IN THE TIME WE HAVE, Chapter 11
Lara crept along the stone-lined passageway, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her lower back as well as the lingering effects of a rifle butt to her skull. It didn't help that she couldn't see adequately, having to rely on the Trinity thug's torchlight behind her for illumination as her own body cast shadows on the floor and walls.
She fervently hoped the 'Skeleton King' had reset upon its dais; unarmed as she was, she would be first in its line of fire if it hadn't. At the same time, she feared the alternate possibility, that her vicious hammer blow had permanently disabled the guardian; she desperately needed the split second distraction its intervention would provide.
She emerged cautiously into the circular chamber, the back wall partly concealed by the large menhir dominating the centre of the room. Her eyes immediately fell on the sword Elsie had dropped, her fingers twitching for a weapon; she edged closer to the ancient blade, pretending not to pay it any mind, but the goon following her was frustratingly alert and quickly snatched it up.
The beret strode into the room followed by his lieutenant and thugs; Elsie was in their midst and seemingly forgotten, at least for the moment.
"Incredible," said the bespectacled man as he shone his flashlight around the chamber. "Reminds me of Sutton Hoo in some ways, but the preservation here is uncanny…"
"These weapons and shields," said Belloq, moving to the near wall. "Significant or window dressing?"
"Hard to say," said the Doctor. "But certainly worthy of salvage at the very least…"
Everyone was gazing about the chamber in amazement, the inexplicable motion of the entrance stone having astounded them sufficiently to accept the supernatural nature of the place. Lara took advantage of her escorting thug's temporary distraction to quietly shuffle closer to the central monolith; she subtly peered around the stone and glimpsed the shadowy form of guardian perched once more upon its dais.
A moment later the beret's light fell upon the ancient corpse.
"What do you make of that?" asked the Trinity leader. "And how about this," he added, shifting his light on the deceased Forrestal splayed out on the floor.
His lieutenant strode over and examined the seated figure. "The torc is indicative of an Iron Age chieftain of some sort," he said simply. Kneeling down at the dried out corpse, he frowned in confusion. "Not sure how he fits in to all this…"
Belloq nodded and turned to Elsie. "Where is this other chamber you mentioned, Miss Trainor?" he asked. "I see nothing of the sort. Nor do I see any evidence of traps, disarmed or otherwise."
The thug nearest Lara was staring at the figure of the 'Skeleton King'; the brunette took another quiet step toward the centre of the chamber.
"It's…under a secret panel in the floor," replied Elsie.
Lara furtively pressed her hand against the carved menhir.
"Indeed?" returned the beret, drawing his pistol. "I think there are no other chambers, Miss Trainor, I submit that you – "
The Trinity leader was cut off by the familiar rumbling of the entrance stone rolling back into pace.
"Is this gonna cave in on us?" asked one of the thugs, he and his cohorts gazing around the chamber nervously.
The bespectacled man stood up. "There aren't any traps in here," he declared, moving to the beret's side. "This whole place is a trap…and now I'll wager we're caught in it."
Belloq looked to the blonde with a look that could best be described as shock.
"Not as innocent as you appear, are you Miss Trainor?" he accused.
Elsie took a nervous step back. The beret raised his pistol.
No -
Lara bolted for the Trinity leader – and was immediately grabbed by one of the escorting thugs, who proceeded to wrap Lara in a chokehold.
"Don't!" pleaded the archaeologist. "This was my doing – "
The beret smiled at her. "We'll be getting back to you in good time, Miss Croft," he said ominously. "I believe there's a little matter of a broken back to conclude."
He turned back to the blonde. "But in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this – "
"NO!"
Belloq's face suddenly went blank. His pistol slowly shifted to his lieutenant.
"Hey, watch it – "
A flash.
The crack reverberated loudly in the enclosed chamber as the tweed-clad man crumpled to the ground.
"Holy shit!" said one of the goons, levelling his rifle at the Trinity leader. "What the hell, dude?"
Lara bit down hard on the restraining thug's arm, drawing blood.
