Chapter Twenty Six
The roads continued to narrow until we were travelling down what amounted to little more than a dirt track. Eventually we reached a place where the trees were too thick to find a route through anymore and the truck rolled to a stop.
"I don't think the truck can go any further," Alicia called from the front seat.
"Okay, it looks like it's time to move on foot from here then," Coal replied, jumping out.
I picked up my pack, opened my door and hopped down. Coal caught me and set me firmly on my feet as I sank several inches into a thick layer of mud.
"Thanks," I muttered. I hoped he was being polite rather than actually thinking I was so useless that I couldn't make it out of a car unassisted.
Big clouds rolled across the sky turning it grey and muting the light beneath the trees. It cast everything in a kind of dim glow. Hunter pulled up behind us, half of his unit were perched in the truck bed looking distinctly windswept. He hopped out too and strode towards us through the river of mud.
"This is where we part ways. Your GPS will lead you to the bunker. I think you should be able to take a straight route on flat ground for the first few miles but you'll have to go over more difficult terrain from there. We'll head west to start those distractions and meet you back at the edge of an old town over to the east of this area by dawn tomorrow. I've saved its coordinates in your GPS for later," Hunter said. He gave each of us a quick one-armed hug before turning back to his truck, revving the engine and reversing back up the trail. We watched as his truck disappeared before preparing to head on ourselves.
Coal jumped up into the truck bed and quickly handed out fresh bottles of water and some food supplies. While we packed them away he unfurled a big tarpaulin. It was the same colour as the surrounding forest and textured to look like dead leaves. He spread it over the truck which, when coupled with the camouflage paintwork of the truck itself, made it very hard to spot.
"Let's get going then," Alicia said, holding the GPS out to guide us.
It was so dark under the cover of the trees that Alicia got her torch out and flicked it on. We crept forwards, trying not to cause too much disturbance as we advanced closer and closer to the green dot marked on the GPS.
It was a tense journey. We squelched our way forwards through the gloom and I spent time checking my weapons were all in place and easily accessible.
The shadows between the trees promised of menacing things lurking within but the forest stayed calm around us.
"It's quiet out here," I said to Coal, my own voice low.
"It's Creeper country. Nothing goes near them if it's smart enough. Even the trees seem unhappy here," he replied, his voice quiet too.
"So I take it we aren't smart enough?" My hand moved to touch my pistol for reassurance.
"Coming here was not a decision I made lightly. Let's just hope the distractions work and the Creepers stay well away from us," he said, raising an eyebrow.
"What should I do if we see one?" I tapped a finger along the row of knives at my belt. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven-
"Run. Shoot if you can, but there's never just one. If you see one and it hasn't seen you, just get the hell away."
"Where to?" That hadn't been the answer I was expecting. Eight, nine, ten, plus one in my boot and one strapped to my right forearm. Twelve.
"Anywhere."
The air felt heavy, dripping with moisture that ran from the branches above us and splashed to the ground. It was cold, a kind of cold that ignored how thick your coat was and made a beeline for the centre of your chest.
A sudden flash of light split the darkness in half and I dropped into a crouch. Laurie did the same next to me. My eyes darted back and forth into the gloom between the trees. After a beat I looked to Alicia and Coal who were staring over at us, their mouths slightly open with shock. It lasted for a fraction of a second before they started to smile.
"Haven't you ever seen lightning before?" Alicia asked, her eyes sparkling with humour.
"What?" I asked, slowly standing a little straighter and relaxing the hold on my gun. I glanced at Laurie, feeling embarrassed but just as I did so a huge crashing, rumbling sound filled the air and I ducked down, clapping my hands over my head, sure that we were under attack.
Alicia almost laughed out loud while Coal covered his mouth to try and hide his amusement. Even Kaloo looked entertained, tilting her head to the side and watching Laurie and I as we tried to recover our composure.
"What?" I demanded.
Alicia bit her lip but didn't reply right away.
Feeling very embarrassed but not sure why, I straightened up again and pulled Laurie with me. She was looking at the trees suspiciously as if they had made the noise and light appear.
"Explain." I folded my arms and frowned, feeling like an idiot. Coal caught sight of my expression and managed to stop grinning at us.
"We are sorry." He looked abashed but I wasn't convinced. I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for the explanation
"It's thunder and lighting, when a storm- do you know what a storm is?"
