Chapter 27: Trapped
July 16, 1992 - Thursday
Wincing, as one of the larger rocks bounced off his back, Alan tried to stay in one place, holding onto Kara. It seemed like the sound of the world falling would never stop, as he kept Kara's head away from the falling debris. He could feel her shaking, but could do nothing more to comfort her at that point. Again, he winced, as a rock hit the side of his head, knocking his hat off. He didn't dare let go of Kara, though. Instead, he would just try to wait it out, with the ever present worrying about rogue rubble hurling at him from beyond the darkness above him.
Finally, the sound began to dissipate. Alan breathed a sigh of relief, as he slowly lifted up his head. There was nothing but darkness, accompanied by the sound of dirt and other smaller rocks, hitting the cave walls and floor. He looked back down, where he was still holding onto Kara.
"You okay?" He whispered. She didn't answer. All he could hear was her faint crying. "Kara?"
He could hear her whispering something over and over now, but couldn't quite make it out at first. She was still shaking very badly, too. He was about to ask her to speak a little louder, when she lifted her head slightly, unburying her head from her hands.
". . . trapped . . . we're trapped. I can't breathe . . . we're trapped . . ."
"Kara," he said slowly and calmly, "Are you hurt?"
She kept repeating the same phrases over and over again, getting increasingly louder, with every added word. She was beginning to hyperventilate now, and Alan had no idea of what to do, besides to try and talk calmly to her. He kept whispering to her that everything was going to be okay. Her repeated rambling was causing him to feel somewhat claustrophobic, as well now, as he tried, unsuccessfully, to focus in the darkness. He suddenly remembered the outside world for a second. Ellie was outside the cave and she was probably worried sick over what had just happened. He reached down, looking for the radio that should have been on his belt. It was gone. It must have fallen away during the landslide somehow. His thoughts drifted back to Kara, as she finally stopped rambling and took a deep breath in the darkness, and then exhaled very slowly, letting all of the air out of her lungs. It didn't feel like she was breathing anymore, so he got a little scared, but then he heard her gradually breathe in some air, slowly allowing her lungs to fill with air, once more.
"I can't see anything. It's too dark," she said finally, breathing almost normally.
"It's okay. The flashlight should be very close."
"We need light," she said, and then she began to repeat her anxieties about being trapped.
He let Kara go and began to move cautiously in the direction he thought the flashlight was in, hoping that it didn't get crushed. He was only a few inches away from her, when she began to panic again.
"Alan! Don't leave me here alone!" she yelled.
"I'm not. I'm not. I'm right here," he said, coming back to her, barely getting the chance to feel around on the cave floor.
She blindly reached out, and when she touched his shirt, she grabbed it and pulled him toward her very forcefully. He almost wanted to laugh at her urgency, at her so desperately wanting light, but how she wouldn't allow him to go find the flashlight. He knew that wouldn't help at all, though, so he held onto her, letting her cry and shake in his arms.
"Kara, are you hurt?" he repeated.
"I don't think so," she said softly.
"Okay, good," he whispered, "I really need to find that flashlight. We need to check if there's a way out, okay?"
Kara didn't answer right away, but he did notice that she seemed to be calming down some, at least with the crying. The shaking, he thought, might have been getting worse, though.
"I'm going to let you go now, okay?"
"No," she said, barely audible.
"Kara, everything is going to be all right. I need to let you go for a minute."
Her grip lessened some. She was beginning to listen to him, which made him nod in the darkness. He had no idea that she was so claustrophobic. This was going to be a long couple of hours. Slowly, he moved away from her, until she wasn't holding him at all anymore.
"I'll keep talking to you, so you know I'm here, okay?"
Kara was silent.
"Okay, Kara?"
"Okay," she finally said softly. He could hear the tremble in her voice.
Alan was crawling around on the cave floor, searching for the elusive flashlight, and trying to think of something to talk to Kara about. It had to be something unrelated to what was going on, but his mind was blank. After a few more seconds, he finally thought of something.
"So, uh, what do you do for a living anyway? I don't remember ever knowing," he said, hoping this would work.
"I'm a computer programmer," she answered.
