A/N...inspiration is not readily forthcoming...
Dean zipped his parka up tight, his balaclava still rolled up, he hadn't wanted to pull it down over his face yet.
He looked over at Bobby and his brother, both had their balaclavas' pulled down, coats tight, Sam had already swung his long legs over the cat and was waiting for him to join them.
He didn't want to tell them he was hesitating because he thought he was going to throw up.
Dean breathed deep, hoping the spots in front of his eyes would fade and the bile in the back of his throat would just disappear.
Dammed if he was gonna admit just how sick he felt.
He was not going to go back to the cabin.
Truth be told, he was more than a little worried. From what Sam had told him the Taggi infection should've worked its way out of his system by now, but he was still sick.
In fact, he was having trouble standing without swaying.
How could he still be sick? Was it really the Taggi blood, or was something else swimming in his veins, making him puke up everything that he put in his mouth and burning his body with a sticky fever?
"Y'okay?" Bobby called.
Dean rolled the knitted cap down over his face, and pulled the hood of his parka up over it.
He threw his leg over the snow mobile and started it without answering.
He knew both the men were watching him and waiting for a sign of weakness, one slip and Sam would be manhandling back into the cabin.
They drove off into the snow, the car and trailer already wearing a soft blanket of white.
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Sherry-Anne coughed again, her throat was raw and burned every time she took a breath.
Erna was stumbling along behind her, one had clasping the young girl's, the other firmly holding on to Alec. She was growing stronger as she walked, still in pain, and stumbling every few steps, but determined to get out.
Sherry-Anne's other hand was locked into the professor's as he led the motley group downwards, and, hopefully, outwards.
After a while they came to another opening, this one also too far above ground to get out, but they didn't let it dampen their spirits.
The professor let go Sherry-Anne's hand to pick up a largish branch from the cave floor.
"If we can get some more pieces of clothing, we could make a decent torch out of this. Easier to see where we're going and..."
"And it'd make an awesome weapon" Alec finished. "I don't wanna go back and get any more rags, though"
Sherry-Anne wiped a glove had across her damp forehead. "See if you can find enough dry moss. I remember reading somewhere that it's flammable, I think, once it's dead"
The professor wrapped his arm around her shoulder in an affectionate hug. "Pretty and smart. I think you're right. Let me get to it"
Within minutes and with Alec helping he had fashioned two large torches from the branches. He pulled a lighter from his jeans pocket and Sherry-Anne let out a small laugh.
"What?" he asked her.
"Can't remember if you have a family, but you remember you have a lighter in your pocket?"
The professor looked at her and frowned. "Yeah, funny about that. I didn't even think" He turned the silver lighter over in his hands. "It's engraved"
Alec leaned over to see it.
"What's it say?" Erna asked.
The professor looked up at her. "To my darling husband, love Sally"
"So, not your sister then" Alec gave him a punch in the ribs. Can you remember her now?"
The professor shook his head. "No, but I kinda feel…I don't know, something. When I say her name, I get this feeling" he touched his stomach. "Do you think she's dead?"
Sherry-Anne shoved him, hard, and the professor stumbled a step backwards. "What'd you do that for?"
Sherry-Anne looked angry. "We are not going to talk about anyone dying, or being dead, unless we know that for certain. And even then. I can't think about… I just can't think about anyone losing anyone else, or someone being dead, or what might happen to us"
The professor kissed her on the top of the head. "I'm sorry, sugar. I know you're trying to hang tough her, and you're doing a damned fine job." He handed her the lighter. "Let's get these suckers lit"
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The hunters were stopped in a small copse of shrubs, the snow not quite as thick here.
"Think this is a good place to leave the snowmobiles. Got a little cover, at least" Bobby said.
Dean pulled his hood back and flipped up the balaclava. He was sweating again, he knew he was feverish and the woolen cap was making him itch.
"Dean?" Sam called.
Dean turned, ready to growl at his brother for fussing over him but saw Sam was looking the other way.
"What?"
