Taylor looked at Hunter in disbelief then muttered, “Sure.”
“Then I’ll need your electronic signature here,” Eduardo said, sliding a small electronic tablet in-between the two monitors and toward Taylor. “Your paycheck will be deposited the first of every month. Your insurance went into effect this morning. Would you like your signing bonus in cash, deposited into your account, or a combination of both?”
“Signing bonus? You’re kidding.” Taylor almost laughed in disbelief.
“Of course you get a signing bonus. And a very nice one at that as Colonel Hunter here tells me you’re worth the cost.”
Taylor turned in his seat to see a man in black slacks and a heavily starched white shirt enter the room. He was sided by two much larger men who wore ill-fitting pants and guayabera shirts. Eduardo and Hunter stood, and Taylor followed suit. The well-dressed man stepped forward and held his hand to Taylor.
“Miguel Alvarado,” he offered. “It is very nice to have you on board.”
“Thank you for having me, Señor Alvarado,” Taylor replied. “I look forward to getting to work.”
“Yes,” Miguel said. He sat at the table and directed Juan and Arturo out of the office with his eyes. The men left and Taylor, Hunter, and Eduardo returned to their seats. “I wish your arrival fell on better circumstances. And that you had time to acclimate to your position within the organization. Unfortunately, you’ll not have that luxury.”
“Understood,” Taylor agreed.
“I need you and Hunter to solve this setback as quickly as possible,” Miguel continued. “Discover the identity of our attackers and take the appropriate action.”
Taylor listened intently to Miguel and studied him even more so. He sounded like a politician. He couldn’t just come and say what he wanted. He had to talk around the issue. And despite his careful choice in words, Taylor could tell Miguel was raging inside.
That he was furious over this setback and that he felt it somehow painted him in a negative picture.
Was he always like this? So, reserved?
Or was this a show for just for him?
“The problem will be identified and eliminated,” Hunter promised.
“I would hope so,” Miguel stated. “I’m counting on you and your team.”
10.
Ernesto’s body mirrored that of the jackhammer he was operating. It was as if a man and machine were one. Both reverberated in a frenzied repetitive motion and in an attempt to control the power that surged through them.
Julio paused from shoveling the loose rock and dirt that his older brother’s actions were sending everywhere to watch Ernesto work. Ernesto saw this and paused for a break.
“What you smiling at?” Ernesto asked his brother in his native tongue.
“Your gut,” Julio said, laughing. “It’s bouncing all around.”
Ernesto rubbed his girth and laughed. “I’m in training. I want to look like a typical American, so I fit in when we get there.”
“You mean a fat American.”
“Yeah. Like I said, a typical American.”
The two men laughed for a moment then Ernesto raised the heavy jackhammer and worked at the wall before him. Shards of rock splintered and flew in every direction, and clouds of earth and dust washed in the dim light of the cave. The percussion of the hammer was deafening and echoed throughout the tunnel. Ernesto felt a sudden give and tried to pull back, but the momentum of the hammering was too great. The wall gave way and collapsed, revealing a hole half the size of a doorway. Ernesto struggled to control the cumbersome jackhammer but was unable to do so and fell forward through the newly developed opening.
Julio watched in disbelief and horror as his brother shot forward. He rushed to Ernesto’s side and helped him to his feet.
“You okay?” Julio asked in genuine fear, hoping that his brother was harmed.
“I’m fine,” Ernesto said, brushing the dirt from his clothing with furious slaps of his hands.
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine,” Ernesto scoffed in embarrassment at his tumble.
The realization of where they were suddenly struck the two men and they stared into the darkness in disbelief and wonder. A narrow beam of light from the tunnel cut through the darkness to illuminate a floor of slick rock and the hint that it extended to the horizon. Workers from the tunnel ceased their duties and rushed to stand at Ernesto’s and Julio’s side to see for themselves the alien world Ernesto had inadvertently gained access to.
A worker named Gio took a cell phone from his pocket and shined the light into the darkness was a little effect.
“Here,” another worker scoffed, pulled a flashlight from his belt, and shined its light outward and into the void.
“Doesn’t even hit the other side,” the flashlight bearer exclaimed.
“If there is another side,” another pondered aloud.
The flashlight trained upward and the men gazed in amazement.
“Must be three or four stories tall,” Ernesto exclaimed.
“At least,” Julio agreed.
“Smells like a sewer in here,” another worker exclaimed.
“This ain’t a sewer,” the man with the cell phone countered.
“I didn’t say it was a sewer. Said it smells like one. Smells like shit in here.”
“Like a barnyard,” another added. “Like wet dog and goat piss.”
“And wet,” another worker added. “Humid. Real humid.”
“Be quiet!” Ernesto suddenly commanded. “Listen.”
“What?” the flashlight bearer asked in a whisper. “What is it?”
“Heard something,” Ernesto whispered in response. “Something like a dog growling or something.”
“A dog?” Julio asked in hushed tones. “Down here?”
“Hush!” Ernesto curtly instructed. “Be still.”
The men stood in the cleave of light produced by the tunnel, staring into the void and listening. Soft murmurs reminiscent of puppies crawling with unopened eyes toward their mother in search of nourishment whispered from the darkness.
The murmurs grew louder.
The flashlight beam swung to and fro, searching for their source.
“What’s that?” Julio asked in a tone just above a whisper.
The murmurs became barks.
Low, deep barks.
The barks grew in volume, hardened in anger, and echoed across the measureless cavern.
Men breathed heavily.
Sweated in nervousness.
And fought to control their unease.
The cave exploded in a cacophony of howls and barks, spattered with the cackling of hyenas, the pain of mongrel curs, and the screams of someplace primordial.
The flashlight caught jade-colored reflections in the sea of blackness.
Then flashes of ivory fur.
Of clacking maws filled with teeth.
Of rage charging forward.
Someone screamed and the men scrambled toward the tunnel in panic.
The doorway to the tunnel became a melee of violence.
Men fought to move forward.
To escape.
To keep the unseen from them.
And to seal their sudden wounds.
The air was a torrent of screams and splattering blood.
Fangs and claws pierced and sliced.
Men wept in horror and in pain.
Extremities were shredded.
Viscera spilled.
God was begged for mercy.
Julio was in front of the violence, the tunnel before him an avenue to salvation.
Ernesto emitted a bloodcurdling howl.
Julio turned and rushed to his older brother.
A white blur of violence shot toward Ernesto’s chest. It knocked him backward and into Julio and the two men crashed to the floor of the cave. Julio gasped as the air was forced from his lungs and he fought to get out from under the heavy weight of his brother.