The Number 8 (8 page)

Everyone looked at Viktor. But he was too busy trying to say the alphabet backwards. There was actually a William on the bus but he had gone with the earlier group.

“Viktor, you’re up.”

Viktor positioned himself by the open gap and jumped at it, landing hard on his stomach. There was a scream of excitement, then a splash and the sound of thrashing around. This went on for a while. It sounded like a child just learning to swim. Then, nothing. It was impossible to see through to the other side, it was too dark. A few moments went by and still nothing.

“Viktor, is it clear?” the old guy shouted, slightly annoyed that the very first person had messed up the rhythm.

Still nothing.

Hushed whispers broke out amongst the group. No one actually liked Viktor except his sidekick James, who had decided to go in the first group, but everyone seemed worried. The old guy waded over to the gap and took it backwards. There was no scream of excitement and barely a splash on the other side. Once again there was silence. Then, out of nowhere, the old man shrieked. It was inaudible words enmeshed into what seemed like a command. Then, as if he had realized that no one had understood him he shouted again. This time it was audible.

“Viktor’s dead.”

Chapter 15

The words hung in the air like a bad smell, made worse by the fact they echoed three or four times before subsiding. The word “dead” seemed to go on on forever. No one reacted at all. They were rooted to the spot. Like it hadn’t happened. Like they were all pretending not to hear those words. Except they all had.

“Who’s the fastest runner? Get in here!” the old man screamed from beyond the wall.

Dante didn’t wait for the others to respond. He may have been the fastest runner, he may not have been, but he definitely was the first to react. He waded as fast as he could towards the gap and dived through. Another time he may have enjoyed it too. But not this time.

He entered the water on the other side face first and sprang up athletically. His head hadn’t been underwater since the beginning so he really felt the familiar numb sensation wash over every centimeter of his face. This side was pitch black and significantly colder than the other side of the wall. He waded through the deep water towards the sound. In the distance he could see something but he couldn’t process it quickly enough because a second later a hand grabbed him and dragged him towards a strange scene. The old guy had him clasped in one hand and the back of Viktor’s head clutched in the other.

“I can’t move him. I think his foot’s stuck. Hold his head out of the water while I try to get his foot free.”

“But wait…” It was too late. The old guy was under. Dante caught the back of Viktor’s head. His face was white and water was pouring down his face. But Dante knew why the old guy was rushing now. Viktor may still be alive.

Dante tried to determine a pulse but between holding him up and the old guy thrashing around below he couldn’t. The other passengers were piling through now ignoring the one at a time rule. They made a circle around the scene watching closely, unable to help.

Finally the old guy surfaced. He had gotten Viktor’s foot free and took his weight from Dante.

“Kid, run and get help. I can’t feel a pulse but I’m gonna perform CPR. If worst comes to worst we will have to drag him out of here ourselves. Go!”

As Dante made a full three-sixty he heard the old guy say, “Somebody help me move him to the flat surface over here…”

Dante just started running as fast as he could, which wasn’t fast at all because he was in waist-deep water. But he kept going. He pumped his legs hard. He reached the back of the cave and there was a shriek from behind him but he didn’t turn, he knew who it was.

“Through there and right at the end!” the old guy instructed.

There was a tunnel at the back and finally it got shallow. He could really stretch his legs now. He was ghosting through the cave at top speed. But as he ran strange things began to enter his mind.

“What if I get bitten by an eel right now?! Then, I might not make it out of the cave on my own and certainly not back. Viktor will be dead and the old guy will almost certainly kill me too,” he thought. But it didn’t matter because his legs were still moving.

Finally he saw light. There was a rocky section which was on an incline. Just beyond was the exit. It was a large oval-shaped hole big enough for a couple of cars to pass through. Just beyond that he saw the old guy’s son so he just started screaming. He wasn’t saying real words but it didn’t matter because it got the son’s attention.

“What the hell’s happening?” he yelled.

“Guy…down…maybe…dead…help!” Dante said trying to get all the words out but having no wind left in him.

