get down!”
With Nick’s words echoing in her head, she dove to the chamber floor, sliding on her side. Nick skidded to a stop and planted a foot. He shouldered the shotgun, pulled the trigger, and hit the creature dead in the chest with a load of buckshot.
The creature stopped and made a hissing sound, the plates on its chest shedding the pellets like they were made of Styrofoam.
Nick jacked another shell into the chamber and fired, blasting the creature again, this time hitting it in the neck and shoulder. The creature shook its head and hissed. Then it leveled its eyes at Nick and lowered its body, ready to make another charge. Nick racked the pump, aimed, and squeezed the trigger. Nothing—just a dull click. He was out of am
mo.
Oh shit. Nick glanced at the shotgun in disbelief, then turned and saw Kylie scrabbling across the floor toward her students. He wheeled back around to face the creature and saw that it was advancing again. As he was trying to think of something to do besides die, a voice boomed through the chamber.
“Fall back!” yelled Lucas.
A moment after that, Lucas was standing next to him, a lit stick of dynamite in his hand. The air was filled with a sizzling, popping sound as the flame raced up the fuse in a halo of sparks.
Oh crap. Nick gave Lucas a quick glance, then bolted back and threw himself over Kylie. Behind him, he heard Lucas yell, “Fire in the hole!”
Lucas leapt forward, cranked his arm back like a fastball pitcher, and hurled the dynamite. It looked at first like it was going to be a direct hit, but the dynamite clipped the roof, causing it to fall short. Lucas had released the dynamite too soon, sending it on too high an arc.
Lucas twisted and dove for the ground. He buried his face in his arms, and the dynamite exploded. There was a loud, concussive blast. Chunks of salt and rock flew in all directions. Above them at the top of the chamber, right where the Blue Giants met the ceiling, there was a low groaning, sound.
As the smoke from the blast began to clear, Nick jumped up and raced to Lucas to see if he was okay. He watched the alien creature as it swept out of the chamber’s lower entrance and retreated farther into the cavern.
“Lucas,” Nick shouted, scrambling up to him. “Are you all right?”
Lucas rolled onto his side, his ears still ringing from the blast. He blinked some grit out of his eyes, looked up at Nick, and then quickly glanced around to see if the creature was still there.
“It’s all clear,” Nick said, helping Lucas to his feet. “The thing retreated. It’s gone.”
Lucas rubbed his ears and made an exaggerated yawning motion, trying to get them to stop ringing. Kylie raced up to see if they were okay.
A low groaning came from above, causing Nick to look up and scan the chamber ceiling. “We need to get out of here.”
Nick reached down, offered Lucas a hand, and hauled him to his feet. Suddenly, a girl’s screams filled the room.
At the far end of the chamber, Molly, who’d gotten separated from the group, was scrambling toward the others as the ground beneath her feet was literally opening up.
“Molly!” Kylie yelled, trying to twist free of Nick’s grip and make a dash for the girl, but Nick held firm as debris began to rain down from the ceiling.
Molly screamed again. A giant column of salt separated from the ceiling and began to crumble. As it toppled around her, she pitched sideways, slipped, and disappeared into a yawning tear that had opened in the chamber floor.
“Molly!” Kylie screamed. “No!” Kylie tried to break away from Nick, desperate to do something—anything. But Nick held on, knowing there was nothing they could do.
Emmett’s voice suddenly boomed in their ears. “Nick, Lucas, Kylie!” Emmett and Ray were gathered with the students, keeping them together as best they could. “Come on. We’ve got to go. We’ve got to get out of here.”
A second later, there was terrible groaning sound. Then another one of the Blue Giants shifted and began to crumble, sending massive blocks of salt cartwheeling to the floor below.
Chapter 29
Ten minutes later, they were all assembled in the Ballroom chamber, having decided to regroup there before making their way up and out of the cavern.
Kylie was busy making sure her students were okay, trying to calm them, giving water to some and hugs to others.
Emmett, Ray, and Lucas were checking gear and working to get more lights going so people could examine themselves and check for injuries.
Nick was talking to Ranger Horn, who’d emerged from beneath his rock just in time to rejoin the group as they made their escape from the Fortress of the Blue Giants. And just now he’d caught the ranger as he was about to skulk out of the Ballroom and make a dash for the surface.
“Pull yourself together,” Nick said, giving him a direct look. He noticed a dark stain had spread out from the crotch of the ranger’s pants, and his jaw was trembling, causing his lips to open and close like a fish pumping water across its gills. “You’ve got to help us get these kids out of here.”
The ranger looked at Nick, nodded, and then mumbled something, but Nick couldn’t understand him, his words garbled by chattering teeth.
Nick gave him a pat on the shoulder and said, “You can do this, okay?”
Fighting to get his shaking under control, the ranger gave another quick nod and said, “Okay.”
