The Cave

by Tom Clarke

  Darrel looked Jim right in the eyes and shook his head. Both men had taken any emotions they had left and buried them deep and were now running on mission-objective only… get Shelly back and kill as many of those monsters as they could in the process.

  Darrel went to Nico’s body and started checking his pockets and removing anything that may easily identify him. Jim started going through the shot-up truck Nico had arrived in.

  “Holy shit!” Jim yelled, “D get over here!” As Darrel scrambled over to the truck he saw Jim remove a map from the cab. It was stained with blood but on it was a circle and the name Shelly written in pen.

  “This is it!” Jim exclaimed, “Nico was bringing back a map that shows were they’re holding Shelly!”

  Darrel looked at the map, “Brother, this is less than 100 miles from here. We can be there in an hour, hour-and-a-half. If this shit is legit we don’t need to call that frog faced piece of shit, we can just go and let ourselves in!”

  Darrel looked at Jim and then knelt to the ground. As Darrel took a knee, Jim sat down on the ground next to him. “Jesus Darrel, Nico went with those cats from the cave and they must have ambushed him. I mean the fact that he grabbed this map from them shows whose side they were on for sure.”

  Jim put his elbows on his knees and then his face into his hands, “What’s all this shit mean?” he asked as he tried hard to choke back his emotions.

  Darrel looked at his friend who was a few steps away from a complete emotional meltdown. He reached out and grabbed Jim by the shoulder and pulled him in close.

  He started to say something, anything that would keep both he and Jim going, but before he could form a sentence a heavily accented voice spoke behind them.

  “It means that you both suck at CPR.”

  “Mother Fucker!” Jim yelled as both he and Darrel jumped to their feet and came face to face with a very much alive Nico. Jim and Darrel both grabbed their friend and started to pull him in for a group hug when he stopped them, wincing in pain, “Easy, please, everything is still working on healing. Still very sore to the touch.”

  Jim stepped back, wiping tears from his face, “How? I mean… how?! You were dead brother, I mean you were shot to shit bleeding all over the place!” Jim reached out and grabbed Nico’s shoulder, “What the fuck?”

  Nico just stood there for a second looking at Jim and Darrel. His clothing was tattered from the gunfire, but his wounds had healed. “I told you my brothers, I cannot die, he won’t let me. Not yet anyway.”

  Jim and Darrel both just stood there and stared at their friend. “Holy shit you were telling the truth!” Darrel blurts out. “I thought that was just some sort of a weird Tequila induced babble session. You were really telling the truth.”

  Nico turned and walked towards Jim’s SUV, “Yes, I was telling you the truth.”

  “No, fuck that, I watched you die brother. We were working on you and your shit stopped!” Jim said as he walked behind Nico.

  Nico reached into the back seat of Jim’s SUV and from his backpack pulled a fresh shirt. As he changed shirts Jim could see the scars of several lifetimes of war, “Yes… I did die. I deal with injury just like you do. If I get hurt bad enough, I die, but after a short period of time my body heals, and I come back. It all depends on the severity of my injuries.

  Nico turned and looked at Jim and Darrel, “Were you really going to burn me with that truck?” he asked with a look of concern on his face.

  “I’m gonna be fucking sick!” Darrel said as he turned and walked away.

  Jim just stared at his friend and then shook his head.

  “Okay, let’s put all this other shit aside for a few minutes” Jim said as he walked over and grabbed Darrel by the shoulder and turned him around. “What happened, how did you get this map, and most important of all is it accurate?”

  Nico took a seat on the back bumper of Jim’s SUV, “I went with Dimitri, we ended up meeting with the rest of his order.”

  “His order? What the hell does that mean?” Darrel blurted out.

  “Nico, you know that your man Dimitri had the same ink on his arm that those butt nuggets who shot up Jimmy’s crib had on them right!”

  “I know” Nico replied.

  “Wait a minute” Jim interjected. “You knew those dudes who tried to kill my wife? What the fuck Nico!”

  “No, Jim, I did not know them. I didn’t realize that Dimitri was involved with them until we got back and met with the rest of his people. We met at a clearing a few miles away, Dimitri took his jacket off and I saw the tattoo, it was then that I recognized the markings. The other men from the cave were there and they started to argue. Dimitri accused them of betraying the church and their oaths to God. That’s when the shooting started, Dimitri was killed pretty much outright.”

  As Jim listened to Nico describe the gunfight in which Dimitri had been killed, he turned and watched as Darrel removed a large silver flask from his bag. Darrel opened it and took a long drink. He looked at Jim, offered the flask to him, and then soon all three were passing the flask around.

  Nico continued, “After the smoke settled I was removing documents from their persons when I found the map stuffed into the inside pocket of one of their jackets. As I was removing the map I discovered that the jackets owner was still alive, so I questioned him about the map. He was more than happy to tell me everything I wanted to know once I told him if he cooperated he could walk away.”

  “And did you let him walk away?” Jim asked as he took a tug from the flask.

