by Steven Bird
Removing the cloth containing his jerky from his pack, Jessie handed Nate a piece and said, “Eat up. We don’t know when we’re gonna get a chance to refuel again.” He then placed the rest of the jerky in a side pocket on his pack and removed two small dry bags and a box of ammunition for his rifle.
Jessie placed the box of ammunition in one of the dry bags and wrapped it up tight. He then placed the pack off to the side behind several of the exotic cave formations, attempting to hide it the best he could.
“Are you ready to go dark?” he asked.
“No, but I don’t really have a choice, do I?” Nate sarcastically replied.
“No, sir, at least not one that I can see.” Reaching out and taking the torch, Jessie whispered, “Well, here goes,” as he smothered the small flames of the torch with the cloth and the two men quickly found themselves surrounded by a total and absolute darkness.
“Damn it!” Jessie exclaimed quietly.
“What?”
“Just burned my hand, that’s all,” he replied.
Fumbling around in the darkness, Jessie grumbled, “I sure wish I would have gotten my lighter out of the pack before turning out the lights.”
Hearing Nate chuckle, Jessie fumbled around in the darkness for his pack and dug around by feel until he found his lighter. After placing the lighter in the dry bag containing the ammunition, Jessie touched the torch to see if it had sufficiently cooled. “Just a few more minutes,” he said.
“A few more minutes for what?” Nate asked.
“It’s still a little hot. I’m going to wrap the torch with the other dry bag, then stuff it down the back of my shirt, keeping it up above my head and hopefully out of the water the best I can. With the handle sticking out, the drybag won't seal, but it should protect it from splashes and such. I’m gonna give it a minute to cool, though. I don’t want the dry bag to melt from the heat.”
After a few more minutes, Jessie touched the torch, and now being happy with its temperature, he wrapped the end of it tightly with the dry bag and slipped it into the collar of his shirt behind him. “Can you swim with your prosthetic?” he asked.
“While you were fidgeting around in the dark with the torch, I took a piece of paracord from my cargo pocket and made a tether for it, running up to my belt. I don’t want to take any chances with it in the water and being unable to see. I’m hoping we can wade through this. I’d really rather not be swimming. Just imagine swimming overtop of a sharp stalagmite, then sinking down on top of it.”
“Damn!” Jessie swore. “Let’s stop talking about snakes and possible impalements and get on with things before we talk ourselves out of it. Are you ready?”
With his rifle slung around his neck, preparing to step into the unknown, Nate grunted, “No, but let’s get on with it.”
Chapter Eight
“Are you still there?” Britney asked, attempting to break through the feeling of utter loneliness in which her world of darkness surrounded her.
“That’s a stupid thing to ask,” grumbled Greg.
Taken aback by his hostility, she relaxed, took a deep breath, then asked, “So… what kind of music do you listen to?” She almost immediately felt embarrassed by the silliness of her question.
Hearing only a shuffle against the floor along with the jingle of Greg’s chains as he moved, Britney sighed and wished for sleep. Fatigue was setting in from the accumulated stress of the past few very long days. The bus she and her parents traveled on the previous day had departed very early, around 4:00 AM, and the stress of it all had taken a lot out of her already malnourished and weakened state. Time was already becoming a foreign concept to her. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious earlier, or what time it may be now. It was all a blur. A horrible, painful blur.
“Can I ask you a simple question?” she queried.
“Go ahead,” he mumbled.
“How do you drink? If you’re here for several days, they obviously give you water, right?”
Exhaling, as if fatigued by her interest in talking, Greg explained, “Do you hear all that water dripping around you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it’s all around you. The water that drips from above collects in little pockets on the floor. You just have to find them. You’ll get as much grime in your mouth as water, but it works.”
“Thanks,” she replied softly. She could hear Greg shift around as if turning away from her.
As she laid there in the total darkness with nothing but the sounds of dripping water to remind her she was even still alive, the sound of a horn, the same primitive sounding horn they had heard in the forest before their encounter, echoed through her surroundings, bouncing off the cave walls and creating a confusing and scary sound.
Hearing the chains of both Greg and the other captive begin to rustle, Britney could hear a voice quivering beyond Greg. “No… no… no, no, no, no!” the voice began shrieking with fear.
Britney could hear several heavy-sounding figures enter the room. Communicating with only a few grunts, the captors made their way through the darkness. Britney shook in fear when the voice on the far side of the room began to scream as sounds of a struggle were now evident. “No! No! Let me go! Let me goooo! Please! Please, let me go!” the voice cried, eventually being overcome by uncontrollable sobbing.
Hearing the chains that had once been secured firmly to the panic-stricken young man on the other side of the room drop to the floor, she realized that the sounds had begun to fade and she could tell they were walking away, carrying their victim along with them just as she had been carried into this chamber of the cave.
Noticing sobbing in the darkness, still in the chamber alongside her, Britney’s voice trembled as she called out, “Greg… are you still there?”
“Shhhh…” Greg responded. “Try not to listen.”
“Listen to what?” she asked.
Before Greg could answer, blood-curdling screams of agony could be heard echoing all throughout the chambers of the cave. These weren’t merely sounds of a frightened individual; these were truly sounds of agonizing torment. The screams soon began to gurgle, and then, there was only silence.
