Madelyn's Last Dance

by Ike Hamill

  The tunnel entrance was another level below. She trotted down the stairs and pulled at the access door. The latch moved under her thumb, but the door wouldn’t open. Scarlett tugged and pulled. It might as well have been welded shut.

  The bear growled and scraped above her.

  Scarlett found a length of iron bar. It made a good lever against the handle. She pulled with steady pressure until something snapped. The door opened a dozen centimeters. It was enough distance to accommodate the bar. Tugging again, she got it open enough to slip through.

  If the bear squeezed into that space, it wouldn’t have any problem opening the door. Of that, she was sure. Scarlett knew she had to keep moving.

  In the dark, she ran into a wall that shouldn’t have been there. She put her hands up and felt the bricks. Scarlett tried to orient herself. She imagined the stairs and the landing. The wall didn’t make sense. The other building had to be in that direction.

  The wall vibrated under her hands. Scarlett pressed her ear against it. She heard something banging on the wall from the other side. The sound was quickly overshadowed by the bear above. She heard him sniff and snort and then tear at the first door. She imagined his giant claws digging her out like she was a rabbit hiding in its warren.

  There was nowhere else to go. Scarlett threw herself against the wall. She felt some give at her hip, so she backed up and slammed into it again. Banging intensified from the other side. Scarlett hoped that whatever was making that noise was less dangerous than the bear.

  With her next blow, one of the bricks began to push through. She put her hand against it and felt something pull the brick from the other side. As soon as brick disappeared, light came through the hole and she saw a hand tugging at the next brick. Scarlett helped by pushing from her side. She locked eyes with Kurt. He was startled for an instant and then he seemed to recognize her. Together, they made the hole larger.

  As soon as it was large enough, Kurt’s head popped through the hole and he tried to wriggle his shoulders through.

  “No,” Scarlett said. “We have to go your way. There’s a bear out here.”

  “There’s a snake in here,” he said.

  “Then let me through. I’ll take a snake over this bear.”

  Kurt wrinkled his forehead like he didn’t understand what she was saying. Scarlett pushed him back where he came from and knocked a few more bricks out of the way as well. When she could fit, she put her foot through the hole. Hands helped her from the other side. She stood up and assessed their group. Penny looked okay. The others appeared to have been through hell. They were pale and covered with dirt.

  Scarlett pointed. “Don’t go through there. There’s a huge bear. It will eat you.” She looked down the tunnel into the dark. At one point, she remembered having a light. It was long gone. She looked at the light in Penny’s hand and wondered if she should just take it. Penny was strong, but she didn’t look armed. Scarlett trusted her own strength over most anyone’s.

  Penny seemed to understand the decision that Scarlett was forming. She pointed her light at the hole and the back down the tunnel.

  “The others chased the snake. It might be safe,” Penny said. She glanced around the group to see if she had consensus. One or two nodded. The others looked too frightened to comprehend what was happening.

  “The snake is a devil,” Stella said. She turned for the hole in the brick wall. Nobody moved to stop her and she quickly put her head and shoulders through.

  They heard a roar and then Stella was snatched. Her legs flew through the hole and disappeared into the darkness there. Everyone stood in shock except for Scarlett. She backed away slowly from the hole, trying to not make a sound.

  An enormous paw appeared. The claws gripped at the bricks and it pulled. With that, the people ran. Scarlett turned and let Penny pass her. She fell in behind the woman as they fled. Someone was pressing at her back. Scarlett struggled to keep her feet. She knew they would trample her if she stumbled.

  Chapter 38

  {Buried}

  “THEY WENT DOWN HERE,” Elijah said. He pointed down the dark stairs.

  “I know,” Madelyn said. Elijah seemed fine with his ability to see in the dark. Madelyn still didn’t like it. She didn’t like the way her eyes picked up the edges of things without actually seeing their colors. She didn’t like the way that everything looked like it was covered in static. It was like looking at fuzzy ants marching over the world.

