The Sands of Borrowed Time

by Jeffry Winters

  “Think they parked up a bit too close,” Jeff said, his eyes wide with excitement.

  “You’re really enjoying this for Christ’s sake,” Skylar said, her mouth opening wide with shock.

  “This is much better than TV, even reality TV doesn’t get this good. This is a ringside seat, up close but not too close to get our fingers burnt.” Skylar slapped Jeff on the back again. “Looks like the gimp is still standing. Nice cards!” Jeff sniggered as they both watched the man look at the destruction around him in bewilderment.

  “It’s your lucky day, dude!” Jeff shouted out, bursting into a fit of laughter.

  “Be quiet!” Skylar hissed. “You’re worse than the devil himself.”

  “No, no; the devil went away. There are no men left to corrupt. Look at me; am I behaving normally?” Jeff said, pointing at himself.

  Skylar curled her lips, “He just watches now through our eyes…”

  “…lying back with a bottle of Jack and a cigar,” Jeff interrupted. The man turned around full circle before putting his hands on his head in disbelief.

  “Don’t know why he’s looking so surprised?” Jeff said, shrugging his shoulders. “Appears your instincts were right, Skylar. I would have fared better by the looks, though, than you would have if I had rummaged through that stuff in the trolley.”

  Skyla looked at Jeff with sly smile, “Come on, let’s get out of here, before whoever set the trap comes along to see what they’ve snared.”

  “I think I’ve snared something unexpected,” a man’s voice said sharply as they began to walk back towards the bike. Skylar and Jeff suddenly turned to look who was behind them. “However, I doubt the surprise will amount to much,” the man continued. Jeff gasped, Skylar standing still with shock as they saw the men and a woman standing in a line behind them. The man who spoke wore a hood over his head, his face barely visible. Only his blue eyes and mouth could be seen, one eye scarred such that its white was a bloody red. It looked dry and sore. The face of the other men, three in all, were exposed above their neck scarves, their expressions were of surprise and curiosity. The woman, tall and blonde, looked out of place in the group, Jeff thought, an underlying air of tension in her face. Skylar noticed a red scar, prominent on her cheek. It reminded her of the crucifix as if it was stamped there with the blood of Christ himself. The hooded man eventually laughed. Skylar gulped as she glanced at Jeff’s pale face.

  “What is one to do,” he finally said, “with a couple of stragglers?”

  “Let us go on our merry way?” Jeff answered coyly. The man looked across at his companions, raising an eyebrow with astonishment.

  “Could do, I suppose,” the man replied coarsely, staring Jeff sternly in the eyes. “But you have to promise me two things; that you have seen nobody and nothing, or are you a babbler?”

  “That’s fine with us,” Jeff stuttered as he looked at Skylar. “We can keep our mouths shut, tightly shut, wherever we go.” Skylar nodded as they both began to walk again, back to the bike, glancing suspiciously back over their shoulders. They began to hurry, but the men just stood there, gazing at them as they mounted the bike. The woman crossed her arms and smiled as if she was pleased that the men had done nothing. The engine failed to engage as Skylar kicked the starter.

  “Fuck!” she cried as she noticed the men begin to walk towards them. The woman stayed put as she continued to smile at them.

  “Gently does it, Jeff stammered,” as he glanced at the men amble through the shimmering heat, a playful curiosity washing over their faces. The bike at last started, and the men watched them trail off towards the road in a rush of dust. The hooded man called the woman over as he looked at the destruction in the road. He was pleased, except for the dimwit still standing there in a daze, who had for some reason he couldn’t comprehend, survived. She stopped by his side, and he put his hand on her shoulder feeling his fingers brush through her long, blonde hair.

  “Keep a careful eye on those two,” he said with concern as he beckoned them to walk towards the burnt out rig. “Make sure they stay away from the ship.” He stared into her eyes as he released his hand from her shoulder. “And of course, my oil.” She nodded with an anxious smile.

  Walking through the Lungs of the Earth

  “Too dark to see,” Hayley said anxiously as she struggled to find her feet.

