Into the Mist Page 23

If you’re wrong, it’ll be the last time.

  Kicking his feet hard, Taine pushed forward.

  * * *

  Jules stood in the freezing water, vaguely aware that Read was dashing about the cavern searching for another way out. It didn’t matter. Even if he found one, they couldn’t go without Taine. The water swirling at her waist, she stared into the tunnel.

  “Come on, man!” Trigger whispered beside her.

  “Trigger, it’s been longer than a minute.” Jules was surprised at her own voice. Surely she couldn’t sound that calm.

  “I know,” Trigger said. “But it’s McKenna. We’ll give him a bit longer.”

  Read came back.

  “Anything?” Nathan asked him.

  “No.”

  Jules’ shoulders sagged. Even Read had lost his enthusiasm. She stared into the tunnel, as if staring would bring him back, watching the water bubble as it disappeared into nothingness. She held her breath. Let it out. Held it again. It’d been too long. No one could survive being under water for that long.

  “It’s McKenna,” Trigger said again, as if daring her to say otherwise.

  Taine exploded from the water, sucking in huge lungsful of air. Already in the stream, Trigger took two strides forward and yanked him upwards, helping him to find his feet.

  “Jesus, man, you gave us a scare.”

  “Trigger, there’s another cave, a beach,” Taine gasped, his chest heaving. He inhaled deeply again, pushing back his shoulders to fill his lungs. “Forty-two seconds with the current! It’s a push, but we can make it.”

  From the front of the cave came the rumble of Sampson bringing down another rock. The dust rose and the crash of falling debris reverberated around the cavern, persistent and chilling, like a requiem mass. They paused to listen a moment. Taine waded out of the stream. “Take only what you can’t do without,” he called to the group. “Keep it light. Anything bulky, leave behind. We can’t risk blocking the channel.”

  Richard waded into the water, making for the tunnel entrance. He put his beanie on, pulled it down over his hair, took a deep breath and approached the shaft.

  “Foster!” Richard looked up. “There’s a fork,” Taine said. “Take the right-hand entrance. And be careful because the current will pull you to the left. I don’t know where that goes.”

  Richard nodded briefly before disappearing. He didn’t look back. Taking care of himself. They said people showed their true colours in a crisis. It occurred to Jules the only colours Richard had ever waved were his own.

  “Nathan, will you be okay?” Taine asked.

  The guide’s arms were wrapped about his body. He glanced towards the front of the cave. “I’ll manage,” he said. He waded in, Miller following him.

  “Read!” shouted Taine.

  “Yep, coming, Boss!”

  Jules turned to see who was left.

  Jug.

  The medic was clutching the sides of the stretcher, his knuckles stretched taut. He dropped his chin on his chest. “Leave me,” he whispered. “If you give me a gun, I’ll do my best to…”

  Crouching, Jules put a hand on his shoulder. “Jug, we’re not leaving you,” she said firmly.

  Jug looked up at McKenna, who was dripping water on the cave floor. “You’ve got no choice,” Jug said. “Trying to haul me through there is going to put everyone at risk.”

  “You’re coming,” Taine said. “Lefty, Eriksen, let’s get him off the stretcher. You boys okay to guide him through?”

  “We got him this far, didn’t we?” Lefty said.

  “Good man. Eriksen?”

  ‘Yeah, sure.’

  Jules felt Jug tremble under her hand, from relief or fear, she couldn’t tell.

  “I’ll help the boys with Jug,” Trigger said.

  Taine shook his head. “It’s a kind offer, mate, but you can’t. There’s a spot where the tunnel narrows. You’re going to need to make like a stick insect.”

  Trigger nodded sombrely and Jules wondered if the size of the tunnel had been on his mind. “The Charlie G?” he said.

  “I’ll bring it,” Taine replied.

  Trigger ducked his head and, wading into the water, he entered the tunnel.

  “Read!” Taine called again.

  “On my way!”

  Taine turned to Jules. “Give Trigger a head start and then you can go through. You’re going to need to take a deep breath,” he said. “It’s a long swim to the other side.”

  “Nuh-uh,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “I think I’ll go last. Bring the stretcher.”