"FUCK!" cried the Trinity agent as Lara kicked and struck backward with her elbow, catching her captor in the jaw.
The 'Skeleton King' loomed into view, sword drawn.
"The Hell's THAT?"
"SHOOT IT!" one of the thugs cried.
Another crack. A Trinity agent staggered to his knees.
Chaos. Automatic weapons fire erupted and bullets began flying, sparks glittering from stone and metal.
Lara leapt forward and grasped Elsie's hand, the cacophony of screams, gunshots and ricochets making it impossible to be heard above the din. The pulsing flashes and violent motions made it difficult to even make out coherent shapes. But the brunette knew exactly where to go.
The archaeologist quickly led her companion to the rear of the chamber and almost threw the American into the crawlspace, bullets striking the wall all around them. They couldn't dawdle.
The blonde's feet disappeared from view. Lara plunged into the tiny corridor and crawled as fast as the limited room allowed, the deafening noise receding behind them. She felt more than saw inexplicable moisture on the stone floor that hadn't been there on the previous occasion of their escape, but there was no time to investigate.
A few yards ahead the faint light from their previously excavated exit came into view; the two young women crawled out to the relative safety of the outdoors. Lara got to her feet.
"Let's go," she ordered anxiously. "If any of them saw us slip out – "
The blonde was still on her knees at the tunnel's entrance, staring curiously at her hands.
A column of ice shot up Lara's painfully throbbing back; the American's hands were stained in blood.
"Elsie!" cried Lara, falling to the ground before her companion.
The blonde slowly raised her gaze to meet the brunette's.
"I think…you'd better go on without me," she said shakily with a smile.
"No, no, no, no," lamented Lara, desperately searching for the wound, quickly finding a growing patch of blood-soaked cloth at Elsie's waist. "Shit!"
"Sorry about this," said the American as Lara pulled up the side of her shirt. "I guess I forgot to pack my bullet-proof vest, heh…"
Lara identified both the entry and exit wound – thankfully it was near enough the side that it didn't appear to have struck major organs, but the flow of blood was alarming.
"It passed clean through, Elsie," said Lara, her voice cracking. "You're going to make it, okay, we just need to find something to staunch – "
"Don't," interrupted the blonde. "I'm just going to slow – "
"We stick together!" exclaimed the brunette. "You said so yourself, remember? Don't you dare quit on me now!"
Grey eyes stared into Lara's. "Even if we do," she said seriously, "I won't get far…there's no point in denying - "
"Bullocks!" blurted the archaeologist. "I'm getting you home, Elsie, I don't care if I have to carry you all the sodding way!"
The blonde's pale eyes glittered. "You probably would, too," she said softly. "Fine, then…"
Lara helped Elsie to her feet. She needed to fashion some sort of tourniquet, and quickly –
"Going somewhere?"
Lara spun around. Not five yards from them stood a Trinity agent, rifle trained on the brunette.
Shit!
She'd thought they'd all entered the tomb behind her – she cursed herself for not performing a head count.
"She's been shot!" said the archaeologist, grasping the blonde's hand. "I need to get her to a hospital!"
"Is that right?"
"Please, mister," pleaded Elsie. "I just wanna go home…"
The agent's eyes flicked from Lara to her companion, his gaze shifting down to the bloodstain slowly spreading down the blonde's side.
"What happened in there?" he demanded, nodding to the hill.
"They're finished," said Lara, concluding as much from the lack of muffled weapons fire. "There's nothing you can do for them…I'm sorry…"
The man looked at her and nodded slowly. "Figured this was a bad idea," he muttered more to himself than the brunette.
He lowered his rifle.
"Beat it."
Lara blinked. Had she heard right?
"Go on," said the man. "Amscray."
The brunette took a hesitant half step.
"Look, you're not gonna buy one in the back," assured the Trinity agent.
He uncocked his rifle.
That was enough for the brunette. Lara tightened her grip on Elsie's wrist and started down the way they'd come.
"Here," the man said as he unslung a small bag from his shoulder and tossed it to the archaeologist. "You'll be needing that."
