Disclaimer just Rose!
Rose's POV:
Everyone walks into the cavern and see everything. I turn on my flashlight and move it across the room. "Ben, what is that?" I asked, shining my light on something. "Looks like a counterweight to hold the door open." Ben says.
"What is that sound?" Riley asks when we hear a groaning sound. I frown, "Riley no!" I scream when he touches the counterweighted ropes. The counterweight collapses on itself. The door locks shut. "You okay?" I heard Mitch ask Riley. "No." He mumbles. "Riley, are you okay?" I asked once Mitch walked over to Ben. "No…" He replied holding up his cut hand. I smiled rolling my eyes, and took his hand up to my lips and kissed it, "Better?" I smirked.
"I've never seen so many relics. So beautifully preserved." Nana gasped.
I follow Riley as he stumbled over to something on the wall. "Guys, look at this." He held up a lantern to get a better look. "It's a little golden man. Look. It's got a tiny little torso. Look at that. It looks like…" He stops in mid-sentence when the floor opens up making Wilkinson, Ben, Abigail, Riley, and I fall at a slight angle downwards. Granddad and nana backwards rather than following us. I land on my back with Riley falling next to me. I slide down but Riley grabs my arm pulling me up clutching me closely to him. "Move back! Move back!" Ben shouted to us.
"Riley, move forward! Move forward!" Ben yelled as we struggled to stop the platform from moving. Riley did what he says to do. "No, back up, back up!" We stumbled backwards and Riley made sure to keep a firm grip on me.
"What do you want me to do?" He shouted.
"Stop! Stop!" We attempt to balance the square but it keeps moving every time someone shifts. "We have to balance our weight to even this thing out." Ben said. Mitch slowly turns and shines his flashlight down to the ground.
"There's nothing. Just a big old black hole." Mitch said. "That's comforting." I mumbled. Abigail moves her flashlight over the room. "Ben, look! There's a ladder. I mean, what's left of a ladder." Abigail shrugged.
"Toss me a light." Ben said. Abigail threw the flashlight to him. "Riley take Rose and move slowly to that corner." Ben said. Riley and I began to creep over to the corner. "No! Wait. Just…As I move to this corner."
"Okay."
"One step at a time. Good." Ben said as we moved slowly to each corner. "If we can raise this corner, I think I'll be able to reach it." Mitch walks away from where he was. Our balance is thrown off by him. Everyone starts shouting at Wilkinson.
"WILKINSON!" I scream as I fell over nearly stumbling off the platform; Riley helps me up again and I cling to his arm. Next Abigail, Riley, and I try to get Ben and Mitch's attention but they aren't paying attention. Ben grabbed Wilkinson's shirt collar then looks down in the black bottomless pit. "We'll do this your way." Ben said. Ben and Wilkinson switched places. "The rest of us, on my count of three, all move together." I nod as Wilkinson moved to where Ben was earlier. "One step at a time."
"One, two, three." We took a step closer to each other, then another. Wilkinson threw his flashlight up into the opening. Riley grabs onto the others to pull us closer. Wilkinson grabs the ladder piece "You ready?" Mitch asked.
"Go." Ben said. We ran into the center of the square. We watched as Mitch attempted to get up the ladder, under his weight one of the wood pieces breaks. Mitch pulls himself up and over into the opening. "Mitch, what do you see?" Riley shouted. "Is there a way out?"
"Wilkinson, what's up there?" I snapped. We stood there waiting for a response from Wilkinson to our questions. "Mitch! Come on!" Riley yelled.
"I've been doing the math here and…" Abigail started. "I know." Ben said. "We have to leave one person behind." Abigail said. "Just promise you'll come back for me. I can do the math too." Riley sighed. "But Riley-"
"Rose I'll be okay." He said. "Isn't there some other way?" I asked tears in my eyes; he looked at me sadly, "Rose it's okay." He said. I looked between Ben and Abigail and kissed Riley again trying to make it as unforgettable as I could. "I love you." I whispered. "I love you, too." He whispered in my ear. "Rose. You're next." Ben said. I nodded wiping away the tears. I threw the lantern up and grabbed onto the ladder, I nervously swallowed the lump in my throat but it did no good; I feared too much for Riley. "Go!" I exclaimed and as the ladder was lifted I grabbed onto the wood but my hands we're sweaty and I barely clung onto it. I screamed and heard three voices from bellow me, "Rose!"