But luckily the son understood. He was on his phone instantly calling the emergency services. But Dante didn’t know what to do. He could run back and let them know that help was on its way or stay here and explain to the arriving EMTs what had happened so as not to waste any time determining the injuries. He chose the latter.

Dante scaled the rocky incline trying his hardest not to slip. But there was moss on the rocks, his legs were exhausted and he was trying to climb way too fast. His right leg buckled and his knee collided painfully with the edge of a rock. He grimaced but righted himself and carried on climbing. It was a mixture of adrenaline and purpose that stopped him screaming in agony.

Finally at the exit Dante rushed over to the old guy’s son who was off the phone now.

“What the hell happened?” he asked nervously.

“All I know is that he trapped his leg under water and it looks like he drowned. I’m not sure if there’s any other injuries right now.”

“Have you been in situations like this before?”

“Once or twice.” Dante undersold it, but this wasn’t the time.

They paced nervously for a minute in complete silence. Then, in the distance they heard chatter and splashing. As they came into view Dante saw four guys holding Viktor. His beard was matted and his long, unruly hair covered his face. The old guy was walking backwards and had a hold of Viktor’s head and neck which he was trying to keep very still. It made sense for him to be at the front because he knew the route and where all the dangers lay. Asmir was at the back holding the feet and shouting out directions. That also made complete sense because he had the biggest mouth on the bus. Two other guys held each side. Two could’ve moved Viktor easily but it seemed they had opted for four because it allowed them to step up the pace.

The old guy’s son went to a spinal stretcher which was attached to the caves exit. He and Dante grabbed it and made their way down the rocky hill to give it to his father who was waiting. Dante and the son were ready by the time they arrived. They had positioned it so that Viktor could easily be slipped on. The next part was difficult. They had to move 190lbs of dead weight up an incline that was littered with wet, mossy rocks. Dante blanked out this part completely. But all he knew was that eventually they reached the exit. It took nearly ten minutes but they did it.

As they placed the spinal stretcher on the ground, the EMTs arrived.

“How long has he been out? Did you move him at all?” they bellowed all at once.

“Uhh…maybe fifteen minutes and yeah we had to,” the old guy replied breathlessly.

They looked at the old guy disapprovingly but went to work on Viktor. Five minutes later Viktor was pronounced dead at the scene. Everyone involved in his extraction was exhausted and it had all been for nothing. All the other passengers were sat at the bottom of the rocky incline watching on helplessly. Silenced reigned. No one cried, probably because they were too exhausted to. The EMTs took the body away. No one could say a word. The death had been a tragic accident. A novice who had got his foot trapped underwater and had drowned because of it. It looked cut and dried. Clear for all to see. An accident pure and simple. Or that’s how it looked to all but Dante.

Chapter 16

“What happens now?” Asmir finally said, his voice low and lifeless.

“A whole lot of paperwork,” came the reply from the old guy.

It was a cold reply but nobody had the energy to object to it.

“What do we do now?” Asmir asked.

The young guy gesticulated towards a clearing about 100 meters away. “Your bus is waiting for you just through there. But you won’t be going anywhere for a while. The police may want to talk to you.”

“Police,” Dante chimed in.

“It sounds like what happened in there was an accident, but for the purposes of our insurance we’ll have to call them in. No doubt they’ll want to talk to some of you about what you saw,” the young guy explained.

“No one saw anything, it was too dark,” came a voice from in the cave. By the sound of the hushed whispers from in the cave, many agreed. So did Asmir.

“The only person that saw anything was you,” he said pointing at the old man.

“That’s probably right,” he admitted, “but it doesn’t mean they won’t wish to talk to you lot to confirm exactly what you just said, that I was the only one that saw anything.”

“I guess I might have seen something,” Dante said quietly. It was so quiet that they asked him to repeat himself.

“I said that I could have seen something but I can’t think clearly at the moment.”

The old guy pushed himself off the wall and towards the caves exit. “OK, let’s get you all back to your bus. What are you all still doing down there anyway?”

