Ortiz struggled to hold on to his slippery grip on consciousness. A scary moment passed when blurry black spots formed and started to grow larger, blotting out everything. He closed his eyes and when he opened them, they had gone. There was still a gray cloud floating on the right side of his vision, but the feeling he was going to pass out had gone for now. “I’m okay, Chris. Help me up.”
“Robert, are you sure? I think you should sit tight, you’ve got a nasty goose-egg and I didn’t think you were going to come around.” Maybe only half a step away from panic.
“I’ll take it slow, come on, pull me up.”
When he got to his feet, the black spots made an encore appearance. Gasping to get air and still dizzy, he clenched his fists and willed himself to stay conscious. Concussion, and a bad one, he thought. He heard Chris talking but it sounded miles away. He felt his knees buckling and leaned against the wall of the tunnel. “I’ll be okay in a minute.”
“Okay, Robert, take all the time you need. Seems like it’s over, for now at least. Stay here, I think I see your flashlight beam on the ground.”
Ortiz felt his head clear a bit and his stomach had settled. A moment later, Chris came back with the flashlight.
“It was almost buried, luckily it was still on and I saw the beam shining. It’s a little banged up but still works.”
Ortiz nodded, and only small black dots winked at him, a good sign. “I think we should keep going forward, toward the sound of shots that started the cave-in. There must be another way out in that direction, probably close to the lake.”
Chris looked like that was the last thing he wanted to hear. “Okay, whenever you’re ready.”
“Let’s do this. Take it slow, okay?”
With Ortiz leaning heavily on Chris, behind a flickering flashlight beam, they went on.
(107)
It was Paul’s voice that brought Denny back.
“Denny, get her over the ledge. Quick!”
He snapped out of it and went to work. With strength he didn’t know he had—hell, a few minutes ago he didn’t have—he reached down and hauled Julie up in a bear hug. This time he didn’t blush when he felt the soft swell of her breasts against his bare chest. Holding her in a standing position, he grabbed her left hand and threw it up toward the top of the ledge. Without his light he couldn’t see what was happening in the water. He didn’t have to: he could hear it. “Paul, can you grab her hand?” He had to shout above the raging torrent in the lake.
He felt Julie’s arm tug and knew Paul had her. He slid his grip down so he was hugging her legs and lifted, knowing Paul was pulling from the other side. He winced when he felt Julie’s lower legs slide by as Paul finished hauling her over the ledge. It seemed like her ankles were made of sand instead of bone and her feet flopped around like nothing was holding them on but her skin. He pushed the thought away.
“I’ve got her Denny, you next, put your hands up as high as you can.”
Denny grabbed his light and pointed it toward the water. What was illuminated there almost stopped his heart.
The creature was there, standing in the water beyond the ledge, thirty feet away if not closer. Its tentacles were in constant motion, swirling around it in an almost hypnotic way. Its eyes locked on Denny’s. It can’t see Paul on the other side of the ledge, Denny realized. “Paul, get Julie back to the tunnel on your side. I’ll climb back over in a minute.” He tried keeping his voice calm, somehow knowing the creature would pick up on fear or panic. He was amazed at how normal he sounded.
Paul’s reply was soft, tired. “Okay, Denny.”
He heard the sounds of Paul moving Julie, never taking his eyes off the creature. The creature glanced in that direction but made no move. Satisfied it was not going after Paul, Denny began to slowly move backwards toward the rear of the cave where he’d found Julie. The creature again fixed its murderous gaze on Denny. The tentacles all seemed to reach in his direction. Denny knew it would come for him. As if it had read his thoughts, it took a slow step toward him. Denny knew how quickly it could move and that outrunning it was not an option. If he could keep it moving slow he had a chance. With his bladder threatening to let go, he forced himself to take another shaky step backwards, then another. The creature’s steps matched his own, almost tauntingly.
Finally he felt his foot hit the prize he was searching for and was rewarded with the sound of the canisters clanging together in the backpack. The creature was now out of the water and standing next to the ledge. Denny kept his eyes and his flashlight beam on it while he crouched and started unlatching the backpack’s buckles. After some fumbling, he got them opened and grabbed one of the canisters. The creature had not moved, just watched. Denny had paid close attention when Mossy had demonstrated how to release the poison. It wasn’t meant to be a lesson, but for some reason, for this reason, Denny had taken it as one.
Denny rose to his feet, the flashlight in one hand still trained on the creature, the canister in his other hand. The cave was silent except for the constant trickling of water and Denny’s own breathing. The creature made no sound at all and Denny heard no movement from the other side of the ledge. Denny knew what had to happen next. The hand holding the light on the creature began to twitch, then shake. Denny’s entire body was trembling and the creature cocked its head, confused when Denny took the first step forward. Barely able to take a breath, he forced a second step, then a third. The creature’s tentacles began to swirl and it crouched slightly. Denny wondered if it was a defensive posture or if it was about to spring. If it was the latter, he knew he would not have time to release the contents of the canister. He stopped walking, now just fifteen feet from the monster and close enough to realize what a nightmare it truly was.
It stood at least eight feet tall. Its green and black body was protected by heavy scales, its arms and legs solid muscle. Its hands were clawed, almost talon-like, and the tentacles were decorated on the undersides with rows of suction-cup-looking things. Some of them seemed to have a sharp hook in the center, others didn’t. They all pulsated, opening and closing as if searching for prey. One of them was shorter than the rest, ending in a stump, an old injury of some sort, Denny thought. But its head was the worst. Denny couldn’t figure what DNA combination could have resulted in the horror he was looking at. Its jaw was elongated and Denny could see rows of teeth, no doubt razor-sharp. The closest Denny’s mind could come was part dinosaur, part insect and part reptile. But it was the eyes that filled Denny with dread more than anything. Up close, they were pure cunning and evil. That’s when he noticed they were not the same. One looked deformed… no… damaged. It was closed slightly and surrounded by scar tissue.
The moment had come and he slowly, very slowly, brought his hands together. The creature tensed more. It’s intelligent, Denny knew this, and perceptive. Somehow it sensed Denny was a threat despite his slow movements. He thought he heard a voice (voices?) from the other side of the ledge. He had to hurry before Paul tried to climb over. Denny turned the lid of the canister until it clicked. Now he was just one pull away, similar to pulling the pin on a grenade, from releasing the poison. What if it doesn’t work? He tried to swallow but his throat was a desert and caked with dust from the cave-in. He slowly began to pull the pin. Suddenly, the creature’s head snapped to the left. It was tall enough to see over the ledge. Denny saw his opportunity, yanked the pin and tossed the canister at the creature’s feet. In a blur the beast was gone, over the rock ledge. As the poisonous gas formed a cloud where the creature stood just seconds ago, the screaming began.