(2014) Dead End

by Jack Parker

  Ash still wasn't convinced that this 'good' soldier could be trusted. "Who are you?"

  "My name is Akakios. I am part of the Neves along with your father, I know where the soldiers have taken him," Akakios stated calmly.

  The soldier who still hid in the cover of the pillar turned furious and lunged for Akakios, pushing off the bottom of the unstable pillar with his boots. The pillar swayed, knocking into the tops of the walls before falling along with marble pieces from the ceiling down onto of the soldier and Akakios.

  The four had dodged for cover in a nearby tunnel and waited for the dusty smoke to clear before they checked to see if the two soldiers had survived. Ash was the first to see Akakios buried beneath a marble slab and barely breathing.

  "Akakios!" Ash ran to him and tried to move the slab but he couldn't even move it in the slightest.

  "Leave it," Akakios commanded weakly, "Now Ash… listen to me. Trust no one," his breathing was labored and harsh.Akakios glanced over Ash's shoulder to look at one of the three friends standing behind Ash, "Not… even…your closest friends." He took one final ragged breath before falling into a slumber from which he would never awake from.

  Chapter Twelve

  Midnight Train to Who Knows Where

  'Trust no one…' The words seemed to linger in the humid air among the four friends for the longest time. Each one didn't dare bring it up once they were on the surface once more; due in part by the rope that Dom and Dara had used to get down there in the first place.

  After the chilling last words of Akakios, 'Not even your closest friends…' Ash simply pocketed the checkered key-stone and newly acquired clue; never did he admit that the alarming words affected him so. It was clearly apparent though, that the words affected all of them; right down to their very cores.

  Pushing any negative thoughts out of his overworked mind, Ash continued walking in the direction of the fallen helicopter. Once they were in seeing distance, he stopped his eerily silent friends in their tracks.

  "Dom, do you think we could fix it?" Intelligent-blue eyes fell upon the pitifully looking chopper.

  "Well, without the propeller attached, I don't thing that we would even clear the ground." Dom's expression seemed grim as he spoke.

  Anger appeared evident on Ash's face, "Why can't we get a god damn break?!" kicking the sand beneath his feet in frustration, Ash sank to his knees, just as Dom threw down the black bag of supplies he carried.

  "Actually," Dara began; three pairs of eager eyes now glued to hers, "I did notice some train tracks not to far from here before I fell asleep on the helicopter."

  "And how far away were these 'tracks'?" Lari asked with skepticism.

  "Maybe three to four miles at most in that direction," Dara pointed to the river, opposite of the highly set sun.

  "So we hike to tracks that may not even contain a train." Lari said, still not convinced there were tracks to begin with.

  "Have any better suggestions?!" Ash's anger still hadn't left him as he stood from the sandy ground; brushing the sand from his faded blue jeans as he did so.

  Lari immediately looked hurt at his tone of voice and Dom noticed. "Ash, she's just worried that we might be getting our hopes up chasing after a train that possibly doesn't exist."

  "Well, there's only one way to find out." Ash began marching toward the river in the direction Dara had pointed out. The remaining three exchanged worried glances before reluctantly following after him.

  * * *

  The high sun in the cloudless azure sky marked the early afternoon to all who would take notice.

  They had been traveling for nearly two long grueling sweat-soaked hours, and as they hiked in the direction that Dara had put them in, they began to doubt her navigation skills.

  Ash soon stopped dead in his tracks, causing Lari to nearly run into his stiffened back.

  "Why did we stop?" Dom asked in confusion; looking toward the distance then back at Ash.

  "Don't you smell that?" Ash questioned; sniffing the air once more to confirm the smell.

  "Smell what?" Lari had the same confused expression that both Dom and Dara held.

  "Coal," Was Ash's one-worded answer, and a pang of hope filled their empty hearts.

  Soon the lingering sent of burning coal permeated the clammy air. The sent got stronger with each passing minute and then the whistle of a train was heard the reverberated over the mounds of sand.

  Without any second thoughts, the four dashed in the direction of the sound and smell. Practically crawling over a large sand mound, they stopped, as if seeing something for the first time in their lives.

  The train was coming to a slow stop directly in front of them at a small post that seemed to be a refueling station of sorts. The Conductor became visible as he stepped out the train along with other workers: all American.

  "How much do you think this is going to cost us?" Lari spoke from behind the three.

  "Well we have got her," Dom pointed to Dara without second thought, who then immediately put on her best hurt expression while slapping him playfully on the arm.

  "Thanks a lot."

  "Well you said you wanted to contribute more to the cause of finding these clues about half a mile back." Dom defended.

  Before Dara could reply to Dom's defense, Ash broke in, "Dom and I will go down and try to buy passage onto the train. You two just stay here and try to keep out of trouble."

  The change in Ash's mood was beginning to get on Lari's nerves, "We could help you know. I'm sure that if we tried we would be on that train in five minutes flat."

