(2014) Dead End

by Jack Parker

  "Most say that it looked a lot like the Statue of Liberty holding the Torch of Freedom, but since there were no cameras then, we will never really know."

  "Was it ever rebuilt?"

  "No, it was-" Dom slammed on the breaks, causing everyone to lurch forward before hitting their backs on the upholstered seats. They all gave Dom strange looks as they watched him curse himself for forgetting something.

  "Was what?" Lari asked, wondering about his sudden change in behavior.

  "It was disassembled by Arabs and sold to a few from Syria." Dom said angrily with his forehead pressed against the top of the steering wheel. "They said it took nine-hundred camels to carry the remains to Syria."

  "So that's it then?" Ash inquired to no one in particular. "We just give up without even searching the harbor?"

  "It's been so many years that even if there was something left, it would already have been found and not by us," Dom replied with little hope.

  "Why would we be sent this far just to stop now?" Dara asked, not able to take what she was hearing. "We haven't even been to the harbor yet. Who's to say that there isn't actually something there?"

  "Dara's actually got a point." Lari pitched in. "There's never any harm in looking."

  Ash and Dom exchanged hopeless glances before finally agreeing with the girls.

  * * *

  The four were slowly making their way across the beach, passing the vacationers and moving toward the rolling water of the Sea.

  Dom and Ash had been first to go in the ice cold water, practically diving in; while Dara let her toes touch before pulling back away from the water.

  "I'm gonna be sick of water when this is all over." Dara began. "First with the Lighthouse, then the Gardens with the crocodile infested river, then-"

  "How does your husband put up with you?" Lari questioned her once entering the water but only to her waist. "You really are a pain in the ahhhhhhhh!" She was taken off guard when Ash pulled her feet out from under her, causing her to fall full on into the Sea. When she surfaced, she gave his laughing form the best glare she could muster while her body shook uncontrollably from the cold and her teeth chattered loudly.

  "Sorry, Lari; I couldn't resist," Ash said, still chuckling.

  "That's strike two for you, mister. One more and there will be consequences," Lari warned.

  After much pressuring, Dom had finally gotten Dara into the water with out much complaint.

  "Too bad she's married," Ash said while looking as the scene before him. "They do make a cute couple."

  "I agree, but I'm not sure how much of her complaining Dom could stand," Lari stated. "Now we have a clue to find."

  * * *

  Bodrum

  November 9, 2005

  12:23 p.m.

  Salacia's soldiers huddled in the Jeep, afraid to speak to her while she was so mad that steam was practically rolling off her in waves. "This changes everything! The entire plan is ruined!" She yelled at the soldiers who were wincing at every word she screamed at them.

  "Ma'am?" a brave soul spoke up. "They never got the chance to get the next clue."

  "No, they didn't, but if they are not here now, it means that they already know where the next clue is," She paced in front of the five soldiers. "and they have a jet on their side."

  * * *

  Rhodes

  "Find anything yet?" Dom called to Ash who was currently underwater and unable to hear.

  "I don't think he has," Lari answered, being the only other one who was at the surface to hear his question. "Where's Dara?"

  "I thought she was over by you two." Dom replied; voice now laced with concern.

  Ash surfaced just when Dom replied to Lari's question. "Everything all right?" he asked Lari who was frantically searching the shore of the beach for Dara.

  "We can't find Dara."

  "She's below us. The girl can hold her breath for almost two minutes," Ash informed her which calmed her down completely.

  Soon air bubbles were forming not five feet away from them and Dara's head popped out of the water; gasping for air. "I think…I found…something," she told them between gasps before pulling a metal box out of the water for all to see.

  * * *

  Secret Base

  John sat in his leather chair, eyes still fixated on the computer screen as the newest clue appeared on the screen. He easily placed it to fit with the others and discarded the makeshift one he had created. There were still two spots missing but he could see the main points of the map.

  He fiddled with the colors of the map pieces and worked to get them all to match better.

  Instead of matching the tones of brown he decided to switch to black and white.

  Swiftly clicking the left side of the mouse, the broken map faded in color and revealed something more; something John never thought he would see; something that made him pale to practically match the shade of the white on the screen.

  "God help us."

  Chapter Seventeen

  The Unexpected

  Once out of sight from the prying eyes of the vacationers that roamed the welcoming beach, Ash brushed off some of the seaweed and algae that covered the now green-tinted box.

  Grabbing a rock, he proceeded in braking off the rusty lock and pulled out the contents that it had protected.

  The key that Ash now held was flat and in the shape of a torch; it resembled a stick of wood with the top half combusted in flames.