Alan rolled his eyes in the darkness, as he continued to look for the flashlight. Computers. He should have figured that, since Rob was so into computers, as well.
"How long did you have to go to school for that?" he asked, trying to keep the conversation going, as he continued to blindly search the cave floor with his hands.
"Four years of college, and then I got an internship at a local computer company," she said, with a lot less tremble in her voice now.
"Well, that's gr-" Alan began to say, and then, "Hey, I found Ellie's back pack," he said in a cheerful tone.
Ellie was still shouting Alan's name, as the rubble finally ceased falling down. When it was all said and done, the cave entrance was completely gone, leaving Ellie with an eerie feeling. Richard was still holding her arm, making sure that she didn't do something crazy. When he thought it was safe, he let her go. She ran toward the entrance that used to be there, moments before. There was nothing but a shield of rocks standing in the landslide's wake, possibly thousands of rocks.
"Alan? Alan?" she shouted, hoping that he would hear her.
There was no answer. Richard joined in. The two of them yelled Alan and Kara's names continuously, for several minutes, before Richard finally put his hand on her shoulder. They stood very close to where the entrance was, listening intently. No sound at all.
"There's too much rubble for them to hear us, Ellie," he said in a solemn manner.
Ellie was still having a hard time comprehending what just had occurred. One second, she was talking to Alan, and the next, he was gone. She hoped that he wasn't hurt, and that he and Kara were together in there, and not separated by enormous amounts of debris.
"Should we split up? One of us go back for help, and one of us stay here?" Ellie asked.
"Splitting up is a good idea."
"I should run back to base camp, since I know where it is," Ellie suggested.
"Okay. I'll stay here, and try to clear away some of these smaller rocks," Richard said.
Ellie nodded, and began to head the other way.
Kara was sitting on the floor of the cave, in the darkness, listening to Alan rummage through Ellie's back pack. She was beginning to feel stressed out again, but she continued with some breathing exercises.
"Alan?" she asked quietly, looking in the direction where she could hear him moving around.
"Yeah?"
"Find anything useful?"
"Not yet. Still looking for the flashlight. It looks like it might have gotten crushed."
Kara didn't take that news well. She needed to be able to see right now. The darkness was getting to her, even though her eyes were somewhat adjusting. She needed light, right now. Her breathing was become irregular again, and she felt like she was losing her grip on reality, again.
"I can't breathe," she said softly, as she began to cry a little.
Alan, with Ellie's back pack in tow, began to crawl back toward her, when his left hand brushed over the flashlight. He turned it on, but it didn't work. He frowned, and then hit it against his hand several times, making it illuminate finally.
The room dimly lit up, exposing the mess they were in. Alan pointed the flashlight toward the entrance, frowning again, as he saw the amount of rocks in the way. He rested the flashlight on Kara, who was sitting close to the entrance, crying and breathing heavily. She squinted at him, trying to block the direct light going into her eyes.
"Sorry about that," he said, pointing the flashlight to the ground and crawling the rest of the way to her.
Having light made Kara feel instantly better. Her breathing became steady again, as she wiped some tears from her eyes.
"Light," was all she managed to say, but Alan could hear the relief in her voice.
He smiled at her, causing her to smile, as well.
"I'm going to look for the radio that had been attached to my belt. I lost it somehow."
"Good idea."
He looked around the floor with the flashlight, trying to locate the radio.
Richard had the radio, spinning the batteries around in their cradle, trying to get a spark of a connection. He secured the back of it, and turned it on. To his surprise, there was static.
"Ellie, I've got something here!"
Ellie was still near the entrance, physically removing the smaller rocks. She wasn't ready to leave the scene yet, so Richard had begun the trek back to base camp, to find Rob. When she heard the good news, she ran toward Richard.
Richard didn't waste time. He immediately contacted Rob.
"Rob. It's Richard. Over."
Ellie caught up to him by now, and stood next to him, trying to catch her breath.
"What's on your mind, Richard?" Rob's voice asked.
Richard looked at Ellie.
"You know the locations here, so I'll let you do the talking. He handed the radio to her.
"Rob. There's been a landslide here. Near West Hill, Horizon 3B."
"Oh my God," Rob said through the static, "Everyone okay?"