  “Of course not!” Nico replied. “Anyway, after I recovered the map I was getting ready to leave when several more of those Cossacks showed and started shooting holes in me, and my truck. To your original question, yes, I believe the map to be accurate. I also believe that we should go forward with your plan, burn the truck, without me in it, and then go move on this camp.”

  Jim nodded his head in agreement. He turned and looked at Darrel, who was enjoying the final drink from the flask. Darrel nodded in agreement and then threw the empty flask into the woods.

  “Come on, let’s make sure that there’s nothing else in this truck we need” Jim said. As they were checking the shot-up truck Jim grabbed Nico, “You know I thought that you were one of them.”

  Nico just shook his head, “I know my friend, and I don’t blame you one bit.”

  Jim ground his teeth together, slapped his friend on the back, and then threw a lit road flare into the front seat of the truck. It didn’t take long for the fuel, which had been pouring out of the truck to catch fire and soon the entire truck was fully engulfed.

  Jim just stared at the flames as Nico and Darrel loaded equipment into the SUV. The fire from the truck was almost hypnotic as the flames started reaching higher and higher into the night sky. Jim started to feel as if he was losing himself in them, the warmth of the flames from the burning truck felt almost like a blanket wrapping itself around him. Jim felt his eyes start to close, his exhaustion was slowly coming to the front, replacing his focus and clarity of thought. He just stood there, his eyes closed, soaking in the warmth of the flames.

  Just as Jim started to feel himself begin to drift off into oblivion he started to smell it, the smell of burning tires. A nasty smell that instantly took him back to his days as a police officer working on a fiery car crash that claimed the lives of several people. The painful memory of that event snapped Jim out of his near comatose state. The smell of burning rubber filled his nostrils and caused him to recoil from the warmth of the flames.

  As Jim snorted, trying to clear the smell from his sinuses he looked up and saw, standing on the other side of the flames, a young girl in a summer dress. The young girl appeared almost as a reflection, then suddenly Jim saw that she had a large knife stuck in her chest. Before he could say anything, the girl reached up and, without flinching, pulled the knife from her chest.

  Jim tried to speak, but every time he started to open his mouth the smell of burning rubber and
the screams of those car crash victims being burned alive filled and overpowered his body and mind. All he could do was stand there and watch as the young girl held the knife out in front of her and started to scream. He could barely hear her, as if she was trying to scream at him from a long way away. Jim strained to hear what she was yelling when suddenly she stopped. Her face turned pale as she just stood there staring at him, the knife extended out in front of her, pointing right at Jim.

  As Jim watched, paralyzed and unable to speak, the young girl slowly raised her other hand straight out in front of her. Clasped in her hand was the severed head of an adult male. Jim was not able to make out any facial features, but he was able to identify it as a severed head.

  The girl again began to scream, and again, Jim was not able to hear her. Suddenly Jim saw, moving in on the young girl from the side, a large black wolf, almost the size of a miniature pony. He tried to call out to the young girl, but it was too late, the wolf attacked and pulled the girl to the ground. Jim watched in horror as the animal tore into the child, tearing pieces of flesh and shaking the girl’s body like a rag doll.

  The wolf then turned and faced towards Jim. It took a step towards him, stopped, and smiled. It was then that Jim recognized the wolf as the monster that had tormented him as a child. The wolf of his nightmares that had caused him so much fear over the years, fear that he had eventually conceded, and then embraced as he grew to adulthood. It was the same smiling wolf that was tattooed on Jim’s back.

  “Hello Jimmy,” he heard in a sinister, yet almost welcoming voice, “It’s good to see you again.” Powerless, Jim just stood there as the wolf started walking towards him.

  Just before the monster reached the burning truck a hand grabbed Jim by the shoulder and gave him a shake. “Hey, snap out of it!” Darrel yelled as he pulled Jim away from the burning truck.

  Suddenly able to move again, Jim reached down and quickly presented his handgun from the inside-the-pants concealment holster he was carrying. In a fluid motion, he drew the firearm and pushed the muzzle in on target, where he had just seen the large wolf standing.

  As soon as Jim drew his handgun Darrel stepped back and to Jim’s right. Without missing a beat, he too drew his handgun and pointed in at the burning truck, “What brother…. what!”

  Jim just stood there looking at the flames coming from the truck, switching his focus from the fire to his front sight and then back again.

  “Nico! Get over here!” Darrel yelled. “Jim, what did you see? Jim!”

  Jim just stood there, his eyes burning holes into what was left of the truck, “Nothing,” he said as he holstered his handgun. “I thought I saw something, but I guess it’s just stress starting to play games with me. It’s all good.”

  As he turned towards Darrel and Nico, Jim suddenly heard sirens piercing the night's darkness. “Come on,” Jim said as he took a last look around, “we better get out of here before the Calvary shows up.”

  Without another word Jim, Darrel, and Nico all got into Jim’s SUV and started driving out of the area. Nico was laying down in the back seat while Jim and Darrel were in the front with the windows down, careful not to speed in such a manner as to draw the attention of any first responders they may pass.

