A guttural growl carried up from below. Everyone pivoted toward the sound, rifles raised. Carmen had never heard anything like it before. It sounded like some exotic predator — a beast from another world — and yet there was a human quality as well.
“Good heavens.” Richard Pauling’s face was pale. “What on earth is that?”
It was hard to tell how far away it was, but Carmen guessed a hundred yards.
Zane gestured toward the opening. “Everybody, get in! Ladies first.”
Keiko took the lead and stepped inside with her light. Emily and Amanda were right behind. After the others entered, Zane waved Carmen forward.
“No, you go,” she said. “You need to be with Emily and her dad. I’ll watch the rear.”
Zane hesitated for a moment then ducked through the opening. Apparently, he wasn’t in the mood to argue. Carmen stepped in behind him. She felt safer in the tighter space. Before going up, she paused. A sense of curiosity gripped her. She had to know what was coming up through the cave. She had to see what sort of creature could make such a noise.
Just thirty seconds.
Carmen turned off her flashlight and turned back toward the cave. She eased out just enough to look down the slope. She frowned. Strangely, the tremors had stopped. It seemed eerily quiet. Had the creatures sensed their prey was gone and given up the hunt? She stepped all the way out into the cave. As her eyes adjusted, she saw nothing, save for a slight bulge in the wall about ten yards away.
They were gone — disappeared, just like that. In a way, she was disappointed. She’d been dying to see what could possibly survive this far below the earth. Now it would be left to her imagination.
A putrid stench wrapped around her like a cloud. It seemed intense — like something close by — and yet there was still no movement in the cave. Perhaps a draft had carried it up from below.
Carmen remained still for a moment, listening for the slightest sound. Nothing. She shrugged. Time to catch the others. As she turned to reenter the crevice, something caught her eye. The rocky bulge in the wall seemed to shift. Carmen’s chest tightened. Did it really shift, or were her eyes playing tricks on her? Suddenly, the bulge moved with speed. The creature had been hiding there all along, waiting to ambush her. She dove back into the crevice, but it was too late.
Fingers closed around her ankle.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Carmen tried to scramble up the path but soon realized it was a losing battle. Whatever held her was stronger than she was. Now she knew what a rat felt like in an eagle’s talons. She reached out for something, anything, to hold onto. She found a few bulges along the floor, but the limestone was too slick. Little by little, she was pulled backward.
Out of options, she turned and looked back. Massive fingers the size of PVC pipe clutched her leg. What on earth had digits that large? The crevice was narrower than the cave, preventing the creature from entering. That was why it was so desperate to pull her out.
Her hand closed on a nearby rock. Finally. She lifted it and smashed it against the exposed knuckles. The creature roared and loosened its grip, allowing Carmen to wiggle free for a moment. As she tried to scramble to her feet, a fist came down on her leg, crushing her knee against the hard floor. She cried out in pain, but fortunately, the blow had been a glancing one. Had it been straight on, it would’ve turned her knee to jelly.
The pale hand groped around the space, looking for a leg, a foot, anything. Carmen pushed off the ground. Her knee throbbed, but she blocked it out. Even if her ligaments were snapped in two, she’d have to keep moving. Better to bear the horrific pain than die a horrible death.
Now on her feet, she took a brief moment to balance. Unfortunately, the lone second she waited was one second too long. The enormous fingers found her leg and pulled her off her feet. She slammed into the cave floor, knocking the breath out of her.
Sensing it had an advantage, the creature pulled with greater violence. It was like a bird yanking a worm from turf. Once her feet came out of the crevice, it would all be over. The creature would then be able to seize her with both hands.
As she slid along the floor, Carmen felt a familiar pinch against her hip.
The pistol. I have a pistol.
Why hadn’t she thought of that before? Despite the pain, she felt like screaming for joy. She was only a few feet from the opening. At most, she had a few seconds. Twisting, she yanked the gun out of her pocket. She knew she had four rounds left. Hopefully, she only needed one.
Maneuvering into position, she fired at the giant hand. With a loud roar, the creature released her. Carmen rose up on one leg. Her right knee couldn’t take much weight, forcing her to hop as fast as she could up the steep path.
Something moved behind her. She glanced back. A bloodied hand shot toward her. She fired a second time. For a second time, the creature roared, and the hand pulled back.
Now out of reach, Carmen stopped and cupped her hands. “Zane!”
There was no response. Surely, they were close enough to hear.
“Zane, can you hear me?”
The echo of her question died without an answer. At least for the time being, they were gone. As she started hopping again, she felt the rock underneath her shake. She pulled out her flashlight and aimed it back toward the crevice. At the edge of the light, she saw two hands holding a large rock that comprised one side of the opening. If somehow the creature could pull that down…
Carmen turned and continued up the path. She clenched her teeth, fighting off the burning pain that seared through her knee. It was almost unbearable, but she had to keep moving. If she didn’t, she would never get out of here alive.
As she pressed on, Carmen took in her surroundings. Strangely, she wasn’t traveling through one cave but a maze of crisscrossing caves. She’d only gone about twenty yards and had already seen three caves branching off to the right and the left. In one sense, that was good news. Even if the creature got through, she might still be able to lose it.
Carmen heard a thud behind her that was so powerful it shook the rock beneath her feet. Something had fallen over, and Carmen didn’t have to think hard to know what it was.
Turning, she pushed herself to go faster. She couldn’t worry about the creature right now. Instead, she needed to focus on covering as much ground as possible. She still had her gun, and she still had her wits. She would survive.
A few minutes later, a fork appeared in the tunnel. She stopped and directed her beam down each side. Both looked the same. Which should she take, the right or left?
Don’t worry about it. Just pick one and go.
She was right-handed, so she chose the right. That seemed like reason enough. She grimaced. Even her good leg was beginning to tire. All the hopping sapped her strength. Her mind was willing, but at some point, her body wouldn’t respond.
After hobbling another fifty yards, Carmen stopped and looked around. The cave suddenly looked different. She stood in a large, cavernous space. As best she could tell, it was about a hundred yards long.
She looked up, her gaze drawn to a bright glow overhead. A countless multitude of bioluminescent organisms covered the ceiling, giving off a rainbow of brilliant blue hues — azure, sapphire, cerulean, indigo. She didn’t think she’d ever seen anything so breathtaking beautiful. It was a cathedral of color.
Her energy sapped completely, Carmen hobbled to the center of the cavern and collapsed. As she hit the ground, her flashlight rolled across the floor and disappeared from view. She rose up on an elbow, trying to figure out what happened. She could now see what she hadn’t noticed before — half of the cavern was a chasm. She hadn’t heard the flashlight hit bottom, so she wondered if it was as deep as the one in the temple.