Bones danced everywhere. It was like the floor of the cages had been transformed into the surface of a drum being beat in at a furious tempo. There was no order to it. The bones remained a jumbled mess, rubbing and clacking against each other. Only the skulls had a specific orientation. A thousand dark eye sockets stared at the Source.
Huckley’s howling was the only thing that tore Jack away from the sight of the skeletons. The man was on the floor next to Sarah, his hands pressed against his ears, screaming in pain.
Jack took the opportunity and ran to his little girl. As he crossed between Lonetree and Dr. Mansfield, Lonetree surged toward the gun Jack had thrown on the floor when he surrendered.
The explosion caught them all off guard. It was too soon for the C-4 charges but it didn’t stop Jack from thinking it was all over. Chunks of rock flew past his head. The ground shook and he fell forward to cover Sarah with his body. Debris fell on top of him, large enough to bruise but not to cause any real damage.
When he looked up the area was bleached white by the halogens. The lights were ramping up in intensity as if a power surge was building in them. The lamp Janney had turned away from them exploded in a cloud of sparks. Then the second one blew, sending bits of glass and filament raining down.
Jack covered his face until it stopped, then took stock of his surroundings. It was a freeze frame, no more than one second to burn the image into his mind.
Huckley was still on the ground, his mouth open in a soundless scream.
Janney crouched down, his arms wrapped around his head. Lonetree lay on the ground, seemingly unconscious, large rocks surrounding him from the explosion. Dr. Mansfield had been further to Jack’s right, but now he was gone.
Out of his peripheral vision, Jack caught a movement to his left, the direction where the blast came from, the direction of the stone structure and the Source. Then he realized the explosion must have been the Source itself. He turned to see what the movement had been at the edge of his vision.
Just as he did the last halogen flared into a brilliant supernova and exploded. The world turned black, the after-image of the burst of light hovering in front of Jack’s face. From his left, a screech tore through the air, shredding it with an unearthly pitch. The sound turned into a howl. Then rocks chattered as something ran away. Silence settled back over the ancient cave and Jack held his breath. He hadn’t seen it clearly, but in the last instant before the light exploded, he was sure of one thing. A dark form had risen from the destroyed stone structure and was climbing out over the rocks. The creature they called the Source had escaped.
EIGHTY-TWO
Jack fumbled in his pocket for the glo-stick Lonetree had given him. He found it, snapped the middle and shook it to activate the light. Sarah was conscious but disoriented. Looking her over quickly, Jack didn’t see any obvious injuries.
“Mansfield got away,” Lonetree said.
Jack jerked at the sound of his voice. He held up the glo-stick in the big man’s direction. A thick flow of blood had matted the hair at his temple and coated one side of his face. In the green glow, he looked like an old painting of an Indian in war paint.
“You all right?” Lonetree asked.
“I should be asking you that.”
Lonetree waved him off. “I’m fine.”
“What the hell happened?”
“I have no idea,” Lonetree said, moving toward him. “But we have less than eight minutes to get out of here. You want me to carry her?”
“No way. She’s all mine.”
Lonetree led the way. They ran as fast as they could over the challenging terrain using only the glo-stick for illumination. A minute into their mad dash, Lonetree snapped a larger glo-stick which surrounded them with a round ball of green florescence. It was risky but they needed to move faster if they stood any chance. Sarah whimpered into Jack’s shoulder and wrapped her legs around his midsection to hold on through the bouncy ride.
“How far to the exit?” Jack called out to Lonetree.
“I don’t know. It can’t be far.” Lonetree turned back to answer, “There’s a trail here. Should make it easier to—”
The gun shot came from behind them. The glo-stick shattered in Lonetree’s hands, the florescent liquid exploding in a spray of light. Sarah screamed. Jack turned away, shielding her with his body.
A shadow flew from behind a stone cage and crashed into Lonetree’s side. The shadow and Lonetree rolled to the ground, wrestling and grunting, both bodies covered now by splotches of florescent green liquid.
Jack held up his small glo-stick to illuminate the struggle in front of him. It was Janney. He had Lonetree pinned to the ground, straddling the big man with a knee on either side of his chest. Lonetree’s hands gripped Janney’s wrists, trying to push back the slow descent of a hunting knife toward his face.
“Run,” Lonetree grunted. “Get her out of here.”
Lonetree shifted his grip to the man’s forearms. But Janney was forcing the blade down inch-by-inch toward Lonetree’s eye, putting all of his weight behind the effort. Lonetree’s arms started to shake. Janney seemed to notice because he grinned and pushed harder, twisting side-to-side to weaken Lonetree’s grip.
Jack pried Sarah off him and put her on the ground. He didn’t have a weapon, so he ran at the struggling figures and lowered his shoulder.
The impact sent all three of them sprawling in a jangle of limbs. But Janney was quick to get back on his feet. Jack still clutched the glo-stick in his hand, making it easier for him to see. But it also made him an easy target. Janney charged toward him. As he did, Jack lunged at the man’s legs.
He made contact right above the knees, wrapped his arms and drove forward with his legs. Janney tumbled over, hitting the ground hard.
A sharp cry of pain right next to him shifted Jack’s focus away from Janney. Even in the faint light, he saw Lonetree slumped against the side of a stone cage. Jack saw the problem. Lonetree held Janney’s knife by the handle, but with the blade pointed the wrong direction. It was buried six inches into Lonetree’s side.
With a weak smile at Jack, Lonetree drew a deep breath, closed his eyes, and yanked the knife out. In the same motion, just before a scream of pain exploded from his mouth, Lonetree threw the knife toward Jack. It landed at his feet with a clang against the rock floor.
Jack grabbed the knife. But as he turned, Janney was on him, snarling, spittle foaming around his mouth. He grabbed Jack by the throat, his thick thumbs digging into his windpipe. Jack plunged the knife into Janney’s chest. The man’s eyes bulged out from surprise and pain. Jack withdrew the knife and stabbed again. This time sinking it up to the hilt into Janney’s abdomen. He forced the blade upward, twisting it back and forth to destroy as many organs as he could, hoping the blade tip could reach at far as the man’s heart.
Janney released his grip around Jack’s throat. A wet gurgle came up with a torrent of frothy blood that spilled out of his mouth and down his chin. He collapsed to his knees, grasping at the knife wounds. He raised his blood soaked hands to his face and clenched them into fists. He looked to Jack, his face contorted with pain. He tried to say something, but it came out as a torrent of blood. Janney’s eyes rolled and he fell to the ground.
Jack ran to Lonetree.
“How bad are you hurt?”
Lonetree tried to stand. He cried out and grabbed at his side. His breath came in short, ragged bursts. He stood, but remained bent over with one arm grabbing the stone cage next to him.
“How much time?” Lonetree wheezed.
Jack glance at his watch. “Under six minutes.”