To quickly recap: Friends Eve and Sara were rock climbing and stumbled across a large cave with primitive drawings on its walls. A rock slide traps them inside. Having little choice, they go deeper into the cave, hoping to find another exit. The cave system seems to be a mixture of natural and man-made and the further into it they go, the stranger Eve starts acting. Just as Sara thinks they’re getting close to a way out, Eve shoves her off of a ledge into a chasm. Now they must each find their way.
Sara moved doggedly forward, focusing on putting one foot after another. Her pains seemed to fade away, or maybe they just paled in comparison to the ache in her leg, which seemed to increase with every step she took.
The walls of the chasm on either side of the riverbed receded and narrowed in turn. Sara couldn’t help but wonder what it had been like when there’d been water flowing through it. How deep had it been? Had there been fish in it?
Fish. Man, she could really go for a nice piece of fish, maybe served on a bed of rice with a nice side salad. It felt like it had been days since she and Eve had finished off the jerky.
There was a part of her that couldn’t help but wonder how Eve was doing, where she was. Was she as hungry as Sara?
It didn’t take a genius to realize that whatever was affecting Eve had something to do with the mosaic. It wouldn’t surprise her if Eve returned to it after she finished filling her pack with stones. She’d been wanting to return ever since Sara had pulled her away. But for what purpose?
Sara shuddered at the thought of trying to traverse that narrow ledge with a heavy pack of rocks. If that’s what Eve was doing, then despite what Eve had done to her, she wished her luck.
She shuddered again for a different reason now. The air around her was beginning to grow chilly. She must be moving deeper into the earth. The hope she was drawing closer to a way out was starting to dwindle.
Her throat was parched. She paused a moment to wipe the perspiration from her forehead and take a breather. She was feeling a little dizzy, probably from lack of food and water. Leaning heavily on her staff, she forced herself to move onwards. She didn’t dare stop for too long for fear of not being able to continue.
She stumbled as the ground dipped suddenly. The tight grip she had on the staff was the only thing that kept her from doing a face plant. As it was, she ended up on her knees, the fresh pain in her leg wrenching a cry from her.
Sinking the rest of the way down, Sara caught her breath and then checked out the fresh damage to her leg. Setting the light on the ground beside her, she carefully pulled back the rent in her pants. Her breath came out in a hiss. The scrape was puffy and oozing a pus-like fluid. God help her, she had nothing to treat an infection. She needed to keep going, and levered herself back up to her feet.
The pain in her leg was a continuous, throbbing ache. To take her mind off of it, Sara started thinking about what she was going to do when she was free of this place. Not if, when.
Eating was the first thing that came to mind, followed by a shower to wash the sweat and grime off, followed by a nice long soak in a hot bath. Then she’d sleep for a week. She was so tired.
A dark shape loomed up in front of her and she raised her light for a better look. It looked like part of the wall beyond the riverbed had broken off, sliding to the bottom of the cavern. With a frown, Sara held the light higher and moved closer.
It might be possible to climb up to the ledge that still ran along the side. The question was, would she be better off up there or down here?
Before she could make up her mind, there was a rumbling noise and the ground undulated under her feet. Earthquake!
Dirt and rock rained down on her. She set the lantern between her feet to protect it and raised her arms above her head to protect it as best she could. It only lasted a moment, but seemed a lot longer. Sara was glad she hadn’t been up on the ledge – she doubted she could survive another fall.
“What next?” she muttered.
She waited a couple of minutes to make sure there were no aftershocks, then picked up her lantern and carefully skirted the rock fall. Something glinted in the light and she stooped for a better look. Was that … it was! Water!
There was a trickle of water beneath the rubble of the riverbed. Ignoring the surge of pain in her leg, she knelt down and brushed away the detritus, revealing the thin stream.
Fumbling off her pack, she grabbed one of her empty water bottles and held it so the water flowed into it. Unable to wait, she brought the half-full bottle to her lips and drank deeply. Water had never tasted so good. When she was done, she put it in the stream again, this time filling it.
It never occurred to her to wonder where the water came from.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Missed an installment? Catch up here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight
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