Parker stood at the edge of the lake and let the water plummet from his trousers. His own silver hair was slicked back out of his eyes. Once the droplets died down to a slow dribble, he walked over and sat on a stone next to me.
‘The hatch,’ he said, ‘leads to another tunneling system somewhere to the north. From the looks of it, it hasn't been used in quite some time.’
‘Why is it under water? How would anyone be able to access it if it leads to an underwater cavern?’
‘I suspect that it was not always so.’
‘Meaning it wasn't always under water?’ I asked.
‘Precisely.’ He pointed his finger around the top of the water. ‘You see the growth on the walls?’
‘Yeah.’
‘That's only a few years old. Judging from the length of the moss, and its outreach all along the surface of the water, and only a few feet up the walls, I'd say this place has only been under water for a year or two, maybe three at most.’
‘Where would all the water have come from then?’
He stood up.
‘I'll show you.’
He led me along the edge of the blue lake.
‘How big do you think it is?’ I asked.
‘I can't see where it ends,’ he said, pointing towards the dark side of the lake, ‘but from what I can see, it's got to be about a quarter of a mile across.’
‘How can a cavern be that big?’ I said. ‘Wouldn't it have collapsed?’
‘Possibly. But that's Mother Nature for you. She has a way of making the impossible possible. I suspect that the lake allows for the cavern to maintain its stable pressure. Considering the air pressure down here is constant, I'd imagine that if the water was drained this place would fall in on itself, causing a pressure vacuum.’
‘Thanks for the reassurance,’ I said. The cavern immediately got tighter.
Parker laughed.
‘Don't worry. The chances of that happening are very slim without help.’
‘Without help?’ I asked.
He waved his hand as we neared the other end of the lake.
‘Yeah.’ He placed his hands around the knob of a large pipe. It looked like one of the Pavers’ Humvees could have driven right through it without a scratch.
‘What's this?’ I asked. ‘It looks like a big sewer drain.’
‘And you'd be sort of right,’ he said. ‘It's actually a gatehouse.’
‘A gatehouse to what? There's nothing down here. And this pipe thing looks like it goes on forever.’ The darkness of the pipe was palpable the more I looked at it. I averted my eyes to keep from shaking.
‘Prepare yourself, Willow, you are about to get a crash course on dams and hydroelectricity.’
‘Umm...okay.’
‘Do you know where we are?’ he asked.
He looked at me with a hopeful smile. Was he serious? Of course I knew!
‘It's an underground cavern,’ I answered confidently.
‘Yes, that's true. But what else is it?’
What did he mean, what else? What else could this underground cavern be other than a hole beneath the Earth's surface?
His blue eyes looked at me patiently while I tried to figure out what he was getting at.
‘You got me,’ I said. ‘I have no idea. It just looks like a hole below the ground.’
‘This hole,’ he said, ‘is actually a housing unit or storage area for excess and runoff water for a dam. And this,’ he tapped his hand against the concrete walls of the large exit tube, ‘is one of its outlet works.’
I had no idea what he was talking about. I knew nothing of dams.
He must have seen the confusion on my face.
‘The outlet works acts as a pump for a lake or river. It siphons water through pipes to and from storage areas. This cavern is one of those storage areas. This water you see here,’ he waved his arms out across the expanse of the mysterious blue water, ‘is merely the excess water from a lake or river half a mile above us.’
‘How do you know this?’ I asked.
He shrugged his shoulders. ‘I worked with hydroelectricity at one time.’
‘Hmm...’
He continued, ‘Usually, dams utilize above ground lakes, rivers, or reservoirs to store excess water. Whenever the water runs low, outlet works, similar to this one, release water from the stored-up lake or reservoir to fill the river on the other side of the dam. That is also how power can be generated.’
‘Okay, let me get this straight. You're telling me that this cavern is actually an underground storage area for water? And that this thing,’ I pointed to the pipe, ‘drains or pumps out that water?’
‘Pretty much,’ he said. ‘Cool, huh?’
The absence of light coming from the outlet made my insides crawl. What was stopping it from releasing millions of gallons of water and filling this entire cavern?
‘Why isn't this place full of water then?’
‘I've been wondering the same thing myself,’ he said. ‘And, the only thing I can conclude that either this is an inactive or dead storage, or the turbines are off. I'm leaning more towards the latter, seeing as that most of the world's population was destroyed in the war. I assume there are many other outlet works similar to this one that are now inactive.’
‘The water levels are down,’ I added. ‘The last run to the reservoir was three weeks ago, and not much water was left. Perhaps this is from that?’
‘That's a very good possibility,’ he said.
‘So why show me all of this?’ I asked. ‘What use do we have with an inactive outlet work?’
‘Because of this!’ he said, and walked past the entrance to the outlet and to a large metal box adhered to the stone. He nudged the lever and lifted the flap. There had to have been over a hundred switches in the box.
‘This,’ he said, ‘is a main circuit breaker. It controls the turbines in case of flooding. Many times the outlet works get backed up with too much excess water during a hard rain or storm. The water levels of the lakes and reservoirs get too high and the water has to run off somewhere. The outlet works suck up this excess water and pump it into underground caverns like this one that act as storage units, or underwater aquifers. But, during really bad storms, the turbines get overheated and lock up. Divers have to come down and restart the circuit. This breaker is an emergency switch in case of such a flooding.’