"We don't know, Rob. You need to bring some of the excavation equipment over here. Now. Alan and Kara were in a cave when the landslide started. We can't get a hold of them. And we need more radios."
"I'll be there in fifteen minutes," Rob said, matter-of-factly.
The radio died, causing Ellie to swear. She hit it several times and one time, it made a few squelching noises, but then died again.
Rob was running around like a loose cannon, shouting at people and barking orders. The intense look on his face was enough, so that no one questioned him.
"Where's the crawler?" he asked a nearby experienced volunteer.
"Dr. Porter had taken it in for repairs. He said it should be ready tomorrow," he answered.
Rob swore to himself. The crawler was one very big tractor, and it had been with the dig site team since he could remember. It was old, so it would break a lot. The timing was horribly ironic. He looked back toward the man.
"Do you know where Dr. Porter is right now?"
"No, sir."
"Find him," Rob demanded, and then when he realized that he wasn't being very nice, he added, "please."
The man nodded and ran off. Melissa was just returning from inside the trailer. One look at Rob told her something was wrong. Before she had gone inside, he was smiling and happy, making her laugh. Now, he was yelling orders at people and looked very worried and nervous.
"Rob, what is it?"
He looked at her, took a breath, and explained everything he knew so far.
After hitting the radio several times, Ellie threw it to the ground in a rage. She began to cry, making her even more angry with herself. She joined Richard in removing rocks. He could hear her quietly sobbing.
"They're okay."
"I know that's what I have to think. I almost lost him once already, Richard. I just want him safe and standing in front of me," Ellie said, wiping tears away, "And Kara . . . she's been through quite enough already."
"We'll get to them," Richard said. He looked down where Ellie had thrown the radio, "Let's try the radio again."
He picked it up. As soon as he picked it up, it came to life with static. Ellie had been trying to move a heavier rock, and was about to break down again with the hopelessness of the situation, until she heard the static. With renewed assurance, she approached Richard, who had already started to use it.
"Alan? Alan can you hear me?"
Still looking around for the radio, Alan suddenly heard a faint voice coming from it. Kara heard it, too, which revitalized her will to stay strong. Alan followed the sound of the voice closely with the flashlight, until he happened upon the correct area. There were rocks and dirt scattered in the area, so he began to rummage through it. Kara was about to make herself get up to help him, when he found it. He held it up and pressed the button.
"Yeah, we're here," he announced cheerfully.
There was a silence for a second and then Alan heard Ellie's voice.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah. Kara is with me," he said, glancing toward her, "We're okay."
"Thank God," Ellie said.
Alan thought he could hear signs of her crying through the static. He moved away from Kara and turned around.
"Calm down, Ellie. Stay calm. You need to get us out of here."
"Rob is on his way with some equipment," Ellie said.
"That's a good start."
"How's the air in there?" Richard asked through the static.
Alan smiled, as he briefly pictured Ellie and his cousin fighting over the radio.
"It's not so bad. It's really dark, but we have a flas-"
The radio had gone dead in Richard's hand again.
"Damn it!" Ellie shouted.
"Ellie, he told you to calm down, remember?"
"Yeah, well, I don't really do everything he tells me to do," she said, in an angry tone. Then, she did manage to calm down, "Sorry, Richard."
Richard nodded and hugged her briefly.
"I'm worried, too, but it sounds like he and Kara are fine."
"Yeah."
Rob had loaded his truck with various types of digging equipment, and was ready to go. He quickly got into the truck and began to drive. There were a few more cars following behind them, filled with students, volunteers, and tourists. As they were speeding toward the location, Rob was trying to get a hold of someone over there.
"Ellie? Richard?"
No answer.
"Kara? Alan? Anyone read me?"
No answer.
He tossed the radio on his dashboard and continued to drive. Ten seconds later, Alan's voice came on the radio.
"Rob?"
The unexpected voice caused him to swerve the truck. He reached for the radio with a smile on his face.
"Are you and Kara okay?"
"Yeah."
Rob was instantly relieved, just by that one word.
"Tell me you're not trapped in a cave with my sister."
He heard Alan laugh, before he answered.
"Okay, I won't tell you. I'll let her tell you."
