Clickers III (26 page)

Jennifer couldn’t help it; after hours of holding it together, after being the leader and the voice of reason, after running from one threat to the next, she was beginning to panic now. Her breath came in short gasps, her skin felt clammy, and her stomach felt like it was plunging down an endless elevator shaft.

She couldn’t help but think this was the end of everything. Making matters worse was her steadily increasing headache—a sharp, pointed pain that seemed to blossom behind both her eyes and spread toward her temples. The farther they went, the worse it became.

I’m not going to quit
, she thought as she moved forward blindly.
I’m going to do my best to get out of here and get off this island alive. If I don’t, I hope these things kill me quickly and I don’t suffer. If I can find a way to end my life quickly and painlessly, I’ll do it. I’ll miss my cat. I’ll miss my friends. But most of all, I’ll miss my parents. I hope they can survive the knowledge of my death, that it doesn’t scar them too badly…

But if I do get out of this I am never leaving my house again for as long as I live!

And I’m never going near the ocean again. Fuck Marine Biology. I’ll go back to school and study botany.

These thoughts ran through her mind as she blindly groped her way around narrow cavern walls, leading Susan and Wade on a gradual uphill slope through twisting tunnels. Their surroundings were almost completely dark now. Gone was the mysterious source of illumination that had lit the maze of corridors earlier.

The roar of the Dark Ones was echoing all around them now, and it was hard to tell how far behind and in front of them they were. The ones behind them she wasn’t worried about; it was the ones that seemed to be in front of them that she was nervous about. Where were they? Would they enter the same corridor they were heading up now? Or were they in an entirely different corridor and were the roars

they were hearing merely an echo effect?

“There’s no telling where this cave will lead us to,” Wade said from behind her. “But if it does lead to the surface, we need to proceed cautiously.”

“No shit,” Susan muttered.

“If we get topside again, we should probably stay within the mouth of the cave,” Wade continued. “If we make it out, it’ll provide great cover for any Dark Ones and Clickers that might be in the area. I think the ones behind us aren’t going to make it this far.”

“I’m beginning to think that too,” Jennifer said. Her throat was dry, her lips parched. “It’s the other ones I’m worried about.”

“If we get ambushed by them, I want to let you all know now that it’s been a pleasure working with you.”

“We’re not going to get ambushed!” Susan exclaimed.

“We might, but I don’t want to think about that now,” Jennifer added.

“I don’t either,” Wade said. “I just wanted to bring the possibility out in the open, in the event it happens.”

“Let’s talk about what we do when we reach topside,” Jennifer said. Susan was still clutching her left hand, but her grip wasn’t as tight as it was earlier. “I agree that once we reach the surface, we should stay close to the mouth of the cave. We shouldn’t stay in there for a long time, though.”

“You’re right,” Wade agreed. “We’re going to have to venture forth to see if there are any survivors. At the very least we should try to make it to the village. Maybe try to raise somebody on a short wave radio. Or call somebody if we find a landline or a cell phone.”

“The power is out,” Susan reminded them. “That means the landlines are probably down, too.”

“A cell phone then,” Jennifer said.

“Maybe. I don’t know.” Susan sighed. “It’s so hard to think with this headache.”

“I’ve got one, too,” Jennifer admitted.

“Me, too,” Wade said. “But Susan brings up a good point. If communications are shot, we should find a boat and get off this island.”

Jennifer frowned. She didn’t like the idea of being in the ocean in a boat. “I don’t know about that, Wade.”

“Why not? Out of the three of us, you’re probably the most qualified to not only pilot a boat, but navigate to the nearest island.”

“Me?”

“You’ve been on how many ocean expeditions now?”

Jennifer thought about that. She’d been on two dozen, from the Indian Ocean to parts of the Pacific and Atlantic. She’d never piloted a boat, though. She didn’t know the first thing about boats except how to turn them on, press on the throttle, and steer them. And as for navigation—

“You’re right,” Jennifer said, thinking out loud. “If we can get ourselves situated and find a vessel with enough fuel, I can get us going.” It would be nerve wracking, but it was worth a shot.

“Nearest island is a few hundred miles northwest,” Wade said. “I have no idea where we’ll end up once we get out of this cave, but the position of the stars or sun will tell us plenty.”

Jennifer was nodding now, liking the idea. She knew enough about the world’s oceans, about basic geography, about weather patterns, that she could navigate their way off the island to one of the neighboring South Pacific islands.

“What if we can’t get a boat?” Susan asked.

“We stay alive,” Wade answered. “We stick together and we stay alive. These things can’t ravage the island forever. They’re going to have to do whatever it is they came here to do—summon this god of theirs—and eventually, the Clickers will return to wherever the hell it is they came from. They’ll lose interest as soon as they deplete their food source. The control the Dark Ones exert over them is limited. They’re like any other beast of burden.”