‘I'm following. But I still don't understand what use we have with it unless you're planning on turning it on and flooding us.’
He was giving me that same stupid grin. I wasn't in the mood for games.
My jaw locked as I scowled at him.
‘Tempting, but I'm not going to use it to turn on the turbines. I'm going to use its communication hardwiring to see if I can amplify the signal on the walkie-talkie.’
He slammed the case shut and headed back around the lake.
‘I managed to bind both circuits to double the wattage of each walkie-talkie. I think, with the right amplifier, I might be able to increase its range and see who our mysterious friend was.’
Now you can smile, I thought.
‘And if you can't...?’
He paused as if thinking.
‘Well, I guess we'll be back to where we are now.’ He began walking again.
‘Either way, we've got to try. Your godfather is out there and we have no idea where. If there is someone else out there transmitting, maybe they know something and can help us.’
A wave of guilt swept over me. My mind had wandered and disregarded Roxx. How could I have forgotten? It had only been a day or two earlier when he had nearly been shot dead before me, and here I was playing scientist.
‘Do you think we'll find him?’ I asked with genuine hope.
‘I promise you, Willow, if it's the last thing I do on this Earth, I will find your godfather and bring him back to you. I swear.’
‘I hope you're right,’ I said.
‘Me too,’ I heard him whisper.
We ma
de it back to the other side of the lake. Parker grabbed both ends of the makeshift communication device he had constructed from the extra walkie-talkies in the supply crates and headed back towards the circuit breaker's control box.
‘You can stay here if you want,’ he said. ‘No reason for us to both have to walk back and forth.’
‘It's fine,’ I said. ‘I'll come with you. I'd rather help than sit alone while you play god with a broken dam.’
‘Suit yourself.’
‘And besides,’ I added.
He looked over at me.
‘Who's going to save you if you accidentally blow your arm off or turn on the turbine and fill up this place with water?’
He didn't have an answer for me.
‘Exactly,’ I said. ‘Let's move.’
≈ Chapter 25 ≈
That moment when you look death in the face and he smiles back. Yeah, I was there; and he wasn't smiling.
My face shot above the water rushing through the outlet work. The muddy water flowed like an avalanche through the concrete tube and into the cavern. I flailed my arms frantically to stay afloat. It felt like giant slimy hands grabbed my neck and dragged me below again. The current flipped me and twisted me like a rubber band. I tried to swim to the surface but the current held me down. My eyes burned as I scanned through the rushing water for anything to latch on to.
Something smashed into my leg. Immediately a sharp burn of pain shot up my thigh. My mouth opened to scream only to be muffled by a mouthful of suffocating dark, cold water. My chest heaved as the water struggled to pour down my throat and into my lungs. My head broke the surface seconds later when my body was thrust violently against another stalagmite jutting up from below. I blocked out the pain and fought to hold on for dear life. I wrapped my legs around the coarse mineral stone and flailed my arms from side to side to keep balance. If I lost grip I was a goner. The current would suck me under a third time, for good.
‘Parker!!’
The torch was still secured to my wrist. I pressed the power and shone it into the darkness. The walls vibrated with the full velocity of the turbines. The outlet work where we had been attempting to communicate with the outside world was a geyser of brown water. Parker was nowhere to be found.
‘Parker!’ I yelled again. A wave of water slapped me in the face. I gagged. The water level was rising fast. In a matter of minutes this cavern would be full of brown water from the reservoir and I'd be out of oxygen. The stalactites that hung from the ceiling hundreds of feet up were quickly descending on me.
Think, Willow! I cursed myself.
My brain wasn't working. All I could feel was the fire in my thigh, the current sucking at my back, trying to pull me to my grave, and the undeniable fear that this was the end. Then Parker's body broke through the water.
‘Willow!’ I heard him cry in the dark.
I spun the light in the direction of his voice. His head bobbed above the surface.
‘Parker!’
Oh my gosh! Thank God!
My joy was quashed when the water dragged him back under. Thirty seconds later he jettisoned back up fifty feet away from where I was perched like a stranded cat in a sea of dogs.
‘Parker! Give me your hand.’
‘Willow!’ he shouted.
‘Over here!’
He pumped his arms against the current in my direction.
‘You're almost there!’ I cried.
My fingers grazed the fabric of his shirt.
‘Come on!’ I leaned back from the mound of earth I was gripping and extended my arms as far as I could. My hand touched skin and I latched on as tight as I could. I heaved Parker towards me, straining the muscles in my legs. The edged stone cut into my ankles, only bringing more screams to my lips.
I held Parker close to my chest, gasping for breath. He didn't look too good either. His blue eyes were heavy, and his face white as snow.
‘Are you all right?’ I asked.
He wrapped his arms around my waist, trying to stay afloat but not tear us both off in the process. The look on his face was enough. If you want to know what fear does to a man, stick him half a mile below ground in a cavernous hole, and open up a water valve on him.
