The Cave

by Tom Clarke

  “Yeah, it’s no Rocket’s, that’s for sure” Jim said in a hushed voice.

  “How high do you figure that fence is?” Jim asked.

  As Darrel glassed over the length of the fence, he replied, “Has to be at least six-feet. Look at the concertina wire across the top, it’s pointed in, like they are trying to keep someone from getting out.”

  “I have eyes on what looks like the only gate” Jim said. “It’s a sliding car gate, I don’t see any other points of entry. The mechanism looks like it’s electric, probably opens and shuts with a remote.”

  “I see it” Darrel said as he adjusted his position. “Yeah, hey, vehicle approaching from the outside. Yup, there goes the gate, it opened as they were driving up to it. It’s got to be either a remote or manned from a gate room with a camera.”

  “Bingo!” Jim said, “I think I just found our way in. Look who just got out of the front seat of that rig that just pulled in.”

  “Yes, sir!” Darrel cracked. “Hello, Smiley, you piece of shit you!”

  Jim tapped Darrel on the side and then motioned for him to follow Jim back down the bluff and over to Nico. Once at the bottom Jim motioned for Nico to come over and join them. Nico nodded and slowly crept through the woods from his position, which overlooked a gravel road that led to the compound.

  “Okay, here it is” Jim said as he started a rough sketch of the compound in the dirt. “This building here, it looks like a main lodge, this one here looks to be a church of some sort. Across this open grassy area is what looks like a dorm and these two just look like utility buildings.”

  Before Jim could continue with his plan a loud howl came from the area of the compound, then several more. Jim just shook his head and continued, “From what we could see this is the only road leading in. The entire place is ringed with fence, the gate, here, looks to run on a remote.”

  “How do you know it’s on a remote?” Nico asked.

  “Well, I’m guessing” Jim said. “We watched an SUV come rolling in, the gate opened as it approached, and then shut once it was inside. So, it’s either a remote, or they have a monitored gate room with some well-hidden cameras.”

  Nico nodded his head in agreement, “Okay, sounds good enough to me. How do we get in?”

  “That’s the good part” Jim said with a crooked smile on his face. “That dipshit Smiley is who got out of that SUV. I’ll call, tell him we have the stone, but were on the run and he needs to meet us right now in Tusayan to get it before we get killed and it goes away. When he leaves we carjack him!”

  “I like it!” Darrel said. “That town is what, two hours down the road? If he tells the folks there at his house where he’s going, which you know he will, they won’t expect him back for several hours.”

  “Yeah. I didn’t see any light by the gate either so once we have control of Smiley’s ride, and the remote, we can pop the gate and one of us can slip in on foot as we roll in” Jim said in a slightly proud voice.

  “I’ll go on foot” Nico said. “I can run a lot faster than either of you.”

  “I know that’s true,” Jim replied. “Once we're in let’s converge on the main building. We will try and get as much intel out of Smiley before we move, but if I had to guess, I would say that’s where they have her.”

  “Jim, what if the gate is not on a remote?” Nico asked hesitantly.

  Jim’s focus narrowed, “If the gate doesn’t open then we will ram it with the SUV. At that point we’re committed, the cat’s going to be out of the bag. If we abort they may just decide that there’s no reason to keep Shelly around anymore.”

  “Agreed!” Darrel said with Nico nodding his head in agreement.

  With the sun setting deeper and deeper in the sky, Jim looked at his watch and said, “It’s 6pm now, let’s call Smiley at 8 and then we will plan on hitting this place at 10:30’ish. Hopefully we will catch them closing for the night. Best case they will all be drunk and half-asleep.”

  Referring back to his map drawn in the dirt Jim continued, “Let’s hit the SUV here. It’s far enough away that if there’s shooting we won’t tip our hand, the road is narrow, and there’s a nice deep ditch where we can get rid of any unwanted cargo. Once we have control of the SUV Nico, you drive it to this pull off here. Darrel and I will take Smiley with us in my rig and follow.”

  “What about anyone else that’s with him?” Nico asked.

  Jim looked over at Nico and said, “That’s what the ditch is for.”

  Nico smiled and nodded. “Okay, we have some time. Darrel why don’t you see if you can get that UAV of yours in the air while Nico and I go prep some gear.”

  “One more thing Jim” Darrel said. “What about the stone?”

  “We bring it with us as a bargaining chip” Jim replied.

  “Jim, we can’t!” Nico said. “If this fails, and they get the talisman it will all be for nothing!”

  “Not to worry” Jim replied, “I’ve got it covered. If it looks like things are going to shit I will destroy the rock.”

  Nico breathed a heavy sigh and just shook his head.

  There was a short pause while the three looked at each other. “Fellas” Jim said, “this is it, last chance to back out. I don’t blame either of you if you do, there’s a real chance this isn’t gonna work and shit will be bad.” Both Nico and Darrel just smiled and then headed off.

  Jim stood there for a minute soaking it all in. Then from the direction of the small bluff, he heard a child’s voice, “He will betray you.”