For some reason half the group had decided not to make the climb up to the exit. They were stood and sat on the rocks leading up to the landing. It was as if they felt the energy up there and wanted no part of it. Like their minds had instructed them not to go up there otherwise it would all be real.

The group answered the question with a sea of shrugs that probably would have set him off under any other situation but he let it go.

“Get up here. I’ll take you back to your bus. Usually you would have some food here and enough time to dry off properly, but under the circumstances…” He didn’t even need to finish the sentence.

They started climbing. The strongest among them instinctively held back and assisted the others. Climbing anything is difficult but in a wetsuit it’s a lot harder. There’s chafing and the lack of flexibility in the suit makes lifting a leg to the heights necessary very challenging. But it seemed no one was even thinking about this. Instead they had acknowledged their limitations and took their time in making their way up.

Once reunited, the group, slowly, solemnly made their way back to the waiting bus. By this point Dante and Asmir were more or less dry but most of the others were sodden. It didn’t seem to bother most, but those that had a problem with it hung back and walked slowly, trying to buy themselves an extra few seconds. They stayed at the base of the steps and made a point of talking to the instructors. Dante and Asmir were first to climb the stairs, which they did wearily. The first thing they saw was Ben’s face. He had obviously been told or maybe he had seen the ambulance go past.

“Are you guys OK?” he asked.

Silly question on the face of it, but it was meant sincerely so Dante gave him the courtesy of a reply. “Seen better days, mate.”

Instantly the driver knew what he had asked was idiotic because he closed his eyes tight and grimaced. “Sorry, stupid question,” he acknowledged.

“Do you know what’s gonna happen next? Are they going to call us back to Auckland?”

“All I know is that the police are on the way and they want to talk to a few of you. If everything’s OK, then I guess we can carry on with the trip. There’s no sense in canceling it. What would that really achieve except ruining the holiday of nearly thirty people? Oh, and the company would have to issue a lot of refunds, which they hate doing.”

“What do you mean, if everything is OK?” Dante asked as the other passengers began to squeeze past him to their seats.

“Well, if it’s an accident like I’ve heard then the police will allow us to carry on. I assume the instructors are going to have a tough time of it now. The death of a kid under their supervision is going to be hard to explain.”

Dante looked down the stairs and saw the pain etched on the face of the old guy. He knew what was coming. The questions. The accusations. The intense scrutiny that his business would come under in the coming weeks. But, after all, he had spoken this into existence. He had tempted fate by telling the passengers lies about a death occurring here. Now that one had, Dante was pretty sure he wouldn’t be revealing anything to his next customers willingly. But Dante felt sorry him. He was trying to keep his wife’s dream alive while simultaneously teaching his son the ropes. It couldn’t have been easy. When it came down to it they would have to accept the blame, even though what had happened couldn’t be described as anything but a tragic accident. Or so most of them thought.

Dante turned back to the driver. “Where’s Mel?”

“Talking to the police, the company and trying to get in touch with the kid’s parents.”

Then a voice from the back said, “He doesn’t have any parents. He was in foster care all his life, like me. He was all I had.” It was Viktor’s huge friend James. He was sat towards the front by the window. The seat next to his was empty but for a blue hooded sweatshirt which Dante assumed was Viktor’s. His friend wasn’t looking at Dante or the driver at all and was completely avoiding looking at the Viktor’s sweatshirt. He was staring out of the window, unblinking.

“I’m sorry, man. I know he was your friend. We did all we could, I swear.”

Viktor’s friend slowly turned his head towards them. “I don’t doubt it, I just wish I had been there. We’ve done everything together since we were ten. He was my brother…” Dante thought he heard the guy choke up a little at the end. Here was this giant of a man who had acted all tough showing genuine emotion. It was a strange thing to witness. Dante didn’t know whether to attempt to comfort him in some way or just leave him alone entirely. He looked at the driver who read his mind and simply shrugged as if to say, “You go do whatever you need to, but I’m not going over there.” Dante heard this loud and clear. He decided to choose the second option and leave him to himself.