by catt dahman
“Katie….” Corrine cried out. Luke held her up as she sobbed, calling for Emma and reaching out to the darkness.
Tate vomited, sure he would never forget the sight of the creatures pulling Fran away and carrying Katie with her intestines spilling out; one carried the top half of Katie from breasts to head, and the fourth carried her lower half as it dripped fluids. It was the most terrible thing he had ever seen. The two grabbed her, twisted, bit as, and ripped her in half while the others beat at them with sticks. The other two had Fran, one carried her in its mouth, and the other snapped at slimy intestines.
“Come on, Baby Girl, we need to move.” Shimei struggled to help Audrina get up. Tony and he finally got her to her feet, holding her close to them for fear she would fall. Tate and Ann held one another as they walked; they picked up the packs that were torn off in the battle. Rick and Corrine walked together, following Shimei Tony, Theo, Emma, and Audrina.
The passageway kept angling down and then opened into a huge cavern. In the center, a tall razor-wire fence stretched across the cavern, cutting off part of it as it protected a two-story, metal and stone building.
Again, Audrina claimed she was seeing something impossible that had to be a mirage. The fence was strong, and there was a faint buzz, an indication it was electrified, but it was as out of place in a cave as was the building before them. Ugly and industrial looking, the old building, grey and shades of grey where cave rocks were used, sat in the middle of the clear area as if it had sprung from the cave walls around it. Its windows were covered in steel bars; it was clear that this was a fortress against dinosaur attacks, which meant everything the explorers had seen so far was real.
Shimei stared, “Damn, I guess those things really did get Katie and Fran….”
“Pak. Daisy. Quinn. Haylee. Ed. Wyatt,” Audrina finished for him.
Tony waved them to follow him as he searched for a gate. From a distance, they could hear roars of the meat eaters and hoots and strange calls from the hadrosaurs and other plant eaters. Although they searched for a gate, they still looked around, taking in all the metal and the visage that was out of place in the cave.
“I don’t know whether to be more afraid or glad to see this place,” Tony said.
“Yell. Let’s yell for them,” Ann said.
Rick covered her mouth, causing her to fight with him, but he kept her quiet, hissing. “Be quiet. Do you want to draw those things back to us again? No? Then shut up.”
Ann nodded she understood but kept her fingers tightly digging into Rick’s upper arm as she shook violently with fright.
Three men walked out, all dressed in full tactical gear, boots, helmets, and deadly looking guns. One stepped forward to the gate, “Identify yourself.”
“Samuel L. Jackson and we have some motherfucking dinosaurs in a cave.” Shimei said, irritated.
“Mr. Jackson, please identify the rest of your party.”
Shimei suppressed a laugh and heard a few snuffles behind him as his friends thought his response was humorous. “We are a college class on location, hiking, and we ended up in this cave. We tried to climb out, but we our lines were cut, and rocks were pushed in on us.”
“Dr. Rick Parker. This is my literature class. Who is in charge here? We need to get into a safe zone.”
The man stepped back and spoke into a walkie-talkie, keeping his eyes on the group. He seemed in no rush.
“Look, those things are going to come back and rip us to shreds. Do you get off watching that?” Shimei asked.
“Please be patient, Mr. Jackson. We’re doing all we can,” the second man said, “remain calm, and we’ll get this worked out as quickly as possible.”
Tony leaned over, “Mr. Jackson? Is he kidding around?”
“No idea,” Shimei said.
Three more men ran into the clearing from the building and aimed guns at the gate. The group outside threw their arms up.
“Mr. Jackson, Dr. Parker, please have your group stand back. We are going to turn off the current and open the gate for you to enter the facility. Once inside, please do not run or make sudden movements but walk inside twelve feet, and lie on your stomachs. Please keep your hands and arms outstretched to your side and your feet and legs elevated behind you with your ankles crossed. Do you understand these directions?”
“What is going on?” Rick demanded.
“We understand. Just cooperate, okay? Everyone got it?” Tony asked.
The buzzing stopped, and the gate slid open a few feet. All guns stayed aimed at the opening; the hikers slid through and followed instructions as Shimei and Tony showed them how to lie face down and cross their ankles. Ann protested and pulled away from Tony. “I am not getting on the ground so they can shoot me.”
“No one is shooting, Ann. Do as they ask, please. Do you want to stay outside with those monsters?” Theo asked.
The gate closed, and the humming began again.
“I don’t intend to crawl around,” Tate said.
One of the men turned his M16 to Tate. “On the ground. Now.” He was obviously nervous with newcomers inside the gate.
Tate fell to his belly and raised his arms out, “Okay, okay. I’m down.”
Quickly, the men in military garb ran their hands over each of the hikers, searching for weapons. Ann complained loudly the entire time, “If we had guns we wouldn’t have lost so many of our group. We would have shot the damned things.”
“Please stand. We are only doing our duty as ordered to keep everyone safe. You are welcome here. I am Sergeant Christopher Bray and in charge here. Please follow us into the facility. We don’t want the locals overly interested.”
“I don’t want to go in there,” Ann said.