  Lifting the map piece out as well, Ash flipped it around, discovering something that made this piece far different from the others.

  "There's no clue on the back," he said, blinking.

  "What do you mean?" Lari inquired while Ash handed her the map piece for her to examine herself. "What now?"

  "What's that supposed to mean? This map piece didn't need a clue," Dom answered the question, even if it wasn't directed toward him in the first place.

  "Now what's that supposed to mean?" Dara questioned, not wanting to be left out of the conversation.

  "Exactly what it sounds like," he replied simply. "We've just visited six of the seven wonders. There is only one left."

  "The Statue of Zeus at Olympia," Ash murmured.

  "The Statue of Zeus at Olympia," Dom repeated with a sly smile.

  * * *

  Fragile-looking map pieces and tarnished keys of a gold-like color were scattered across the top of a polished coffee table with Ash, Dara, Dom and Lari hovering over it.

  "It's a puzzle, you know," Lari stated while putting the maps of Giza and Alexandria together near an edge of the table. "And we are missing two valuable pieces."

  "And once completed will be one big treasure map?" Ash questioned with a bright smile while putting the map of the Hanging Gardens next to Lari's two pieces; forming the bottom and bottom right corner of the giant map.

  "A treasure map to our deaths," Dom piped in while playing with the small keys. "With those soldiers still running around, who knows what could happen to us?"

  "I don't think they will be hurting us, Dom, even if they get the chance to." Lari commented while putting the remaining pieces together.

  "Those were just words, Lari." Ash said sadly. "I wouldn't put anything past Salacia."

  "Well, going back to this treasure map thing," said the unusually quiet Dara. "Any chance that the treasure is in Olympia with the final map piece?"

  Dom huffed and chuckled harshly. "Not a chance in hell."

  * * *

  "Salacia, please listen!" John pleaded loudly in front of her few remaining soldiers.

  "My brother may have been wrong in the time we have left but he wasn't wrong in what this map will lead to," Salacia said, not wanting to hear what else he had to say.

  "He wasn't wrong, but he didn't know the dangers that come with this so-called treasure," he explained.

  "And just what are these dangers?" she questioned demandingly, finally willing to hear his dooming words.

  "The lives of thousands, even millions a
re at stake."

  * * *

  Athens

  November 9, 2005

  3:15 p.m.

  The sun was high and bright in the cloudless blue sky as the group exited the jet and loaded themselves into another rental car for the second time that day.

  "Why couldn't we have actually landed in Olympia?" Lari asked while situating herself in the back seat of the car next to Ash, struggling with Dom's black duffle bag. "What the hell is in here, bricks?"

  Dom ignored her last question and only decided to answer the first one. "The pilot could only get authorized landing here in Athens."

  "Well, what do we know about this Statue of Zeus?" Lari inquired, feeling a bit of déjà vu asking.

  "All that's left are the remains of the temple that housed it," Dom replied, feeling the same déjà vu. "Just the foundation and a few columns are left."

  "Well, as long as there is no water involved, it sounds great to me," Dara chimed in.

  The other three silently agreed.

  * * *

  Olympia

  10:45 p.m.

  Both Lari and Dara had fallen asleep during the seven-and-a-half hour drive to Olympia. Lari's head was rested on Ash's shoulder while Dara fashioned the black seatbelt for a makeshift pillow.

  When the car finally rolled to a stop, the two instinctively awoke. They were parked twenty feet away from what was left of the temple, and they had strange feelings of excitement knowing they would soon find the last remaining piece to their map; not counting the one they would have to steal from Salacia.

  "Finally," Lari breathed while stepping out the car and stretching her achingly stiff limbs.

  The whole place was roped off; as if to silently mention to tourists not to cross the ropes. It was actually a large site. The foundation was still mainly intact as were a few of the pillars. Everything was a murky gray except for the few trees and bushes that were found near to the site.

  Once walking under what they assumed was once a doorway of sorts, the four stood still, looking at the four directions that they would have to soon search.

  "I never thought I would say this, but I think we should all split up to cover the most ground," Dom suggested, trying to pick out the best road to take with his observant eyes.

  "You may be right," agreed Ash, who was also observing the forked road before them. "There's really nothing much to worry about. It looks like we're the only ones here."

  Ash dug through the duffle bag that Lari had handed him once out of the car and gave everyone a flashlight. "We should hurry before the soldiers get here."

  All nodded in agreement before picking a path and following it to where ever it might lead them.

  * * *

  Lari had chosen the path to the far left and was pointing her flashlight everywhere and anyplace it would go, searching for their last and final clue.

