Immortal (47 page)

Oppenheimer gasped, touching his head with one hand.

‘The only people who have ever been down here long enough to consume enough of the bacteria to activate them were those Civil War soldiers. Which means that they must have got their
infection from . . .’

Oppenheimer stared at the beautiful waters at his feet as Lillian took a few paces forward to join him. Her voice, soft as it was, carried throughout the cavern and into Oppenheimer’s ears
with the words he had once believed he would never hear.

‘This is the water,’ she said quietly. ‘This is the elixir, the
real
fountain of youth. Ellison Thorne and his men drank the water here while they waited for the
Confederate army to pass them by in 1862. They did not age from that day onward.’

Oppenheimer, his eyes alight with joy, let his cane fall onto the rocks beside him as he got down on his knees, tears dripping from his face to ripple into the water.

‘And this is our ticket out of here,’ he whispered to his own reflection. ‘They dare not shoot us, if we’re uninjured and already carrying the infection.’

Slowly, he lowered his lips and they finally touched the surface. It was icy cold, clear, finer than the most expensive wine he had ever tasted. It surged through him as though he were forcing
ice cubes down his throat, filled him with a tingling sensation as though his very nerve endings were sparking electricity onto the charged air in the chamber.

Finally, Oppenheimer stopped drinking and turned as he knelt beside the water, looking up at Lillian Cruz. He smiled broadly, just in time to see Lillian’s features melt into an expression
of pure hatred as she lunged down and grabbed the back of his head and plunged it beneath the surface. As the freezing water swallowed his head, Oppenheimer heard Lillian’s voice shouting at
him above the bubbles and splashes as he fought for his life.

‘You wanted to be here so much? Now you can damned well stay here!’

Oppenheimer’s ruined lungs ached, his aged heart thumped in his emaciated chest and his eyes bulged as he fought the urge to breathe. The clear view of the bottom of the pool swirled and
starred as his vision faded. He was losing consciousness when he saw Lillian’s hand plunge into the water beside his head, holding a small plastic container that held what looked like a ball
of iron surrounded by flesh. Water from the pool filled the container, and then it vanished again as a black cloud descended over his vision. He heard a faint voice from somewhere on the periphery
of his consciousness.

‘Get off of him!’

Suddenly the immovable weight of Lillian’s body vanished, and Oppenheimer lurched upright and out of the water. He sucked a huge volume of air into his lungs. His vision returned as he
sagged backwards onto the damp rocks just in time to see Saffron hurl Lillian Cruz to one side.

Ethan burst into the chamber just in time to see Lillian Cruz staggering to her feet, water pouring from her arms. Oppenheimer sat in a drenched huddle beside the pool, Saffron
standing protectively over him.

‘We’ve got to get out of here!’ Ethan yelled, grabbing Lillian and propelling her out of the chamber. ‘Get to the surface!!’

Lillian glared at Jeb Oppenheimer and Saffron, but she obeyed and dashed out of the chamber. Ethan turned to Saffron.

‘It’s time to go,’ he said.

‘I’m not leaving him here,’ Saffron shot back.

‘Fine!’ Ethan shouted, losing patience. ‘Let’s just get out of here!’

Jeb Oppenheimer struggled to his feet.

‘I’m not leaving without samples,’ he insisted, gesturing at the huge crystals with his cane. ‘Help me get them before we leave.’

Ethan almost laughed.

‘Like hell,’ he said, and grabbed Saffron’s arm. ‘Come on, let’s go.’

Ethan had almost turned his back when he heard the sound of a gun’s mechanism being cocked. He turned to see the old man holding a small, snub-nosed pistol in his right hand. Ethan froze
as Oppenheimer smiled grimly.

‘I never leave home without one,’ he said. ‘Now, get up there and get me some of those crystals or I’ll put a bullet in you.’

Ethan stared in disbelief as Oppenheimer walked away from the pool and positioned himself between the chamber exit and Ethan and Saffron.

‘Are you really that insane?’ Ethan demanded. ‘We could be buried alive in here at any moment.’

‘Best hurry then!’ Oppenheimer cackled, gesturing with the pistol. ‘Move!’

Ethan shook his head.

‘No. You’ll never be able to climb up there on your own, so without me you’re screwed.’

Oppenheimer’s face wrinkled up on itself in furious defiance.

‘Not quite.’

