Aquifer: A Novel

by Gary Barnes

  “Good question . . . something’s sure gatherin’ ‘em up. And I’ve never seen so many weird little salamanders in my life. They’re sure feeding on ‘em,” said Johnny.

  *

  Anxiety began to mount in Frankie’s stomach. The young alien was becoming less curious and more aggressive. Frankie yelled through the tunnel “Guys, I mean it! Come on back. This thing looks mean and I’m getting scared.”

  “Keep your shirt on, we’ll be there in a minute. Remember, there’s nothing to fear in Fears Cave except fear itself. Besides, there’s some really weird stuff in here we’re looking at,” Johnny yelled back.

  *

  “Maybe we had better leave; this place gives me the creeps,” confessed Johnny.

  “Yeah, me too. Let’s cut across the room, it’d be faster than followin’ the river,” Austin suggested.

  “The faster the better. Let’s go,” agreed Johnny.

  The boys turned from the subterranean lagoon and crossed about one third of the spacious room. Then they suddenly stopped. They found themselves totally surrounded by several dogs, horses, and cows that were lying on the cave floor, their carcasses covered by clusters of gelatinous amphibian eggs.

  “This is getting weirder,” said Austin with a little trepidation.

  “Yeah . . . Let’s get out of here,” Johnny agreed.

  They continued to cross the room hastily, headed for the exit tunnel, spurred on by Frankie’s insistent calling. Rounding a stalagmite they stumbled upon a grizzly sight. The bodies of the picnicking couple, the hunter, and the two fishermen were scattered over a sixty foot area and were covered with the same slimy egg goo. The boys were shocked with disbelief – eyes wide open, mouths dropped, they froze in their tracks.

  “Johnny, tell me I’m not seein’ what I think I’m seein’,” blurted Austin.

  “I wish I could, man.” Johnny answered with a quivering voice.

  Though they were scared they timidly approached the body of Luke Counts. Austin raised his Coleman lantern to see better and as he did so Luke suddenly opened his eyes in a cold, unfocused stare.

  The boys shrieked and started to run for the exit tunnel. Before going more than a few feet they were surrounded by twenty or thirty of the young amphibious creatures, about the size of small dogs. The creatures acted aggressively toward the two boys. At first the boys threw rocks at the creatures and waved their Coleman lanterns at them, but the creatures were not frightened away.

  “I’ve got an idea. Just keep them back for a little while longer,” Johnny said excitedly.

  Johnny set down his Coleman lantern, took off his backpack, opened it, and retrieved a butane cigarette lighter and a can of bug spray. Using the two together he fashioned a miniature flame thrower. Spraying the flames at the creatures he drove them away long enough for the two boys to make their way toward the tunnel. In their hasty retreat, Johnny grabbed his backpack but left his Coleman lantern behind.

  The creatures pursued the boys until they arrived at the tunnel, where the aliens again surrounded the boys. Once more Johnny sprayed the gathering pack with his makeshift flame-thrower, momentarily driving them back.

  “Get in there fast, I can’t hold ‘em back much longer,” yelled Johnny.

  Austin scrambled through the tunnel, quickly followed by Johnny.

  *

  Emerging from the tunnel they joined Frankie and were immediately and threateningly greeted by the larger creature that had been stalking him. The three boys were backed against the cave wall while the young creature snapped at them.

  “I’ve never seen salamanders that big before,” noted Austin.

  “Yeah, and with teeth,” Johnny added. “Just like the one at Rymer’s Ranch.”

  Again the creature snapped at the boys.

  “I told you guys this thing’s not friendly,” Frankie announced.

  Simultaneously, the pack of smaller creatures came pouring out of the tunnel and joined the larger creature as they menacingly approached the trio. Some of the aliens stalked upright on their hind legs while others slithered on all fours.

  Johnny continued using his miniature makeshift flame-thrower to keep the creatures at a safe distance.

  “Maybe he’s not friendly with us, but he seems to have a lot of other friends.”

  At that moment the largest and most aggressive of the aliens dove into the subterranean lagoon and began to swim underwater, past the boys, to get behind them. As it swam past the trio Johnny glanced at the undulating swimming motions of the creature. Immediately his mind was transported back to Johnson’s Shut-Ins and the vision of the man-eating monster attacking the diver underwater.