"Ah, look here…I think there's another body"
Bobby joined Sam as Dean leant over to see what Sam had found.
A snow covered mound with a pair of boots was poking out from the scrub.
Bobby grabbed the leg to pull the body forward and couldn't help by let out an involuntary yelp when it moved.
Sam helped pull the person from the scrub, brushing the snow from the parka.
A man groaned and Dean knelt in the snow beside him, pulling his hood back so he could see his face.
"Dude, can you hear me?"
The guy's eyes flicked open, a bright blue locked with the green and he reached up to his head. "Who are you?" he asked the hunter.
"I was gonna ask you the same thing"
The man struggled to sitting position. "My name's Mark Daniels. We were attacked…I've been trying to find my brother. I've been walking all night. I stopped to rest, just for a minute. I guess I passed out"
"Mark Daniels? Your sister in law named Sally Daniels?" Sam asked him.
Mark nodded. "Is she okay? Did you find her? Did you find my brother?"
Sam offered him a hand to stand up. "Sally made it back to base camp and called for help. Her and several others are fine, they're in town"
Mark gave him a desperate look. "And Dean?"
"Yes?"
"Yes? You found him?"
Dean stood. "Um, sorry. My name is Dean, as well."
Mark's face dropped. "You haven't found him, have you?
Bobby stepped forward. "He hasn't been found, so that's good so far. Mean's he's not amongst the victims"
Mark turned to him. "How is that good?" he shook himself to rid his clothes of the snow. "How can him being missing be a good thing?"
Bobby looked at Sam, then back at Mark. "Sometimes it takes a few back with it to its lair. For later"
"You're shitting me"
"Did you see the thing that attacked you?"Sam asked him.
Mark rubbed his hands across his eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. What in God's holy world was that thing?"
Sam turned to his brother and noticed Dean was again kneeling in the snow. He held out a hand to help him up and Dean took it without comment and stood with the other men, his knees wet.
Mark turned to look at him. "Dean? You don't look so good"
The hunter gave him a grimace. "Dude. I just met you, and you're ganging up on me already?"
Mark frowned. "What is that thing? What's going on here? Who are you guys? And why do you think I'm ganging up on you?"
Bobby gave him a slap on the shoulder. "That thing is a Zaltys. We're here to kill it. I'm Bobby, this here is Dean's brother Sam. An' Dean thinks yer ganging up on him coz he's bin sick and we've bin naggin' him a bit"
"Okay." Mark shook his head, but he accepted the information.
"Look. You get on a snow mobile and high tail it back to town. We'll find your brother, kill this thing, and be back before you know it" Sam pointed to the vehicle behind him.
Mark looked at him. "No way. I'm coming with"
Dean touched his arm. "I don't think so. You already passed out in the snow. Leave this to the professionals"
Mark whirled on him. "What if it was your brother that was taken by that thing? Would you scurry off to town and leave a bunch of strangers to find him?"
Dean looked back at Mark, his brow creased, his lips pursed. "Not a hope in hell" he replied quietly.
"Then you get where I'm coming from. I'm gonna find my brother and get him out of here. Alive. And if we can kill that thing, then good. But as long as we get my brother that really is just a secondary concern for me"
Dean walked passed him to the snow cats and unhooked his bag, then threw it to Mark. "You can carry my bag, then"
Mark looked surprised.
"Bobby's right. I been sick. You wanna come? Least you can do is help out"
Dean turned and back to the vehicle and grabbed another smaller bag and hooked this over his shoulder. Mark looked up at Sam, who shrugged.
"Least I could do is nothing"
Bobby unhooked his own bag and Dean handed Sam his, it was larger and seemed quite heavy.
"So, how do we kill this thing?" Mark positioned Dean's backpack over his thick parka.
Bobby shrugged the back pack onto his shoulders. "We're not real sure. But, one of the things we know is it hates fire. So, we're thinking that's a start"
"I thought you said you were professionals. Just how many of these things have you killed before?"
