Maybe I had only imagined that something was moving toward us over the garbage heap, but I didn’t think so. I knew what I had seen, and the complete and utter lack of animals was too hard to ignore. Animals knew things we didn’t. They sensed the impending approach of many different things and fled from them long before we did. I was beginning to suspect the aliens had the same effect upon them that an earthquake would, and that they were fleeing before we even knew the monsters were near. I was not about to ignore their more finely honed instincts in favor of my less than perfect ones.
“Bethy.”
Abby’s soft whisper alerted me to the fact that we were ready to move on. Thankfully Cade had donned his shirt again and was now toting the bag. Jenna had disappeared from the room, but Abby and Cade were impatiently waiting for me by another door. Cade ushered me quickly into the room. He closed the door behind us, throwing the room into complete darkness. Terror erupted through me as swiftly as a bursting dam; I took a stumbling step back as the overwhelming urge to flee encompassed me. I could feel the walls closing in on me, crushing against my sides, ripping the air from my lungs.
“Easy.” Cade’s breath was warm against my ear as he whispered the word. His reassuring presence gave me a small measure of comfort. I was at least able to keep myself from screaming or running away as I ripped my hair out. Then, to my horror and relief, light flooded the room. Abby was standing by the door, her hand on the switch.
“Abby…”
“It’s ok; there are no windows in this room,” Cade assured me.
I glanced rapidly around the room, not feeling at all relived as I took in the cramped, dark, and dreary space. It was a small bathroom with a urinal and a toilet. The sink was yellowed and dirty, the mirror cracked, and I was certain that it was only the stench of us that was blocking the stench of this room. For some reason, that I didn’t even want to begin to fathom, there was a large drain in the center of the room.
“It’s like we’re stuck in an unending dirty, stinky hell,” Jenna said softly.
I silently agreed.
“We can’t stay in here. It’s a dead end.”
Cade turned back around, he reached for the knob as the ground beneath our feet began to shake. My breath froze, a scream strangled in my throat. Sweat beaded my forehead as my jaw clenched in terror. Cade reached out and swiftly shoved Abby’s hand down on the light. It didn’t matter if there were no windows in this room; it was a relief to be plunged into darkness again. At least for them it was, it gave them a false sense of security. It gave me almost instantaneous heart palpitations. With the lights out, it felt as if the walls were creeping steadily closer to me once more. No matter how irrational the thought was, I could not turn it off.
The water in the toilet began to shake and splash as the ground shook and vibrated with a sudden, violent, wrenching motion. I jumped in surprise; a scream would have erupted from me if Cade had not slammed his hand over my mouth to stifle it. “Stay calm Bethy. It’s only going to get worse, and you are going to have to handle it if you want to survive. If you want your sister to survive.”
I managed a small nod, and though I thought he was going to release me right away he clung to me, his arms strong and secure around me. It was the first time I sensed his fear, his uncertainty as to whether or not we would make it out of this alive. And if we were going to die, he was going to hug me one more time, and I was going to return it. I did not feel guilt as I took solace in his strong embrace for a brief moment.
He released me reluctantly, moving away as a loud crash resounded throughout the building, seeming to shake it on its foundation. It sounded as if something had just smashed into the large garage door. “They know we’re in here,” Abby whispered.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Cade muttered, his voice sounding distant in the small room. “They could just be going building to building. They may have picked up our scent recently, but they would have caught up to us again if they had been tracking us since yesterday. Either way, we can’t stay here.”
“What are we going to do?” Jenna inquired.
I was thinking the same exact thing as a small light flared into the tiny room. Cade was kneeling down, a penlight in his hand as he examined the drain intently. My heart plummeted, my head spun, and for a frightening moment I was truly terrified that I might pass out as a wave of dizziness cascaded over me. I wanted to shake my head, wanted to run screaming, wanted to rip out every hair on my head. Instead, I stood, my legs trembling as I struggled not to vomit.