  Johnny turned his head toward his friends and with great anxiety said, “I’ve seen those things before. RUN!”

  All three boys ran as fast as they could back through the cave the way they came in, the young creatures in pursuit. The trio raced through the cave until they arrived at the latticed grillwork of the front entrance.

  They pushed open the door, ran through it and then slammed it shut behind them just as the creatures were about to overtake them. The creatures lunged at the door which Frankie kept shut by propping his feet against it while Johnny quickly slipped the padlock hasp through two links in the chain and snapped it shut, sequestering the creatures inside the cave. The amphibians continued to lunge at the door in an effort to escape, but the chain held fast, and the aliens were all too large to fit through the openings of the latticed grillwork.

  The boys hastily left the cave and continued running down the path along the stream until they arrived at Highway 106, where they stopped, breathless. Johnny reached into his backpack, retrieved a cell phone, and frantically dialed a number.

  “Come on! Come on! Come on! Pick up – Please pick up!” Johnny cried.

  “Hello.” Tina answered the phone.

  “Tina, come get us, NOW! It’s a matter of life and death,” Johnny yelled into the phone hysterically.

  =/=

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Nesting Chamber

  Inside the cave Luke Counts slowly began to revive. With great effort he staggered to his feet. He tried to wipe the gelatinous eggs from his skin but they were stuck fast. By the light of the Coleman lantern left behind by Johnny and Austin he saw Ellie Jo about fifteen feet away, and in the distance he saw the others also lying upon the cave floor. All of them were still comatose and covered with the same egg goo.

  Luke struggled to his feet but was unable to walk. He half stumbled, half crawled over to Ellie Jo. He gently shook her, trying to revive her, but was not successful. In desperation he dragged himself to the lagoon and filled his cupped hands with water. Returning to Ellie Jo he doused her face with the cold water, but even that did not revive her. Frantically, he grasped her by the shoulders and propped her limp body into a sitting position, leaning her against a stalagmite. Staring into her expressionless face he gently shook her again, hoping against hope that this would all go away. Surely this was all a bad dream. Things like this just didn’t happen, he thought. But slowly he began to remember as his mind recounted the details in slow motion of their attack by the creature, plunging into the spring and being dragged through the water into the cave.

  The horror of the experience caused him at first to reject the memory, choosing to believing instead that it was a bad nightmare. But the stark reality of Ellie Jo and the others lying around him in the darkness of the cave, and the eggs still stuck to his own skin, shattered the hope that it was all just a dream.

  “Noooo,” he cried aloud in desperation. “Ellie Jo, you’ve got to wake up . . . we’ve got to get out of here,” he sobbed as he gently cradled her face in his hands. But his coaxing was only returned by Ellie Jo’s blank stare. He wasn’t even sure that she was still alive.

  The cold reality of their situation finally settled in and he realized that they only had one chance for survival. “Ellie Jo, I’ll be back, I’ve got to get help,” he informed her, convinced
that she was probably already dead. Kissing her on the forehead he gently lowered her head, allowing her chin to rest upon her collar bone.

  He stood and reluctantly abandoned her. Weakened from his ordeal he haltingly walked to the river, arriving at the point where the light entered the lagoon from underwater. He rested there momentarily, breathing deeply to help regain his strength. Then, glancing back at Ellie Jo for a final look, he awkwardly dove into the water.

  Ellie Jo blinked, slowly lifted her head and groggily fixed her eyes upon Luke just in time to see him dive. A faint expression of terror flitted across her face. She tried to raise herself, but then slumped forward, falling face down onto the cave floor and passed out.

  Luke swam down to the opening in the cave wall, through the fifteen-foot passageway and entered Blue Spring’s main water flow. His lungs felt like they would burst as he madly raced for the surface. Breaking the surface he gasped for air. Filling his lungs with several deep, labored, breaths he weakly swam across the pool and dragged himself into the shallow water near the edge of the bank. Too exhausted to pull himself out of the water he paused there, resting on his hands and knees in the cold water, struggling to keep his mouth and face above the surface. He panted deeply for several minutes to regain his breath.