  Jim looked around, not seeing anything he slowly moved through the woods until he could see the bluff where he had been earlier. Sitting in the grass was the young girl in the flower print dress, “He didn’t tell you what happened” the little girl said. “He’s going to betray you. They cannot be allowed to get the tablet.”

  Jim looked at the young girl for a few seconds, thought of his wife Shelly, turned and walked away.

  It was a little after 8pm when Jim and Nico set up in the ambush location, one on either side of the road. Darrel had set up back in his position on the bluff overlooking the compound.

  “Jim, I’m set” Darrel’s voice came cracking over the earpiece for the handheld radio. “Be advised I have an eye on the target, he’s standing in front of the main building talking to another unknown male.”

  “Copy” Jim replied as he looked across the road at Nico, who was giving him the thumbs up sign. “I’m making the call now.”

  Jim picked up his phone, took a deep breath, and dialed the number Paul given them. Using an application that Darrel had loaded to Jim’s phone the call appeared to be coming in from the cell that Paul had supplied and not Jim’s personal phone.

  With a sneer on his face Darrel watched through the binoculars as Paul answered Jim’s call.

  “Hello my friend Jim Richards. Your call is sooner that I had expected, all is well I hope?” Paul hissed into the phone.

  “We got it!” Jim barked back into the phone as he forced himself to breath heavy as though he had been running. “Listen, shit went bad! We're on the run, there’s a group after us!”

  “What, who is after you? Why are you breathing so hard, Richards what’s going on?” Paul replied.

  “I don’t know who they are!” Jim replied. “I think their church people, they had a priest with them. They jumped us as we were coming out of the cave. They killed Darrel and took the tablet, but we were able to get it back.”

  “Church people!” Paul yelled into the phone.

  Jim could hear Paul yelling in an unknown language at someone away from the phone. Darrel’s voice then cracked over his ear piece, “Jim, be advised target is yelling at a couple of folks and pointing at the main house.”

  Jim listened as he could again hear Paul yelling and what sounded like stomping around in the gravel. “Jim” Darrel’s voice spoke again. “Jim, they just dragged what looks like a priest and a couple of folks in suits out of the main house.”

  Paul th
en came back on the line, “Jim, where are you?”

  “I’m on the south side of an old airport just outside of Tusayan. Look, these guys have the cops looking for us as well! I can’t hold this much longer, bring me my wife and we will do the trade now, before they take this thing from me again!”

  “Yes,” Paul said calmly into the cell phone. “We will come to you immediately! However, your lovely wife is sick, the flu I think, she will have to wait here. We will escort you back here. You will be perfectly safe, I promise.”

  “Fuck you!” Jim yelled into the phone. “We had a deal! I held up my end, my friend is dead! Now you hold up yours!”

  “I understand your position” Paul replied, again in a calm voice. “This is how it’s going to have to be, I am sorry. We will compensate you and your wife. Of that you can sure.”

  After a short pause, Jim replied, “Okay. But the stone stays with me until I’m back with Shelly!”

  “Of course!” Paul replied. “I would not have it any other way. Jim, my new friend, we want to work with you. You, and your wife have nothing to fear from us. I will see you very soon.”

  With that Jim disconnected his call. He gave Nico another thumbs up and then radioed Darrel. “Darrel, Jim, targets on the hook. They will not have Shelly with them. He said that she’s sick.”

  “Copy” Darrel replied. “Jim I’ve got eyes on some movement with the target. He’s yelling at the priest and his two associates.”

  Jim leaned up from the ditch he was in and made eye contact with Nico. Jim tapped his earpiece, Nico nodded, indicating that he was hearing Darrel’s transmissions.

  “Jim, Darrel, looks like it’s getting pretty heated down there. Target just kicked one of the men in the suits and is now yelling at the priest and pointing at his cell phone. Jim, I have eyes on who I think is Alan. Yeah, that’s lone wolf reaper alright! He has cut his hair but that’s him for sure. He’s yelling at Paul, now at the priest. Okay, they are dragging the priest and his pals off towards the church. Paul just got into a dark colored SUV and is leaving the compound via the main gate. Target is front seat, passenger side. He’s on his way to you, good luck!”

  “Copy” Jim replied. “Go ahead and move to your position two and launch the overwatch.”

  “Yeah, you hear that Nico, he said it!” Darrel laughed into the radio as he shuffled from his original position and then ran through the woods to another wooded hill that gave him a clear line of sight of the road leading from the compound.

  Once Darrel got set in on the other hill he launched the drone he had bought which was now paired with his cell phone. “Jim, birds in the air, climbing to altitude. I have a visual via UAV on the target vehicle, they are hauling ass!”

  As Darrel watched the video feed on his cell phone being shot by his new toy he smiled as Paul’s SUV barreled towards Jim and Nico. “Jim, targets approaching the corner right before you.”

  “Copy, we see it, stand by.” Jim replied.

  As the SUV approached it slowed to round a sharp corner in the road. Waiting on the far side of the corner was Jim and Nico. As the vehicle rounded the corner, and then started to accelerate again Nico fired one round from his rifle, striking one of the Tannerite bombs they had placed in the middle of the road.

  The explosion blew up a cloud of dust that enveloped the road and peppered the SUV with gravel. The driver lost control on the loose gravel and drove nose first right into the ditch on Nico’s side of the road.

