Taylor led the group cautiously through the last ten yards of the tunnel and into a large cavern. All stared at the staircase of jumbled rock illuminated by a beam of light on the other side of the cave.
“Is that the way out?” Dejah asked.
Taylor nodded but the moment of hope was broken by the echoes of shrill barking from the tunnel they’d just exited.
Taylor, Hunter, and Drake instinctively checked their ammo and reported their findings to one another. Taylor put his hand to Dejah’s back and commanded, “Go! Run!”
Dejah sprinted on bare feet across the cavern and toward the staircase. Hunter and Drake followed in haste. Taylor armed his last M84 grenade, threw it into the tunnel, and ran toward the far side of the cave. He counted the seconds then yelled, “Now!” and dropped to the cavern floor. Hunter and Drake did the same, taking Dejah with them.
Light and sound exploded from the tunnel and shook the cavern and all within it. Hunter stood and pulled Dejah to her feet. Drake stood and the three continued their sprint toward the way out.
Taylor stood and was immediately knocked to the ground. He rolled over and came up with his rifle at the ready. A bull baboon, its fur singed and smoky, caught the barrel of Taylor’s rifle in his hands and threw it and Taylor aside with little effort.
Taylor fought to keep his footing, spun around, and fired a burst of three rounds.
The first bullet struck the primate in the shoulder, the second into its trunk, and the third went wild. The beast howled in anger and charged. Taylor fired once more only to hear the click of an empty chamber. He unclipped the sling from his rifle and swung his weapon like a club into the advancing animal. The butt of the rifle crashed into the beast’s lower jaw, sending a spray of blood and teeth outward. The animal collapsed in death and Taylor pulled his pistol.
“Taylor!” Hunter yelled across the cavern.
Taylor looked in Hunter’s direction to see the warning on his face. Taylor turned back toward the tunnel to see a horde of primates spilling forth. Taylor drew a bead on the first animal with his pistol, dropped the animal with a single shot to the neck, then turned and ran toward the rock pile. Drake calmly walked from the rocks in Taylor’s direction. She got into a crouch and waited for Taylor to pass her.
“Elon says hello!” Drake laughed and ignited her flamethrower, sending forth a hellish stream of flame exploding outwards of 50 feet. Primates at the lead of the troop burst into flames, their fur singed, their skin melted into their muscle. The troop howled in fear and surprise, shielded their eyes from the light and heat, and fought to breathe.
Taylor scrambled up the rock pile toward Hunter and immediately cupped his hands. Hunter stepped into his friend’s cradle and Taylor launched him upward. Hunter grabbed the rim of the cave in and pulled himself up and onto the ledge. Hunter turned around, lay on his stomach, and plunged his hand into the hole. Taylor grabbed Dejah and lifted her up and toward Hunter. Dejah’s fingers grasped Hunter’s hand then grasped for anything as the rock jumble below her and Taylor shifted and collapsed.
Drake looked up from the base of the stack of rock and earth to see it fall upon her. She tried to run but was instantly buried by several thousand pounds from the waist down. The dust cloud from the collapse quickly dissipated and Drake looked through the haze to see a dozen primates descending upon her. She scrambled to free herself but knew the task hopeless given the weight upon her. She knew her legs were crushed and that her only hope was to free her sidearm so that she could end her life quickly.
She dug with bare hands through the rock and gravel, trying with all her might to get her Glock. She made it all the way through the rubble to the butt of the pistol before the primates circled above her and stared down at her with hungry eyes.
60.
Taylor stood from the rubble and coughed. He pulled Dejah to her feet, dusted her off, and asked, “Are you okay?”
Dejah began to speak and then screamed at the sight of Drake being pulled apart by a horde of primates below her. Taylor pulled Dejah to his waist and buried her face in his torso.
“We’re safe,” Taylor explained. “They won’t come into the light and we’re right here in the middle of it.”
Dejah pulled from Taylor to study the beam of light she stood within. The light shone through the large hole above and downward into a semicircular space perhaps some 20 feet in diameter.
“See,” Taylor said, pointing below the small mound they stood upon to the edge of the light. “They like the dark. They don’t like the light.”
Taylor had no sooner explained such than the baboons began testing his theory.
The primates crashed into the light with their hands shielding their coal black eyes. They darted toward Taylor and Dejah then retreated in haste as if the light was a source of pain or sudden reprimand. Taylor saw this and knew their time in the safety of the sun was limited.
“Hunter!” Taylor called into his radio. “Come in!”
No answer.
The primates continued their testing.
They ran into the light then retreated quickly, each time seeing how close they could come to the two humans they so desperately wanted.
“Hunter!” Taylor called again.
No response.
The primates got braver, running up the mountain to within feet of Taylor and Dejah before screaming and turning tail out of the light.
Taylor ignored his radio and instead screamed upward and out of the hole above him.
“Hunter!”
Dejah shrieked as a monkey pushed toward her. Taylor put two pistol rounds into the beast and the momentum of the blast sent it backward and into a somersault down the hill. The remaining primates howled and shrilled in anger, hurling themselves into the light, now more determined than ever to take the two figures before them. Taylor emptied his pistol into the first two animals to approach, dropping them in their tracks. He dropped the empty magazine from his pistol then slammed home a fully loaded one.
Dejah sobbed and clung to Taylor. A long shadow passed over Taylor and he looked upward, half expecting to see a troop of baboons descending upon him. Instead, he saw the bright yellow arm of an excavator lowering into the hole. The primates seized the opportunity the lack of light provided and rushed forward. Taylor holstered his pistol and grabbed Dejah by the waist. He lifted her up and commanded she grab ahold of the hydraulics. She did and Taylor yelled over the howls and screams quickly surrounding him, “Climb!”
Dejah pulled herself up the arm and toward daylight. Taylor launched upward and grabbed the bottom of the arm’s jackhammer drill. He pulled himself up then was jerked downward from the extra weight upon his leg. He ignored the pain of claws and teeth driving into his ankle and calf and pulled himself up and further onto the hydraulic arm.
The arm raised up and out of the hole, taking Dejah, Taylor, and the primate attached to him into the sunshine. Taylor pulled his pistol, shoved it point blank against the eye of the beast clinging to his lower leg, and fired. The back of the animal’s head exploded outward, sending shards of skull and brain matter into the cave below.
Taylor looked to the cab of the excavator that had just been used to save his life and to his friend Hunter sitting within and smiled.
61.
Agent Andrew, Agent Carter, and Megan reached the outer gate of Robert Wilson’s ranch after a grueling hour and a half walk. The original plan was for Agent Andrews and Agent Carter to drive Megan to the nearest Border Patrol Check Station for medical assistance and to file a proper report, but the damage Megan inflicted on their government vehicle was too great. This, combined with the fact that the radio in the SUV wasn’t working and that no one’s cell phone had service, prompted Agent Andrews to make the decision to walk to Robert Wilson’s ranch for assistance.