Inhabited (14 page)

“And elbow,” Joy whispered.

Kristin’s light was pointed down the tunnel. She looked back and forth. “Carlos is gone,” Kristin said. “We’re going to get you out of here and then figure out what happened to him, okay?”

Joy nodded. Her pain was trying to drive her towards selfishness. “Are you sure though? He could need help.”

“He could, but you definitely do,” Kristin said. “And I’m not qualified. Let’s get you up. Don’t put any weight on your right leg. And don’t look at it, okay?”

Kristin knelt next to Joy’s side and lifted her by the arm. Joy’s other arm was useless anyway. It was still numb from hitting the rung on the way down. She didn’t take Kristin’s advice. As she sat up, Joy couldn’t help but look down at her foot. It pointed the wrong way. Nausea swept through Joy as she looked at her own mangled foot. It was flopped over to the side and the toe was pointing up towards Kristin. It seemed like there must only be skin holding the foot on.

“I have to splint it,” Joy said.
 

“I don’t doubt that it’s a good idea, but we’re going to get out of here,” Kristin said. “I’m sorry, but you can splint it when we’re back outside.”

Joy swallowed. She understood and was thankful that Kristin’s panic was exhibited in the form of cold pragmatism.

Kristin lifted.
 

The pain swelled. Despite her headlamp, the world went black for Joy. She woke up to Kristin screaming in her ear.

“I’m
not
strong enough to carry you.
Wake up!
”

-o-o-o-o-o-

A shiver ran through Joy and she straightened her good leg. Along with the pain from her right foot, she also felt a disgusting pull of the dead weight at the bottom of her leg. Kristin took a step and dragged her forward. Joy had no choice but to hop and keep up. It was either that or she would fall on her face. They settled into a painful rhythm.

Joy didn’t know who Kristin was talking to. It was probably herself.

“I love Carlos,” Kristin whispered, “but he can be a real jerk. He should know there’s no way I can go after him. Then we’d each be alone.”

Joy’s limp foot bounced off a rock and she stiffened up. Kristin had Joy’s arm slung over her shoulder. Kristin dipped and jammed her shoulder under Joy’s armpit.

“I mean, I’m not blaming him for the fact that he passed out, but it’s just like him to leave me in the lurch during a situation,” Kristin said.

Joy didn’t understand Kristin’s reasoning, but she wasn’t about to argue with her. Joy needed to get out of the mine. Whatever the twisted logic behind Kristin’s decision, Joy was going to support it.

“Left,” Joy said.

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” Joy said.

Kristin helped her angle to her left so they could take the turn. One more turn and they should be able to see to the exit. Joy imagined what it would be like to finally see the stars again. Out in the open she would be able to make sense of everything—she was sure of it.

They moved around the corner and a stiff breeze hit them in the face.

“Fresh air—can you believe it?” Kristin asked.

Joy shook her head and squinted. Kristin was wrong. There was nothing fresh about that air. Kristin slowed to a stop as she realized the same thing.

“You’re the experienced cave person,” Kristin said. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” Joy said. “I’ve never smelled anything like it.” It wasn’t exactly the truth. She had smelled something similar, just not on that scale.
 

“That smells like an old bandaid,” Kristin said.

“Yes,” Joy said. She had imagined the smell of a wet, yellow scab that refused to dry out. But Kristin’s description was apt.

Whatever was making that smell, they were walking right towards it.

Kristin must have sensed that Joy was slowing down. “We’re almost there. Just a little farther, right?”

“Yeah,” Joy grunted. She put her head down and focused on lifting her bad leg high enough to keep her foot off the ground. Joy’s foot brushed a rock. A lightning bolt of pain shot up through her. She squeezed her eyes shut as Kristin dragged her forward another step.

Kristin stopped.
 

“What?” Joy asked. She looked up and blinked. She couldn’t see Kristin anymore.

“Our lights went out,” Kristin said. “At the same time.”

“The wind must have blown out the flame,” Joy said. “Use a flashlight.”

“Okay,” Kristin said. “You lean against the wall, okay?”

They began to shuffle to the right. When Joy found the wall with her hand, Kristin ducked under her arm so she could take off her pack.