Afraid to ask what had just occurred, not wanting to know the answer, Britney closed her eyes and prayed quietly, “Dear Lord. Dear Lord, please rescue us from this place. I’ve prayed to you so many times before, asking for help, asking for mercy on me and my parents, but it never came. Dear God, please hear me now. Please rescue us from this living hell. Don’t let our lives end like this.”
Sniffling, Greg said, “Praying doesn’t work. I’ve tried. Others have tried. I’m next. You’ll hear my screams next. There’s nothing your empty words can do to stop that.”
She tried to think of something comforting or positive to say, but she knew Greg had been through much more than herself down in this hellish dungeon. She knew her words would fall on deaf ears and he would likely just say something to dash her fading hopes. Greg’s spirit had been completely broken, and there was nothing Britney could say to ease his pain.
Putting herself into Greg’s shoes, Britney not only dreaded what would come next, but she also dreaded the thought of her own resignation of death. The only thing she’d had to keep her going through so many of the hard times she and her family had gone through was a hope that one day the hell that befell her nation would begin to heal, and they could begin to rebuild their lives.
But now… now her parents were gone, and her hope that had once shone brightly to everyone around her, was beginning to fade. That horrible, helpless feeling of resignation that had already consumed Greg was creeping into her soul. She could feel its darkness washing over her.
~~~~
Slipping into the cold, dark water, Jessie took several steps and found himself standing waist deep. “It gets deep pretty quick,” he whispered.
“Is it slick?” Nate asked, concerned about the footing he would have with his prosthetic leg.
“The limestone is
pretty gritty. I don’t think you’ll have a problem.
“If you say so,” Nate replied as he, too, entered the water. “Whew, that’s cold.”
“You ain’t kiddin’,” Jessie agreed, continuing his way forward with one hand on his rifle and the other reaching out into the darkness in front of him.
With the water now reaching his neck, Jessie said, “I sure hope it doesn’t get any deeper. I’m not a frogman. I’m not sure how well I’d do swimming with boots and a rifle.”
“Try doing it with only one good leg,” Nate mused.
“Right,” Jessie chuckled as his fingers grazed the side of the cave. “If I move any more to the right, it seems like it would get really deep, really fast. The left side slants upward. Let’s try to keep to the left for now.”
“Right behind you,” Nate said, following the sound of Jessie’s voice. Barely holding his face above the water with his head tilted all the way back, he added, “You’re what, an inch, maybe an inch and a half taller than me?”
“Something like that,” Jessie replied.
“Lucky bastard. I’d give anything for that inch right now,” Nate said as water entered his ears.
Feeling a dip in the floor beneath them, Jessie paused and whispered, “Hold up.”
Doing as Jessie instructed, Nate patiently awaited Jessie’s next move as the two men heard the sound of a metallic thud and the sloshing of water up ahead. The sound was faint, and both men instantly ceased all movements. Listening intently, they could hear the familiar sounds of water swirling around an oar.
Hearing what they assumed was a boat gliding through the water ahead of them, both Jessie and Nate lowered themselves into the water as far as they could to reduce the chance of being spotted.
How wide is it right here? Jessie began to wonder. Will there be room for a boat to go past us? How are they guiding that thing? How can they see?
As the sounds drew nearer, Jessie wanted to bring his rifle to bear, but he knew the sounds of moving it in the water would give away the fact that he and Nate were there. Resisting the urge to act, Jessie hoped Nate would do the same, but mentally prepared himself for that not to be the case.
When the boat reached their position, Jessie felt the water from the oar wash over his face and into his eyes. Nearly choking on the water as it entered his nose mid-inhale, Jessie struggled to contain his reaction as the boat continued to slip on by.
Reaching the point where they had entered the water, Jessie could hear the metal-hulled boat dragging against the limestone as he heard what sounded like at least two occupants exiting the boat, and stepping out onto the floor of the cave.
Raising his mouth above the waterline after hearing the boat’s occupants work their way toward the entrance of the cave, Jessie whispered, “C’mon,” as he continued working his way forward. “They’re gonna see our tracks and find our gear. Be careful, there is a hole or dip right here,” he warned as he felt his way along the cave wall, wading as fast as he could while trying to reduce the sounds he made while moving hastily through the water.
Having traveled a considerable distance, Jessie realized the water had begun to shallow out. Believing he was reaching the end of the underground waterway, Jessie had started to communicate his findings with Nate when they heard the horn sound yet again. This time, it was behind them, toward the entrance of the cave.
“They found our stuff!” Nate whispered with panic in his voice.
Hearing trickling water and feeling a cold current flowing from his immediate left, Jessie felt around and determined it to be a downward flow through an irregularly shaped tunnel. He imagined it would be the source of a strong water flow following a storm on the surface, but with the dry conditions as of late, it was merely a trickle.
“C’mon! In here,” he whispered, urging Nate to follow.
Feeling around with his hands, Nate found the passage and began to climb inside, following along behind Jessie who was now scurrying through the upward slanting tube, approximately ten feet inside.