A second of two went by, and then he heard his sister's voice.
"Hi Rob," she said, very softly.
"You doing all right?"
"Yeah, I . . . I think so. Alan found a flashlight and the radio."
"I'll have you out of there very soon, Kara. Just hang on a little longer, okay?"
"Okay."
"Alan will make sure nothing happens to you."
"I know."
Rob slowed his truck down, as he caught a glimpse of the landslide.
"Oh, my God," he whispered, and then he pressed the button on the radio, "I'm there now, Kara, so I'm going to sign off and get you out of there, okay?"
"Hurry, Rob," she said.
"I will."
Ellie ran to Rob's side of the truck.
"Where's the crawler?" she asked, in both a worried and an irritated way.
"Repairs."
"We need it, Rob," Ellie said, glancing into the back of the truck, "using these things will take hours to dig them out."
"Well, it's all we have, so start digging," Rob said, rushing out of the truck.
He grabbed a shovel and threw it to Ellie. She caught it.
"What about neighboring sites?"
"Carl called around, Ellie. No luck. There's one site that had a smaller tractor, but the engine wouldn't start. It had been broken for days."
Another man helped Rob get the jackhammer out from the back of truck. Ellie gave the shovel to Richard, and grabbed another one. Rob noticed she wasn't holding up all that well.
"Carl called the people who were fixing our crawler. They said it was finished, and so he's on his way there now."
"That's good news," Richard said, as he began the long process of digging.
Ellie wasn't as optimistic.
"That place is an hour away," she said.
"I know that," Rob said, looking down at the ground.
"It'll be dark when he gets back."
"I know that, too. But there's nothing we can do about that," Rob said.
Ellie and Rob stared at one another for a few moments. Richard could see the tension brewing between them. Both of them had a loved one trapped on the other side of the rock fortress, and it was understandable that they were both anxious to get them out.
"Sorry, Rob. I'm just worried," Ellie finally said.
"Me, too. My sister is deathly afraid of enclosed places, so we need to get them out of there as soon as possible."
They quickly hugged, and then got to work.
Kara was leaning her head on Alan's shoulder. She was completely quiet, with the exception of a few random bouts of crying. They had kept in contact with Rob and Ellie a few times, but now both sides decided on sparing the radio batteries, so there was no contact for now.
"We're going to be okay, Kara. We're not hurt, so that's the important thing."
When he mentioned that they weren't hurt, she thought she may have heard a little pain in his voice, so she reached for the flashlight in his hand. He handed it to her, and she shined it in his general direction. He squinted slightly, but continued to look toward her. He was holding the side of his face, so she carefully removed his hand, exposing some very nasty cuts. She could see blood on his face, and now that his hand wasn't there to stop it, the blood began to trickle down.
"You're bleeding," she said.
"I'm okay."
She looked closer at one particular gash on the left side of his face. It was very deep, and it looked very painful.
"You're going to need stitches, I think," she said, gesturing toward his cheek.
"Yeah, maybe," he said, his fingers brushing over the laceration, causing him to wince ever so slightly. That particular cut was close enough to his eye, to make his vision blurry, and it was annoying him. He shrugged it off and changed the subject, "Let's take a look at you," he said, reaching for the flashlight in her hand.
He was worried about her, that was for sure. It had only been a short time since her car accident, and she really didn't need something like this to happen to her. He looked her over carefully, making sure she wasn't harmed in any way. She was pretty much fine, with the exception of a few bumps and bruises. He had been successful in protecting her from the initial danger, and that relieved him.
"I told you I was okay," Kara said, smiling.
"Just making sure."
He was making his own mini-assessment of her well being, as she looked away from him, nervously glancing around the cave. It looked like she had stopped shaking in fear, but now she just looked cold. The more he thought about it, he was kind of cold, too, so he was sure that she had to be. He remembered the back pack suddenly. Ellie usually kept a blanket in her back pack, so he reached behind him and grabbed the pack.
Kara watched him go through the back pack. She couldn't believe how fast she was able to control her fear of being trapped. The fear had been with her, since as long as she could remember, and yet, she was sitting down and feeling rather calm. Of course, she knew the anxiety could come back at any moment, but for the first time she felt like she might be able to control it better. She no longer felt as though she was suffocating.
