by Phil Maxey
“No, come back!”
A voice inside her started to shout for her to turn around, to get help, but her mother had been through so much already, she wasn’t going to add to her worry, just because she was stupid to let the dog out.
She ran, then stopped to catch her breath, then ran again, all the time the road became steeper. Her legs began to tire and she stopped, realizing she was on the edge of the town. She looked down into the valley, and to the other hills and mountains in the distance. She could see for at least fifty miles she thought.
How long have I been gone? Five minutes? Ten?
If Marina found her missing from the yard she would freak out. She had to find Flint fast.
She took a deep breath, then continued running up the hill, passing a dusty sign, which proudly announced. ‘Bellweather Gold Mine Tourist Center.’
As she got to the large single-story building which sat off to one side of the gravelly road, she stopped. Her lungs were burning more than her hand.
A distant bark made her whip around to face the hillside, which was just visible behind the building and trees.
“Flint!” she shouted. She then looked at the windows and front entrance of the visitor center. Maybe someone could help her.
She walked quickly towards it and peered through the glass doors. “Hello?” she shouted. Only shadows looked back at her from inside.
Shaking her head, she ran around the side of the building and along an overgrown path, which soon became sandy dirt, shrubs, and trees.
“Flint! Are you over here!”
Another bark.
She pushed on past the leaves and branches, then suddenly stopped as she stepped out into a large open area. In front of her was a hole in the side of the mountain, twice as high as she was tall. She had seen mines on TV before and knew this must have been where the miners entered. All around her sat twisted pieces of russet-colored machinery, and a reasonably flat path traveled from where she was into the darkness of the mine entrance.
She walked forward, looking warily at the woods and hills around her.
I was so stupid. Why did I open the gate?
She stood in front of the intense black of the inside of the entrance. Even though the sun was baking the top of her head, it only illuminated a few yards into the mine tunnel before abruptly coming to a stop.
She looked down at the splintered planks of wood that laid like matchsticks on the gravel.
Don’t go in there.
She took a step forward into the tunnel and immediately caught a smell in the air. An odor she didn’t recognize but knew she didn’t like.
“Flint!” Her call boomed out against the rock walls, almost making her want to pull the sound back.
Standing about five feet from the entrance she waited for any sign that Flint was ahead of her, but the only sound was her own heart beating in her chest.
Then she heard it. A scratching noise. It didn’t seem too far away. “Flint?” She went to walk forward but stopped when her first step took her foot completely into the darkness. She leaned forward trying to make out any dog shapes in the gloom. “Come on, boy! This way! We need—”
A human form appeared in front of her. It was wrapped in shadow apart from its eyes, which appeared to glow.
She backed up faster than her feet could manage and fell. Her hands spread out to stop her from landing too heavily, but the gravel cut into both of them, especially the one with the burn.
“Don’t run, little girl. Are you lost?” came a rasping voice from the darkness. Its tenor kept raising and lowering, making it hard for Jess to tell if it was male or female.
“Stay… away… from me!” Jess’s breathing started to accelerate beyond her ability to control it.
The thing sauntered forward. “What’s your… name? We can be friends…”
One thought crystallized in Jess’s mind.
Run.
Ignoring the stinging from her palms, she scrambled to her feet and went to run forward when there was a blur to her side. She stopped and looked up at the ashen face of a woman. At least that was her best guess of what the thing’s gender was, as its face was covered in a deep red color.
Tears started to run down Jess’s cheeks.
The woman’s head dropped to her chest as if she had no control over it. “No need to cry…” it said, its voice dropping an octave.
Jess started to sob as she stepped backwards, back into the abyss.
Suddenly, there was a repeating patter sound, and Flint ran past her, leaping at the monster. It staggered backwards into the sunlight, as it flailed at the fury of teeth and hair on top of it.
Jess edged forward, watching the spectacle. Looking for enough of a gap to run past.
More scratching noises came from behind her. But there was no way she was turning around to see what they were.
Flint bit and tore, and the woman-thing snarled and clawed, but the dog had the better of her, and with a last-ditch effort it pushed the animal to the side. Just as quick as it moved past Jess a few moments before, it was gone, back into the darkness of the tunnel.
Jess ran out into the sunlight, and wanted to keep on going, but she stopped and looked back at Flint who was still inside. “Come on, Flint! Come on!”
The dog looked back at her, its eyes glowing.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The afternoon sun bounced off the police pickup’s hood. Joel looked out to the rolling hills, his brain fried from the last few hours. Despite how insane they all sounded he had to admit, from an investigative point of view, there was something to it, at least the outbreak side of things. If the data the kid had collected was reliable, then it seemed the Copeland Corporation had something to do with the world ending. He just wasn’t ready to buy the fairytale part of the story.
As they approached the town again, he wondered why his contacts at the CDC never mentioned anything about the outbreak possibly starting in the northern part of the state. He was told they had no idea where it started.
Questions.
Jim briefly looked at his passenger. “So, I take it you’re still leaving?”
“Yup.”