  “Don’t you have a light?” she asked.

  “We don’t want to use it,” he said. “We’ll be able to see well enough. A light will just announce our presence to whatever else is down there.”

  “The Wisdom doesn’t need lights to see. When it really wants to take a person out, it blinds them, remember?”

  Elijah nodded. “There could be other things down there though.”

  Madelyn sighed. “You’re right. Lead the way.”

  He did.

  At the bottom of the stairs, the other side of the door was blocked. What should have been the entrance to the tunnel was planked over with boards. Elijah ran his hand over the wood and turned to Madelyn.

  “They went through here. I can see their tracks and I’m getting their scent.”

  “It doesn’t want us to interfere,” she said. “This is like the sand it used to entomb me.”

  “The sand didn’t stop me,” Elijah said. He hunted around and found a cinderblock. Holding it in front of his chest, he slammed the block into the planks. The barricade shook. He hit it again. After a few more blows, Madelyn took over. They switched off again before they heard the plank crack. It didn’t take long to break the cracked board.

  Elijah took one side and Madelyn the other. They wrenched the board away from the supports.

  From the darkness, they heard a man’s scream.

  Madelyn jacked herself up and through the gap in the barricade. She landed awkwardly on the other side. She blinked at the dark tunnel. When she turned back, she saw Elijah trying to follow her through. He was backlit by the dim light leaking down the stairs. His chest wouldn’t fit through the gap.

  “Back up. I have to break another board,” he said.

  She turned at the sound of another scream.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said. She ran down the tunnel.

  “Wait!” he yelled.

  She kept moving.

  # # # # #

  Madelyn was focused on the light in the distance and missed what was right in front of her. She tripped on the thing and went down to the hard floor. She rolled with the impact and turned herself around to see what she had fallen over.

  Shrouded in static, she saw the spiral coils. The enormous snake was trying to work its jaws over the head of the young man as it squeezed the air out of him. Madelyn rushed forward. She grabbed the head just behind its jaws and pulled. The snake might as well have been made of iron. Her strength was nothing compared to its grip.

  She grunted and pulled, falling to her side and pressing against the coils with her feet. The light grew around her as feet approached.

  “Mac!” someone yelled.

  Madelyn looked over her shoulder. Her eyes were burned by the light. She looked away as she recognized the shape of Jacob.

  A knife stabbed into the back of the snake’s head. Black oil oozed from the wound and Jacob pulled the blade back to stab again.

  “In the eye,” Madelyn said. She hoped the blade would pierce through to its brain.

  Jacob complied, but the snake wouldn’t relinquish its grip.

  Harper worked on the other end. She attempted to uncoil the snake from its tail.

  Jacob drove the knife into the snake’s other eye. Madelyn looked at the victim’s face. His eyes stared at nothing. Even if they removed the snake now, it was probably too late. Madelyn pulled back on the head. Its grip loosened a tiny bit. She managed to roll it over.

  They saw the hand of the young man trapped in the coils. He held a knife that was buried into t
he snake’s shiny body. Harper gave up her efforts and grabbed the second knife. She began to saw at the body halfway down. Once she maneuvered the blade between the scales, black goo began to flow from that wound.

  Jacob changed his approach. Instead of stabbing, he turned his blade and tried to saw the thing’s head off.

  The snake finally reacted. It let go of the victim’s head and hissed as it tried to strike at Jacob’s arm. He dodged the blow. The snake thrashed as its head bashed into Madelyn’s skull. She kept her grip and used its momentum to loosen the snake’s coils.

  “Isaac!” Brook said.

  The victim was blinking and managed to pull in a labored breath.

  Madelyn was dragged as the snake turned on Harper. She was still working on trying to carve the snake in half and she didn’t move out of the way fast enough. The blind shake snagged her sleeve and jerked backwards, pulling her off her feet. Madelyn was trying to hold the thing down. Jacob landed on it, and Harper fell on top of the snake as well. Their weight was no match for its strength. The snake flipped over, releasing Issac and sending the rest of them flying.