Her thoughts were disturbed by Alan, as he was mumbling something.
"What?" she asked softly, raising her knees to her chest, taking up less space.
"Ellie's got a lot of stuff in here. I was just laughing about it."
"Anything we can use?"
Alan pulled out a blanket, smiling. At least once a week, he would make fun of his significant other for keeping so many unnecessary things in her pack. Now, of course, he was extremely grateful. He moved closer to Kara, set the illuminated flashlight on the cave floor, and then gently wrapped her up in the blanket. Kara didn't even realize she had been that cold, until he bundled her up.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"You're welcome."
"How long do you think it'll be before we're out of here?" Kara asked.
"Hopefully, not long. We have some pretty good digging equipment, so it should go fairly quick."
"Good."
"I didn't realize you were claustrophobic," he added.
"Since I was a kid," she said, getting nervous again. "Pretty stupid, huh?"
"No, not at all."
She smiled at him. He was always so nice to her. Ever since the first time she had met him, she was instantly attracted to him. Alan was a great person, and, of course, she thought him handsome, as well. At the time, he had been married, so she didn't dare say anything to him . . . or to Rob, for that matter. When she had heard that his wife had passed away, she had gotten angry at herself for thinking that Kathryn's passing might open a door for her in the future. In fact, she was so angry with herself, that she thought it best to give him a lot of time to recover from the dramatic loss. Seeing that he was with Ellie now, caused Kara to realize that she had waited just a tad too long. It was a suitable punishment, in her mind, though. Ellie really was a lucky woman.
"I think we should turn the flashlight off, but if you're uncomfortable with that, I'll leave it on," he said.
Kara had been stuck in her own thoughts, and was confused by what he said for a minute, but then she understood the meaning.
"Could we leave it on? I'm not sure how I'd feel if it were pitch black in here again," she said, sighing.
"Sure," he answered, smiling, trying to reassure her. Leaving the flashlight on wasn't the greatest of ideas, but he went along with her wishes.
Her thoughts were broken, when she heard a whimpering noise, coming from somewhere in a dark corner of the cave.
Ellie was removing as many of the smaller rocks as she could. She was getting more and more impatient, as she glanced toward Rob. He was on the radio, talking to one of the volunteers that stayed at base camp. Finally, Rob stopped talking to the man.
"So, where's Carl? Did he call?"
"He did. He's almost there."
"How long?"
"Fifteen minutes, and he'll be to the shop."
Ellie frowned. It would be at least another two hours, after Porter got the crawler, headed back, and then drove out here in the middle of nowhere. But it was better than nothing.
"Well, let's keep diggi-" Ellie's sentence was cut short by the screaming of a little girl. "Where is that coming from?" She asked, looking all around her.
Rob looked just as dumbfounded. Finally, one of the tourists pointed toward the cliff, to the extreme right of where they were digging. A little girl in blue shorts and a white short sleeved shirt, came running toward them.
"What the . . .?" Ellie said, but trailed off, as she ran up to the little girl.
The girl was all of about eight years old. There was dirt all over her, and she wasn't showing any signs of letting up on the crying.
"It's okay, honey," Ellie whispered, as she hugged the tiny person.
The little girl looked up at her, and began to talk and cry at the same time.
"I . . . I . . . it wasn't me . . . it was her."
"What was her? What happened?" Ellie asked, in a completely soothing voice.
"Jenny. The bunny. Jenny wanted the bunny."
"Where's Jenny now?"
"The rocks took her away," the little girl said.
Ellie's eyes widened, as she realized what might have happened to Jenny.
"Okay," she began, and then paused. "What's your name?"
"Jessica."
"Okay, Jessica, can you show me where Jenny was?"
"Uh-huh," Jessica said, wiping tears from her eyes.
Ellie let Jessica go, and she followed the little girl around to the right side of the cliff. Rob walked in the same direction, first telling everyone else to keep digging. Rob and Ellie trailed Jessica for about ten minutes, until there was a large break in the cliff. There was a giant pocket here, and it looked as though the little girls may have been playing there. A little table made of rocks and blankets was there, along with little rocks in the perfect shape of a seat, sitting next to the little makeshift table.
