Susan gasped for breath. “Shut the hell up and move your fat ass.”
Then, without warning, the tunnel slope grew steeper and narrower. Jennifer, Wade, and Susan were forced to hunch over and slow down lest they fall forward and roll down the passage. Judging from the sound, the sharp descent and the narrowing walls were a hindrance to their pursuers; Jennifer heard bellows of rage as the larger Dark Ones became stuck. She knew that wouldn’t last long; they’d manage to break through soon enough. She’d seen them rend steel at Peachbottom. Stone would only be a temporary nuisance.
And break on through they did, with angry roars and hisses and the crashing of rocks. The Dark Ones forced their way through the narrow crevices and wormed their way down the tunnels. It sounded like their pace had been slowed. She hoped the delay would be enough to allow them to escape.
Why are the tunnels so narrow in this section? Jennifer thought as she slid down the slippery floor, the soles of her hiking boots providing some traction as she and the others went down the tunnel like a slide. If the Dark Ones created this, wouldn’t they have made them to fit their size?
“This isn’t a tunnel,” Wade said, as if reading her mind. “It’s a cave. The tunnels must have joined up with it.”
She’d been too focused on fleeing to notice it, but Jennifer realized that he was right. The walls were smooth and slick like the inside of a natural cave, not rough and rocky like the man-made tunnels they’d been running through. Likewise, there was no dust or dirt caking the walls and floor. It was also growing colder as they kept descending. The illumination had grown subtly brighter, but she was still unable to find the source. There were no signs of phosphorescent lichen or hidden torches.
When they reached the bottom, Jennifer had to recover her senses to find out where they were. The light source had dimmed again, reducing visibility to a few feet around them. Wade and Susan slid to a stop behind her. She felt their welcoming presence as the Dark Ones roared in frustration far behind.
“Where the hell are we?” Wade asked.
“I don’t know,” Jennifer answered. She looked up. Despite the mysterious light source, the shadows above them and in the corners of the chamber were deep and ominous. She raised her right arm over her head and groped for a ceiling. Finding none, she cautiously stood up. Wade and Susan tentatively rose to their feet, as well.
“Do either of you have a lighter?” Wade asked.
“No,” Jennifer answered. “Ed was the only one of us who had one.”
“Damn,” Wade muttered. “I hope he and Keoni are okay.”
“I’m sure they are,” Susan said, but her voice lacked conviction.
“We’ve got light,” Jennifer pointed out. “I’m just not sure what the source of it is. And right now, it’s not doing us much good. Do either of you have any ideas?”
Wade and Susan shook their heads in unison.
“I’ve lost all my bearings,” Jennifer moaned. “This is hopeless.”
“If we stay close together and keep moving forward, maybe we can find another way out of here,” Susan suggested.
Jennifer was about to agree with her when the frenzied thrashings of the Dark Ones grew louder. From the sound of it, they were still having a difficult time making their way down the cavern.
“We’re no doubt in a limestone cavern,” Wade said. “The Dark Ones are strong enough that they might be able to break chunks of limestone out of that tunnel and make their way down here.”
Jennifer and Susan murmured agreement and they made their way slowly through the shadowy cavern like moles, one hand out in front of them, the other grasping a shoulder or an elbow as they made their way forward as a group. The passageway grew dark again. Jennifer was sure they would encounter a cave wall, but they didn’t. The thrashing and bellowing of the Dark Ones continued behind them, their sounds muffled from the vast distance they’d put between them and the creatures. Despite the coolness of the cavern, Jennifer felt hot and sweaty. She was running on pure adrenalin now and still couldn’t process the fact that Dr. Steinhardt and Keoni Mumea were probably dead now.
“Are we heading up?” Susan asked. “It feels like it.”
“I don’t know,” Jennifer answered. “Are we?”
“She’s right,” Wade whispered. “It does feel like we’re ascending again.”
They were silent as they continued their slow shuffle forward. After a moment, Jennifer began to sense that Susan and Wade were right. They were moving up a slight incline now. Was this section of the cave heading toward the surface?