  Only Madelyn kept her grip around the snake’s neck. Its black blood flowed over her hands. She tried to wrap her legs around its body, but the snakes back-and-forth motion bucked her off. The light that Brook held began to fade as the snake carried Madelyn into the darkness.

  She wanted to let go. A terrible thought occurred to her. If she released her grip, the snake might turn and attack. Madelyn glanced back. Jacob and Harper recovered and ran after her and the snake. Harper caught the thing by the tail again. Jacob added his grip. The snake kept moving. It dragged all three of them away from Brook and Isaac, and towards the darkness.

  “Mac!” Elijah called.

  “Here!” she yelled back. She saw him leap over Isaac and trail after them.

  “You kids let go,” she said to Jacob and Harper. She knew they would be blind if they got too far away from Brook’s light. They held on. Elijah ran past them and joined Madelyn at the thing’s head. The snake’s black tongue flicked out. Maybe it smelled the newcomer. For whatever reason, the snake whipped its head around and tried to strike at Elijah. He was too fast.

  Elijah added his grip to Madelyn’s. They both squeezed the snake’s neck.

  It pulled itself into coils and tried to wrap itself around Madelyn.

  Jacob and Harper went back to work with their knives.

  Everyone froze at the sound of an oncoming stampede.

  # # # # #

  Scarlett led the charge. Penny was right behind her. Everyone else was left to struggle after them as they ran down the tunnel.

  Madelyn ducked as Scarlett jumped over her. Penny slowed and pointed her light down at the four people wrestling the snake.

  “Run!” Penny said.

  Madelyn looked up and saw the oncoming group. The people were injured, dirty, and panicked. As afraid as they were of the snake, they were clearly more afraid of whatever was chasing them. The people pressed against either wall and dodged around the sides of the snake as they fled by Madelyn and the others.

  Madelyn locked eyes with Elijah.

  “Together,” he said. “Let’s end this.”

  She nodded. They both lifted the snake by the neck and then slammed it back down. The second time, with the snake stunned from the impact, it was a little easier. By the third and fourth time they slammed the snake’s head to the floor, they felt its body going limp. Meanwhile, Jacob and Harper continued to saw at the snake’s body.

  Madelyn and Elijah both froze when they heard the roar. They looked at the dark tunnel. She wanted to ask him if he saw anything different. All she could see was a fuzzy shape down the tunnel. It growled and she realized it didn’t really matter what it was. The Wisdom was trying to bring this chapter to a close.

  They slammed the head down one more time. The snake didn’t resist.

  “Go!” Madelyn shouted back to Jacob and Harper. “We’re right behind you.”

  They followed her orders. The two took their knives and ran towards the light.

  “Ready?” Elijah asked.

  She nodded.

  They let go of the snake at the same time and sprang back. The snake made a feeble attempt at a strike, but it was way too slow. Madelyn and Elijah were running after the others before the snake could even turn around.

  They heard a roar behind them and Madelyn turned to look back. Whatever it was filled the whole tunnel, but she still couldn’t figure out exactly what the animal was supposed to be. Ahead of them, Harper and Jacob caught up with Brook and Isaac. Beyond, the rest of the people ran after Penny, whose light was dwindling in the distance.

  Elijah reached towards Jacob. “Give us the knives. We’ll bring up the rear,” he said.

  Harper and Jacob handed over their weapons. Brook offered her light, but Elijah shook his head. “We’re fine. There’s a barricade at the end of this tunnel, but we busted through. Don’t let them bottleneck. Only one can get through at a time.”

  Harper nodded. Brook had to help Isaac, but they retreated with the others at a pretty good pace.

  Madelyn looked at Elijah as the light faded out.

  The world was filled with static again.

  “What is it?” he asked her.

  She shook her head. “No way of telling. Could be anything. But we have to fight it. This thing is here for blood this time, and it’s not going to settle for less.”