  Finally he crawled out of the bone-numbing cold water and sprawled on the shore. His sides heaved as he struggled to catch his breath. Slowly he turned over onto his back and began to shake, partly from hypothermia but mainly from the shock of his ordeal.

  After several minutes his breathing began to return to normal. With renewed strength he rose to his feet and stumbled down the one-quarter mile footpath until he came to the bank of the Current River. Across the river, and about 150 yards downstream, some campers were setting up camp on the gravel bar. Weakly, Luke called to them but they could not hear him.

  Sensing that time was running out for Ellie Jo and realizing that if she was still alive he was her only chance for survival, he forced himself to plunge into the river and laboriously began to swim for the other side. His arms and legs were so weak that it was all he could do to keep his head above water. Only sheer willpower kept him stroking for the far shore while the river’s swift current carried him downstream toward the campers.

  Finally his arms and feet hit the gravel of the riverbed in the shallow water along the shore. Half-drowned, he dragged himself up onto the riverbank while calling for help. The campers heard him and quickly rushed to his aid.

  =/=

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Sheriff’s Office

  Tina and Larry drove up to the Sheriff’s Office with Johnny and his friends. The story the boys told was unbelievable, yet Tina felt it important to relate it to the Sheriff. The boys were still so scared that they were trembling with fear as they were shuffled into the Sheriff’s private office.

  After hearing the story, Sheriff Akers wasted no time in expressing his displeasure.

  “Let’s see, you say you were spelunking in Fears Cave. . . . You mean the one that is posted with a no trespassing sign and locked with a chain and padlock?” the Sheriff stated rhetorically as he flashed the boys a rebuking look. “You boys know better than to pick locks and enter places you’re not supposed to be!”

  The Sheriff changed his tone of voice and facial expressions to one of scoffing. “And you expect me to believe that you came across a bunch of dead people all covered with some sticky, slimy substance. And that you were attacked by some type of alien creatures?”

  “That’s right Sheriff. It was horrible,” lamented Johnny still trembling with fear.

  The Sheriff looked directly at Johnny and in a grandfatherly voice continued, “Now Johnny, just yesterday you were in here talking about a man-eating monster down at the Shut-Ins. Have you ever heard the story about the boy who cried wolf?”

  Johnny responded defensively, “But Sheriff, it’s true! Those creatures looked just like the man-eating monster I saw, only smaller; and one of the dead people even opened his eyes and stared at me.”

  “Well, I think that I’ve heard about enough of this nonsense. Let me . . .” But the Sheriff was interrupted mid-speech by Jane Chilton, who had entered the room quite abruptly. Her face was etched with a mixture of fear and concern.

  “Excuse me for barging in like this but I think you need to speak to some people out in my office area, right now,” she said.

  The Sheriff looked at Johnny rather sternly, then said, “I’ll be right back. You just sit tight.”

  Entering the outer office, the Sheriff saw the campers from the Current River. They were escorting Luke Counts to a chair. He was so weak that he could not walk without assistance. His face and body appeared blistered, covered with the gelatinous egg clusters.

  Johnny leaned his chair back on the two back legs and turned his head to look through the Sheriff’s open door to see what had been so urgent. Spotting Luke Counts he immediately jumped from his chair and started for the door shouting, “It’s him. That’s the dead man from the cave.”

  Tina reached out her arm and stopped him just as he was about to bolt from the Sheriff’s office. She glanced through the door then tried to reassure Johnny, “That’s no dead man, that’s Luke Counts, the hairdresser’s son.”

  Sheriff Akers walked over to Luke and placed his hand on Luke’s shoulder while addressing him with great concern in his voice, “What happened to you, boy?”

  Luke spoke slowly, with great emotion. “Me and Ellie Jo . . . we were having a picnic on top of the bluff above Blue Spring. We were attacked . . . by some kind of monster . . . and we were taken to a cave where some other people were. I managed to escape by swimming out through a hole in the cave wall into Blue Spring. But Ellie Jo . . .” Luke shook his head violently, as if trying to wipe away the memory. His eyes filled with tears as his voice choked with emotion, “. . . she’s still in there . . . along with what’s left of Honace Webber and two other guys I couldn’t recognize.”