  “I think there's a passage way that goes down,” Kyla added as she strained to see into the pit of blackness just beyond the door. “There are steps, I think?”

  “You think?” Hayley asked. Suddenly the darkness disappeared in a flickering, yellow radiance with the rasping grind of a flint.

  “My zippo,” Demelza said, “comes in handy now and again.”

  “Certainly does,” Hayley said, looking surprised.

  “Didn’t know you smoked,” Kyla said teasingly as she peered down the illuminated steps before her, catching Hayley's smirk.

  “I don't,” Demelza said proudly.

  “Then why the Zippo?” Kyla asked as all three carefully descended the steps.

  “I like to possess a Zippo, you don’t need to be a smoker to have one,” Demelza replied.

  “Okay, if you say so. That's fine with us,” Hayley interrupted with a sly tone. Demelza looked at her zippo with pride as the flickering flame cast eerie shadows on the walls of the staircase as they descended deeper and deeper.

  “Smells like mouldy earth,” Kyla stated as she pulled her cardigan closer, feeling the damp air touch her skin. Soon they came to the end of the steps, entering into a cavernous chamber, their long, dark shadows dancing all around them in the dim light of the flickering flame.

  “Wow!” Kyla exclaimed, enjoying the echo of her voice through the dark tunnels. “Look up there!” She pointed above them at the impressive stalactites that hung from the rocky ceiling several feet above them.

  “Holy Moses! Hayley cried. “They must be as long as a couple of buses.” They all raised their heads, staring up in wonder at the numerous stalactites, their smooth white fingers poking down from a dark carved ceiling. Kyla and Hayley watched as Demelza lit a series of torches that hung from the walls, the darkness bolting like a frightened animal down the winding tunnels.

  “We're in a cave,” Kyla said, “and it looks like there are tunnels leading off in every direction.”

  “There are pools of fresh water,” Hayley added as she beckoned the others to come and look over the stony ledge that she was leaning on. They all stared down and watched their reflections rise and fall with the flickering light of the torches, their faces looking sinister in the eerie light of the pale blue waters.

  Kyla smiled, “You know, this is it!” Hayley and Demelza looked at her, curious about her sudden change in attitude. “This is it! This is where we come to shelter from the storms,” she continued. “We won't suffocate down here, get buried, or lost!” Demelza and Hayley looked unsure.

  “What if the sand entombs us, blocking the stairway?” Hayley asked, “What then?”

  “There are tunnels leading off everywhere. Look around; up, down, left, right. Surely they must end up somewhere,” Kyla said optimistically.

  “Maybe,” Hayley replied, not too convinced.

  “The torches?” Demelza asked, “Who put them there?” Kyla didn’t answer but looked back over the ledge at her reflection in the water. She could see her mum’s face in her own reflection.

  I still believe in you. Give me, us, something to believe in. She lifted herself back up and turned to look at Hayley and Demelza.

  “I agree it's not perfect, but we can’t beat the storms, so we just chill down here until they pass and fade away,” she said. “Unless anybody has any better ideas?” Hayley and Demelza looked at each other and shook their heads.

  Hayley shrugged her shoulders, “Buggered if we do, and buggered if we don't, I guess,” she said.

  “At least we should be able to breathe down here, seems quite aerated,” Demelza added.

  The breath
of life flows untainted there, Kyla remembered. Mum, is this what you meant, journey down to the deeper levels? I thought you meant... Kyla felt a slap on her shoulder, turning to see Hayley.

  “Ok, why not,” Hayley said. “We would need provisions, though. Those storms could last days…”

  “…could last forever,” Demelza interrupted.

  “No time to waste then,” Kyla said as she grabbed a torch from the wall. “Let’s get organised.”

  “You hear that!” Demelza abruptly whispered as they all turned to the strange sound coming from the tunnel behind them.

  “That doesn’t sound too good,” Demelza continued nervously.

  “Just water dripping,” Kyla said, not sounding too sure.

  “Sounds like something breathing to me,” Hayley said, her face wrought with fear.

  “Doesn’t sound too healthy, either,” Hayley added. Kyla stepped slowly forward a few yards, pointing the torch towards the tunnel. They all watched anxiously as the flickering flame danced shadows down the rocky path.