"How old is your sister?" Ellie asked. The girl held up six fingers. "How long were you playing here?"
"A long time. A bunny ran up the hill, and she chased it."
Ellie looked at Rob, who was already investigating the area, looking for signs of a cave entrance.
"And then what happened?" Ellie asked nicely.
"Then, I got mad cause the bunny wouldn't go away. So I throwed stuff at it."
Rob was studying the rocks.
"Ellie, I think there was an entrance here, too."
She looked toward him, and then back toward Jessica.
"So where is Jenny now?"
Jessica pointed toward the landslide.
"In there."
Rob and Ellie looked at each other.
"I want my mommy," Jessica said, as she started to cry again.
"Okay, honey, we'll get your mommy in just a minute, okay?" Ellie said, kneeling down to hold her.
"Alan," she whispered, sitting up a little bit.
"I hear it," he whispered back, handing the radio to her.
He stood up and slowly made his way toward the noise. Kara moved the blanket away and stood up, as well, watching him move closer to the other side of the cave.
There was a very narrow spot when he got to what he thought was the end of the cave. It continued on, through a narrow passage way. He turned to look at Kara, who was taking a few steps toward him.
"Stay here," he whispered.
"Don't go in there," she said, fear instilled in her voice, as her anxiety began to creep up on her again. The farther he got away from her with the flashlight, the darker it was getting around her.
Just as he was going to answer her, he heard the whimpering again. Now that he was closer, it almost sounded like crying. He held his hand up to Kara, telling her to be silent, and then he took a few more steps through the narrow passage way.
Then, as suddenly as the crying had started, it had stopped. Alan stopped, too, looking around cautiously with the flashlight.
"Hello?" he whispered, almost frightening himself for reasons he couldn't fathom.
The crying started again, but then Alan heard something else. A rumbling. The rocks above the narrow passage way began to move, and then, in the span of only a few seconds, a miniature landslide started just to the right of where Alan was standing. He covered his head and began to back out of the passage way.
Kara was screaming his name, as he continued to back away. The crying he had heard earlier, developed into a scream, as the mini landslide continued. Alan froze, as he heard a bloodcurdling scream coming from somewhere ahead of him. He took a few steps back in the other direction, and found something very surprising crawling toward him, amidst the falling rubble.
A little girl suddenly appeared at his feet, crying and shaking. He picked her up and quickly began to back away again, holding an arm over her head to protect her.
Ellie was doing her best to get some of the debris out of the way, where Rob was looking. He began to help her, when they heard a rumbling from inside the cave. All three of them heard it, and it caused little Jessica to start crying again. Rob was already on the radio, yelling Alan's name, before Ellie hardly turned around.
"Alan? Alan . . . can you read me? Alan? Kara?"
They stood motionless, listening to the rocks fall somewhere beyond them. Jessica grabbed Ellie's hand, while both females looked toward Rob. Finally, the rumbling from inside stopped. Rob glanced at Ellie and pushed the talk button again.
"Alan?"
"We're okay," came Kara's voice.
Rob sighed with relief, as did Ellie.
"Where's Alan?" Rob asked.
"He's coming back," Kara said, tremble in her voice.
"Where was he?"
"He found a little girl," Kara interrupted, not really answering Rob's question.
Rob smiled at Ellie, and then pushed the talk button again.
"Yeah, we found her sister out here. How is she?"
"I don't know yet."
Rob could tell Kara's fear was subsiding again. And then, right before Kara released the talk button, he could hear Alan yelling something.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"We'll call you back in a second, okay?" Kara asked.
"Sure."
Rob handed the radio to Ellie.
"Here ya go. When he finds the time to call back, I'm sure talking to you would be a better idea," he said, almost laughing.
Ellie shook her head as she reached for the radio.
"Your claustrophobic sister, and now a crying little girl. Alan will need more than just me to talk to when this is over."
Jessica tugged on Ellie's shorts.
"Where's Jenny?"
Ellie kneeled down to her level.
"She's okay, honey. They found her."
Jessica smiled broadly.