“Ann, would you rather go back into the cave with those monsters? We can go in and find out how to get out of this place. If they’re here and this stuff is here, then they must have a way in and out,” Theo told her, “we are saved.”
One of the military troops looked back, “You can go out there if you want, but I assure you there isn’t another way out and that you’re very fortunate to have gotten this far alive. You had it easy, actually.” Her name was Bright.
“Did you know we were out there?” Rick Parker asked.
“Of course, Dr. Parker.”
“Then why did we lose over half our friends…my students…they died out there?” Rick was so angry he sputtered.
“Dr. Parker, your group isn’t our responsibility. We are security for this facility only,” Bray explained as they went into the building.
“The US military no longer protects its citizens?”
“We are assigned to this facility. After orientation, you will meet with someone who can answer your questions. I really can’t answer all you have.” Bray sighed. “Look, I know this is frightening and you’ve lost people, but you are trespassing in a very secure area. At this point, you are safe, can get a hot shower, some food, and clean clothing, and then the answers to the questions you have, but please do it our way, okay?”
Shimei nodded, “No problem.” He gave the others looks to remind them they were at the mercy of these people. “We’re happy to cooperate, Officer Bright.”
Bray almost smiled, “Thank you, Mr. Jackson.” She showed them down a hall, turned, then turned again, and then they reached their destination.
They were led to a shower area where they could strip, wrap in towels, and enter the showers. Ann loudly complained until Audrina and Corrine told the men to go first and hurry so that the women could have privacy; it was easier to find a way to work with Ann than to make her do something she didn’t want to do. The men were compliant, bathing quickly since they were told the showers were automated to come on for sixty seconds, stay off thirty seconds, and then go on again for a final minute for rinsing.
While the hot water felt wonderful, they were forced to hurry, towel off, and go into another room that had shelves of soft pants and shirts, socks, and plain sneakers. Audrina found her
size, picking green from the limited color selection, and slipped into her shoes. Being clean felt luxurious.
Once dressed, they left the room to meet Bright in the hallway, “Later, you’ll find your packs and boots in your rooms, and once your clothing is clean, it will be returned as well. You’ll also find some more of the tee shirts and pants in your rooms if you prefer those.”
“What now?” Tony asked.
“We’ll go get you something to eat. I imagine you’re tired of dehydrated food by now. It won’t be gourmet, but it will taste good, be hot, and filling,” Bright promised.
“How many people live down here?” Theo asked.
Bright smiled, “I promise you’ll get answers soon.”
“What if the food is poison?” Ann asked in a whisper.
Bright, overhearing that, frowned, “Why would we poison you? If we wanted you dead, we would have shot you or left you outside the gate. Don’t be ridiculous.”
In the small dining hall, they were led to tables and invited to sit. A man in an apron smiled as he entered with a tray, “You eating, Bright?”
“Sure. I could do with some of your cooking, Curt.”
He was dark skinned, had a big white smile, and was chubby. He set down big baskets of cornbread, plastic glasses filled with iced tea, cartons of milk, plates of battered and seasoned fried okra, broccoli, and cauliflower, napkins, and flatware. When he returned, he brought deep bowls and two tureens of stew: tender beef and vegetables in a thick broth. He finished serving with another tureen and a platter of sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.
Shimei stared at the food for a second before filling a plate with the fried food and the cold vegetables, adding salt and pepper and then a slice of lemon to his tea and stirring in a packet of sugar. The others watched him and Theo as they filled plates.
“What?” Theo asked. He buttered cornbread and stuffed half into his mouth. After he swallowed, he looked at Curt, “That’s some good cornbread. Thanks.”
Audrina took a bite of her stew and smiled, “Wow.” She grabbed a plate and filled it with the rest of the offerings.
Curt smiled with pleasure, sat down at the table, and nibbled some cornbread. “You eat plenty. Get yourselves a few bowls of my stew and plenty of the cornbread. You get plenty of this good food and get your strength back. They may be good with the guns, but I am the belly-pleaser.”
Ann belched, causing everyone to laugh, but she kept eating.
Curt winked, “I know you have questions, and I don’t blame ya, but you’ll be better for your askin’ now that you have something good in your bellies.”
“Where do you get this?”
Curt shrugged, “That’s one of those questions, but we get supplies here.”
“I knew we’d find a way out,” Rick smiled. His smile slipped as Bright and Curt traded glances, “We have found a way out, right? We can go? What? Are we prisoners?”
“Dr. Parker, please,” Bright asked.
“I want to know if we are prisoners? Are we being detained?”
“It isn’t like that.”
Rick stood up, “So I can walk out if I want?”
“If you want, but you know as well as I that those creatures will hunt you and kill you. Sometimes they even watch the gate,” Bright said.
“I don’t mean the damned gate. I want to leave by the way food comes in here and the way you come and go.”
“We don’t go,” Curt said before Bright silenced him with a glare. “We stay here. Always been here since we were assigned, will always stay here. It’s home.”
Bright frowned, “You may leave by the gate you came in through, but I urge you to think about that, knowing what is out there.”
“I don’t want to leave by the gate. That’s murder if you send us out there.”
Sergeant Bray came in and interrupted, “No one is murdering anyone. Please come with me.” He led them down a hall and into a room with a table and swiveling, comfortable chairs.