"Hold on!"
"Be careful, Rose!" I closed my eyes and concentrated. I climbed up the ladder and swung in on the landing above. I lay down and closed my eyes focusing on breathing. "You okay?" I heard Wilkinson come up from behind me and I got up, "I'm fine." I snapped. Soon Abigail was up as well and I helped her onto the landing. I could tell the ladder was going to give out soon and I screamed as Riley was clinging to it; where was Ben? "Ben!" Abigail and I yelled as we helped Riley up. "We can roll this gold idol down to offset your weight!" Abigail yelled to him. "Then roll it!" He yelled. We pushed the idol down to the platform. "Ben, come on!" I scream. Ben jumps and makes it. Thank God. "Here! Give me your hand!" Riley yells. Ben grabs his hand. Riley pulls him up to where he is.
"You're okay. You're okay. You're okay." Abigail keeps repeating over and over again when she helps Ben up. "So…forward."
We made our way through a tiny walkway as Wilkinson led the way. I heard water when we entered a dark room. "I can't see anything. Is this it?" Riley yelled over the roaring water. Ben puts his fingers into something near the wall. "It's oil." Ben pulled off his backpack and pulled out a flare. He lit it with the cap and pushes it into the oil, one side of the wall lights up. Ben did the same to the other side. The room lit up and water began to pour out everywhere.
"It's a dead end! There's no way out!" Abigail yelled. I look at the ground, maybe there's a way out that way. I see a wheel like contraption. "We have to turn back!" Abigail yelled. I shook my head, "The platform could be gone." I said. "There's no forward." Riley said. "No, it's down!" I yell. "What?" Riley asked.
"Rose is right. All this water has to go out somewhere. Otherwise, it'd be filled up!" Ben said. "Ben the wheel!" Abigail exclaims.
"Help me turn this wheel!" Ben yelled. They moved the wheel and I heard the water go down as they stopped moving the wheel.
Wilkinson led us, again down a tunnel that was just filled with water. Riley is in the back with the flare. We stood together in a line staring at what we found. We actually found the City of Gold. I can't believe! No, scratch that…I canbelieve we found it. Thomas Gates would be so proud that we cleared his name. Ben smiled at the sight. "Ben! Ben!" I heard nana shout. I turn my head and saw granddad and nana waving to us. "Dad! We found it!" Ben yelled.
"Thomas was right!" Granddad yelled from across the room-city… "No! You were right!" Ben yelled.
"I'm sorry I smeared your great-great granddaddy's good name. It seemed like the only way to get in on the hunt. But this was a chance for the Wilkinson family to make its mark on history, to find the City of Gold, to be remembered." Mitch said. We wisely decide to ignore him at the moment. Everyone goes their separate ways to look at the City of Gold. I stand behind Wilkinson when he shines his light on an opening. Water falls from it. "That's sucks." I mumble. It's a good thing I can swim…
"Did you hear that?" I asked Riley. "Hear what…" Riley started when the cracking got louder.
"What was that?" Riley asked. "Listen." Abigail says. Everyone goes quiet to listen carefully to the sounds. Suddenly rocks came, flying out from the walls because of the water that was pushed through. Riley and I get soaked with water. "Come on!" I grabbed Riley's hand as water fell all around us. I made him run down the slippery stairs to where Ben and everyone are on top of the center away from the water. "I tried to find a way out. All those portals are blocked off!" Mitch yelled over the rushing water. "I'm telling you, all this water goes out somewhere. We'll find it." Ben said. Granddad rolls up a dollar into a bowl and dropped it to follow the current.