“Good,” Nick said. He turned back to the group, readying himself for their trek back to the surface.
Kylie marched up and said, “I’m not leaving. I’m not leaving without Molly. I’m responsible, Nick. I’m responsible for her.”
Nick was already shaking his head. It was a bad idea. With the room about to cave in and the creature still down there, it was practically suicide. “Kylie…”
“No. Uh-uh,” Kylie shot back, hearing Nick’s reluctant tone. “You can’t talk me out of this. Lucas has already agreed to help get the kids safely out of the cavern.”
Surrendering, Nick reached out and touched Kylie’s arm. “Okay.” Besides, he didn’t really have a choice; he could see that there was nothing he could do or say that would make her change her mind.
“We’ve got to find her, Nick.” Kylie reached up and caught a tear beneath her eye. “We can’t let that thing get her.”
* * * *
Slade was behind the wheel of Nick’s Land Cruiser as it raced along the highway in the midday heat towards Salt Springs Cavern State Preserve. He’d just picked up Major Atwood, who was now talking on his cell phone.
“Yes, Colonel, I’m with Director Slade now. We should be at the cavern in about…” Atwood turned to Slade, looking for some help.
“About an hour,” Slade said, glancing at the major.
“About an hour, sir,” Atwood said, then listened as Colonel Kemp gave him instructions. After a long moment, Atwood nodded and said, “Yes, sir. I’ll call when we arrive.”
Atwood ended the call.
Slade held up his e-cigarette and said, “Do you mind?” Not waiting for a response, he added, “It’s just water vapor. But it still upsets people.”
Atwood glanced at Slade’s creepy-looking cigarette. He waved his hand and said, “Knock yourself out.”
Slade took a long pull, cracked his window, and blew a stream of atomized water out of the Land Cruiser. He took another puff, glanced at the major, and asked, “So, how does the colonel plan to trap this thing?”
“He doesn’t,” Atwood said, slipping his phone into his jacket. “If the creature stays in that cave, we’re going to handle it same as Rainier Mesa: explosives. Colonel Kemp is bringing a modified version of Big Blue, the Air Force’s latest bunker buster. Over a ton of explosives. It’s like a small nuke.”
“What?” Slade said, horrified by what he’d just heard, jerking the wheel as he turned to Atwood. “You can’t. You can’t set off a blast like that. Not in the cavern.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s right next to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.”
Atwood gripped the hand strap above his door as the SUV rocked on its suspension. After a profound silence, the major said, “Does Colonel Kemp know about this?”
* * * *
Back in the Ballroom chamber, Lucas had just returned from helping Ranger Horn get the students safely out of the cavern. As he entered the cave and moved toward the pool of light cast by Nick, Kylie, Ray, and Emmett’s helmet lamps, he heard Ray say, “Unbelievable. The thing is big. Huge. How is that even possible?”
“It seems to have gone through some sort of hyper-growth,” Nick said, as Lucas joined the group.
“It’s freakish,” Ray said.
“Maybe even alien,” Kylie said, glancing from Ray to Nick. “Hyper-growt
h? That could be. Animals have developed all sorts of methods for survival. Who knows with this thing. It may have some accelerated capacity for cell division. Hardwired for growth from the moment it’s born.”
“Hatched,” Ray corrected.
“Hatched,” Kylie repeated. “Think about it. Who knows where this thing came from. Or what part of the food chain it occupied wherever that was. Can it reason? Is it intelligent? Can it use tools? What kind of diet does it have? What’s its main prey?”
“I tell you what it looks like to me,” Lucas said. “It looks prehistoric, like some kind of dinosaur.”
“Yeah, and not the nice, smiley herbivore kind,” Ray said. “A Gila monster—that’s what it looks like to me. It looks like a giant Gila monster, only bigger. And scarier.”
“A Gila monster with all the advantages of bipedalism,” Kylie added.
“And it’s bulletproof,” Nick said. “It took that buckshot like it was a load of confetti.”
“I have a feeling this thing is going to go long and hard,” Emmett said, scanning the others’ faces. “We have no idea what this thing is capable of.”
Nick looked over at Kylie. He could see by the look on her face she was thinking about Molly, wondering where she was and if she was safe.
“We’ve got to go back,” Kylie said, blurting out the words with an urgency that got everyone’s attention. Overwhelmed with feelings of guilt and helplessness, she was desperate to do something. Now. “We’ve got to go back there. We have to find Molly.”
No one spoke. The chamber fell into an uncomfortable silence. The sound of water trickling down cave walls was suddenly loud in their ears as it filtered out from the darkness.
Kylie looked at the others, searching their faces. In a defiant tone, she said, “Well, I’m going back.” She gripped the straps of her pack. “I’m going back now.”
“Hold up,” Nick said, raising his hands. “Wait a minute. We can’t just race back there. We’ve got to make a plan.”