The Codex (An Armour of God Thriller Book 2)

by Daniel Patterson

  She removed her jacket and ripped off one of the sleeves of her shirt, wrapping it around his head, tying it tight. She helped him to his feet, and together they chose the other passage. They moved along on the same level for a long time without a word.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  ZACK'S NAUSEA HAD PASSED, but a massive headache remained. He couldn't feel his toes anymore. His fingers were numb, and his shoulder was aching something awful.

  Next to him Sydney had her arms crossed across her chest and her shoulders hunched. She was just as cold as he was.

  At least the next room had another opening. Instead of stairs, the tunnel curved upward. They followed it for a while in silence.

  Zack wasn't thinking about much anymore. He just focused on the basics. One foot in front of the other. Breathe in. Breathe out. Keep going.

  They were going to be alright. They had to be. The shaft started narrowing again.

  "The upside is that this shaft is sloping up all the time," he said over his shoulder, trying to lift her spirits as much as his own. "It's got to open up at the surface at some point."

  Sydney huffed and puffed next to him. She continued counting her steps and reached out to steady him when he faltered.

  A few more steps and the tunnel widened again. A dim light was visible in the far distance.

  "Do you see that too, or am I about to pass out again?" Zack asked.

  "I'm sure it's our way out this time," she said, her shivering voice hopeful.

  They shuffled along the corridor, trying to quicken their pace. The light became brighter and brighter.

  The tunnel opened up, and they both looked around expectantly only to have their hopes crushed.

  "This isn't fair!" Sydney cried out, and her voice bounced off the rocky walls around them and came back to mock them.

  They were in another cavern. This one was natural. The smooth rocky surface stretched in all directions and ended in walls that curved upward and closed the cavern off at the top. There were holes in the ceiling that was much lower than before, and sunlight fell in. It was a beautiful cavern, but Zack passed the point where he could appreciate the beauty. He was so cold he couldn't feel his fingers or his toes anymore, and was starting to see flashes of light at the edge of his vision. Not a good sign at all. He plopped down on the ground.

  Sydney sat down next to Zack and pulled out a canteen of fresh water. He took a sip or two and handed it back to her, and she also limited herself to only two sips.

  Zack looked up at the holes in the ceiling, at the sunlight filtering through. It was dimmer than the light had been in the bigger cavern. But it was much later, and the sun was starting to sink away. He was sure of it.

  At least the sunshine was welcome. It didn't do much for heating them up, but they were alive. How anyone managed to live in underground cities like this was beyond him. He couldn't even do a couple of hours underground without missing the open skies and a bright light.

  She asked the question that had been on Zack's mind since the moment they'd found the dead end. "So, what now?"

  "I don't know," he said honestly.

  "I could try climbing it and going for help," Sydney suggested.

  "It's too dangerous. There are no crimps, pinches, or pockets that I can see. Maybe a sloper or two but that's about it." He wanted to be a hero, the one who could save them, the one who found the way out. But he'd failed, and the fact was they were in real danger. They must be well past hypothermia. He wiggled his fingers to get the blood flowing, but it was as if his blood had frozen solid in his veins.

  They sat side by side, looking at the cavern, looking at each other.

  Sydney began to say a prayer, "Listen to me, Lord, and answer me, for we are helpless and weak. Save us from death, because we are loyal to you; save us, for we are Your—" she stopped mid-sentence and squealed. "It's on me!" she yelled.

  Zack didn't have time to respond before it was on him too. Something long and sinewy dropped down on his head and fell on his neck and shoulders. He screamed as well—in a very manly way, he was sure—and tried to do the same as Sydney, although his shoulder limited his movement a lot more. The snakes, the serpents from the story, they were out to get them!

  "Easy, it's alright, we've got you!" a voice called from above.

  Zack looked up. Several men in red jackets were descending on lines that dropped through one of the holes above. The ropes came down all the way to where they were sitting and were resting on Sydney's back.

