Perhaps he was just exhausted but Stonewood seemed much calmer as Craig began pushing him feet first into the hole, with a little help from Lewis. Their supposed leader paused until a hand grabbed his harness and pulled him into the darkness. Lewis was worried that Stonewood was going to become a serious problem and, judging by the look in Craig’s eyes, he was not alone. The bodyguard could only shake his head before clamoring into the entrance after his boss.
Lewis moved to the other side of the hole, motioning Miller over. The professor seemed to be doing fine — right up to the moment he looked into the darkness of the cave. Lewis, worried Miller might let go, placed a steadying hand on his shoulder. It didn’t look like letting go was going to be a problem, as Miller’s knuckles turned white with the force behind his grip. It took all of Lewis’s strength to wrench the archeologist’s legs out from under him and push them into the cave opening. Miller gradually released his grip, sliding into the cave with the others.
Lewis tried to emulate Gonzalez as he somersaulted into the cave, mentally chiding himself for scraping his left tank on the wall as the outside current caught his fins. Despite numerous cave dives, Lewis was always taken aback by the complete darkness and otherworldly beauty to be found in each new cave. Like the others had done, he shined his light around his immediate surroundings and found they were in what appeared to be a relatively smooth lava tube, approximately 20 feet in diameter. Lewis found it surprising that there was no current inside the cave, allowing silt to accumulate along the floor while permitting excellent visibility ahead.
The other team members were kneeling or standing on the floor of the tube, their lights shining on Lewis as their movements gradually stirred the silty bottom. Instinctively, he had looped his fingers around the white cave line as he entered and now he followed it forward and down to meet up with the team. Joining the others, Lewis traced a circle on the wall with his light and was pleased when the other six other lights did the same. At least people were alert, even if they were lying about being okay. Even Stonewood looked much better now that he was out of the river, away from the men who were trying to kill them all.
Gonzalez waved her light, getting everyone’s attention as she pointed forward to indicate it was time to press on. Just as Gonzalez started to turn, Samantha began frantically waving her light back and forth, signaling that she had an emergency. Lewis kept his eye on the others while Gonzalez moved to help Samantha, who was now waving her pressure gauge, indicating she was almost out of air. Gonzalez showed her the regulator connected to her left tank, and assisted in making the swap.
Lewis checked and found that Stonewood too had nearly emptied his first tank. Things didn’t go as smooth for him, however. As soon as he removed his right regulator, Stonewood absolutely freaked out, swimming for the surface with all his strength. Instead of the surface, the severely-panicked Stonewood found the ceiling of the cave; nearly knocking himself unconscious with the collision.
In Stonewood’s uncontrolled quest for real air, he kicked Miller in the face and dislodged his mask. The rush of cold water into the already-nervous professor’s eyes and up his nose was enough to make him let go of the line to bolt for safety. Instead of the unreachable surface above, Miller had the presence of mind to remember the entrance, and plowed full on into Lewis as he spun and kicked towards the dim light. Reduced to his basic survival instincts, Miller began clawing his way towards safety, his waving arms hitting Lewis in the face, knocking both his mask and regulator into the darkness. Miller’s kicking fins quickly tangled the line around Lewis’s legs, making both men essentially blind and bound together. To make matters even worse, they currently had only one regulator between the two of them, and it was in the mouth of a completely panicked man.
Samantha had instinctively moved away from the flailing Stonewood, remembering to keep track of the line as she pushed Pierre forward until they reached Gonzalez. Gonzalez knew things were quickly spiraling towards total catastrophe. She had seen panic kill even experienced cave divers, but she had no choice but to stay with Pierre and Samantha, keeping them from contributing to the chaos. Gonzalez kept a strong grip on the reel and pulled the line as tight as she could, trying to control some of the tangling.
Lewis had attached his second regulator with a thin bungee necklace that now allowed him to grip the mouthpiece with his teeth, working it into his mouth. As long as he could breathe, he knew he was okay. Taking a deep breath, Lewis grabbed the light which had been knocked loose in the mayhem. The light’s beam helped a little, but he still needed to find his mask to be able to really see. Lewis felt around for his mask as Miller continued to kick and claw, rolling the two around in the cave.
Meanwhile, Craig wrapped his strong arms around his boss, fighting to get him under control. He had gotten the second regulator into Stonewood’s mouth, but the crazed man’s continued flailing was stirring up silt from the floor, making it harder to see. Finally, Craig had had enough. He thrust the butt of his light down on the top of Stonewood’s head, knocking him unconscious.
Almost simultaneously, Miller’s tank was empty. His rapid breathing had increased his oxygen consumption tenfold and he had breathed the last drop of air from his initial tank. Typically, this would have only compounded a panic situation but, for some reason, in Miller’s case it actually calmed him down. He understood that he had a simple task to complete in order to stay alive, bringing clarity back to his mind. He snatched the regulator right out of Lewis’s mouth and placed it firmly in his own, taking a couple deep breaths before straightening his mask and clearing the water out.
Lewis was unable to breathe for the second time but, without having to fight Miller, he easily traced his hand along the right tank and down the hose to the regulator he had started with. Placing it back in his mouth, Lewis returned to feeling around for his mask. As Miller tried to wiggle loose from the guide line, Lewis quickly put his hand up in front of the professor’s mask, signaling him to stop moving. He then pointed to his exposed eyes, hoping to get his point across. It felt like a month, but was probably more like 30 seconds before he located his mask lying on the bottom. After replacing the mask, Lewis found he still couldn’t see anything; the water was completely clouded with the silt stirred up by all the commotion.
Lewis worked by feel alone, carefully removing the guide line from around his legs, freeing the tangled professor at the same time. Keeping one hand on the line, he helped Miller ease forward, hoping to find clear water ahead. After just a few feet, Lewis felt something soft brush across his leg. He was about to turn to investigate when the soft-something latched onto his leg, pulling him backwards. Visions of Jaws took over Lewis’s mind as he kicked at the mysterious creature that was trying to drag him to its lair. After the fourth or fifth awkward kick with his finned foot, Lewis realized it was a human hand on his leg. The hand wasn’t dragging him away at all; it was just trying to hang on.
Moments later, Lewis and Miller emerged from the silt cloud and were greeted by three lights shining towards them from the passage ahead. Lewis turned and could now see that Craig was the one holding onto his leg with one hand while supporting the unconscious Stonewood with the other. Now that Craig could see, he released Lewis’s calf and moved forward to his place on the line.
Miller’s eyes looked like those of a scolded puppy. Lewis gave his arm a gentle squeeze and formed an OK sign with his hand, holding it in front of his light to make it easier to see. Miller nodded slightly and returned the sign as Lewis breathed a sigh of relief. They had been in the cave for less than five minutes, and he felt like he had almost died a dozen times. This whole idea seemed more insane with each passing moment.