How long would that take, though? Jennifer had no idea and she didn’t want to venture a guess. Wade was right though. They had to stick together, had to take cover in the mouth of the cave until they were certain the coast was clear, then they had to try to either radio or call for help or they had to get off this island by themselves.

The terrifying cries of the Dark Ones seemed louder now and Jennifer stopped, her heart racing. Susan and Wade crowded behind her, pressing close together. Several more Dark Ones roared and hissed and Jennifer tried to discern where they were coming from. Where before it was hard to tell, now it seemed that they were coming from somewhere in front of them, but there was a muffled distance to their roars.

“We’re heading straight toward them,” Susan murmured, her voice shaking with fear.

Behind them, still very far away, came the roars of the Dark Ones that had chased them into the cave.

“We can’t go back the way we came,” Jennifer said.

“Shit,” Wade muttered. “So we’re screwed?”

Jennifer hesitated, trying to decide what to do. This tunnel couldn’t last forever. At some point they had to get to a fork in the cave and they would have to roll the dice of lady luck and see where their choice took them.

“Let’s keep going,” Jennifer said.

“Are you sure?” Susan asked. Her hand squeezed Jennifer’s.

“No. But we can’t stay down here forever.”

“Maybe we can just sit down here a little bit and…wait it out…”

“No, Susan,” Wade said. “They could break their way through here and then we’d be sitting ducks. At least if we keep moving forward we might find another passageway.”

Susan suddenly stopped. Jennifer tugged at her arm, urging her forward. “Come on, Susan!”

“No.” Susan’s voice had taken on that scared, petrified tone she’d had back at the command center. Once again, fear was overtaking her. “I don’t want to go any farther. We don’t know where we’re going and—”

“We’re getting out of here is where we’re going!” Jennifer still couldn’t see, but she could sense Susan’s presence; the other woman was only a few feet away from her. Wade was standing right next to Susan. Jennifer took a deep breath and tried to gain control of her emotions. “Look, I know you’re scared. I’m scared, too. But we have Dark Ones coming at us from behind.”

“And coming toward us, as well,” Susan exclaimed.

“Sound carries down here,” Jennifer whispered. “Don’t you hear that echo?”

Wade tried to help Jennifer. “Those sounds are coming from all around us. What we’re hearing could be another party of Dark Ones in an entirely different tunnel.”

Jennifer squeezed Susan’s hand, trying to reassure her.
Don’t blow up at her down here
, she thought. “We can’t be that much farther now. We probably went a mile underground all total. We’ve been walking gradually uphill now for a few miles. We should be very close to the surface.”

“I don’t know…” Susan’s voice was hesitant.

“I’m going first,” Jennifer said. “I’ll be the first to see any signs we’re reaching the surface.”

“Jennifer’s also the first in line if there are Dark Ones,” Wade added. “You’re between us. You’re safe.”

Jennifer glowered at Wade in the dark. What an idiot. What Wade said scared Susan even more.

“No, I really think we should stay here.”

Jennifer tugged gently at Susan’s hand, urging her forward. “Just stay by me. I promise, nothing will—”

Somewhere ahead of them, amid the far away grunting and clatters of the Dark Ones, came a series of screams. They were clearly audible, and male. “Oh shit, what the fuck!”

Another voice: “Hold your fire! Hold your fire, goddamn it!”

“Fuck that, get it off me!”

People. And from the sounds of it, they weren’t doing so well.

Jennifer, Susan, and Wade stood frozen in terror in the dark cave, listening as the thrashing sounds accompanied the screams, followed by other voices. Jennifer tried to follow what was being said, tried to discern where they were coming from, but it was hard to tell. The Dark Ones roared and judging from the sounds, it seemed like they were now doubling their efforts to squeeze their way deeper into the caverns.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” the male voice said. It was loud and coming closer.

A moment later there was a gunshot and something pinged in the darkness ahead. Jennifer ducked, pulling Wade and Susan down with her.

Jennifer’s throat locked up. Her knees wobbled as the thrashing continued and died down. A moment later there were voices of shock, of fear. “Jesus, look at that thing!”

Wade stood close behind Jennifer. “It’s people. We should call out to them.”

Jennifer nodded and tried to do that, but her throat was so dry she could only manage a strangled choke. The pain in her head increased.

“Hello? Hey, we need some help down here! Can you hear us?” Wade’s voice was loud and it echoed, booming down the cavern.

Whoever it was that had been yelling heard them. A male voice, strong and full of authority, called out.

“Who’s there? Identify yourselves!”