  "Just stay here. We will be back in a few minutes." Ash and Dom jogged down the other side of the sand mound to the Conductor who was just about the board the train once more.

  "Excuse me sir." The Conductor paused, slightly alarmed by these people who were out in the middle of nowhere. "We are in need of passage to the nearest town. We will pay what ever you ask." Ash pleaded.

  "That wouldn't be enough if I lost my job. The risk is too great, I'm sorry." The Conductor boarded the train and waited inside for his workers to finish refueling the train.

  The two men walked back to the smug looking girls with defeat written across their faces.

  "Great negotiating guys," Lari said with a grin.

  "Now let us show you how it's done," Dara said and with no words needing to be spoken between the two girls, they unbuttoned the top buttons of their blouses and headed to the Conductor. Ash and Dom just stared after them with incredulous faces, especially toward the timid Lari.

  Coming to the door the Conductor had entered, the girls waited for him to take notice of them; which didn't take long. "Can I help you?"

  "We are in desperate need of a ride," Dara spoke in a suggestive tone, batting her eyelashes

  "We were in a terrible plane crash and have been hiking in this excruciating heat for hours," Lari said in a silky voice, eyelids half closed.

  The scruffy old conductor rubbed his wiry whiskers while contemplating their requests. "How could I refuse," he turned his attention to the two men staring on in disbelief. "A hundred bucks a piece for those two, but for you two…twenty."

  Dara and Lari both jumped for joy, but before running back to get the two men, they both kissed a raw cheek of the Conductor.

  Dara was the first to make it to the two and held a wicked grin. "Now that's how it's done."

  Lari had to agree but she could barely keep from laughing at the shocked looks the men still held and had to turn away before falling into fits of laughter.

  "Beautiful women hold a lot of power," Ash mumbled as he slowly followed the cocky girls.

  "Yeah, and the smart ones know how to use it to their advantage," Dom mumbled behind him.

  * * *

  Once they were on the train, each took welcome showers and changed into fresh clothes that the Conductor had provided them with, out of hospitality; mainly for the girls.

  They were given two of the twelve vacant rooms the train contai
ned. Dara and Lari shared one room while Ash and Dom shared the other. Before heading to their rooms, they all decided that after much needed rest, they would meet in the club car for food and to discuss their next course of action, not to mention solving the fifth clue that Ash still held in his possession.

  The hours crept slowly by for them and it was nearly midnight before each one began to awake. The club car still remained busy with several passengers sitting in the numerous chairs, talking over drinks and work; some speaking in languages Dom shockingly couldn't even make out.

  Picking a small booth, the four made a circle, with the clue placed in the center of the metal table.

  "This clue is much like the first one, I believe," Ash announced once their food had been served to them, "It's made of all numbers again."

  "The first clue only had numbers going up to nine, this one has numbers going up to twenty-one." Dara said as she disagreed with Ash one some level.

  "Solving this clue will help us decide out next move," Lari explained, "But the bad news is this; numbers can be anything: a reference to a passage from a book, or coordinates on a map, and of course, the alphabet on a telephone."

  "I doubt it would be passages from a book. There are too many numbers and far too many books," Dom ruled out Lari's first accusation. "But coordinates… they could be coordinates to each location of the Seven Wonders."

  "The numbers don't match up to the coordinates of the first three Wonders," Ash pointed out, "They look to be listed at random."

  "The alphabet is made of twenty-six letters and the highest number here is twenty-one." Lari took a napkin and began scrolling down the alphabet and a number that corresponded with it next to each one.

  A1, B2, C3, D4, E5, F6, G7, H8, I9, J10, K11, L12, M13, N14, O15, P16, Q17, R18, S19, T20, U21, V22, W23, X24, Y25, Z26

  "Now read me the numbers on the clue, Ash."

  "20-8-5-20-5-13-16-12-5-15-6-1-18-20-5-13-9-19-1-20-5-16-8-5-19-21 and 19," Ash read off each one all in one breath.

  Dara decided to watch over Lari's shoulder dispite all of Lari's complaints about hovering people. "It worked..." Dara said in disbelief at the name of the next wonder. "The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus."

  "That's still very far from where we are at," Ash complained, "Once we reach Al Ldhiq+yah, we will book passage on a freighter or something."

  "And how long will it take us to get there?" Dara asked but never received an answer.

  * * *

  Al Ldhiq+yah

  November 7, 2005

  9:00 a.m.

  The aroma of the salty sea water filled the rooms and awakened the sleeping forms. Already dressed and ready to go, they filed out the train and took in the sight before them.

  The rising sun shown down in hints of gold, breaking through the thick smog and causing the rippling waters of the Mediterranean to look as if they were on fire. Several freighters lined the shore, each one being loaded with a nearly endless supply of merchandise.

  "I'm going to go and try to get us passage on one of the freighters," Ash announced and started for the closest one.

  "Are you sure you can handle that?" Lari asked with the smallest hint of a smile across her lips.