  “Anybody see anything?” Demelza asked timidly. Hayley and Kyla shook their heads, transfixed on the breathing sound coming from the dark recesses of the tunnel.

  “Maybe it’s air moving through the caves,” Kyla suggested, again not sounding too convinced.

  “I think it’s scared of us,” Hayley said. “It seems to be hiding.”

  “We agree then? There is something lurking down there?” Demelza asked, twirling her finger nervously through her damp, dark hair.

  Kyla tightened her lips, “Could be, I suppose.”

  “What?” Demelza asked abruptly, looking at Kyla annoyed.

  “What she is trying to say is, yes, but probably it’s no concern of ours, and we are of no concern for it,” Hayley added. “Isn’t that right Kyla?”

  Kyla shrugged her shoulders, “Maybe?”

  “Maybe?” Demelza said abruptly, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Kyla put her fingers to her lips, “Quiet! I think it’s moving.” They all listened intently as they heard the sound of something shuffling through the tunnel.

  “What is that? Demelza asked, looking across to Hayley.

  “I don’t know, I really don’t,” Hayley answered, the flickering flame of the torch clear in her wide, dark pupils.

  “Sounds like somebody searching through a plastic bag or something,” Kyla whispered as they all listened to the strange rustling sound just out of sight in the darkness.

  “Fuck, that is creeping me out,” Demelza whispered back. Kyla and Hayley nodded.

  “Go on then, take a look at what’s down there, girls,” Kyla said teasingly, pushing Demelza forward. Demelza resisted, almost tripping as she pushed back.

  “You must be frigging joking!” she stammered under her breath. Kyla put her hand to her mouth to dampen the sound of her giggles.

  “It sounds like a bird or a bat,” Hayley said, “It must have got stuck down here somehow.”

  “Yes, yes,” Kyla said in agreement, “that’s what it sounds like. Something flapping its wings, fretting in the darkness!” Kyla looked across to Demelza again, “Well then, take a look, just to make sure.” Demelza stared back, saying nothing. Kyla smiled.

  “Let’s all take a walk down there anyway, I’m curious to see where this passage leads anyway,” Kyla said confidently.

  “After you,” Demelza gestured.

  “Thank you,” Kyla said with a smile as she began to walk down the narrow tunnel. Demelza ushered Hayley to follow, herself joining last in line, the shadows dancing on the walls of the passageway feeling alive and mischievous in her mind. They continued down the cavernous channel, the rustling becoming eerily silent, only their own footsteps echoing quietly off the rocky walls.

  “You think it’s gone?” Demelza whispered.

  “Maybe it’s heard us, and it’s hiding,” Hayley replied.

  “There’s no place to hide,” Kyla said as she waved the torch around, looking around and up to the damp ceiling, seeing nothing except dripping water from burgeoning stalactites.

  “It’s flown away then,” Hayley said. “There’s nothing here.”

  “Looks like it,” Kyla said. “Whatever it was, it’s gone, it’s out of here.” Demelza looked around unconvinced,

  “I didn’t hear it fly away. Are you sure?” she asked. Kyla nodded as she looked again at the ceiling, the wet limestone glistening in the light of the flickering flame.

  “I wonder where it leads?” Kyla thought aloud as she peered down the endless dark passageway.

  “It leads to trouble,” Demelza said. “Let’s go back.”

  “I feel a breeze. It must channel back out to the open air,” Hayley said with a hint of excitement.

  “The breath of life flows untainted down here,” Kyla said dreamily.

  “You what?” Demelza said, glancing at Hayley. Hayley shrugged her shoulders,

  “Whatever,” Hayley remarked, “it means, though, we can get a good supply of fresh air down here while the air up there perishes.” She wetted her finger with her mouth, and held it up in the air, feeling the cool breeze wafting down the tunnel towards them.

  “Probably how the bird got in,” Kyla said.

  “If it was a bird,” Demelza said abruptly.

  “And how the bird got out,” Kyla swiftly replied.