"I understand the principals of weather, we just haven't experienced them," I snapped. "It just took us by surprise. We're fine aren't we Laurie?"
"Sure," Laurie replied but she was still looking at the trees as though they were to blame somehow.
"Let's get going, I'm sure it won't be so funny if the Creepers discover us because you two find us so hilarious," I snarled, pushing past Coal as he tried to reach a hand towards me.
Alicia shook her head and started on through the trees, her machete held ready as she went. I was freezing cold, covered in mud and furious.
I kept up my bad temper for a solid fifteen minutes before the surroundings distracted me enough to forget about it. The thunder and lighting continued but thankfully there was no rain yet. I'd been informed it was going to be wet and cold. I didn't feel that experiencing it for myself would be particularly enlightening beyond that.
The ground was covered in a green moss. It was springy under our feet and squelched with each step I took. I was glad that my boots were so well made and my feet stayed warm and snug inside. Alicia held the GPS in front of her and guided us forward. The land started to slope down, slightly at first but getting steeper and steeper so that it became hard not to slip and slide on the spongy ground.
We found ourselves at the lip of a rock face which jutted out of the hill. Alicia held out the GPS and it clearly showed that our destination was beyond the cliff.
"It's almost vertical, how will we make it down?" Laurie asked.
Alicia stepped forward and leaned out to get a look over the edge.
"There's a drop and then it's just a slope. A ridiculously steep slope. We should be okay if we go carefully," she said before jumping over the edge without another thought. After a glance from Laurie that clearly meant 'these people are crazy,' I followed.
The drop was around six foot. I sat on the edge and turned so that I could lower myself over it. My fingers curled around the cold, damp rock and grit slid beneath them. My boots scraped along the rock face and then I was hanging, suspended above the ground.
I closed my eyes and let go.
The ground was covered with forest debris and I skidded a little before managing to regain my balance. Laurie and Coal dropped down beside me and I gazed out into the valley beneath us. The slope stretched out at a steep decline. Rocks, trees and scrappy bits of undergrowth clung to the unwelcoming landscape and reached up towards the sky. The bottom of the valley was shrouded in mist and it was impossible to tell how far down it went.
A shriek of warning broke out from the treetops and I watched a large bird take flight, heading away from us through the branches.
We grasped at trees and vines as we passed them to help keep us on our feet over the difficult terrain. As I grabbed for my third handhold, Kaloo leapt from the outcrop behind us and landed on the hill with an excited yelp. She tore off into the un
dergrowth and started splashing through puddles and kicking up leaves. I glanced around nervously, worried that her noise might attract the Creepers.
The trees dripped with the wetness of a previous rainfall and everything was saturated. The mist clung to my exposed skin, and covered me with a layer of moisture.
I was concentrating so hard on grabbing my next support and not falling on my ass that I didn't notice I'd moved ahead of the others. It was going surprisingly well and I could just make out the bottom of the valley several hundred feet below us.
Water ran down the slope in little rivulets, carrying dead leaves and debris with them.
The ground was littered with vines and other little shrubs which made it difficult to see where we were stepping. I moved on with a bit less fear and started to use the vines for support.
I glanced back up the ridge and was surprised to see how far we had come already when the vine I was holding onto snapped.
I spun and flailed for another handhold before hitting the ground hard on my back. I started sliding straight away. I dug my fingers into the soaked earth but I couldn't get a grip as I picked up speed.
I kicked at the saturated ground but couldn't gain purchase on anything. Clods of mud flung out in various directions and splattered up into my face. I let out an involuntary scream as a rock loomed up ahead of me.
At the last moment, something hooked a hold of the back of my jacket and I jerked to a stop just inches from the hulking stone. I twisted to see what had caught me.
Alicia grunted with effort as she smirked down from above me. One of her hands was gripping my jacket firmly while the other was looped around a vine with Coal at the other end of it, further up the hill.
"How the hell did you manage that?" I gasped.
"We realised that it was getting too steep and decided to tie ourselves together. Then we saw you fall and I started running." She grinned. "Can you get your feet to that rock?" She jerked her head to point out which one.
I nodded and swung my feet over to the rock. Once I was there, she let go and I regained my balance, then I helped to guide Alicia down next to me. Coal lowered Laurie using the vine before tying it off on a tree and following himself.