Jim clicked on his radio. “Ryan, divide up those weapons, ammo, and supplies we got from the new fella last night, and bring half of it to the hotel. Over.” Static came from Jim’s speaker. “Ryan, you out there?”
“I’m here, Jim. Where you been? Over.”
“At Bill’s, why? Over.”
“We got a situation. The kid that came with those people, she ran off. The mother went nuts, but we found her. She’s got a tale to tell. Over.”
Jim looked over at Joel, who’s concern was obvious. “We’re just a few minutes out. Over.”
As they pulled up to the hotel, there was already another police vehicle there as well as two more trucks. Some people were standing outside, arguing amongst themselves.
Jim got out, and most looked towards him as he approached.
“They’re in the old mine!” said one middle-aged man.
“You gotta go in there and clean them out!” said another.
Jim raised both hands as he pushed past them. “You folks need to settle down. We’ll take care of it.” He and Joel entered the hotel, which was full of people.
More questions rained down on Jim, which he ignored, moving through the foyer.
Joel hadn’t noticed it before, but some of those inside the hotel were looking gaunt.
They both pushed past the crowd walking to the lounge area, where Marina was sitting with her daughter on the sofa, both holding a mug of coffee. Opposite them was another woman with glasses that Joel had not seen yet.
“She injured?” said Jim to any of the two women that would give him an answer.
“I’ve given her a checkup, she seems fine, just shaken up,” said the woman.
“Umm… any other kinds of injuries?”
Before the woman could reply Marina spoke. “She’s not infected if that’s what you want to know.�
�� She angrily looked at Joel. “She went after that damn dog of yours!”
Joel stood awkwardly. “I tied him up in the yard…”
Marina frowned but remained silent.
A man in a similar uniform to Jim, moved through the crowd to them. He leaned into the sheriff. “What the girl said has them all rattled. They want us to go into the mine, guns blazing.”
Joel looked at Jess. “You went into the mine? Did you see any of them in there?”
Jess nodded. “There was a woman, she tried to stop me from leaving the tunnel… but…”
“What?” said Joel.
“Your dog, it saved me, it attacked her, and she ran back inside… and…”
“And what?” said Jim.
Marina could tell her daughter was reluctant to say any more. “No more questions. I’m taking her upstairs so she can get some rest.” She and Jess got to their feet and moved through a silent crowd, who then started talking again once the mother and daughter had passed out of sight up the stairs.
“We tied your dog up out back,” said the other police officer.
“This is Ryan, one of my deputies,” said Jim.
Joel nodded, then looked at Jim. “Those supplies ready?”
Jim sighed, then looked at Ryan.
“Got them in the back of the pickup,” said Ryan.
“I’ll get my dog, then I’ll meet you out front,” said Joel to Ryan, who nodded in response.
Soon, Joel was standing in the back yard looking at the dog that wasn’t his. Around Flint’s neck, attached to his collar, was a proper leash, that was wrapped around a part of the fence.
“Least I can take you for a walk now,” he said at the attentive animal who was sitting, looking up to him.
A noise made him turn around. Jim was standing in the doorway.
“I was hoping you might change your mind.”
Joel took the leash down from the fence. “Why would I do that.”
“A number of reasons. What you learned earlier—” Joel pulled a face. “—Yeah I know it’s a lot to take in.”
“Look, I don’t know what caused the scourge. The government sure as shit didn’t know either… at least I didn’t think they did. Maybe that Copeland guy was responsible, but what’s done is done. Half the population of the country is infected and running around killing people, and the other half are hiding. Either way, I don’t see what staying here is going to do to change anything.”
Ignoring his objections Jim continued. “And the other reason is that the people left in this town are scared. We had a win last night. That helped. But there’s only so much myself and my two deputies can do to stop it from all getting out of hand. If those things really are in the old mine, then having you help clear them out might encourage some of the others to join the fight.”
Joel stood shaking his head. He looked up at the sun, which was on a downward trajectory. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I wish you the best.” He pushed past the sheriff, taking Flint with him, and moved through the bustling hotel foyer and out into the street, where Ryan was waiting. It wasn’t long before Joel’s car’s trunk was half full of what it contained before, and Flint was in the back seat.
As Joel checked the weapons magazines, Jim, Ryan, and his other deputy, got into their pickups. It seemed like the remaining population of the town was standing in or around the hotel, watching their law officers, who then pulled away heading in the direction that Jess had ran a few hours before.
Joel closed the trunk and moved to get in his car when he happened to look up at the hotel. Jess was looking down at him from one of the front windows. She then let the curtain fall back.
He sighed, opened the sedan’s driver’s door, got in and closed it. He then started the engine and drove away. The police vehicles had already turned off and were heading up the hillside road to the mine. He passed the exit and drove along the winding road, going in the opposite direction he drove the night before.
I can’t help them. I’ll just make things worse… and I can’t be around her. She’ll find out. They’ll all find out… I killed the kid’s father…
As the homes and buildings built into the hillside above him started to pass into the distance, he thought about the three lawmen going into the dark tunnels.