Cade placed the penlight between his teeth as he started to feel around the edges of the drain. “Are you out of your mind?” Jenna inquired shakily. “We don’t even know where that goes. I’m not crawling through sewage.”
Cade lifted the light to something I had not noticed before. There was a shower head sticking out of the wall with two knobs beneath it. My eyes widened, hope sprang forth in me. For a brief moment, I forgot all about the danger we faced as my fingers itched to turn on that water and plunge beneath the wonderful spray. I didn’t even give a damn if it was freezing cold, it would be heaven. There was a dwindling bar of soap settled onto a metal dish. I wanted it. I wanted it badly.
“It’s a water drain. It’s not sewage.”
“You don’t know that,” Jenna breathed.
“I know that if we stay here, we’re dead.” As if to reinforce his words, the sound of twisting metal echoed through the air. It sounded as if the garage doors were starting to give out. “This is a town facility, there’s a possibility it might lead straight to the water treatment center.”
“You don’t know if it leads anywhere at all. You don’t know if it just dead ends. You don’t know if it doesn’t become so narrow that we can no longer fit through it.” Jenna was becoming slightly hysterical and her rushed words were doing nothing to ease my growing terror.
“No, I don’t, but I do know that we have to try.”
I agreed that we had to try, or at least they did, but I was fairly certain that I was not going in that awful thing. Cade reached down, grabbed hold of the grate, and pulled it free with surprising ease. It rattled softly as he placed it on the ground. Cade shone the light into the darkness, peering into the hole. I wrapped my arms around myself trying, and failing, to ease the shaking that was starting to take me over.
A wrenching screech echoed throughout the building. I jumped slightly, half expecting something to come barging through the door as I glanced nervously behind me. I didn’t have to see them to know that the bay doors had just given way. Those things were now in the building, and it would not take them long to make their way here. “It goes straight down about ten feet before making a turn. Jenna…”
“No,” she whispered.
Cade lifted his head to stare hard at her. There was a cold hardness, a lack of empathy in his gaze that left me rattled and slightly numbed. “Then you will stay here and die. The choice is yours, but we will not stay here with you.”
Abby’s eyes widened on him, her mouth parted slightly. Jenna’s bottom lip began to tremble, tears formed in her eyes. She turned slightly toward me but I could not meet her gaze. Instead, I remained focused upon that hole, that thing that I did not want to crawl into either. I was fairly certain I might shatter and go crazy if I had to.
“I’ll go first.”
Cade and Abby looked at me in surprise. I was also stunned that the words had just popped out of my mouth. But I was suddenly certain that if I didn’t just jump into that hole and get it over and done with, I never would. If there was someone in front of me, I would shatter. If I was in between two people, I would feel even more trapped, and I couldn’t handle that. Not right now anyway. If I didn’t get in that hole right now I would be dead, and Abby would be dead because she would not leave me here.
Apparently Cade might though. I shuddered at the thought, but I had seen the fierceness in his gaze, the anger he’d directed at Jenna. I did not want that turned on me. I’d dealt with too much; I couldn?
??t deal with his scorn also. Not right now. I had to do this, it was the only way. I had to stop being a coward. I had to deal with my fear. Even if it drove me mad.
“Bethany…”
“It’s ok Abby, I’ll be fine, but I need to go first. I have to.”
I stepped up to the hole. It was dark, shadowed, and so unbelievably tight. It had a three foot diameter, but it looked about the same as three inches would to me right now. I didn’t realize I was shaking uncontrollably until my teeth began to chatter. I clenched my jaw, trying to make them stop, but a fierce trembling was working its way rapidly through every bone in my body. I was certain that it wasn’t going to stop until I reached the end of the pipe, or simply went crazy. I wasn’t sure which one would happen first.
“Can I take the light?” I asked tremulously.
Another loud crash resounded from outside of the room. They were getting closer. Cade handed the light over, his black eyes warm and caring. I wondered if he would have left me behind if I had refused to do this. For some reason I didn’t think he would have, but I wasn’t going to ask.