  As Luke gave his report, Tina and Johnny slowly approached until they were standing beside the Sheriff.

  Sheriff Akers was stunned. He turned to Johnny and said, “I guess you were telling the truth after all. I’m sorry I doubted you.”

  He then turned back to Luke, “What’s this stuff all over you?” he asked, pointing to the egg clusters, which by now contained developing tadpoles that could be seen squirming inside the eggs.

  Before Luke could respond, Larry spoke up. “It appears to be some type of amphibian egg sack, but I’ve never seen any this large before, and attached to a human? I think that Dr. Clayton needs to see this stuff immediately.”

  “I shouldn’t have left Ellie Jo,” Luke sobbed, biting his lower lip. “But I didn’t know what else to do. Sheriff, you’ve got to go back and get her before it’s too late!” he pleaded.

  “We will, boy, we will,” the Sheriff replied reassuringly.

  “Sheriff,” Tina asked. “Do you have any scuba equipment?”

  “Yes. It’s in the back room.”

  “Good. I’m going home to drop off the boys and get my scuba gear, too,” she said.

  “I’ll radio Dr. Clayton to meet us at Blue Spring,” Larry interjected.

  “And I’ll contact Search and Rescue to have them meet us there with a couple of ambulances,” Sheriff Akers added. He then turned to the campers who had brought Luke into the office. “Take this young man to the hospital down in Mountain View.” Then, pointing to the egg sacks with the wiggling tadpoles inside, he added, “And see if you can get these things off of him.”

  =/=

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Nesting Chamber

  An hour-and-a-half later two ambulances, with their lights still flashing, along with the Sheriff’s SUV and several Search and Rescue vehicles, were parked in the dirt parking lot at the trail head to Blue Spring. A dozen men scurried about the vehicles unloading assorted equipment – medical equipment, stretchers, diving equipment, searchlights and other paraphernal
ia.

  Tina’s Jeep came barreling down the gravel road and skidded to a stop beside the Sheriff’s SUV. Larry was in the front passenger seat. Tina appeared to be somewhat agitated and yelled, “Sheriff, what’s going on?” Without waiting for his answer she continued, “We don’t have time to waste like this. It’s over a half-mile hike to the spring, and with all that stuff you’ll need to make several trips. Load that equipment back up, we’ll take the service road that goes right to the spring.”

  Without waiting for his reply Tina spun the tires on the loose gravel and peeled out, headed for the crossbar that blocked the service road. She rammed it, breaking the lock and exploding the crossbar open, then headed up the dirt service road.

  “Well, what are you men staring at?” barked the Sheriff to the Search and Rescue team. “You heard the lady, let’s go.”

  *

  “I can’t believe you rammed that gate,” exclaimed Larry in amazement as the Jeep bounced up the hill along the rutted and chuckhole-laden road.

  “I’ve always wanted a good excuse to do something like that. I guess I figured that if I didn’t do it now, I’d never get another chance,” responded Tina playfully. Then more seriously she added, “Besides, Ellie Jo may not last much longer. We’ve got to get to her as quickly as we can.”

  The jeep crested the hill and headed down the other side. At the bottom it sloshed across a shallow creek and followed the weed-infested, overgrown service road until it finally came to rest on a grassy strip bordering the spring. Tina and Larry got out of the jeep and started unloading their scuba equipment while waiting for the others to arrive.

  *

  Moments later all the emergency vehicles were parked around Blue Spring. Dr. Welton assisted Clayton and Search and Rescue personnel in unloading two large scuba planes, along with other equipment from a trailer, in preparation for the dive.

  Welton had seen scuba planes before but none that looked like these. The ones that he was familiar with resembled a torpedo with handles on the back end for the diver to hold onto. The planes he was helping to unload, however, were considerably different. Each appeared to be composed of two regular scuba planes spaced about four feet apart. They were connected together with a metal housing and mounted beneath a cargo platform about the size of the bed of a large pick-up truck. Each cargo bed could carry two stretchers secured side-by-side with enough remaining room to transport whatever equipment might be needed.