  “I guess there’s no need to go any further,” Hayley broke in. “It could go on for miles. It could branch off into many passageways and then we’re lost…”

  “And done for,” Demelza interrupted quickly.

  “Ok, I can take the less than subtle hint,” Kyla said. “Let’s go back, we can explore another day.”

  “Cool,” Demelza said, glad that they would soon be out of the cave and back up in the cosy cottage.

  “Huh,” Demelza gasped as her heart thumped, all three quickly turning towards the rustling sound that suddenly began several yards behind them again.

  “Shit,” Demelza said, “we managed to walk right past it.”

  “Well, if we are to get out of here and back up to the cottage, we need to walk past it again,” Hayley said.

  “Only with my eyes closed,” Demelza said nervously as she grabbed onto Kyla and Hayley.

  “Don’t be silly, it’s just a bird,” Kyla said.

  “In your mind perhaps, but in mine it’s something a bit scarier,” Demelza replied. Hayley and Kyla laughed.

  “Anyhow,” Demelza continued, “I’m not too fond of birds either.”

  “I’m sure it will keep out of your way,” Hayley giggled.

  “It’s those dark, unblinking eyes; they freak me out.” A sudden loud squawk echoed down the cavern as the sound of beating wings came towards them. Demelza closed her eyes and covered her head with her hands as Hayley and Kyla watched a raven glide swiftly past them, its sheeny black body visible in the flickering light, its shadowy eyes focused straight ahead. They watched how graceful it was as it darted purposefully back into the darkness again.

  “Wow, that was one scared bird,” Hayley said, still peering down into the darkness of the tunnel where it went.

  “You, Demelza, upset it, with those nasty comments about its eyes,” Kyla teased as she pointed her finger at her.

  “Has it gone, has it gone?” Demelza fretfully asked. Hayley and Kyla held their hands over their mouths to dampen their giggles.

  “I would say it’s long gone,” Kyla remarked. “Come, let’s go back to the cottage.” Hayley walked up behind Demelza and pulled her hands from her eyes,

  “Wakey, wakey now,” Hayley playfully said.

  “Fuck!” they screamed in unison as they saw a pair of eyes blink before them; stern, yellow eyes beaming out from the darkness. They pulled on Demelza’s blouse who stood there frozen with shock as they began running down the tunnel back towards the cavernous chamber. Demelza broke out of her shock in panic, running after them, daring to peer over her shoulder but seeing nothing apart from darkness swallowing
up the fleeing light of the torch. They stopped when they reached the chamber, catching their breath, the cold, damp air stinging their lungs. They glanced back down the dark tunnel.

  “One scared bird alright,” Demelza panted. “I can see why now!”

  “I’m out of here,” Demelza continued as she headed back to and up the steps. Kyla and Hayley quickly followed her, climbing the stone staircase and into the warmth of the cottage, wondering what the hell they had just witnessed.

  Jack-knife

  Corey hammered a large hook into the rocks overlooking the road, startling some ravens that were roosting on a ledge above. They cawed in annoyance as they flapped away, their dark forms barely visible in the morning twilight. She attached the end of a metal cable, its eye onto the hook, and pulled it across the road, glad to feel its heavy weight.

