Tom Pawlik - Beckon

“Jack!” Elina grabbed Jack’s arm and pointed to Dwight.

“Get out,” Dwight gasped, choking on his own blood. “Go!”

He lifted his hand and Elina spotted a round, metallic object in his grasp. She blinked. It looked for all the world like a…

Hand grenade.

She saw him pluck out the pin as the giant spider growled and pulled him into its embrace, sinking its fangs into his chest.

Jack darted forward to grab the bag, then took hold of Elina’s wrist and yanked her back into the tunnel as the explosion shook the entire cavern.

The roar was deafening and followed by a loud, steady rumble. She could feel the ground vibrating beneath her. Her mind gave way to terror as she realized she had escaped this horrible beast only to be buried alive under tons of rock. The roar of the quake seemed to go on forever. Dust filled the passage, choking her and stinging her eyes. She squeezed them shut and prayed as a strange peace began to fill her mind. Her heart calmed; her breathing slowed. If this was the end, then she knew her life—her soul —was in God’s hands.

Elina lay in complete darkness for what felt like several minutes, wondering if she was dead. She was cold and wet and every muscle ached from her ordeal, yet she knew they weren’t safe yet. The explosion had collapsed the cavern behind them, sealing them inside the tunnel. Her ears still rang from the blast, and she lay in the cold mud. The vision of the enormous armored spider had been etched into her brain. That and her experience with the N’watu would certainly rob her of sleep for many weeks to come.

As her hearing returned, she could make out Jack’s steady, rapid breathing next to her, and she knew at least they were alive.

“Jack,” she whispered, “are you okay?”

She felt him stir beside her. “I… I think so. How about you?”

“I’m okay. Nothing broken.”

She could hear Jack feeling around the passage.

“Well, I still have my shotgun,” he said after a moment. “And the bag of flares. But I only have a few left and they won’t last long.”

“How… how did you even manage to find me?”

“It was Dwight,” Jack said. “He came down after Vale took you away and let the rest of us out. Apparently something gave him a change of heart.”

“He freed everyone?” Elina’s hope rose. “What happened to Javier?”

Jack didn’t answer right away. There was a muted pop as he lit one of the flares. Sparks flew all over in the cramped space and Elina’s eyes ached from the light, but she could see that Jack’s face looked grim.

“What’s wrong?” she said. “Where is Javier?”

Jack shook his head. “He came with us to save you. But he didn’t… I’m sorry. He was killed during the fighting.”

Elina stared at him. “Dead?” She ached as though a weight were pressing down on her shoulders. She had come all this way to find him. Now all the emotions she had tried so hard to control over the last few days finally broke through. She began to sob even as she tried to tell herself this wasn’t the time for crying.

After a minute she felt Jack’s hand on her shoulder. “Look, I’m sorry. I know it’s a shock—and I’m really sorry—but we have to get going; we’re running out of flares.”

Elina sucked in a deep breath and wiped her eyes, choking back her tears. She knew he was right. She could mourn for her cousin later. “What do we do now?”

They inspected the tunnel. The way behind them was thoroughly closed off. Several large boulders blocked the entrance, and they couldn’t move them.

Finally Jack sighed. “I think there was a side passage up here.”

They had to maneuver on their hands and knees, which was slow going, but after several dozen yards the tunnel split, and the secondary tunnel eventually opened into a larger chamber. They emerged and stood up. Jack held the flare aloft and looked around. Elina peered up at him. He wasn’t what she had expected. He was taller than she had imagined, for one thing. Taller than her by several inches and slender with short-cropped black hair, large brown eyes, and…

“Listen, Jack… thank you for saving me.” She looked down sheepishly. “But… why didn’t you tell me you were black?”

Jack blinked and looked down at his arms. “I am?”

Elina couldn’t help laughing. “I mean, after I said all those things?”

Jack raised an eyebrow and smiled. “I guess I didn’t think it mattered at the time.”

Elina shook her head. “It didn’t. I just—”

“And for the record, technically you never told me you were Hispanic.”

Elina laughed again. Despite all the horror she’d just been through, in her exhausted condition it felt good to laugh. “You mean my last name being Gutierrez didn’t give it away, or…”

She stopped as she saw Jack’s smile fade.

“What’s wrong?” she said.

Jack shrugged. “This place… looks a little familiar.”

Elina wasn’t sure this was a hopeful sign. “So you know where we are?”

Jack tossed the flare ahead of them. It flew up in a long arch and bounced to a halt in front of another strange rock formation. Only as Elina looked closer, she could see it wasn’t rock at all. It was a pile of white… bones. A huge stack of bones piled high against the side of the cavern.

“Are those what I think they are?”

But Jack had fallen quiet.

“Jack?” she said again. “Please tell me those aren’t human—”

“We need to get moving,” Jack said as he ignited another flare. “I think I know the way.”

Jack pointed in the direction opposite the pile of bones and moved quickly across the uneven floor. Elina hurried to keep up but could feel a presence somewhere off in the darkness. Some kind of impending menace, like an enormous shadow preparing to swoop down and swallow them.

After a moment Jack stopped, tilting his head.

“What is it?” Elina said.

At first the only sounds she could hear were her own breathing and the hiss of the flare. Then soon she heard something else. The eerie tapping sound she’d come to dread. But this time it was different. This time it sounded like more than one.

A lot more.

“Jack…”

But Jack grabbed her hand. “Run!”

He led her on a zigzag route across the cavern. The flare crackled and sputtered and Elina thought she could see shadows scurrying along the ground just outside the ring of light. Jack pulled her behind him until they finally reached the other side. A black wall of rock loomed up in front of them. Jack looked like he was searching for something.

Maybe another tunnel. Hopefully the way out.

Something skittered along the rocks behind her and she screamed. A black shape raced toward her out of the darkness. It was a miniature version of the giant kirac, only the size of a dog. But it was faster and seemed far more aggressive.

Jack charged the creature, flare held out in front of him. He swung his leg and booted the beast back into the darkness. Then he turned and yanked her arm. “This way!”

They moved along the wall until they came to another opening. A passage leading up at an angle. Jack tossed the flare behind them and boosted Elina into the tunnel.

The flare landed a few yards away, where it illuminated a horde of the spider creatures—of all sizes—scurrying toward them.

Jack pumped his shotgun and blasted the closest one, flipping it backward into the pack. The others immediately converged on the wounded creature, tearing it to pieces. One of the bigger creatures launched itself toward them. Jack raised the shotgun and fired point-blank, blasting a hole right through it. It bounced off Jack, knocking him down, and landed on the ground, twitching in front of him.