‘We need to get out of here,’ I said.
The opening to the outlet work had disappeared beneath the brown water. Parker released me and floated above the surface.
‘The current is dying down,’ he said. ‘The room must have pressurized.’
I unhooked my legs from the stalagmite, along with what felt like a large chunk of my ankle, to join him in the open.
‘The cavern is filling up fast! How are we going to get out of here?’ I asked.
‘We'll have to swim out,’ he said. ‘The current doesn't seem as strong now. We may be able to swim down to the tunnel and make our way through.’
‘Wouldn't the tunnel be full of water too?’ I asked.
‘Not necessarily. Water is similar to air. It follows the way of least resistance. When the turbines came on, the water was pumped into this room. Naturally, it would fill up this cavern rather quickly as it tries to pressurize itself, leaving other, less convenient outlets untouched.’
‘So you mean that the tunnels aren't full of water yet; just this cavern?’
‘Exactly, but maybe not for much longer. We've got to hurry.’
He swam freestyle towards the entrance of the tunnel. I followed close behind with the flashlight bouncing. My thigh and ankles cried out with each stroke.
Parker held his hand against the wall of the cavern as I swam up.
‘We need to confirm the tunnel hasn't caved in or filled with water.’
‘Okay,’ I said.
‘One of us needs to go down...’
Parker popped a flare and held it in the air. His eyes were sharp, his face set against the red glare.
‘Stay here,’ he said.
‘But what—’
His feet flung in the air as he dived below the water before I had a chance to finish my sentence. I braced myself against the wall while he swam down to see if the tunnel was clear. The water continued to rise. The roof was getting menacingly closer with every second that passed.
If Parker came back and the tunnel was blocked or flooded, we were doomed. If he didn't come back at all, I was doomed. I found myself praying for the latter option. My future grave if the tunnel turned out to be blocked and impassable was looking grimmer and grimmer the longer I treaded water.
It felt like forever before I heard a huff of air next to me.
‘It's clear. But we need to hurry—it's filling up quickly—we don't have much time,’ he said through large gulps of air.
‘How far down is it?’ I asked.
‘The tunnel entrance is about thirty feet down, then another fifty or so to break air.’
80 feet! We'd never make it!
‘We'll never make it,’ I voiced my thoughts out loud.
The lonely pit in my stomach deepened, and the cavern seemed to cry out to me: Give up. Join us beneath the waves.
Parker grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
‘Willow!’ he said with great ferocity. ‘We WILL make it.’
‘It's too far.’ My body was giving up.
This was it. I was going to die down here. All of this work to survive, to hide from the Pavers, to try and find a way to save Roxx, only to die alone, trapped in a lost reservoir storage dump. No one would ever know. My body would float alone amongst the sea of stalagmites and stalactites. Only they would be my companions in the world beyond.
‘Willow!’
Parker held me above the surface. I had stopped pumping my arms and was sinking. He turned my face. I looked at him reluctantly.
‘Don't quit,’ he said. ‘You can do this. I believe in you.’
‘We'll never make it,’ I said. ‘It's just too far.’
‘Trust me,’ he said. ‘Just stay right behind me and we'll make it together. The exit isn't far off. We can s
till make it out.’
His blue eyes softened as he brushed the auburn hair from my eyes.
‘I remember a time when I was scared once,’ he said. ‘I was so terrified that I couldn't move. I had given up, just as you are ready to do. I felt like there was no point in trying. It was no use. But your father was there for me when I needed someone the most. He never gave up on me. And I won't give up on you. Now let's go!’
The flare glared bright reddish orange in his left hand as he held it above the water. His face looked weary, but his eyes held their strength.
‘I can't,’ I said. The tears came freely.
‘Yes, you can.’
‘No, I just can't. It's too far. I'll never make it. Just leave me.’
‘If you won't go then I won't go. We'll both stay here together and wait for the water to rise.’
‘That's stupid!’ I cried. ‘You need to go. You'll die if you stay behind.’
‘And so will you,’ he added.
My heart felt like it was going to rip out of my chest. Why wouldn't he just go? No one else needed to die for me. I was tired of death. I just wanted it to all be over.
‘Live together, die alone,’ he said.
He held out his hand.
I wiped the tears from my eyes and met his gaze. I grabbed his hand with mine.
‘Live together,’ I said.
He smiled.
‘Then follow me!’
He jabbed the flare beneath the brown water to light the way and looked at me one last time.
‘Remember, thirty feet down, then another fifty feet. Just follow the flare and you'll make it. Ready?’ he asked.
I nodded my head.
Parker disappeared below the water.
I was left alone again, and for a split second, I was tempted to stay. I started to swim away, to await the inevitable when I heard my father's voice in the back of my mind echoing something he had once said to me when I was a little girl and had wanted to give up on my studies.
There will come a time in your life when you'll want to give up. A moment when you feel like there is no way out, like there is no reason for going on. But remember my words: Resist! It is easy to give up, Willow. It is extremely difficult to fight on. That is the difference between you and the rest of the world. You're a fighter. You'll never quit.
2136: A Post-Apocalyptic Novel Page 17