"Are you alright?" He caught hold of my shoulders and pulled me around so that I was facing him.
"Yeah," I said automatically though I was trembling from shock.
"You're freezing." He looked at me with a concerned frown and rubbed his hands up and down my arms, trying to warm me. I shivered as I realised that I was cold. Really cold. My slide down the freezing, wet hill had finished the job that the penetrating mist had been working on since we'd left the truck.
"I think I just need to get moving," I said as I tried to stop my teeth from chattering. Coal gazed at me for another second before agreeing and letting me continue down the hillside.
I was extra careful the rest of the way down. We tied ourselves in a rough line using some of the trailing vines for extra safety. Only Kaloo had no trouble, running up and down the hill with seemingly no more effort than she used on flat ground.
Once we reached the bottom of the slope, we found ourselves in a valley formed around a trickling stream. Presumably it had once been more impressive but now it was just a burbling patch of slightly wetter ground. The GPS directed us to continue along the valley floor, moving against the flow of the water, and we carried on with ease.
"I hope we can find another way back," Laurie commented as we looked up at the towering incline beside us. "I don't like our chances against that hill going back up."
I had to agree.
"It's just up ahead," Alicia called over her shoulder as we reached the point where the stream bubbled up out of the ground. The soil beneath our feet started to feel firmer and we were heading up a slight incline again. Abruptly my footsteps stopped squelching and clunked onto a hard surface.
"This is concrete," I said, stamping some of the mud off of my boots.
"This must be part of the base, maybe they used to come down to this stream for water or something," Coal mused.
I looked up at the winding trail, it cut into the hillside, finding a route between the immense tree trunks. They soared upwards and disappeared into the mist which formed a thick cloud hovering above us.
We headed up the solid, moss-covered path at a much quicker rate. I almost sighed aloud with relief as my muscles reacted to the change in pace. It twisted back and forth, climbing the other side of the valley before depositing us half way up the hill at a partially hidden doorway.
"This is it," Alicia announced. "The GPS says that our destination is beneath our feet. This must be the other entrance Hunter mentioned."
Coal moved forward and pushed at the door. It didn't open.
"How do we get in then?" Laurie asked. The door was made of some kind of metal and thudded deeply when we knocked on it.
"Hang on." Coal rummaged in his pockets and produced a small device with two wires protruding from either end. He touched each end to a panel next to the door and a screen flickered to life. He then pushed a button on the central device and a high pitched humming noise filled the air.
Numbers started to run back and forth in quick succession on the screen until slowly, one by one, they settled into a code. I looked at the glowing green digits and glanced at the door but nothing happened.
After a few seconds the device beeped and released its hold on the panel. Coal caught it and pocketed it again. The door slid silently open.
A gust of stale air washed over us. The dim light that filtered through the trees illuminated a little of the tunnel beyond. Inside was a smooth, stone passage delving deep into the hillside. A row of red lights flickered to life, momentarily illuminating the passage which twisted away out of view but they blinked out again almost instantly.
"Well we can't hope for too much good luck." Alicia smiled, pulling out her torch again and aiming its beam down the tunnel.
Kaloo moved ahead of us and stuck her head through the door. She sniffed at the air for a moment before growling and raising her hackles.
"What's up 'Loo?" Coal asked, reaching out to tickle her ears.
Kaloo ignored him and backed away from the tunnel.
"It's okay - see?" Coal stepped inside and whistled to her.
Kaloo wasn't having any of it, she let out a bark and moved further back along the path. I glanced worriedly at the surrounding trees.
"Stay out here then, we can meet you later," Alicia said as she moved inside.
Kaloo watched us for another moment before turning tail and disappearing into the trees.
"Is that a bad sign?" I asked, looking at the movement in the foliage that marked where she had pushed through.
"Doesn't make much difference does it?" Alicia laughed darkly and strode on into the shadows.
I exchanged a glance with Laurie and she rolled her eyes at Alicia's back. We followed suit and headed on in.
It was instantly warmer out of the chilling wind. The air smelled musty and the whole place spoke of a lack of use.
I glanced back at the doorway for a last glimpse of natural light as the tunnel turned and stole it from view.
Chained - Everything you know is a lie... Page 26