Oppenheimer shifted his aim and before Ethan could even register what he was about to do, he fired a single shot that rang out deafeningly loud in the chamber. Saffron cried out as the bullet
thumped into her belly and out through her side, ricocheting off nearby rocks and zipping away into the chamber.

Ethan lunged forwards and caught Saffron as she toppled sideways from the impact, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief and her face suddenly pale. He lowered her down as
gently as he could, pushing fist-sized rocks out of her way before setting her down. He let his hand fall on one of the rocks as he spoke to her.

‘Don’t panic,’ he said desperately. ‘Keep your heartbeat as slow as you can, so you don’t bleed too quickly.’

‘It’s a stomach wound,’ Oppenheimer cackled, moving closer. ‘She’ll leak the contents of her gut into her bloodstream and die from blood poisoning. You’ve got
about five minutes before it’ll be too late to save her.’

Ethan let go of Saffron’s body and turned to glare at Oppenheimer. For a moment he considered simply doing what the old man said, but suddenly he was overcome with an intense desire to
deny the old bastard what he wanted once and for all.

‘Go to hell,’ he uttered. ‘I’d sooner die.’

Oppenheimer glared at Ethan.

‘Get up there and collect those crystals or I swear I’ll shoot you where you stand.’

‘Do it,’ Ethan said. ‘You’ll never get them, not from me and not from Saffron. You’re finished, Jeb, totally finished. At least let Saffron live even if you kill
me.’

Oppenheimer turned slightly and pointed the pistol at Saffron again.

‘Do it, you cretin, or I’ll shave another few minutes off her life.’

Ethan looked down at Saffron, who stared up at him through her pain and shook her head vigorously. Ethan looked back up at the crystals and then turned, swinging his arm to hurl the rock in his
hand up into the cavernous vault of the chamber. The rock smashed into the ceiling above and instantaneously the giant flock of bats screeched in unison, spilling from the chamber’s roof in a
screaming black avalanche of wings and teeth. Ethan ducked down as the bats raced past in a thick black fog and blasted into Jeb Oppenheimer as they raced for the cavern exit. Ethan heard the old
man curse and drop his cane as the bats slammed into him, the pistol firing a wild shot in Ethan’s direction.

Ethan launched himself forward and crashed into Oppenheimer, pinning the pistol between them as they smashed into the rocks. Oppenheimer gagged in agony as sharp stones stabbed through his
dirtied suit and punctured his skin, flecks of saliva and mucus spilling from his mouth as he cursed and scratched at Ethan’s face with his nails. Ethan pulled away from the attack, keeping
hold of Oppenheimer’s gun and twisting it from his grasp. The old man cried out in fury, reaching down to one foot with his free hand. Ethan glimpsed a small knife that Oppenheimer grabbed
from a sheath at his ankle and whipped around toward Ethan’s flank. Ethan reached out for the blade but he couldn’t move quickly enough to block the blow. Something grated against his
ribs and vibrated through his flesh as the blade plunged hilt deep into his side with a dull thud. He jerked away from the blade and rolled off the old man as he grabbed the blade’s handle.
Oppenheimer scrambled to his feet, the pistol still in his grasp as he aimed it between Ethan’s eyes and glowered down at him as his chest heaved for breath.

‘Nice knowing you,’ Oppenheimer cackled, and squeezed the trigger.

‘Grandpa!’

Ethan glanced behind Oppenheimer, to see Saffron on her feet and looming behind Jeb. The old man whirled in surprise, just in time for Saffron to catch his gun wrist in her left hand and twist
it violently upon itself. Saffron’s shrill scream of anguish echoed through the chamber as she yanked Oppenheimer’s arm down and brought her knee up into his elbow. A crack like the
snapping of a twig echoed through the cavern as Oppenheimer’s arm broke mid-joint, the pistol clattering to the rocks at his feet.

Ethan, pain searing his body, watched as Saffron glared down at her grandfather as she held him by his broken arm.

‘My grandmother would have hated what you’ve become,’ she hissed at him.

Oppenheimer, his voice tight with agony and fear, pleaded with her.

‘This is worth it, Saffy,’ he croaked. ‘Every step of this journey, it’s worth it.’

Saffron twisted his arm harder, provoking a squeal of pain.

‘Not for me.’

Saffron drove her knee into Oppenheimer’s gut. The old man’s eyes bulged as a blast of foul air spilled from his lips. Saffron spun on her heel and pulled hard, hauling his wiry body
over her shoulder. Jeb Oppenheimer screamed in pain as he was flipped over her body and plunged backwards into the pool, Saffron’s weakened legs buckling as she fell on top of him and clasped
her hands around his throat.