They don’t know what they’re up against…
“Fuck!” He slammed on his brakes. The car skidded, then came to a halt across the narrow road.
In his mind, a series of images rolled past. An out-of-control carousel of hurt and pain, and worst of all, regret. The last image that remained like a light echo was his son’s face, smiling.
He sighed, turned the car around, and started to drive back.
*****
Jim looked up at the sun. “Reckon we got about another three hours before it’s as dark out here as it is in there.” He looked at his watch. “Look at your watches. It’s four p.m., remember that.” The deputies checked the time. “And no matter what happens in there, we stick together.”
Ryan and the other officer nodded.
They all looked into the mine entrance. The hundred-year-old wooden beams sat at awkward angles, some leaning on others, and propping up the horizontal ones that sat atop of them. Some of the walls were lined with rotten planks, and the ground was a concoction of muddy puddles, gravel, and rusting railway lines running along the tunnel on both sides.
“How many you think are in there?” said an officer with a baseball cap on.
“Don’t know, Mike. But whatever the number, they are a long way from human, so we shoot to kill. You both got that?”
Mike and Ryan nodded. They were all armed with twelve gauges, as well as their service handguns in their holsters. On their chests, hanging from straps around their necks, were box flashlights illuminating the way ahead of them.
Jim moved into the tunnel first, then Ryan, then Mike.
They all quickly covered their noses. A putrid smell filled the confined space.
“It didn’t smell this bad last time we checked this place,” said Mike.
“Nope,” said Jim.
They crept forward, stretching their eyes and ears as far as they could. Soon a junction appeared in front of them.
“There’s three adits. The one behind us was the main one. These two tunnels eventually lead out to the other two, but before they do, they move through a number of levels with shafts,” said Jim. “We’ll check the left one first, that takes us to the deepest point we can get to without climbing equipment.”
As they moved forward down the left tunnel, Ryan took a brief look back at the small rectangle of light twenty yards away and wondered if he would see the outside world again.
As they progressed, the dank smell increased in richness, as if the air itself had died.
“I’m not sure how long I can stomach this stench,” said Mike.
“It’s hard for all of us, Mike,” said Ryan.
The intense darkness around them made it feel as if they entered a different realm, not one meant for the living.
“Look, up ahead. It’s the first shaft,” said Jim, slightly out of breath.
Ryan whipped around, looking at the way they had just come. His light lit dust and rusting beams, but nothing else.
“You hear something?” said Jim.
“Maybe… I dunno. Probably nothing.”
“Let’s keep going.”
The tunnel opened out to a circular cavern. With dark openings to two other tunnels. Directly in the center was a hole some five foot wide.
In the glow of the flashlights, Jim’s face was one of confusion. He walked forward and looked into the pit.
“What’s the problem?” said Ryan.
“This hole’s the problem.”
“I thought this was the shaft?”
“We’re standing in the shaft, originally it went up to the surface.”
Ryan looked down at the jagged black void, chewed from the ground. “So, what the hell is this then?”
&nbs
p; Jim suddenly stood upright and waved his flashlight around. “Where’s Mike?”
They both looked back the way they came.
“Mike!” shouted Ryan into the previous tunnel. He looked back at Jim. “Maybe he went back to the entrance?”
Jim shook his head in frustration, walking around the hole in the floor, then walked forward to look into the nearest of the other tunnels. Before his flashlight filled the tunnel with light, a shadow moved towards him. He quickly raised his shotgun.
“Hey, it’s me! Don’t shoot!” said Mike.
Jim lowered his gun, angrily. “I said we stick to—”
Mike looked questionably at his boss. “What?”
“Get down!” shouted Jim.
Mike dived to the ground as a shotgun blast boomed out just above his head, deafening him. As he tried staggering back to his feet, Jim’s hand grabbed his upper arm pulling him forward, but not before he felt a vicelike grip on his ankle. He spun and fired his own gun, point blank at whatever was holding him. The blast from the shotgun illuminated the tunnel far better than the flashlight around his neck and, in that instant, he realized where most of the people from the town had gone.
Panic filled him, and he pushed his arms and legs into the moist ground trying to get away from the hordes that were about to descend. Not bothering to fire again, he got to his feet and ran across the shaft, his mind only wanting one thing. To be rid of the image his brain was hanging on to.
Jim flailed at his deputy as he ran past, desperately trying to steer him away from the newly formed crevice in the ground, but it was no good, and Mike stumbled forward, his foot catching the loose rocks around the edge of the hole. In the blink of an eye, he was gone into the abyss, his screams mingling with the almost constant blasts coming from Ryan firing into the other tunnel.
For a moment, Jim stood frozen, then a blur charged into him, knocking his gun from his hand and him into the rock face. He dropped to the ground, then uneasily stood, feeling the gash on the side of his head.
The shadowy form leaped forward again, and he instinctively fired as it was about to drive its large canine teeth into his leg. It squealed and scurried away, joining the others of its kind that were almost inside the cavern.