“Ow! Shit,” Kristin said.
 

Joy turned her head towards the sound and nearly lost her balance in the dark. She automatically put her foot down to catch herself. The pain actually helped her regain her balance.

“What?” Joy asked.

“Touch your headlamp,” Kristin said.

Joy puzzled through what must have happened. “The nozzle stays hot even after the flame goes out. You have to be careful.”

“Touch it,” Kristin ordered.

Joy reached up in the dark. Her fingers found her helmet. She felt the side of the reflector and then reached her…

“Ow!” Joy said. She pulled off her helmet and listened. She heard the gentle jet of the flame. It was still lit. Above that, she heard Kristin clicking a flashlight on and off. A second later, she heard the flint of a lighter.

“Nothing works,” Kristin said. “I can’t even see the spark from the lighter.”

“There’s light here,” Joy said. “We simply can’t see it.”

“What does it mean?” Kristin asked.

“It means let’s get the fuck out of here,” Joy said. Using the wall as a crutch, she started to push her way forward. It didn’t work very well. Her bad foot came down several times before Kristin slipped back under her shoulder to take some of the weight.

“I don’t understand—is there something wrong with our eyes?” Kristin whispered.

“Shut up and move,” Joy said. She didn’t even want to think about the implications. They would have plenty of time to ponder what was happening when they got out.

Joy froze. There was something right next to her—she could sense it. Kristin didn’t get the hint. She kept trying to walk. She dragged Joy’s arm for another step before she stopped and turned.

Whatever it was, it was right next to Joy’s face. She couldn’t run, but the urge to try was almost overwhelming. In complete darkness, holding her breath so she wouldn’t make a sound, Joy turned her head slowly to the left. The presence retreated. Joy pressed on Kristin’s back, urging her forward. Joy leaned heavily on her friend’s shoulder when she took a step. She managed to move quietly in the dark.
 

The presence flooded back in, looming next to her again. Joy didn’t stop. Kristin never slowed. Joy sucked in a surprised breath when she felt a tickle on her left side. It started just above her waist and continued up towards her armpit. Joy clamped her arm to her side, but it didn’t stop the sensation. It felt almost like a drip of sweat, but it was traveling the wrong direction. When it got to her armpit, the sensation took a hard turn and continued down her arm.

Joy let out a small, involuntary sob. The tickle wasn’t hurting her, but it was the uncontrollable unknown of it that was so upsetting.
 

“What?” Kristin whispered. “What’s wrong?”

They continued for two more limped paces.

Joy heard and felt the liquid. It sounded like someone had dumped a bucket of water over her, but the liquid wasn’t dumped
on
her, it came from
within
her. She knew it. Even though she didn’t feel the pain of her skin peeling apart, she knew that she had been split up her side. The blood splashed out of her, soaking through her clothes in an instant and draining all the energy from her muscles. She was helpless to stay upright.
 

Kristin couldn’t hold onto her as she collapsed to the floor of the dark cave. Her arm doubled back under her and Joy felt her own hand being forced into the cleft in her own skin. Her eyelids fluttered as the muscles of her face ran out of oxygen.
 

Kristin’s concerned face faded into focus. Kristin was blind. Her eyes were dancing around, trying to puzzle out what was wrong with Joy.

Just before consciousness faded out, Joy saw the horror in Kristin’s face. Kristin’s hands had found the blood soaking through Joy’s clothes. Joy reached up to touch Kristin. She wanted to tell her it was okay. She wanted to tell her not to bother running. Joy barely had control of her own arm. The hand felt numb and worthless. She ended up smacking Kristin on the side her face, leaving a bloody handprint on her cheek.

The world faded away.

T
RAVIS
SPUN
AROUND
. “A
RE
you sure?”

“Of course,” Miguel said. “Let me go first.”

“Oh, sure,” Travis said. “Let me just snap my fingers and magically teleport to the other side of you. How the hell am I supposed to let you go first? There’s barely enough room for me to scratch my balls.”

Miguel didn’t answer. He angled his head to try to shine his light around Travis.