  She passed by fallen pillars, some were moss covered while others were big enough to cover her entire body.

  Lari pressed on in the night, following the winding path into an open area of trees and shrubs, but no more columns or foundations of stone. "Crap," Lari muttered.

  She started to backtrack, wondering if Ash and the others had any luck but stopped when the distinct sound of a twig breaking under the weight of a foot sounded in her ears.

  She spun around quickly, her red hair flying about like wild fire, to face the direction the sound had come from and came face to face with the last person she would have expected to see.

  Salacia.

  "Well if it isn't Ash's little girl friend,"

  * * *

  Ash chose the path next to the one Lari had chosen. He walked straight down the road that was surrounded on both sides by walls of broken cracked stone.

  Ash alternated his flashlight's beam on one side and then the other; careful to cover every inch of stone so he wouldn't miss a thing, or the clue.

  When the beam hit the path before him, he paled at what he saw. Never did he think it would have been so easy to find what he had been looking for all along.

  "Dad?"

  John flinched at what his son had called him but remained silent amid his Ash's never-ending questions.

  "Dad, what are you doing here?"

  He still was silent.

  "Did they hurt you?"

  Still silent.

  "Answer me!"

  Silence.

  * * *

  Dara chose road number three. Not her first choice but all the other roads had been taken.

  She wasn't looking as hard as she could have or should have been but she was tired and was finding it hard to keep her eyes open; let alone search with them.

  The sound of Ash's loud yet muffled voice made her pick up the pace to the end of her path; hopefully finding a way to his path on the way.

  She ended up walking into a secluded area of green plants galore. Not to mention soldiers. None had seen her but it was only a matter of time. She turned fast to run the opposite direction, the direction she should have been going in the first place but was forcefully stopped when both her wrists were caught with one hand of a man before while the other hand of his was used to cover her mouth.

  He was a soldier by the clothing he wore. His face, masked off by a stocking of black that blended into the black jumpsuit he wore. Only his eyes were noticeable; eyes that seemed to hold sympathy.

  She struggled under his grasp and was able to free her left hand from his hold and used it to yank off the stocking.

  What she was so shocking that it could have given her a heart attack.

  "Dom…"

  Chapter Eighteen

  Answers

  "Dom…" Dara whispered in disbelief as he struggled to put the stocking back on one-handed. "What are you doing?"

  He grabbed both her hands and spun her around so he could tie them together at her back. Her resistance was little at first since she was still in shock.

  "Dom?!" she yelled as she finally began to fight to free herself from the bone-breaking hold he had on her.

  Once her hands were tied tightly and securely at the back, he spun her back around. "I'm sorry, Dara." His voice was partially muffled by the stocking but his words were still discernible.

  Before she could speak again, he gagged her with a black sack meant to act as a blindfold.

  "I had to do it."

  * * *

  The smell of seawater was so strong that it woke Lari up with a start on the hardwood floor. She felt herself lulling from side to side but found that it wasn't her body doing it at all; she was on a boat already at sea.

  Everything was pitch-black, but as she crawled around the floor looking for the door, she hit something warm that hastily pulled away at her touch.

  "Lari?" Ash's voice was scratchy sounding, as if he had been sleeping for quite a while.

  "What happened?" she asked in whispered voice; trying not to alert the soldiers that they were awake.

  "We were double-crossed by my father and taken by Salacia and her Dark Soldiers, that's what happened!"

  Her jade eyes soon adjusted to the dark of the cabin and she could now see Ash's form before her; huddled in a corner nursing his forehead that was still bleeding from a wound he had received earlier no matter how much pressure he put on it.

  Lari crawled over to his side and took the bloodied cloth from him and began blotting at the gash while he spoke to her.

  "We don't even know what happened to Dom and Dara," he continued, wincing when she put pressure on the cut. Then he paused; his tone suddenly changing from anger to care. "I should never have brought you along."

  At his words, Lari immediately stopped working on his. "Now, you and I both know that I would have come along one way or another."

  "But you have been put in so much danger because of me," he sighed. "I just don't want to see you hu-"

  Lari put an index finger to his lips before he could finish his sentence. "No more talk of this. I'm here and there are no regrets." She removed h
er finger from his lips and started up again with trying to stop the bleeding. "And besides, if I hadn't tagged along I wouldn't be here with you now."

  Ash grabbed her hand gently and pulled it away from the gash she had been tending to. "Lari…" he spoke her name out of all the love he felt for her. "If we make it through this, would you marry me?"

  The cabin was to dark to see Lari's reaction to his question, but he could hear her one-worded answer perfectly.