  This should do it nicely. She smiled and hooked the other end onto some old, rusty railings that appeared out of place on this lonely road. She pulled hard on it, feeling its tension, making sure it would stay firm when the time came. Soon, any minute now, she thought as she looked at the cable hanging across the road, almost invisible in the morning light against the black, dusty tarmac. Then she turned and looked down the road as she heard them coming. The groan of the truck’s engine became clearly audible, straining as it neared the summit, two motorbikes ahead of it on either side, their V8s sounding like distant gunfire. Corey waited until she saw the dull white headlights of the truck and the black smoke rising from its twin cab exhausts. This is it! This is it! She took a deep breath, turned, and climbed up onto a large slab that over hanged the road by several feet, like a broken bridge. The rock in her hand tasted like damp earth as she kissed it for luck, feeling its sharpness as she dragged her fingers along it, admiring it’s rough, jagged texture. She had rehearsed this moment so many times, watched and studied the trucks and bikes as they passed through the gorge. There were always two bikers and one trucker which broke the silence of the dawn, once weekly like clockwork, at same day and time every week. The truck’s escorts always looked mean. They had scalped, bald heads, and wore Ray Ban shades, giving an air of corrupt authority as if they were protecting a criminal shipment through the stealth of twilight, she thought. The sound of the approaching vehicles grew louder, their sight feeling surreal and dreamlike in the dim morning light. She placed the rock in the hood of the catapult and pulled it back as far as possible, feeling it strain between her hands. She was ready; her aim was steady with her eyes and mind focused on the man behind the wheel of the juggernaut. This one is for you sweet sister, wherever you are. The scalped heads hit the cable at a speed of 50 mph, or more, their bodies ripped violently from their seats as they swung around the cable before falling to the ground with dull thuds. The cable rattled from the impact, vibrating violently above the road, sending a sonorous ring skyward to startled, cawing ravens circling above. Then the truck broke through it, breaking it from its moorings, sending it whiplashing across the ground like a frenzied snake. The bikes hurtled onwards, quickly past her, their front wheels wobbling frantically without anyone to steady the handlebars. She looked at the driver of the truck without blinking, releasing the tension of the catapult and sending the rock hurtling through the air. There was a crack as the rock neatly popped through the truck’s windscreen, catching the driver square on the forehead before he slumped forwards onto the steering wheel. She felt her heart palpitate as she gasped with victory. It was hard to believe her shot was so accurate, even after practicing for so long and hard. She could just make out the weight of his slumped body leaning on the steering wheel, rotating it to the right as the truck whizzed by her. She turned to view the aftermath of her simple, yet effective shot, the truck responding well to its slain driver as it swung across the road. It shuddered across the verge before smashing into the rocky slopes, jack-knifing back into the road as all eighteen tyres screeched. The cab skidded sideways, pushed hard by its trailer before coming to a loud juddering stop, it's twisted metal groaning as the trailer readjusted its weight from the shock of the sudden stop. The bikes had already smashed into the sides of the rocky gorge, the motionless bodies of its riders lying in the road below her as a stream of dark, red blood slowly seeped outwards from them. There was a caw from a raven as it looked downwards at the trailer, ignoring the dead bikers, looking down with greedy and needy eyes as if it knew what booty it contained. Corey jumped down from the ledge and onto the road, her senses nauseating at the sight and smell of the blood before her. She had to work quickly; there would be others in time, hordes before the end of the day as rumour got around. She knew what to do as she ran towards the truck with a crowbar in hand, having rehearsed it so many times in her mind. With a few strenuous yanks and tugs, the door yielded. Lucky, fucky, me! She looked up into the trailer, wide-eyed at its contents; blankets, tinned food, drums of water, but most of all, at the entire cargo of diesel. So much fucking diesel! Who needs this much! She jumped in and rubbed her hands around the barrels, aware of its pungent smell. That smells of fucking freedom! she thought with anticipation. Corrie ran back excitedly to her SUV. She had parked it out of sight within a dip, just beyond the verge. She climbed in and drove it across the blood-soaked road, cringing as the congealed blood squelched beneath the tyres before stopping as close as possible to the back of the crashed trailer. She clambered back into it, the diesel fumes still overwhelming, working quickly, her heart racing, her skin wet from sweat, knowing she was very exposed. Bandits, loony tunes, and stinky, filthy pervs roam these roads, looking for some good, fresh pussy to goose, she anxiously thought. She frantically toppled the barrels and rolled them recklessly out of the trailer, hearing them drop into the back of the SUV, its suspension creaking from the impacts. Then it got easier; bottles of water, tinned food and blankets. I feel like I’ve raided Santa’s delivery truck, and everything on my Christmas list is here. Thank you Santa with all my heart, my appreciation letter will be in the post. Well, as soon as I find a pen of course! Now there’s a rarity in a post-apocalyptic World, she joked to herself, her mind racing from fear. She noticed a curtain towards the back of the trailer. How odd! What lies behind this bastard curtain; the Wizard of fucking Oz? She flung it back.