Jack watched them climb up the shaft. They were so close. If only the ladder and the rock wall would hold for another minute. Even then, he wondered if they could stop Sarah’s bleeding in time to save her life.
Jack pushed the doubts aside and focused on maintaining his balance on the platform. One thing at a time, he thought. Give Lonetree enough time to get Sarah out the elevator shaft. Stop the shaman-creature. Get out of the shaft himself before he was crushed by a cave-in. Piece of cake. Still, just in case, he muttered a prayer as he waited for Lonetree to finish the climb up the ladder. And, even though they couldn’t hear it, he told his wife and daughters he loved them.
EIGHTY-SIX
The creature was close enough that Jack could hear its high pitched shriek above the roar of the earthquake. There was enough room on each side of the platform that the creature could easily get by. He considered using one of the large rocks on the platform as a weapon, but Jack knew he couldn’t defend the position. Better to get to higher ground and fight there. Lonetree had finally made it to the top so Jack staggered toward the ladder, fighting to keep his balance as the platform continued to buck wildly.
The creature grabbed the bottom of the platform just as Jack jumped to the ladder, the right side buckling from the weight. Black talons bent the metal guardrails and dug into the rock wall of the shaft. It looked up to the light above, screamed and pulled itself onto the platform.
Jack didn’t waste time looking down. He climbed up the ladder a fast as he could. The rumbling earthquake turned into a series of quick jolts and rocks pelted down on him from above. The metal ladder groaned as the metal bolts started to work loose from the rock.
Jack wondered why the creature hadn’t caught up with him yet. Judging how fast it had climbed up the shaft, the creature should have been able to reach him without problem. He kept climbing, shocked with every step that he was still alive. He wondered if the ladder couldn’t support the weight and the creature was stuck on the platform. Maybe it was distracted. He couldn’t understand what was taking it so long to finish him off.
His speculation ended with a burst of hot air on the side of his face.
He froze.
Slowly, he turned to face the center of the shaft.
The creature hung suspended, legs grasping the elevator cable, its body outstretched toward him. Its face hovered less than a foot away, swaying as the cable moved. The creature’s breath hit Jack’s face in hot blasts of foul air. The creature leaned in, turning its head so that its one eye matched up with its prey, its clawed hand clicking its talons in a slow rhythm.
For a moment, Jack and the creature stared each other down. The blood pounding in Jack’s ears blocked out all sound. The world moved in silent, slow motion. He knew what he had to do. His muscles flexed. He shifted his weight for the jump off the ladder and onto the creature. It was the only option left. The only way he could stop the creature was to throw himself at it and try to drag it down into the shaft as the walls collapsed.
The creature’s mouth opened in a scream. It drew its arm back over its head. Talons flexed into a claw. Jack cried out and started to push off from the ladder, ready to meet his opponent in mid-air.
A shadow flew down from above him. Close enough that he felt it more than saw it. His reflexes kept him on the ladder, a move that saved his life.
The rock struck the creature in the back. It spun to the side, but was struck by another rock as the lip of the shaft crumbled above them.
The creature stretched out desperately for the rock wall as the elevator cable went slack. It dug its talons into the wall.
The elevator’s surface machinery toppled over the edge of the shaft and came crashing down. The creature looked up and screamed, trying to block the mass of twisted metal with an upraised arm. The metal wreckage scraped the creature off the wall. Together, creature and machine fell down into the dark shaft, the twist and grind of metal mixed with the unearthly screams of the shaman-creature, until the noise was lost in the roar of the earthquake.
Jack watched in astonishment, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The machinery had come within inches of him, but he was unharmed. A sharp whine of metal bending brought him back to his senses. The ladder was coming out of the wall.
He pulled himself up the ladder, ignoring the small rocks that bounced off his shoulders and arms. The ladder bent backward as he climbed, the bolts pulling out from the wall. He was so near the top. Only a few feet to go. He was so close. All he needed was a few more seconds. The ladder tore away in a grind of metal. He wasn’t going to make it.
A hand shot out from above him. Jack cried out and reached for it just as the ladder came completely off the wall and fell down into the shaft. The strong hand gripped onto his wrist and held him dangling over the treacherous shaft. A face appeared above him that shocked him enough that he almost lost his grip. Deputy Sorenson.
“Come on,” Deputy Sorenson said. “Give me your other hand.”
Jack let the deputy pull him from the shaft into a brightly lit room. They were inside a barn. Dust and straw danced in the light, shaken from the rafters by the earthquakes. Timbers creaked ominously as the whole barn swayed from the tremors.
“You O.K.?” Sorenson said with a nod to the elevator shaft. “I saw that thing down there. Son-of-a-bitch.”
Jack looked around the room, confused by the deputy’s appearance but too worried about his little girl to ask questions. He saw Lauren crouched over Sarah, compressing the shotgun wound with a cloth. She looked up. “Jack, thank God you’re O.K.”
“How is she?” Jack shouted.
Lauren shook her head, her eyes red from crying. “I can’t tell yet. She’s lost a lot of blood.”
Jack turned back to Sorenson who was tending to Lonetree’s wound. Lonetree grinned. “Jack meet Nick Sorenson. Navy SEAL.”
Sorenson matched the grin and stretched out his hand to shake Jack’s. “Ex-Navy SEAL. Retired to help out a friend.” He looked over at Lauren and said, “You’re wife is a fighter. She gave me a couple of bruises before I could explain that I was one of the good guys.”
Jack shook the man’s hand, took a deep breath and released it slowly. The adrenaline of the last hour was catching up with him. His mind was too tired to do anything but accept what his eyes told him. Sorenson was working for Lonetree. Lauren would take care of Sarah’s injuries. The earthquakes had stopped after he’d been dragged from the elevator shaft. It was as if the earth had spit them out and was then content to settle down. In the quiet of the barn, it finally felt as if they made it. They were safe.
Sarah lay on the floor, pale from blood loss. Her mother had pulled back the gown to inspect the child’s wound. Jack crawled over to them, staying an arm’s length away to give Lauren the room she needed.
She looked up at Jack, the strain showing in her eyes. “It’s bad. She’s lost too much blood. Without a hospital, she’s going to die.”
As the words were out, the ground jolted beneath them. The barn swayed unsteadily and the wood timbers groaned. The edges of the elevator shaft caved in, sending a torrent of dust into the barn. The earth shook violently. Jack used his body to shield Lauren and Sarah from the debris raining down from the rafters.
“The cave system is still collapsing,” Lonetree shouted. “We have to get out of here.”
EIGHTY-SEVEN
Jack grabbed Sarah and pushed Lauren toward the barn door. Lonetree struggled to get up with Sorenson’s help, holding his side and spitting blood. Sections of the barn collapsed around them. Another tremor shook the barn and a rafter crashed down behind them. Timbers began to snap.