  “What did you see back there?” Darrel asked. Jim looked over at him, shook his head and replied, “I saw a kid with a knife in her chest. Then a big ass wolf ran up and killed her. Then that thing started running towards me.”

  Darrel felt sick to his stomach as all the color ran out of his face. “The kid, was she wearing a summer dress?” Darrel asked.

  Jim looked over at his partner, Darrel’s distress at what Jim had just told him was written across his face, “Yeah, she was” he replied in a guarded tone.

  “Brother, I saw the same kid back at the hospital when they grabbed Shelly” Darrel said in a somber tone of voice as he looked out the open window. “What’s that mean?”

  “I don’t know,” Jim replied as he focused on the road in front of them, “I don’t know.”

  “She is a ghost” Nico said from the back of the SUV. “When you see her with the knife in the chest, that’s how she died, at the end of the knife, and at the hand of one of those monsters.”

  “How do you know that?” Darrel asked as he handed a bottle of water back to Nico.

  Fighting back some serious emotions Nico replied, “Because I was there when she was killed. Her name was Lilly, a beautiful child. Her mother and I were, well, friends.”

  Jim almost crashed the SUV as he pulled into a rest area at speed. “Nico, was she your kid?” he asked after pulling into a parking spot.

  “No, I can’t have children,” he replied. “After sealing Alan in the cave, I met a young woman, Lilly’s mother. I decided to take a break from the church and we moved to Oklahoma to be with her father on his farm. Shortly after the rain stopped and dust came.”

  “The dust bowl” Darrel said.

  “Yes” Nico replied as the three got out of the SUV to stretch their legs.

  Looking at the sun rising in the distance Nico continued, “After the rain stopped and the dust came it didn’t take long for the people who stayed to try and rationalize what was happening. Soon a group of men showed up, telling the farm owners that their God could help.”

  “Nico, were these men tall with a thin build and wearing light brown suits with brimmed hats?” Jim asked in a somber voice.

  “Yes” Nico relied. “As such things go people, desperate for any solution listened to what they had to say, Lilly’s grandfather Jedidiah was one of them. He invited several of them to their home for a dinner one night. I was there with Lilly and her mother Sarah. I knew that the people coming over where con men, but I had no idea who they really were.”

  Darrel reached out and stopped Nico from speaking, “Brother we know where this is going, you don’t have to say any more.”

  Nico looked back, the pain in his eyes started to spread to his face, “When I was in the Legions I had a real sense of family. Then in an instant it was all gone. For so long I was hollow, a shell swinging a sword, and then firing a gun, even with the church I felt on the outside with no family. The I met Sarah and it was like a new sun rising.”

  Nico smiled, “Jim, when I see you and your wife together, I’m reminded of Sarah, Lilly and me. When I was with them, I felt hope.”

  Jim leaned against the SUV, trying to picture his friend with a wife and child running around. “What happened?”

  Jim and Darrel watched as Nico’s pain turned to rage, “The night that the men came to Jedidiah’s home, they walked in and their leader immediately recognized me. It was Den-Ra-Tenian, a lower level demon who, now without his master Alan, had decided to become master himself. He and his followers immediately set upon me, I should have been able to take them, but I had been living in a fool’s paradise. They held Sarah and I down and made us watch as they murdered her family and several of their friends.”

  A chill ran through Jim and Darrel. From previous experience they both knew what Nico meant by murdered, and it involved people getting their heads chopped off.

  “When it was over they ran me through with a large knife. The last thing I remember before everything went black was them dragging Sarah away and Lilly trying to stop them. When I came back, I found Lilly, barely alive with the knife in her chest. I delivered her last rights and she passed in my arms.”

  “That’s what Tyler, I mean Tenian meant when he said that you couldn’t save them.” Nico shook his head, “Yes. I searched but never did find Sarah’s body. It was after that I returned to the church.”

  “Nico, did you see that kid at the hospital?” Darrel asked. “Yes. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to believe it.”

  “What’s it mean, her showing up like that?” Jim asked. “I don’t know. I wish that I did, but I don’t.” Nico replied

  “Looks like we all got a personal dog in this fight” Jim said as he grabbed Nico by the shoulder.
“Come on, let’s go find these assholes and settle some scores!”

  .15

  Compound

  The sun was starting to get low on the horizon as Jim, Darrel, and Nico slowly crawled from a wood line and up a small bluff which overlooked the location circled on the map.

  Making sure that they were not profiling themselves against the setting sun Jim and Darrel looked down on the compound with small binoculars as Nico covered their position with his rifle.

  “Holy shit!” Darrel muttered as he looked across the large compound. “Jimmy, look at this place! We may need a little help with this one.”

  Jim’s mind was racing as he was trying to come up with a plan to address the compound he was looking at. Through his glasses he could see that the area where his wife was being held was made up of one larger log cabin type building, and then another smaller log cabin that appeared to be a church of some sort. There were also several outbuildings, one of which that looked like it may be a dormitory of some sort.