  “Jules, you can’t. You won’t make it through. The tunnel’s too narrow.”

  “And I’m the smallest. If it won’t go through and blocks the way, then I’m the only one small enough to slip past it. I’m doing this, Taine. Jug’s going to need it on the other side.”

  “We’ll make a new one.”

  She threw a pointed look towards the front of the cave. “We might not have time.”

  Lefty and Eriksen were carrying Jug to the stream. Jules ran to support his head and shoulders. They lowered him into the water, Jug sucking in his breath when the cold hit him.

  “Pretty bracing huh?” Lefty said, his own body almost fully immersed now.

  “Well, at least it’s clean,” Eriksen said.

  Jules looked at him, puzzled.

  “You know, less chance of Jug getting an infection.” He hadn’t finished speaking when Sampson brought down something huge at the front of the cave, the crash causing the ground to quiver. A shower of tiny rocks and stones fell from the cave roof.

  Jules giggled. “Yep, less chance of infection,” she agreed. Even Jug smiled.

  “Okay, Jug, let’s do this, man,” Eriksen said.

  “I’ll help as much as I can. If it gets too much, you should just let me go.”

  “Shut up, Jug,” Lefty said. The pair guided him feet first into the tunnel. “Save it for breathing.”

  “Read, you’re up!” Taine yelled, as he helped Jules carry the stretcher to the water, stepping nearer, his face close to hers. “Read and I’ll go through first. Now remember to breathe out because of the—”

  “C02 saturation. Yes, I know.”

  Taine picked up the Charlie G. “And if the stretcher won’t go through, then ditch it.”

  A rifle blast echoed through the chamber.

  Taine swivelled.

  Read came careering across the cavern. “It’s through!” he shrieked. He clambered over the tapered slope, Sampson hard on his heels, its maw and those razored teeth in full view. Taine lifted the launcher, checked the sight, and fired. But standing in the stream, the rocks beneath him weren’t stable. His shot went astray, only hitting Sampson on the shoulder. Nevertheless, the explosion rocked the cavern, giving off fumes and dust. Bellowing, Sampson fell back.

  “Move it!” Taine shouted.

  “I took out its third eye when it came through the entrance,” Read yelled cheerfully, as if he and Taine were discussing the cricket scores while out for a weekend run. “Scaled the wall, and poked it from above with a burning log. When Sampson jumped back, I jumped down. I figured it would even the odds a bit.”

  Jules watched Sampson’s reaction and shivered. Read may have damaged its night vision, but Sampson’s hearing was just fine. The animal took a step in Read’s direction, lowering its jaw to the ground. Jules had seen that hoovering motion before. She adjusted the night vision glasses on her face.

  “Hey there, Sampson!” she cried, stepping out of the stream before Taine could stop her. She darted to the left a short way up the bank. “Over here. It’s me, Jules. Nice of you to drop in. What say you and I have a wee chat?”

  * * *

  A wee chat? No, Jules… Taine wanted to yell.

  Taine surged forward, the abandoned stretcher butting him in the stomach, but alerted by the splash, Sampson cocked its massive head. Trying to determine where I am? Taine cursed silently. No ear holes and still the damn
thing could hear.

  “Taine, I am trying to have a conversation with Sampson here, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t move,” Jules told him, almost singing the words. “Now where was I? Oh yes, our little chat. You may be one of a kind, but that doesn’t give you the right to terrorise my friends.” The animal crouched, creeping forward on its belly, squeezing between two large rocks. “Yes, that’s right,” she said. “Follow the sound of my voice while Private Read gets into that little tunnel over there.”

  Read did as he was told, flinging himself over the ledge towards Taine, and running headlong into the stream. The animal looked up at the sound of him splashing, but Jules kept up her crooning, pulling its focus back to her. The monster batted a foreleg, its talon raking the air in front of her, like a playful kitten pawing at a scrap of newspaper. If he wasn’t so terrified for her, Taine would have been impressed. Jules had it completely mesmerised.

  But how long will it be willing to play?

  “Taine, if Read is safe, I’m going to step back now,” Jules said, her voice wobbling.

