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 notstay 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 thingthat 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 wouldhave 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.