  Sydney had her hands over her face, clamped in a ball with her knees against her chest, praying with vigor.

  "Hey, it's—" Zack started, his teeth were chattering so hard he had to start over. "It's okay. It's only a rope."

  Sydney looked up and then hugged Zack in a tight embrace. "We're saved! Thank you, Lord!"

  It was the last thing Zack had heard before everything went black.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  IT WAS A RHYTHMIC sound that first penetrated the blackness that had enveloped Zack's brain.

  Beep...

  Beep...

  Beep...

  A steady beat that was familiar, its repetition both soothing and annoying. Zack struggled to open his eyes, blinking as the bright lights of the room seemed intent on keeping them closed.

  Where am I?

  He scanned his mind for a memory to evoke the chain of events that had led him to this room. This warm, bright room so different than the cold, dark nothingness he last remembered.

  Lifting a hand to his aching head, pain flared as the wires connected to his forearm pulled with the gesture. A plastic device was clamped to his forefinger while an IV line was taped to his arm. Two clear bags of fluid hung from a pole next to the source of the sound that had broken into the dark landscape of his consciousness.

  Heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen levels displayed on the monitor and all seemed to be within the normal range.

  Well, that's good!

  It meant he wasn't as close to death as he felt. He was clearly in a hospital, but how he got there, he hadn't the foggiest notion.

  He tried to sit up but winced at the dull pain that blossomed in his shoulder.

  "Hey, big guy, take it easy there."

  As if in a dream, Sydney's voice floated to him, soon followed by her smiling face hovering above him, looking down. She was beautiful, like an angel. The bright lights haloed around her, an exquisite contrast of white against the darkness of her hair.

  "You feeling okay?"

  "No," he managed to rasp out. His throat was raw, and the word felt as if a ball of needles followed it.

  "Do you want a drink?" Sydney pushed a button on the side of his bed and the top half raised by a few degrees. She lifted a plastic cup of ice water from the little tray next to his bed and held the straw to his lips. He drank one small sip after another, the cold water soothing his parched mouth. The ice shifted in the cup, sending another shiver of memory down his spine. If he never saw an ice cube or icicle or ice cream shop again, it would be too soon.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  ZACK HAD A BETTER view of his body. His legs were elevated on pillows and had some kind of strong-smelling ointment coating them. They itched as if pins and needles were marching back and forth on his skin, most likely the after effects of frostbite. Not pleasant, but better than being dead.

  "How long was I out?" he asked Sydney.

  "Almost a whole day," she said. "Dinnertime, now. Though I'm not sure, the local cuisine is worth waking up for."

  He laughed, and then groaned as the motion sent shooting pains through his head. The ache was so intense he lost his breath for a moment. They were alive. The underbelly of Greenland had done its best to swallow them but had spat them out. It was a miracle they were still alive.

  "Are you okay?" he asked.

  Sydney smiled, her lips turning up softly, and took a seat at his bedside. "I'm fine, just a bit of frostbite, frostnip actually. Nothing too serious. How
much do you remember?"

  He tried to peek into the dark void of his mind. "Not much after the maze of tunnels," he admitted.

  "Well, you did hit your head. When Mikkel didn't hear from us, he went for help," she explained. "You were unconscious when they lifted us out of the cave and flew us to Tasiilaq. The hospital staff raised a few eyebrows at the crazy Americans out in the wilds of Greenland."

  "Yeah, I'll bet. Did you explain what we were doing?"

  She shook her head. "Of course not. But, one of the nurses saw the soapstone figurine and kind of flipped out."

  "Flipped out how?"

  "She went all pale and wide-eyed and then left the room in a hurry. Another nurse came in and finished my frostbite treatment. I haven't seen the one that freaked out again."

  Sydney handed Zack the soapstone figurine. Zack frowned and turned it over in his hand. "Strange... I wonder why she reacted the way she did over such a small trinket? It could be a knickknack from anywhere."