  Taine stood flatfooted in the water, unsure what to do. With no rounds to hand, the launcher was useless. He could only watch helplessly as Jules turned and ran, crossing the ground between them at a sprint, her face a grimace of concentration. Sampson pounced. Taine stopped breathing. Just short. He exhaled as Jules plunged into the water.

  She tripped, putting her hands out to stop herself, falling to her knees in the water.

  Get up. Get up!

  The stretcher was bumping about at the entrance of the cave. Flinging the Charlie G aside, Taine grabbed the stretcher, lifting it out of the water. He swung it towards Jules.

  “Grab on!”

  She clasped the crooked rails, and he hauled her in. A fisherman with a net. It took his everything – his body weight, his determination, and every last ounce of his strength – to skim her through the water ahead of the Sphenodon’s jaws. They dove into the tunnel, Sampson throwing himself at the entrance. His teeth snapped behind them. Taine released the stretcher, grabbed Jules up, and pulled her to him. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” he said as she buried her head in his shoulder.

  Sampson’s scorched eye appeared at the tunnel entrance. After a second, the eye moved away.

  Suddenly, Read bobbed up next to them, breathing hard.

  “Read?”

  “It’s Trigger. Must have been coming back to help. He’s stuck.”

  Shit!

  Taine thrust Jules at the private. “Give me a minute then bring Jules through. And Read, no bloody heroics, you hear me?” He took a breath and dived.

  * * *

  Halfway along the tunnel, Taine found Trigger, wedged tight. He was conscious, but it wouldn’t be long before he passed out. He gave Taine a sad smile, and the thumbs down signal. Taine couldn’t let Trigger die here, stuck in a hole like Winnie the fucking Pooh.

  Taine dived for a closer look; Trigger’s lats wouldn’t pass.

  If there was ever a better advertisement for not working out… Picking up Trigger’s arm, Taine yanked it. Trigger’s body didn’t budge. In the water Taine had no purchase…

  He needed to hurry. Jules and Read would come through soon. If Taine couldn’t get Trigger out of the channel, they’d all be stuck in this godforsaken stream…

  Taine removed his Steyr from across his back, and wedged it across the channel, jamming it in tight between the rock walls. Read and Jules might struggle to get past it. But there was nothing else he could do. Trigger had gone limp. He had to be running out of air. Might already be dead…

  Holding off his panic, Taine placed his boots on Trigger’s shoulders, and his hands on the gun. Then he straightened his body out, pushing off and driving through his skeleton, forcing Trigger through the gap.

  There was a gurgle and Trigger popped free. Taine turned and dived after him, grabbing him just as the current surged, but Trigger slipped out of his grasp, missing the right hand turn. They both slid into the left hand tunnel. Taine hadn’t scouted this tunnel. It could go on for hours. There was no way of knowing. Taine closed his eyes and gave himself over to the current.

  * * *

  Jules gasped, sucking in air. Nathan hauled her from the freezing water and dragged her onto a tiny beach. She sat with her head between her knees, panting heavily.

  “Read?” she asked, when she got her breathing under control.

  “He’s here,” Nathan said.

  “What about the stretcher?” Nathan shook his head. “Damn it,” Jules said. “It must have got stuck. Sorry Jug,” she said. “I guess we’ll have to make you a new one.”

  Jules hugged her arms to herself to ward against the chill. They were in another cavern, much like the last one, only better lit. Metres above them, an opening in the rock let in the moonlight.

  “Shame we had to leave the fire behind,” she said wistfully.

  No one answered. She looked about. Nathan, Eriksen, Richard… they were all staring at her. Jules’ heart lurched.

  Something’s wrong.

  “What is it?” she demanded, searching their faces.

  Lying alongside her on the beach, Read turned to her. “It’s McKenna. He didn’t come through yet. Trigger’s gone, too.”

  Jules leaped up.

  That’s not right.

  She waded knee-deep into the stream. The tunnel entrance on this side was under the water. “But they were ahead of us! Taine went to help Trigger. They were ahead.”

  Nathan ran a hand through his hair. “They haven’t come through, Jules,” he said softly.

  “But they must have!” she insisted. “The channel was clear. Read and I passed through it.”

  “There was the other tunnel, the left-hand one,” Lefty said. He lobbed a pebble into the stream where it landed with a tiny plop and sank. “I reckon they got swept down there.”