Hearing heavy metallic thuds coming from the direction of the boat, they knew whoever it was who had been moving around so efficiently in the cave was returning, probably to deliver the news of signs of their presence.
“Take my hand,” whispered Jessie as he wedged himself tightly in the water passage, reaching into the darkness and hoping to feel Nate take hold.
With the boat rapidly approaching their position, Nate’s boot slipped, sending him splashing into the water below.
As the boat drew closer, Jessie heard a grunt as one of the boat’s occupants dove from the boat and into the water after Nate.
Still below the surface of the water from his fall, Nate heard the splash and felt the turbulence of the boat’s occupant aggressively entering the water. Attempting to swim away, he felt a sting on his thigh, followed by severe, searing pain.
Drawing his knife, he swung it blindly beneath the water, making contact with a fleshy material as a hand grabbed him by the wrist.
Hearing the other figure stumble around in the boat as if he was following the struggle from above the surface, Jessie blindly launched himself from his position of visual cover toward the sounds of the boat.
Feeling his chin contact something hard and angular, followed by the soft fury feel of a large body, Jessie felt as if the entire cave was tumbling as the boat leaned over, spilling him and his target into the water.
Feeling a sudden impact as his target’s head smashed against the side of the cave underneath the water, Jessie drew his knife and began slashing and stabbing wildly until his victim’s struggles ceased.
Taking hold of what he had impacted with his chin, Jessie immediately recognized it to be goggles of some sort. Hearing a gasp for air, Jessie struggled to don the goggles, just in time to see a blurry image of Nate breaking through the surface, gasping for air.
“It’s me!” he shouted as he reached out for Nate, grabbing him by the sleeve and dragging him to the edge of the water. “This way,” he said, pulling Nate toward the nearby rocks and deeper in the cave.
Struggling to their feet, Jessie asked, “Are you okay?”
“My leg. It burns,” Nate replied.
“C’mon. I can see. Those bastards had night vision. Let’s get moving before more of their comrades show up. They didn’t blow that horn because they were alone. That was a signal.”
Removing the monocular and attempting to wipe it dry to no avail, Jessie looked around to see the distorted image of Nate’s rifle being dragged along behind him.
“Good call with the paracord,” Jessie said as he picked it up and placed it in Nate’s arms.
Confirming that he, too, still had his rifle slung securely over his back, Jessie led Nate to a fork in the cavern. To his right was a well-traveled corridor in the shape of an ellipse. To his left was a narrow passage made up of many irregular rock forms and outcrops, as if carved by years of turbulent water flow.
Seeing something strange lying between the two passageways, Jessie wiped the lens of the night vision once again to see what appeared to be a pile of human bones and skulls. “Holy hell,” he mumbled, taking in the macabre sight.
“What?” Nate asked.
“Sick bastards left a warning of sorts. C’mon, this way,” he said, pulling Nate along behind him and into the passage to the left.
“Watch your head,” he said, leading Nate beneath a stalactite and several other overhead formations.
Trying to get some distance between themselves and the location of their encounter, Jessie pushed Nate hard, although he could feel his efforts begin to fade.
“My tourniquet,” Nate muttered through gritted teeth. “Here,” he said as he fished around in his cargo pocket. “Put this on my leg. Above here,” he, groaned, pointing to his wound.
Looking at Nate’s leg with the night vision he had placed over his head with attached headband, Jessie said, “Oh, yeah, that’s pretty bad. That went deep.”
Working the t
ourniquet around Nate’s leg, Jessie drew it tight and tied it off. “C’mon. We’ll check it again once we get some more distance between them and us.”
On the move once again, Jessie began leading Nate up a slippery incline covered with what appeared to be fresh soil and sediment.
Around a large pile of rocks that were present from an apparent partial ceiling collapse, Nate said, “I see light.”
Seeing a bright spot through the monocular, Jessie raised it off his eye to see sunlight shining in from the outside.
“C’mon!” he said, leading Nate up the steepening incline toward the opening above and ahead.
Reaching the opening, Jessie desperately dug with his hands, quickly transferring to his Marlin rifle, smashing at the rocks and roots above them, exposing more of the cave’s passage to the final rays of the day’s light above.
Partially climbing out of the hole, Jessie found that they were between two large rocks that reached out from the side of a steep hill in a heavily wooded area.
Climbing up and out of the hole, Jessie reached inside, taking Nate by the hand and heaving him upward and out of the hole.
“Fresh air at last,” Nate said jokingly to mask his pain. Taking Nate by the hand, Jessie pulled him over his back and into the fireman’s carry position.
“What the hell are you doing?” Nate asked.
“I’m getting you far from here so we can get you fixed up.”
“We can’t leave her behind!” protested Nate. “We know where she must be now!”
“We won’t,” Jessie assured him. “Trust me.”
Chapter Nine
“Damn, that hurts,” Nate cursed as Jessie administered a more proper level of first aid to his leg.
“Yeah, well, so will gangrene,” Jessie countered. “Just how many legs do you want to lose? You’ve not got many options left.”
“That’s not funny,” Nate grumbled. “But you’re right. I’ve got to hang on to that one. It carries the lion’s share of the load.”