“Gentlemen and ladies, may I present the head of research and development, Dr. Joseph Mengele.”
Chapter Six: Answers
Rick laughed, “Good one. Payback for the Samuel L. Jackson joke?”
“That was a joke?” Bray looked at Shimei, genuinely surprised.
“As I remember, Josef Mengele, the war criminal, died in South America in the late seventies or early eighties,” Audrina said. “You thought Shi’s name was really Samuel L. Jackson? Where have you been? In a cave?” She laughed at her own joke.
“I assure you my name is Josef Mengele, and you are referring to my esteemed father who didn’t die in South America even though it was so reported. That was simply to make people believe he was dead and gone, but he never made it there. My father and his assistants, along with valuable cargo, were on board a private airplane that crashed. I bet you know exactly where it crashed, yes?”
“Your father was in an America plane that crashed into Arkansas? That’s a hard line to accept,” Theo said.
Josef looked at Theo, amused, “Since you obviously saw the plane after you trespassed, I don’t see why you would have a problem accepting this. My father was on the airplane, and here he remained all his later years. I can’t answer for the lies told about his demise, but he and his friends were being transported to an area in Nevada for their research plans, but that plan was ruined.”
“He survived the crash?” asked Shimei.
“Indeed. I am perfectly willing to allow you to read his journals in our library, but while some passengers were wounded and died many of the passengers survived and managed to live here.”
“After a crash?” Theo asked.
Josef shrugged. He explained that they helped those mortally injured out of their pain, bandaged the wounded, and camped while they made plans. Unable to get out, they went towards the water and were swarmed by the same creatures as the hikers found.
“We found the bones.”
“Yes, my father said it was horrific, but it was also wonderful. Imagine discovering a species unknown. They searched for a way out, much as you did, and as they went along, they found amazing bones, leg bones longer than a man is tall.”
About the time the group found the bottom layer of the cave, the military arrived, taking over the plane crash and the survivors and being a little irritated that the military personnel on board didn’t seem to have survived. Josef smiled grimly as he explained that part. There was a way out at the bottom of the cave system, but it was blocked. The military that came opened it up and then guarded that entryway so no one and nothing left or entered without their approval.
“The plan was to take my father and his assistants and send them to the place in Nevada and have them continue genetic research except for the American side. You know my father was brilliant with research, and your government wanted that brilliance. They couldn’t let him go free, for they needed his intelligence, but imagine their shock to find he discovered unknown animals and the bones of many more. The value of the events was uncalculatable.”
“Dinosaurs,” Rick said.
“What did you think they were?” Bray laughed and then sobered as Josef gave him a frown.
“I…well….” Rick sputtered.
“My father was interested in anthropology as well as being excellent in genetics. While his experiments had significance, his new, accidental find and his philosophies immediately had additional value.”
Audrina burst out, “As I recall, he did horrible experiments on Jewish prisoners and killed thousands, and those were the lucky ones. He tortured those people. He was….”
“The Angel of Death. I know,” Josef waved the words away, “but no matter your opinion, the fact remains that my father was a useful researcher. The military had a magnificent idea not to relocate my father and the rest but to turn this cave into a laboratory. Where else could he use his knowledge to study the creatures he discovered?”
“In a lab? In a normal place?” Tony offered.
“No
. Even in Nevada, there would have been spies and always the concern that someone would find out. Besides, the animals were already here as were the bones of the others. It made perfect sense, actually, but despite the logic, it meant that my father and his team could not leave this place and were kept here to research and develop. No matter, the public wanted him executed.”
The senior Josef Mengele was less disappointed than would have been thought; he was fascinated with the chance to work with creatures thought long dead and to delve into the mysteries of the huge bones. At once, the military brought in teams to construct a huge building, complete with laboratories, housing, and supplies. They erected an electric fence around the entire place for security and implanted a team to make sure no one left and no one came inside.
The cave, somewhat like Son Doong discovered in the 1990’s in Vietnam, had water falls, rivers and streams, caverns, trees and planets, and elements that had adapted to life underground. Besides the good fortune of the creatures living here, it was a beautiful place, and only the small velociratpors at the water, way up near the top, were alive back then, having survived millions of years hidden below. There was only a small pack then.
“The main security was the military who came in as security, and they didn’t leave either. Ever. They signed on for permanent duty.”
“Impossible,” Theo said.
“No. Think, there was the Cold War not long after, and before that, remember how everyone was convinced aliens were coming and had all that fear and distrust? People built bomb shelters, and the government erected bunkers during that time. This is a variation of a bunker, right?” Audrina asked Josef.
“Brilliant. Audrina, is it? Yes,” Josef said. He said that was part. “My father and the rest got busy at once. He used the small creatures, a variation of troodons or velociratpors, a species that no one really knew about then nor has discovered the bones of since, for the missing DNA in some creatures. Of course in time, the animals became more aggressive as you noticed and more numerous. Anyway, imagine my father’s shock to find viable DNA in the bones they found. Those bones had been left in this cave millions of years ago or maybe less time than that, waiting to be found and used for DNA samples.”