  Ash simply rolled his eyes and continued on to the freighter. A few hundred dollars later, they were aboard a freighter carrying merchandice to the exact place they needed to get to; Izmir.

  The freighter was far less fansy as the train they had been on and Dara made sure that everyone new about it. "This looks like my attic. How long are we going to be one this ship anyway? Even the rooms don't look sanitary."

  "Well this isn't the Titanic." Lari argued, just happy to be one step closer to going home.

  "Well I should hope not." The last thing Ash wanted to be on was a sinking ship.

  Dom just sighed, "If Ash had left it up to you to find us the transportation, we'd still be in Al Ldhiq+yah waiting for the next train to arrive." Dara simply pouted and finally stopped complaining.

  * * *

  Nearly an hour after the ship had left the port, Lari grew tired of waiting to arrive in Izmir and decided to explore the freighter and its many rooms. Passing by the engine room, she was nearly hit by the metal door when it suddenly swung open. A French man stood in its place, a mask of pure anger was plastered across his young face.

  "Les femmes n'appartiennent pas sur des bateaux!" (Women don't belong on ships!) The man screamed and shoved her against the wall and out of his way.

  Fright filled her and when a delicate hand touched her shoulder she almost screamed in surprise.

  Dom stood behind her with concern apparent in his sapphire eyes. "Is something wrong?" Delicate fingers brushed her porcelain looking face.

  "No, nothing is wrong." Her voice was shaky and uncertain.

  "Do you want me to go pummel someone for you?" a brilliant smile spread across her rosy lips and her cheeks became heated. She didn't need a mirror to know she was blushing and by the look that was receiving from Dom, she was blushing quite a bit.

  "Can I ge-" she was interrupted by Ash who held a disapproving glare toward the scene before him.

  "We should be discussing where we are to go next once we reach Izmir. Dara's waiting for us in her room." The excuse came from off the top of his head and Lari bought it. She was soon heading up to the room and Ash was about to follow when Dom stopped him.

  "Ash, I have been meaning to ask you something ever since we first got on that train near the river," Ash acted as if he didn't know what the question would be, but deep inside he knew every word Dom was about to say. "What do you think about me asking Lari out after all of this is over?"

  The question was like a knife through the heart, though Ash didn't understand why. It was obvious that Lari and Dom had been growing closer over the past week but he wasn't quite sure why it bothered him so since they were his two best friends.

  "She is free to make her own choices," Ash immediately regretted his answer and soon a forlorn look was present on his face as he watched Dom follow Lari to the room.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Freighter or Not, Here They Come

  The rusty chandelier swayed above them in their cabin as the sea's waves shook the seemingly unsteady ship.

  The room had been quiet ever since the four had gathered there in Dara's room and the antsy Lari was beginning to suspect that Ash was hiding something important from her.

  "So…when will we be arriving in Izmir?" Lari tried breaking through the silence with the simplest question she could think of.

  "At least one more day," Ash answered, slightly unnerved by how close Lari and Dom were sitting next to each other; shoulder to shoulder.

  Dara glanced first at Ash's fidgety form and then at Lari's wavering eyes that would not make contact with his. Curiosity struck her in full force. "Have any of us thought about what we were going to do after all of this is over?"

  Dom looked dreamily at Lari who blushed slightly and now turned her attention toward the floor boards.

  "Well, that answers that question," Dara mumbled to herself, causing Lari to blush even more. Dara watched interestedly at Ash's reaction. If he were a cat, he'd be hissing and spitting by now, hair on end.

  Ash took notice of the time displayed on his trusty watch. "It's late and we might be arriving in Izmir tomorrow so we should all get some rest."

  Lari was the first to jump at that notion, eager to get out of the nerve wrecking room of Dara's. Dom followed with Ash right behind him.

  Silently closing the door behind him, Ash sprinted a few feet in Dom's direction to catch up with him.

  "Um, Dom? Might I ask where this sudden attraction for Lari came from? A week or so again you two were barely on speaking terms." Ash tried to choose his words carefully without sounding too nosy but it was a lame attempt.

  Dom seemed a little taken aback by the question but didn't object to answering. "That day near the Gardens of Babylon, I guess I finally realized that life's too short to waste it away ne
ver showing someone that you really care. I've always like Lari and just ceased the moment."

  The words seemed to hit a little too close to home for Ash. "I thought you liked Dara."

  Dom smiled and shook his head. "Dara's married."

  * * *

  Lari stood with her ear pressed against the paper-thin wall of her cabin as Ash and Dom spoke. She was going to ignore them as best she could with a nice fluffy pillow to her head but didn't get the chance when she heard Ash say her name.

  She had the curiosity of a cat when it came down to things related to her.Though there always was that pesky little saying...

  Their conversation was a short one, and despite that, Lari had learned a lot from the past five minutes that changed her perspectives of Dom and Ash in a heartbeat.