  "That's what I thought. For all she knew, I could have picked it up at the airport gift shop."

  What was it about that statue? Would there be more such reactions? He couldn't afford to be stuck in a hospital bed when the important things were out there in the real world. Or rather, down there in the lost one.

  His eyes darted around the room. The other bed was empty. Everything was clean and clinical, no personal touches. No sign of his personal belongings. Not even his clothes.

  Sydney leaned forward. "What do you need?"

  "My clothes. I have to get out of here."

  Sydney shook her head. "Zack, are you crazy? They just treated you for a concussion, frostbite, hypothermia, and a dislocated shoulder. You've been unconscious for almost twenty-four hours. Can you just relax for two seconds?"

  "Apparently, I've just relaxed for twenty-four hours."

  "You nearly died..."

  "I'm fine now. I can't relax," Zack said, something resolute settling inside of him. "I need to get back to the site. I need to claim it. I need to catalog it..."

  Sydney bristled. "You?"

  "We. We need to claim it and catalog it."

  "The site isn't going anywhere. We almost didn't either, and now you want to jump right back down?"

  "Word gets around. Someone else could find the village."

  "How would anyone find it?" Sydney looked incredulous.

  "They found us, didn't they? That gives them a pretty big clue!"

  Sydney shook her head, turned, and walked toward the window, her arms folded across her chest.

  Zack's gaze followed her. Her shoulders were tense. It was obvious she was upset, but he didn't care, not now. She knew how important a find like that could be, didn't she? She didn't have much field experience, but it wasn't like she was new to archaeology, either.

  The rhythmic beeping filled the room, making the quiet inside heavier and more insistent. Nurses shuffled past the door pushing carts and assisting patients.

  The overwhelming whiteness of the room made Zack feel uneasy. The brightness stung his eyes. The walls seemed to be closing in on him by the second. He needed to get out of there. The caves that had almost meant their deaths felt more like freedom than this hospital room did.

  The silence between them was becoming unbearable. They'd grown close down there in the caves. Working as a team. The chasm that had opened up between them now was foreign and painful.

  "We can't let a find like this slip through our fingers. Not a second time," Zack finally said, in a hushed voice. "And the Bible... we should have brought it with us."

  Sydney turned, anger flaring in her eyes. "And what exactly could we have done with the Bible? Stuff it into your backpack and bring it up in a soggy, crumbled mess?"

  She was right, but he was still angry that they left such an important artifact behind. "It wouldn't have been soaked. We got out just fine... and dry."

  "There's no way we could have known that at the time. We could have fallen into another underground river for all we knew. Leaving it was the right decision."

  "But if someone else finds it—"

  Sydney walked back to his bed and stood in front of him. "Then you don't get the credit, and that's what it's about, isn't it?" Her hands clenched into fists and her jaw set. Her eyes flamed, matching the dancing fire the sunlight cast on her hair.

  Anger bubbled from his chest and coursed through the rest of his body. He wasn't going to let Sydney tell him what was right and wrong. This was his expedition! His responsibility!

  "Well, I don't know about you, but I like it when I find something that can help advance society—"

  "This has nothing to do with society, or science, or archaeology!" she snapped. Her voice whipped through the hospital room. "This is about you. You wanted to be the face associated with the find. And you were willing to stop at nothing to get it."

  "What's so wrong with that?"

  "Would you even have given me credit for being there too?"

  "If it were up to me, you wouldn't have been there." The words were out before he could stop himself. She winced as if he'd punched her.

  "If it weren't for me we wouldn't have found the Bible." Each word she spoke was louder than the one before.

  Zack glanced around the room. They were alone, but their argument was starting to attract the attention of people passing by in the hall. Faces turned to look into their door before moving on, their steps faltering only enough to hear a sentence or two, but that was enough.

  "Keep your voice down, will you?"