"What are . . . how did you . . . what is going on!" Alan shouted at the frightened little girl.
"You're scaring her," Kara said softly.
"Well," Alan said, glaring at the girl, who had started to cry again, "She scared me first!"
"Alan," Kara said, in a disapproving tone.
Alan threw his hands up in the air.
"Fine. I'll shut up."
Kara smiled and gestured for the little girl to come over to her. She had been standing next to the screaming adult, so Kara looked very inviting compared to that. She walked toward Kara, all the while giving frightening glances toward Alan.
"So, what's your name?" Kara asked, as the girl came to rest next to her.
"Jenny."
"Well, hello there Jenny. My name is Kara," Then she pointed toward Alan, "and that grumpy guy over there is Alan."
Jenny stared at him, waiting for him to say or do something. He just waved quickly and went back to looking around the area she had come from. Kids made him completely nervous, especially crying and whining little kids. He did his best to ignore her, but he did realize something significant. Having the little annoyance in here was helping Kara's condition. She had something to focus on now, as she partly covered Jenny with the blanket. Holding the little girl close, she looked toward Alan. He was limping slightly now, as he made his way to the narrow passage way.
"Alan, you okay? You're limping."
He turned to look at her. A scowl resided on his face, but when he looked at the two of them wrapped up and frightened, he altered his current mood.
"Yeah. I just bumped my leg somewhere."
"Which leg?"
"The one that I broke."
"You sure you're okay? Maybe you should come over here and sit down."
Alan stared at her, wanting to know how she could possibly think it would help in any way, for him to go and sit next to a child.
"Uh, maybe in a second, I want to take a closer look over here first."
Kara nodded, holding Jenny a little tighter, as Alan and the flashlight wandered away again. She decided to try and persuade some information out of the shaking little girl.
"Jenny, can you tell me what happened? How did you get in here?"
"A bunny."
"Bunny?" Kara asked.
"Yes."
"You were chasing a bunny?"
"Yes."
Alan was still close enough to hear most of the conversation. It annoyed him how kids didn't just come right out and answer questions. Why did they have to answer everything with one or two discreet words. He didn't verbalize his thoughts, though, as he continued through the narrow passage way, looking for a possible way out.
Kara was getting somewhere with Jenny. After talking with the child for a few minutes, she was able to find out that she had been chasing a bunny, and that her sister didn't want her to chase the bunny. So her sister began to throw rocks at the bunny, trying to scare it away. The bunny began to shuffle off, and Jenny followed the little fluffy thing all the way to the side of the cliff, where the bunny had gone into a hole. The hole was big enough for Jenny to fit through, but she was a little scared to do so. She peeked her head into the hole, looking for the bunny, but couldn't see anything. Her sister was yelling, wanting to go back to playing. To pass the time, she continued to throw rocks at the cliff, as high as she could. Before Jenny knew it, rocks were falling all around her, and she crawled into the hole for safety. The hole was covered up quickly, leaving the little girl in darkness.
"So, how did you find us?" Kara asked.
"I heard voices."
"So you followed the voices?"
"Yes."
"Well, that was a good idea."
"Yes."
Alan made his way out of the narrow passage and approached them.
"I don't think there's a way out that way," he said, sighing, with one hand holding his wounded face.
"I could have told you that," Jenny said, without thinking.
Alan glared at her. Jenny had forgotten that he wasn't very nice, and had just blurted out before thinking. Kara playfully messed up her blonde hair.
"Yeah, we could have told you that," she said, smiling.
Alan stood there, staring at them for a second. Then, he rolled his eyes and distanced himself from them.
"Carl is almost here," Rob called out, turning the radio down and holding it at waist level.
"Thank God," Ellie whispered.
"I think we've managed to put a sizable dent in the rock structure," Richard commented, as he continued to move the larger rocks by hand.
Ellie, Rob, and their newfound little friend, joined back up with Richard and company only a few minutes before. Everyone had been working diligently, making a very successful team, with Rob and Ellie were away briefly.
Rob stepped away to talk to Alan and Kara on the radio, giving them an update. When he was finished, Ellie talked to Alan for a moment, and then Rob put the radio away again. As they walked back up, Richard intercepted them.