  Jim keyed the mic on his radio and barked, “Contact!” as he stood and ran towards the SUV. He couldn’t hear Darrel’s reply over the sound of Nico’s rife as he fired several rounds into the front windshield of the SUV killing the driver.

  At almost the same time Jim ran up and smashed out the back-cargo door window of the SUV with the muzzle of his rifle.

  As the window shattered the three-people sitting in the back seat, who were getting ready to get out of the SUV and fire back at Nico, suddenly turned, startled, and look at Jim as he shot all three several times in the upper body.

  As Jim finished shooting, he ejected the near empty magazine from his rifle, letting it fall to the ground as he quickly seated a fresh on in its place. As he hit the bottom of the magazine to ensure that it seated completely he could hear Nico yelling commands at Paul. Jim took another quick look in the back of the SUV to ensure that no one else was in the vehicle. He then moved up the passenger side of the SUV, adjusting his rifle so that hung across his back and out of the way.

  As Jim reached the front passenger side of the vehicle he pulled the door open, reached in, grabbed Paul, and threw him from the SUV and down onto the ground. Jim followed Paul’s body down to the ground, planting a knee in Paul’s back. He then took control of Paul’s hands and bound them with a flex-cuff.

  “Secure!” Jim yelled as he pulled Paul to his feet and dragged him over to their SUV.

  Nico did one last check of Paul’s SUV and then hollered back, “Clear!”

  Nico jumped into the driver’s seat of the still running SUV, shoving the former driver into the passenger seat. He back up out of the ditch and drove the SUV into a small turn-out, and then off into the woods. He shut the SUV off, took the keys, and quickly searched the bodies of the men inside the SUV for anything of use. Taking the keys, and a garage-door style remote that was affixed to the sun screen he then ran over to help Jim manage Paul.

  As they reached Jim’s SUV, which was hidden in the woods, Paul suddenly realized what had just happened. He had been tricked by the human, who he thought he had so masterfully played, and then in a matter of seconds his entire detail was dead, and he was again the prisoner of Jim Richards. Paul did the only thing he could think of, he started to scream for help.

  As Paul started to scream Jim threw him against the side of his SUV and then punched him in the stomach. Paul let out a gasp, then looked up at Jim and started to hiss like a snake. Jim watched as Paul’s mouth opened wider and wider, exposing a row of sharp teeth, all curved inwards just like a python. Paul’s skin tone started to turn to a dullish gray and his eyes became a milky color. His shoulder rocked back, and his head shot forward towards Jim, his mouth open wide.

  Paul’s mouth snapped shut, his teeth cracking together, his eyes almost bugging out of his head, as Jim stepped back and snap-kicked Paul in the groin. Paul let out a high-pitched yell, fell to his knees, and was immediately struck in the side of his head by Jim’s right knee.

  “Nico, grab me Darrel’s shirt out of the back and that role of tape” Jim yelled as Nico came running over.

  Nico pulled one of Darrel’s dirty shirts from the back of the SUV and handed it, and the role of tape, to Jim. Jim knelt next to Paul, pinched his nose, and then dropped a knee into Paul’s stomach. Paul opened his mouth wide to try and get a breath and Jim shoved Darrel’s shirt into his mouth. Jim then ran a length of tape across his mouth and around his head.

  “You should have brought my wife!” Jim said as he stood Paul up. “I don’t care if you’re a man, monster, demon, snake, whatever! We are going to go and have a chat and if you don’t tell me exactly what I want to know I’m going to make a pair of boots out of you!”

  Paul tried to shake away, and then suddenly stopped as Jim put the sharp edge of his knife against Paul’s face, “You have no idea who you’re fucking with!” Jim said in a tone that sent chills into not just Paul, but Nico as well.

  As Jim got into the driver seat Nico got into the very back with Paul. Pulling out of their woodland hiding spot Jim radioed Darrel, “Darrel, Jim. We’re secure, headed to you, package in tow.”

  “Copy” Darrel replied. “Bird is up, road is clear.”

  The entire contact with Paul’s vehicle took approximately 90 seconds. A little bit longer than Jim had anticipated. Jim looked back at Nico as they pulled down the road towards Darrel. They didn’t say anything, but both knew that there was no turning back. They had just crossed the point of no return. Nico gave Jim a slight smile, nodded, and t
hen turned his attention back to Paul.

  As Jim slowed by the base of a small hill Darrel, who had already recovered his drone, came running out of the wood line. Jim reached across and popped the front passenger door open. Without missing a beat Darrel ran up and jumped in as if he had done it a thousand times before.

  Darrel looked over at Jim, “You guys okay?”

  “Yeah” Jim replied. “Went good. That Tannerite was some good shit!”

  Darrel smiled, then looked back at Nico, “Nico, you okay? Hey look, it’s Paul! Good to see you again Paul.”

  Nico winked as Paul started to thrash around in the back. Darrel looked back at Jim, “Jim? Did you really have to shove my shirt into that snake things mouth?”

  “Probably not,” Jim replied with a slight smile on his face. “But it just felt right!”