  Sydney looked at him with fiery eyes. "I can't believe Uncle Sal trusts you so much... I can't believe I trusted you."

  "You had no choice," he answered.

  "Well, I have one now." She turned on her heel and marched out of the room. "I'm going home. Do it all yourself, Professor big shot," she called over her shoulder and disappeared.

  "I will," he called after her, but she was already gone.

  Chapter Thirty

  HOW COULD SYDNEY JUST walk away like that?

  He still had so much to say, and that just made him angrier.

  "You will what?" Mikkel asked, walking through the door. He stopped in his tracks and let out a whistle. "Well, your ordeal didn't kill your spirit, did it?" His round smiling face beaming, he leaned in and gave Zack an awkward hug.

  Zack knew how he must look. Banged up with his head bandaged, hot and sweaty, chest heaving from the exertion of the argument. His head ached along with every inch of his skin. He needed to calm down, be rational. No way he'd be allowed to leave this hospital looking mentally deranged.

  "I thought you were going to die down there, my friend. Lucky to be alive, eh?" Mikkel said, slapping Zack's arm.

  Zack grimaced as pains shot through his bad shoulder. The grimaces made his head ache. Maybe leaving the hospital wasn't such a good idea after all. He took a few deep breaths and focused on the air traveling in and then out of his lungs. He willed himself to calm down.

  It didn't work.

  "Where was your lady friend going? I didn't think she was ever going to leave this room."

  "What do you mean?"

  "She's been by your bedside since we rescued you."

  Had she?

  The fight echoed in Zack's head. Sure, he was irrational. He'd said some hurtful things, but so did she. Even if he could have crawled out of this bed to go after her, there was no way he was going to apologize. She was infuriating, and she probably knew it. Besides, he had made it clear all along that he preferred to work alone.

  He huffed, getting worked up again thinking of the maddening creature. His logic was twisted. But he was just looking for excuses not to make amends, and he was going to stick to them.

  "Never mind her," Zack said. "She's going home. Tell me how you found us."

  Mikkel lifted an eyebrow but seemed to think it better not to press the point. "When I checked your ropes, I saw they were cut and called for help. The Danish Search and Rescue team tried going down a
fter you, but there was a river."

  "The Danish Search and Rescue? You called search and rescue?" A blurred image of men in red descending from the rock ceiling came to mind. The edges were fuzzy.

  "Yes. We're required to file an expedition 'flight plan' with search and rescue in case something goes wrong. If we don't report in, they know where to look. That is what expedition insurance is for, my friend."

  Zack nodded. Father Giovanni had taken care of those details when he organized the expedition. It helped to have someone like Mikkel and Father Giovanni who knew the rules. Made it harder for him to break them. Zack never took the time to find out exactly what was legal and what wasn't. There was a reason why he'd been in pinches before.

  "They came back up for kayaks," Mikkel continued. "And they were just about to go back down when your GPS signal popped up eight kilometers east."

  Zack frowned at Mikkel. "My GPS was dead. I almost left it down there."

  "Why keep it if it was dead?"

  "Good question."

  Mikkel shrugged. "God was looking out for you, perhaps?"

  He thought about that and thought about what Sydney would say.

  "Perhaps you're right, Mikkel."

  Chapter Thirty-One

  SYDNEY STOOD IN THE hospital lobby eying the vending machine. She was starving but didn't have the right kind of money to buy a snack. That angered her even more.

  She'd stayed in this horrible hospital for most of two days, and never left Zack's side. She had worried and prayed, slept in a chair, held his hand, and pressed warm compresses to his face.

  For hours on end.

  And for what? For that self-centered, arrogant man to wake up from being almost dead and...and still be self-centered and just as arrogant? That bump on the head hadn't knocked any sense into him whatsoever.

  Her jaw ached as she gritted her teeth.

  Who did he think he was? She wasn't some assistant tagging along to do all the dirty work but not claim any credit for the find. She was his research partner!