"Ben, there's a current!" Granddad yelled. "Follow it! There's got be a central drain!" Ben yelled back.
"Ben it's under us!" I shouted. Ben and Wilkinson saw an opening we stared for a moment until rocks start to fall around us. "Come on!" Ben yelled. Riley pushed me into the opening when Abigail goes then he pushed the others into the only opening to get the water out. We came across a door that could only be opened by another wheel. "The water's rising too fast! Let's get that door open so we don't all drown!" Ben yelled. Wilkinson and Ben pushed the wheel to open the door. Granddad shined his light down into the opening. "Ben, it slopes down! It's a drainage tunnel but it fills with water when you open the door!" Granddad said. "We need to find something to stick under it to keep it open!" Abigail shouted.
"No, if it's open, this tunnel will stay flooded!" I exclaimed. "We've got to get to the other side and close the door."
"Patrick, Emily, go!" Riley said to my grandparents. Granddad nana and Abigail go towards the door. "NO!" I screamed when I saw Mitch move away from the wheel. Ben ducks once then twice as the door slams closed. Everyone screams no when the door shuts. I guess we should've seen that coming since the whole platform ordeal…
"Mitch, we have to be on the other side of that door!" Riley snapped reaching for my hand.
"Nobody leaves unless I say so. That door is not going to stay open by itself. We both know what has to happen here, Ben." Wilkinson said. "One of us keeps the door open and stays behind." Ben said. I felt myself pale and my jaw hang. "I vote Mitch." Riley said. I glanced around fearfully and I heard Mitch, "This isn't a democracy."
Suddenly Mitch threw a punch at Ben and I screamed, what was he doing? Riley advanced towards Mitch only to be hit as well and being the smallest one I'm grabbed by him. I scream when he takes out a knife and puts it to my throat. "Stop! I'll stay! I'm staying. Look." Ben shouted. "Look! See? I'm right here! I'm staying!" Ben moved to the wheel. NO! Ben don't! I wanted to scream but I was too afraid Mitch would let the cold metal pressed against my skin slip.
"I'll tell everybody how this is going to go. You and I are going to open that door. Anybody tries to leave before me, I drop the door, and we start this all over again! You try any funny business; I guarantee you people are going to get hurt!" Mitch gives us his orders. I wanted to put up a fight but this wasn't a gun aimed at me from a distance. This was a knife not inches from my throat. "I won't! You have my word. Just let Rose go." Ben shouted. Mitch held onto me for an extra moment before letting me go. I fell into Riley's embrace the moment I'm let go.
"Ben, no, we're not leaving without you." Nana shouted. "Ben! You can't!" I screamed tears running down my face along with the water. "Abigail." Ben says. Abigail makes her way towards Ben. "You make my parents leave. You make my parents leave." She nodded touching his face one last time before turning to tell my grandparents to go. "Riley! Get Rose out of here alive!" Ben said. "Ben no! Please don't!" I screamed. "Let go!" I yelled as Riley held onto me. "Rose. He's doing this for you." Riley told me. And I ignored him yet again. "We can find another way Ben please!" I yelled fighting against Riley's grip. "Get her back Ben!" Mitch yelled as though threatening me. "Riley get her out of here." Ben said sounding concerned. "Get off me!" I screamed for once I wanted Riley to leave me alone. "Rose, knock it off!" Riley yelled. I ignored him.
"Ben!" I screamed my chest hurt and I feared I'd lose another relative. "Please Ben!"
"I love you Rose," Ben yelled, "But you have to trust me. Everything's going to be okay." He said. He looked like he wanted really wanted me to go, but I couldn't stand the thought of losing my uncle. "What if it's not?" I yelled a sob stuck in my throat. Ben looked to Mitch who looked none too pleased at the scene I was making. "Riley…" Ben said and I felt Riley's arm around my waist, "I'm trying! Rose please." Riley begged. I tried to tear myself from Riley's grip only to slip on the stone and hit my head quite hard as I fell on the base of the wheel. Black dots overtook my vision and I fell into the water unable to push myself to surface.