They had been following the crack and everything had seemed normal. Travis felt bad about leaving Justin behind, but it seemed like the best course of action. It wouldn’t make sense to have him try to leap over the gap and fall until he got wedged between the rocks. That was a horrible thought. It made Travis cringe just to think about it. But then, for no reason, their crack began to squeeze down into nothing. They had walked easily through it before, but now it petered out.

“This has to be the right way,” Miguel said. “There’s no other way to go. And I know we’ve been through here before. Look at this.” He pointed to a rock at about eye-level. There was a piece of orange plastic on the sharp protrusion. “You remember when Kristin scraped her helmet?”

“No. I don’t,” Travis said. “That could have been from me a second ago.”

“You’re taller than this,” Miguel said, pointing at the rock.

“Whatever,” Travis said. “All I know is that I’m a hell of a lot smaller than Carlos, and there’s no way he fit through this crack right here. I can barely get my hand through it. If you want to give it a try, then back up until we get to a spot where you can get past me.”

Miguel was pointing his light up.

“What about up there?” he asked.

“What about it?”

“Why don’t we climb?”

“I thought we were trying to get out of this place. Why the hell would we start climbing? We didn’t climb down to get in here. Is there a reason why you’re trying to invent a brand new path?” Travis asked.

Miguel reached up and shut off Travis’s light. Before Travis could say anything, Miguel shut off his own lamp, plunging them into darkness.

“I keep seeing that,” Miguel said.

Travis didn’t know what he was talking about. He tilted his head around until he figured it out. Above them, there was a yellow glow coming from somewhere between the rocks. The light was faint, but it was unmistakable as Travis’s eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Travis reached up and turned his light on again.
 

“Back up and we’ll go back to that wide place,” Travis said. “You can go first.”

Miguel turned on his own light. “No, stay right there.”

There was one benefit of the fact that their fissure had closed down—it was easy to reach the walls on either side of them. Miguel put his left foot up on a little ledge that was above knee-height. He grabbed onto protrusions and lifted himself up. His other foot found a hold. Working back and forth, Miguel climbed until his feet were over Travis’s head. The passage narrowed up there, but there was more room than where the path went. Miguel was making good progress. He put his back to one of the walls and braced himself with his feet.

“It’s easy,” Miguel said. “I can see another passage up here.”

“But where does it go?” Travis asked.

“It goes in the right direction. I think we’ll be able to drop back into our fissure if we keep going this way.”

“You’re not making any sense,” Travis said. “I don’t like it. We should go back and wait with Justin. Joy will be back with help soon.”

“If we wait, then maybe the cops will want to search our bags as part of their investigation,” Miguel called down from above. “Maybe they search us, find the gold, and decide that it doesn’t belong to us. Then the whole trip was wasted.”

“You call it a waste, and I call it survival,” Travis said. “I would trade the gold right now if it meant we got out of this damn place.”

“Then go back,” Miguel said. “Who’s stopping you? I’ll still give you a half-share of the take.”

Travis watched as Miguel’s light turned away. He began to climb again. It had been stupid to let Miguel take the backpack. He wasn’t trustworthy.
 

Travis looked back the way they had come. At the end of that path, there was a big hole he would have to jump if he wanted to get back to Justin’s position. They would be forced to wait with nothing more than two headlamps and a stubby candle. Everything else was in the bag on Miguel’s back. In the end, it was the light that drew Travis. Miguel had light in the pack, and there was light coming from somewhere above. Travis didn’t want to be alone in the dark.

-o-o-o-o-o-

“Come over to here,” Miguel said.

Travis didn’t see a way over there. The walls split apart in one direction. They were too far apart to allow him to brace between them, as he had been doing. Back the other direction, they squeezed together too tight for him to fit.

“How did you get over there?” Travis asked. Miguel climbed fast. Travis hadn’t been able to catch up and see every handhold.

“You have to push off that wall and transition to the other one completely. Then just climb over.”

“That’s crazy,” Travis said. He scanned the wall between himself and the ledge where Miguel was perched. It scooped down and only had a couple of cracks that would serve as a place to grab on. He imagined himself losing his grip and sliding back down in to the fissure the hard way.