Lara peered inside; it was a medikit.
She looked back at her unexpected benefactor.
"Thank you," she said softly.
The man shrugged. "Not much of a future in this organization for lone survivors of lost expeditions," he said. "Now get moving."
They set off through the woods, Lara waiting until they were a couple of hundred yards from the tomb before stopping to tend to Elsie's wound; she packed most of the gauze from the medikit against the her side and secured it with tape around the blonde's midsection, pulling it as tight as she dared. The American winced painfully but bore the agony without complaint.
"Good girl," breathed Lara as she brushed sweat-soaked blonde locks from her companion's face. "Now let's get you home."
They proceeded along the river's edge, the shore allowing for easier and less impeded progress being devoid of trees, but it also made the two potentially easier to track. It was a compromise Lara was prepared to endure for her friend's sake – the less exertion required of the blonde, the better.
Guilt hung heavily on Lara's heart; the only reason her friend's life was now in jeopardy was because she couldn't stop herself from delving right back into tomb raider mode at the first opportunity.
Why couldn't I just leave it alone…
Worse, by late evening it was clear her friend was on her last legs; she was panting heavily and her pallor had become frighteningly pale – the improvised compress had reduced the rate of blood loss but hadn't staunched it completely.
A short time later the blonde paused, looking up at the faint stars beginning to glitter in the distant twilight opposite the sunset.
And promptly collapsed.
The sight of her friend crumpling to the ground send lightning bolts shooting through the archaeologist.
"ELSIE!"
"Let's…take five," gasped the blonde as she shakily pushed herself up to all fours.
Lara scrambled to her friend's side and pushed her up into a sitting position.
"Hang in there," implored the archaeologist as she pulled up the side of Elsie's shirt to check on the bandage – it was completely soaked through. Fresh blood trickled down the American's side.
Shit…
She drew off the dripping bandage and applied a new compress with their remaining gauze. It would have to last.
"Told you…I wouldn't…get far," panted the blonde, smiling tiredly.
"We're more than halfway there, Elsie," said Lara worriedly as she tightened the bandage holding the gauze in place. "Don't you even think about giving up now!"
The American's lack of reaction to the pain she knew the tightening of the tape should be causing was deeply troubling – her friend was slipping into shock.
The blonde flopped languidly against the brunette, her face pressing against the archaeologist's shoulder.
"We had…a good run…didn't we…"
Lara grasped Elsie by the shoulders and pushed her companion back to the vertical.
"We're not done yet," said the archaeologist, perilously close to tears. "Not by a long shot, Elsie…I'm going to get you home, I promise."
The American smiled at the brunette, her eyes half closed.
"Love you…so much…"
Lara bit her trembling lip.
Elsie leaned forward. "Just one…last…"
Their lips joined. There was a sloppiness to the blonde's kiss but it was not lust-driven; Lara knew Elsie was down to her last vestiges of energy, her body swaying unsteadily.
Her friend was dying.
"No!" cried the brunette as she pushed the blonde back. "I told you we're not done!"
She slid her arms under her companion and picked her up bodily, cradling the young woman against her chest.
"We'll finish that when we get home, okay?" croaked Lara as she set off at a pace she knew she couldn't maintain, but also knew she must. "Just stay with me…stay with me, Elsie…"
"You…need…to rest…"
The brunette shook her head as she almost ran down the riverbank. She had to make good time while there were still useful light, but would carry on through the night regardless.
But Elsie was right; her body was screaming against the abuse it was being subjected to - almost three days of constant moving without food and little water, quite apart from the injuries suffered, was taking its toll. But she would demand even more of it.
There would be no stopping.
"Heyyy," said the blonde in an alarmingly weak voice. "Don't…cry…"
Elsie raised her hand and intercepted a tear trailing down the brunette's cheek.
A moment later the American's eyes were closed; her hand slowly slid down to hang limply, swaying with the brunette's motion.
"I love you, Elsie," gasped the Englishwoman, tears blurring her sight.
Her pace quickened.