  The last of the light disappeared behind them as the thing roared again. Madelyn imagined she could feel the thing’s hot breath. Her eyes were focused on the floor. She was waiting to see if the snake would come after them too.

  Madelyn caught a scent on the tunnel air.

  She laughed to herself.

  “What?” Elijah asked.

  “I know this bear,” she said.

  # # # # #

  She knew the scent, but the bear was substantially bigger than the last time she saw it. The thing came after them slowly because it was too big to do otherwise. Its enormous shoulders barely fit inside the tunnel. The bear had to hunch down just to crawl after them.

  Madelyn saw the furry edges of the animal with her strange night vision. It was a frustrating way to see the world. She had to admit that it was better than being blind, but not by much.

  The bear stopped and sniffed at the air. It turned its blind eyes towards Madelyn and Elijah. The bear swiped one of its paws. The thing’s claws cut through the air less than a meter in front of their faces. Madelyn glanced at Elijah. Neither of them had flinched.

  Elijah turned the knife in his hand. He scratched his chin and studied the animal as it slunk towards them in the dark.

  Madelyn took a step to the side. She didn’t want to get pinned against the wall, but she thought that the next time it swiped, she might dart past the paw before the bear could strike again. A knife in the eye wouldn’t blind it any more than it was already, but it might make the bear think twice about charging.

  The paw lashed out and Madelyn had to change her plan. The bear reached for her, as if it had read her thoughts. Madelyn stumbled back. Elijah darted forward. He slashed across the bear’s nose, opening up a gash. The flowing blood looked like gray sparks to Madelyn’s eyes.

  The bear reacted by jerking its paw back the other direction. Elijah jumped, but the blow caught him in the air. He spun and landed in a heap. The bear pushed itself forward, reaching for him with its jaws.

  Madelyn saw her opportunity. She swung her knife at its eye and missed. Her blade hit its cheek and she dragged it down, slicing a gash in the bear’s face. More gray sparks flew. It flipped its head towards her and she dodged back from the teeth.

  Elijah found his feet. The movement tickled the bear’s senses. It whipped back towards him and caught him with its muzzle. The bear turned its head to try to get its teeth around Elijah. He was too fast. Elijah rolled over the bear’s nose. He used the opportunity to deliver another slice to the bear’s face.

/>   Stung several times by their knives, the bear pulled back. It opened its mouth and let out a deafening roar that drove them back with its intensity.

  Elijah moved his knife back and forth through the air, like he was looking for the place it would best fit. He moved in closer, pressing himself against the right wall. The bear smelled him and turned towards him.

  Madelyn saw her chance. The bear’s neck was exposed. While Elijah creeped, she could lunge and get her knife in there. A horrible thought crossed Madelyn’s mind—what if it wasn’t a bear? What if it simply looked like bear, but it was actually a man dressed as a bear. What if he was trying to evade the Roamers by dressing up in a bear suit. Then she would committing murder.

  Elijah darted in and cut the animal.

  Madelyn had her chance. She moved in slowly as she weighed her doubts. It was a crazy thought. This thing—barricading the tunnel with its mass—was surely too big to be a man in disguise. Then again, it was too big to be a bear.

  It snapped at Elijah, just missing him with its teeth. Madelyn drove her knife up under the bear’s jaw. The blade stuck. When the bear thrashed, Madelyn held on. She was thrown to the side and lost her balance when the knife pulled free. She fell to the floor and saw the fuzzy face of the bear coming for her. Elijah dragged her backwards as she pumped her legs. When she was clear of the next attack, Elijah helped her to her feet.

  “We can’t fight here. Let’s back up to a junction,” he said.

  Madelyn agreed.

  It wasn’t difficult to stay ahead of the bear. The thing moved slowly as it squeezed through the tunnels. Madelyn and Elijah turned at the sound of yelling behind them. Lights flickered in the distance.

  “You think it’s trying to drive us aboveground up to something worse?” Madelyn asked.