Dean was moving towards the cave opening, and he paused, turning to Mark and gave him a winning smile. "This will be our first"
He turned back and Bobby joined him as they walked towards the cave. Mark stood for a moment, staring at the hunter as he walked away, his face lit with surprise and admiration. Sam caught the look as Mark started to move after the hunters. "He really is something, isn't he?"
Sam grinned. "Yeah, he sure is"
"My kinda guy" Mark turned to follow Dean.
Sam brought up the rear, his flashlight already in his hand. He still had the smile on his face, wondering how Dean would react once he found out about his little one man fan club.
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The flickering torches illuminated the cave far better than the combination of phosphorescent moss and the professor's tiny torch, but the inconsistency of the light made traversing the uneven cave floor a daunting prospect. Several times they all went stumbling to their knees, but each time they would pull each other back up, brush off and continue on.
They didn't speak much, the effort of staying upright and moving taking almost all of their courage and endurance, with Erna and the professor both injured and Sherry-Anne becoming increasingly feverish and weak.
Alec had taken over point, being the only one still fairly whole, his injuries superficial and easily ignored.
They were al hungry and becoming increasingly more thirsty, there were no longer any patches of ice or snow for them to quench parched mouths.
After an impossibly long time Alec halted the group. "There's another fork in the cave" He spoke quietly, only having to overcome the spluttering of the flames and the heaving of exhausted breath.
Sherry-Anne sneezed. "Which one goes down?"
The professor moved forward, looking from one passage to the other. "Looks like they're both fairly straight"
Alec walked a couple of steps into the first entrance. "The flame is moving forward, like a breeze is going that way" he pointed ahead. "Does that help?
They tried the next passage, but the same thing happened.
"Well, we need to pick a way" the professor scratched his head. "Any ideas?"
Erna was leaning against the wall, catching her breath. She cleared her throat. "Is that water?" She bent, pulling her glove off and touching the floor. "It is, and I think it's flowing that way"
Alec lowered a flaming torch to get a better look. "She's right."
"So that would mean that the left passage must have a slope that we couldn't detect." The professor moved into the passage a few steps. "I can't think why we wouldn't keep with our original plan and continue downward. We all together on this?"
He looked to the faces of his sad little group. Erna, her face bruised, pale, but determined. Alec, shining bright with hope, still with dried blood on his hairline, and Sherry-Anne, eyes fever bright and lips white, but promise as strong as her bright red cheeks.
"All right, then. Let's get this show on the road"
He turned just as something lunged at him from the dark. The others screamed as a dark figure grabbed him and threw him to the ground.
"Who are you? Why did you bring us here?" the figure yelled.
Alec overcame his initial shock and lunged forward with his torch in front of him. "Back off!' He yelled as Sherry-Anne reached to help the professor to his feet.
Erna moved forward. "Jack? It is Jack, isn't it? You were in the same trail riding group with us"
The dark figure stepped back a pace. "Why did you bring us here?"
The professor stood. "Why do you think we brought you here?" He picked up his still burning torch. "Jack? That's your name?"
The man moved closed. "Yeah, my name's Jack. And you're Dean, one of the guys that ran the trail group" he turned to Erna. "I don't remember your name"
"I'm Erna. Are you alone?"
"No, there's three more, one's a kid from some private school camp, and two more from the trail group. We saw the light in the distance and I thought I'd volunteer to look"
Sherry-Anne reached forward and grabbed Jack's hand. "You said there was another kid from the camp here? Like me, a teenager?"
Jack looked at the tiny girl, her face flushed and her eyes too bright. "Yeah, a boy. He hasn't spoken since we found him, so I can't tell you any more about him." He looked up at the professor. "Did you find your brother or Sally?"
Alec placed a hand on the professor's shoulder. "He took a really bad knock on his head, he can't remember much. But we haven't seen anyone else alive. We had two more with us, but…"
Jack frowned. "What happened to them?"
The professor shook his head. "Take us back to your group, we'll talk on the way"
"Sure. Okay. Only you're not gonna tell me it was a big monster like the other guys did"
The professor turned and took Sherry-Anne's hand. "Man, we saw it. How come you didn't? What did you see?"