Taking a deep breath, I dropped to my knees. Cade seized hold of my arm, I blinked as I tried to bring him into focus. His eyes blazed into mine for a long moment, I could feel the determination that he was trying to instill in me, feel his fierce desire for me to stay strong. His thumb stroked over my skin before he finally released me.
“You can do this.”
I shuddered as I tore my attention away from him, put my hands out, and began to squirm into the hole before I no longer could. I instantly wanted to start screaming, instantly balked against the horrendous sensation that immediately enshrouded me. There was about six inches above me as I squirmed, crawled, and slithered down the pipe but it felt as if it were crushing down on my back, squeezing the air from my lungs, trapping me forever in this world of slime and darkness.
The air within the pipe was cool and musty. The small light revealed a shiny layer of gunk, mold, and something that I didn’t even want to think about that was coating the walls. I fought against screaming, fought against squirming my way backwards when I felt someone enter the pipe behind me. The crushing sensation of being buried alive suddenly enshrouded me; it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe as panic hammered through me. I was going to die, not from being trapped in the pipe but because I felt as if my lungs were starting to shut down, starting to close.
I reached a turn, and after a little bit of maneuvering, managed to twist my way into the curve. It did not feel as if the pipe was getting smaller, but I was certain it was. I couldn’t let myself think about being trapped in here, couldn’t let myself think that there might be no way out. I would become useless if I did, and everyone else would be trapped behind me.
“Bethany?”
“I’m fine,” I managed to choke out to Abby though we both knew I was lying.
I continued forward another twenty feet when a rocking bang from above caused the entire pipe to shudder. A creaking, groaning noise echoed throughout the system. A soft whimper escaped me as I froze. If there had been enough room in the pipe I was pretty sure I would have curled into a ball and screamed like a baby.
“Faster Bethy, faster.”
Cade didn’t have to say it twice. I was suddenly frantic to be free, frantic to escape this world of unending torture and madness within these crushing confines. I wasn’t entirely against death as an option anymore, if it meant escaping this whole terrifying mess. I was beginning to think death would be better than this overwhelming panic, misery, and insanity that we had been forced into.
I was either going to find the end of this tunnel, or I was going to die in it, and I didn’t care which one came first anymore. Using my elbows and feet, I squirmed my way forward like an earthworm at a more rapid, sure pace. The light bounced over the walls, flashing over the slime and sludge that had been there for far longer than I cared to think about. The stink of the refuse had been bad; this forgotten mix of hair, dead skin, waste, and gunk was almost as bad. It coated me, clung to me, and permeated everything as it pressed against my lips, and slid up my nose.
I wanted to vomit, but then I would also have to crawl through that. Though, at this point, it might be cleaner than the mess I was already struggling through.
The pipe suddenly dropped again, taking a sharp turn down. I used the light to peer into the dip. The dim glow bounced off of the slush infested network that twisted somewhere out of sight about fifteen feet down. Where the hell did the damn thing go, and would we be able to get through it? I shut the thought down; it would only lead to even darker and more frightening places in my mind, places that I knew I would not be able to handle right now.
“Bethany!” Abby hissed.
“It drops again.” I warned in a strangled voice that I hardly recognized and was more than a little ashamed of.
And then, I shoved myself into the disgusting darkness that dropped dangerously into nothing.
CHAPTER 14
There was light at the end of the tunnel. I had to turn off the flashlight to make sure, but there it was, a bright beacon against the darkness and panic enshrouding me. Hope surged through me, I moved forward at a more rapid pace, scurrying forward on my elbows as I used my toes to propel me onward. Tears flooded my eyes, clogged my throat. I needed to be out, needed to be free.
I didn’t care what was at the end of this tunnel, didn’t care if it dumped into raw sewage or a nest full of aliens. I didn’t care if I was scooped up and eaten as soon as I reached the end. I only cared about escaping this cramped enclosure and breathing fresh air once again. I heard a gasp of surprise from Abby as I reached the end and plunged heedlessly out of the pipe.