  No. That tunnel was an unknown. They had no idea where it went or how far. Taine wouldn’t have taken it. Not unless he was disoriented. Or unconscious. Or perhaps Trigger had gone that way, and Taine had dived after him? It was just the sort of thing he would do.

  Jules pushed deeper into the stream, her body trembling.

  The water eddied, and up popped the stretcher.

  * * *

  Taine shot out of the tunnel and was thrown in a heap in the middle of a small stream.

  “Ouf!” Stones jabbed into his back.

  Not dead. I’m not dead.

  And he wasn’t under the ground anymore either, but outside, in the forest. Coughing violently, he rolled over, sucking in air as he crawled out of the stream and up onto the bank.

  “Trigger?” Still on his hands and knees, Taine scanned the shadows. “Where are you?”

  Taine staggered to his feet, stumbling noisily on the loose pebbles. “Trigger,” he called, louder this time. Unless there were more tunnels, and more tributaries, he should have washed up here too. He couldn’t see. He patted himself, his heart lifting. His night vision goggles! He pulled them up, adjusting them on his face, and immediately spied Trigger further along the bank.

  He ran to him and gave him a shake. “Trigger!”

  No response.

  Taine palpated his neck. He still had a pulse! It was weak, but it was there. Quickly, Taine heaved the big man onto his side, supporting Trigger’s back with his knees. Trigger sputtered, spewing water, but didn’t inhale. Taine pushed him even further, so he was almost on his stomach, and slapped him hard on the back. More water spurted from Trigger’s mouth and nose.

  “Come on, dammit. Breathe.”

  But Trigger wasn’t breathing. Yet. Taine was going to have to do mouth-to-mouth. Stepping over him, Taine crouched to shove him onto his back again. Then, tilting Trigger’s head back, he hooked a finger into the man’s mouth to clear the airway. Lifting his tongue did the trick. Trigger blinked. Opened his eyes. And gulped in a mouthful of air. Taine hadn’t heard anything as blissful as the rasping sound of that big man inhaling. Flopping
onto his side, Trigger vomited some more.

  Taine clapped him on the shoulder, wearily. “Welcome back, man.”

  Swearing, Trigger wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sat up. He looked around. “Where are we?”

  “Outside somewhere,” Taine said, although that much was obvious.

  “The others get through?”

  Taine raised an eyebrow. “You mean, once I kicked your fat arse out of the way? I think so. Jules and Read were just behind me.”

  Trigger nodded. “Yeah, sorry about that. There was a delay after the boys came through with Jug, and I got worried. Thought I’d come back to help. I’d made it one way, so I figured the other direction wouldn’t be any different.” He shrugged. “Anyway, thanks for the nudge.”

  “No worries.”

  The stream chattered and sighed, running over the pebbles. Not far away, a morepork called.

  “What now?” Trigger asked.

  “Find the others, I guess.”

  Trigger nodded. “Where do you think they are?”

  “Not far.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  Taine picked himself up off the rocks and stretched his battered body. “Well, for one thing, we’re not dead, so we can’t have been in that second tunnel for more than a few seconds. How far could the stream have carried us in that time? You okay to move?”

  Trigger grumbled. “Just a minute ago I was dead and now you want me to move.”

  Grinning, Taine extended a hand to pull him up. “You’re breathing, aren’t you?”

  Chapter 26

  Te Urewera Forest, Day Four, Second Cavern

  Her clothes still wet, Jules shivered in the cool of the cave. Nathan leaned over and gave her hand a gentle pat.

  “You okay, love?”

  “Cold.”

  Nathan nodded. “Maybe you should get up, move around a bit?” he suggested. “Warm yourself up.”

  Jules sighed. Nathan was right. She wasn’t doing anyone any favours sitting here allowing herself to succumb to hypothermia. She stood and waved her arms about a bit. Stamped her feet a few times. Jogged on the spot. Feeling some of the numbness leave her limbs, she took a walk across the little beach. When she was far enough away from the others, she dropped her head into her hands and lets the tears flow. So many deaths. Winters, Ben, de Haas, Coolie, Trigger…