Ethan dragged himself up onto his elbow to see the old man thrashing hopelessly in the water, his white suit weighing him down and his broken arm useless by his side as he sank below the surface
in Saffron’s furious grasp. Above the thrashing water of her grandfather’s desperate death throes he could hear Saffron crying, and then the water fell still beneath her, expanding
ripples drifting out toward the distant reaches of the chamber. Saffron stared down at the roiling surface of the water and cradled her bleeding stomach. Ethan struggled over the pain in his side,
and clambered up the rock face beside him to regain his feet and limp across to her. He looked down into the pool, where Jeb Oppenheimer sank slowly away to sprawl motionless on the bottom, staring
up with wide, lifeless eyes.

‘I’d say this pool’s been contaminated,’ he said.

Saffron nodded and then fell sideways. Ethan managed to catch her in one arm, his other hand still on the handle of the knife wedged in his side.

‘We need to get out of here,’ he said quickly, and turned them both toward the cavern exit.

Saffron was breathing heavily as she struggled to keep moving through the low, awkward passage, and Ethan could feel thick blood flowing warmly from around the knife still wedged in his side. He
tried not to think about what damage the steel blade might be causing inside him, forcing himself onward one step at a time toward the dim light ahead from the cave entrance.

Another blast of noise from explosives thundered down the passage, a shock wave hitting Ethan and a fine mist of particles stinging his face. The cavern ahead was filled with thick smoke, and he
could hear the occasional crack of a rifle as he staggered toward the light.

He instantly saw John Cochrane lying halfway between the cave entrance and the last line of defense, sprawled on his back and staring wide-eyed at the ceiling. Half of his forehead was missing,
his ear hanging from his scalp in a web of tattered fronds of skin and bone. The cave entrance was littered with bodies and fallen chunks of rock.

Lopez saw him coming over her shoulder as she lay with her pistol propped up on the rocks.

‘We’re pinned down!’ she shouted. Then she saw their wounds. ‘Are you okay?’

Ethan nodded and managed to struggle up alongside her before both he and Saffron collapsed, breathless and sweating, in the darkness. Lillian Cruz dashed across to them, her eyes wide as she
took in their injuries. Lopez saw the knife in Ethan’s side, and her skin turned pale as she looked at him.

‘Jesus, Ethan, we need to get you to a hospital.’

‘We need to get out of here first,’ Ethan said, his own voice a raspy whisper in his ears.

‘They’re still trying to blow the entrance to the caves,’ Lillian shouted above the crackle of gunfire. ‘We can’t hold them off much longer.’

Ethan looked across at Ellison Thorne. His shoulder was stained with crimson blood where a bullet had hit him, his features tight with terminal defiance. Nathaniel McQuire appeared uninjured but
he was clearly exhausted, his face smeared with soot and scratches from the blasts of the explosives. Edward Copthorne was lying unconscious alongside them, several patches of blood on his clothes
betraying multiple bullet wounds.

‘He ain’t stayin’ with us much longer,’ Ellison said, and gestured to the cave entrance. ‘It’s time we end this, for once and for all.’

Ethan nodded, one hand clutching the blade impaled in his side as he looked at the cave entrance. There, he could see sticks of dynamite piled loosely around the sides of the cavern, connected
by a fuse wire that ran to a simple detonator lying beside Edward Copthorne’s inert body.

Ethan crawled to his knees and picked up his pistol from where it lay beside Lopez.

‘We’re ready,’ he said.

Lillian Cruz helped Saffron to her feet and Lopez stood up with her rifle held at port-arms, bayonet fixed and ready. Ethan looked down at Ellison Thorne one last time as the big man picked up a
handful of dynamite sticks and cradled them in his arms, a cigarette lighter in his big fist.

‘Who was holding the camera, Ellison?’ he asked. ‘They’ll still be in danger, they’ll need help.’

Ellison Thorne smiled. ‘Not now they won’t,’ he said.

Before Ethan could challenge him again, Ellison lit the dynamite in his grasp in a fizzing cloud of sparks and blue smoke. Lillian prodded them all toward the edge of the cave entrance as
Ellison staggered to his feet, holding his lethally blazing explosives and nodding once at Ethan. Ethan turned and hurried toward the light, squinting through the smoke and aiming his pistol ahead
as they burst out into the vertical shafts of sunlight beaming down to the bottom of Misery Hole.