Jack moved off down the passage. "My horse reared and I fell and knocked my head on something. I saw nothing. I woke up here when someone fell over my feet"
Erna gave a sigh. "Yeah, there's a bit of that going around" She grabbed Alec's hand. "Who else from our group are with you?"
"May and Ben. You know, the annoying couple from NYC on their second honeymoon? Turns out they aint so in love once push comes to shove. Done nothing but fight the whole time we been in these damn caves"
Sherry-Anne squeezed the professor's hand. "This sounds like it's going to be a barrel of laughs"
He squeezed her and back. "Still, better we found some more survivors. Ah, Jack? Did you guys find any food or water?"
"Camp boy's got a whole backpack filled to the brim. You guys hungry, are yah?"
"We ran out of food a while back. Been able to find bits of clothing and bodies, but no food"
Jack led them on a short distance then stopped at an alcove that, tucked back in a small bend, was hidden from the mouth of the cave.
Alec moved his torch forward and three grimy scared faces looked out at him.
"Oh God" Sherry-Anne groaned.
"I know, but at least we're together" Alec answered.
"No, not that, I can hear something. I think it's coming back"
They all spun, looking up and down the passage. "Which way?"
Sherry-Anne shook her head frantically. "I don't know!"
"Fuck that, let's run!" Alec yelled.
"Which way?" the professor asked him. "If you go the wrong way, you're running right into its face"
"Get in the hole!" May called out to them. "You guys have fire. Get in the hole, you can try and fend it off with your torches"
"Affirmative action" Erma agreed and pushed into the alcove, pulling Sherry-Anne in with her.
"Oh God Oh God Oh God" Ben started to chant, his body pulled into a fetal position in the corner of the small chamber.
"My husband, the hero" Amy muttered.
A large slithering sound whooshed into the passage, and the alcove filled with a fetid stench.
"It's here" whispered Sherry-Anne, then all she heard were screams as the Zaltys raised its massive head, one of its pale furry arms reaching in to grab them.
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Bobby held his flashlight high as he peered down yet another fork in the cave system. "Sam? Your turn" he called, and the tall man moved forward.
The four men turned off their lights as Sam lit up an ultraviolet light. One tunnel glowed with marks, splatter and splashes.
"I'd say we have a winner" Dean said.
Sam snapped the small flashlight off, as everyone turned their lights back on.
Bobby hoisted his flame thrower up again and led the way, Dean next, Sam and Mark behind him.
They walked for a while, everyone on edge, quiet, breaths contained, controlled. Mark couldn't help but admire these three, his fear and worry for his brother held at bay.
They seemed tense, coiled, but relaxed at the same time, the combined strength of this mysterious trio giving him a sense of calm and confidence he really needed about now.
And that guy, Dean? He had a hidden sadness that he thought no one saw, but it leaked out of him, in the sideways glances and furrowed brow. There was a story there, a tragic one, and he would love to hear it…..later, once they rescued his own Dean, and they were safe and sound back at their ranch.
As if reading his mind the tall man turned and gave him a reassuring smile, his green eyes aglow in the flashlight.
"Still with us, there, Mark?"
Mark gave him a nod and a shy smile.
"Well then, in the side pocket of my pack you'll find a flask. Little courage all round, whattaya think?"
Mark pulled out the silver flask and took a swig of the dark whiskey. He let out a gasp and handed it to Dean, who gave him a wink. He took his own slug and handed it to Bobby, than back to Sam.
Dean turned back and trudged on, Bobby's back covered, his flashlight and a gun held ready.
"He's kinda cool, isn't he?" Mark smiled at Sam.
Sam's smiled back. "Yeah, he really is" Sam sighed and moved to follow. "He really, really is" I just hope he's still not sick…he thought.
A/N...another couple of days, I'm guessing...tis that time of year, very busy... of course, lots of reviews make me want to write faster...true!