It was a further drop than I had anticipated; I hit the muddied, wet ground with a loud grunt. Pain shot through my bruised tailbone and elbow. For a moment the air was knocked forcefully out of me, and then it gasped wonderfully, blessedly back in. I panted, clawing at the watery ground as I pulled myself clear of the pipe exit. I blinked against the bright light of day that burned my eyes.
Though it was wet beneath me I was not in a puddle, and even if I couldn’t see yet I knew that I was in the wide open. I could feel that there were no walls around me anymore; feel my freedom even though I could not clearly see it yet. Hands seized hold of my arms; I blinked, trying to clear the tears away that were blurring my vision. It was then that I realized that the sun was not the reason I couldn’t see, it was the tears streaking down my face and clogging my eyes. “Are you ok?” Cade demanded.
I wanted to nod, wanted to speak, wanted to reassure him that I was dazed, but completely fine. Instead a terrified, brutal scream ripped from my throat. I couldn’t stop it, and once it tore free, I could feel unending shrieks of anguish and terror building up and roiling through me. I was shaken, torn, and very close to coming completely undone. I had managed to keep it together in that awful pipe, but it had been too much, and I was completely unraveling. I could feel a shattering forming inside of me, a soul wrenching breaking that I was very afraid might just destroy me.
Cade wrapped me up in his arms, pulling me tight against him. He buried my head in his neck, muffling the sounds of my shrieks with his body. I clung to him, continuing to scream as all of the pent up frustration, terror, and horror of that pipe, and everything else that had occurred, boiled out of me. And once it started I couldn’t stop it, could no longer contain it.
“Bethany, Bethy baby hush. You’re out now, you made it. You’re free, it’s over, and you did great. You did great,” Cade whispered against my ear, his hands entangling in my snarled and filthy hair as he pressed me closer.
I shuddered, clawing at his skin and clothes, trying harder to get closer to him, though it was nearly impossible to do so. It was impossible to be any closer, but I needed to be, I needed more. I needed him, all of him. The absolute certainty of that was soul shaking, it nearly ripped me in two as I held him, oblivious to anyone outside of the two of us. No one
else existed in this world of warm security within Cade’s strong embrace. I wasn’t aware that my screams had subsided until I felt the gentle caress of his hands over my hair, soothing me gently, and whispering softly to me as I began to tremble. Not from fear this time, or relief, but from the sheer wonder of this tender moment, and his touch.
I did not even care that we were both covered with slime, and stunk to high heaven. I didn’t even care that there were two other people watching us. All I cared about was the fact that I didn’t ever want to let go. I could hear his answering response to me in the excited beat of his heart, and the slight tremble that gripped his body.
“Bethany,” he whispered, his lips against my ear, his hands in my ear. “My brave Bethany.”
I didn’t feel so brave today. I felt like a coward, and childlike. I felt drained, and nearly defeated. If it hadn’t been for his quiet strength, and unwavering faith in me, I wasn’t sure that I would have made it this far. It was a faith I wasn’t sure I deserved, especially not after the breakdown I had just experienced. Jenna may complain about everything, but at least she was keeping it together. I was unraveling faster than a yo-yo. If there had been any aliens in the area, I could have just killed us and all because I had a problem with small spaces.
“I’m sorry,” I breathed.
He didn’t tell me it was ok, didn’t say anything but simply brushed a gentle kiss over my temple. He may have forced Jenna into the pipe, he may have even left her behind, but in that moment I knew that he wouldn’t have forced me, and he wouldn’t have left me. He would have done everything he could to keep me safe for as long as possible, even if it meant dying himself. I wanted to start crying again at the realization, but this time I managed to keep my tears at bay. What was this wonderful, horrible, confusing situation that I had been sucked into?
Just days ago life hadn’t been perfect, but it had been peaceful. I’d had a home, and a mom. I’d known my siblings were safe, and that I would be seeing them again. I’d had a nice, loving boyfriend. I had been certain that if enough time passed I would come to love him one day, because who wouldn’t love Bret? Every other girl in the school loved him, except for me.