"The mother of the little destroyers of nature . . . is here," he said, laughing and pointing.
Ellie spotted a woman off in the distance, frantically pushing people out of the way, yelling. She looked at Richard. He wasn't making any movements toward the woman. Neither was Rob.
"Okay, I'll go talk to her," she sighed.
"Good," Rob said softly, staring at the woman, who was now swearing at anyone who would listen.
Ellie took Jessica by the hand, and approached the woman, with Rob and Richard watching for the pure amusement of it all. Jessica saw her mother and yelled cheerfully, letting go of Ellie's hand, and running toward her. The woman seemed very happy to see the little girl, as she waved off the people around her, and began to run. Mother and daughter hugged briefly, and then the mother checked over Jessica very carefully for injuries. After quickly looking around, she looked up at Ellie.
"Where is Jenny? Where is my other daughter?"
"She was involved in a minor accident. There was a landslide, and she's trapped in a cave," Ellie said, gesturing toward the area where all of the volunteers, students, and tourists were.
"Trapped!" the mother almost yelled, "Is she okay?"
"Yes. She's fine. There are two other people trapped in the cave, as well, including the site's paleontologist.
"That guy who hates kids?"
Ellie didn't know how to react to that for some reason, thrown totally off guard by the statement. Did these people just stand around all day and gossip about the people who worked here? She cleared her thoughts, and tried to come up with a good answer.
"No. He doesn't hate children. That's silly."
The mother dismissed that statement.
"Can I talk to her?"
"Sure, hold on. I'll get a radio," Ellie said, happy that the woman didn't delve further into the child thing. She turned around, "Rob!" she yelled through cupped hands, "I need a radio."
At first Rob was worried that Ellie was trying to pull him into the conversation with the mother, but when he realized that she only wanted a radio, he was happy to help. He ran up to them and handed the radio to Ellie. A few happy words were exchanged between Jenny and her mother, and then it was decided that the radio should be shut off, once again to save batteries.
Holding Jessica's hand, the mother began to question Ellie again.
"So, how is it that my children are allowed to play near a potentially dangerous cliff side anyway?"
Rob, who had been standing next to Ellie, began to back away, seeing the rage slowly growing inside the woman, as she began to think more clearly about the situation. Ellie took a step forward.
"Just what are you suggesting?" Ellie said, in a defensive tone.
"Who was watching my children, as they were terrorized with falling rocks? That, is what I am saying," the woman retorted.
"There wasn't supposed to be kids allowed past that first instructional area, near base camp. I'm not sure why your children were running around alone and unsupervised in the first place. We're not a baby-sitting service. We are simply, a means for access into information about dinosaur bones."
"Well, for your information, oh great scientist woman . . . my husband was watching them, but I have no idea where he is at the moment."
"Don't patronize me, lady. I'm not going to stand down and take that shit."
Rob hadn't quite left yet. As the disagreement escalated, he sighed and walked toward them.
"Ladies. I'm sure none of that matters now. What does matter, is that there are three people trapped in that cave over there," he said, pointing toward the nonexistent entrance, "and we need to save them. You are both just talking through fear and worry, so please stop it."
The woman was about to say something else, but Rob held up a hand.
"Please, if I may . . . I need to take Dr. Sattler over there, so that she can assist with the digging. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until everyone is safe and sound, before debating further."
It had been about a half hour now, and Alan was quietly pacing back and forth with a slight limp, trying to adjust to the eerie silence that had invaded the cave. They could faintly hear the noises of metal hitting rock, as the people outside were working hard to free them, but it had become so routine, he barely even noticed anymore. After a small bout of crying, Jenny had fallen asleep next to Kara, relieving Alan to no end.
Kara was sitting on the cave floor, staring at Alan, as he continued to stay on the move, creating a pathway in the dirt. She was starting to feel some anxiety again, involuntarily focusing on the flashlight that was dancing around as Alan walked. She wiped a few random tears away, as she felt herself feeling confined again. She pushed the blanket from her, and gently scooted away from Jenny, being careful not to wake her.
"Alan," she whispered, glancing over to Jenny, to make sure she wasn't being too loud. Alan stopped his pacing and looked toward her. "Could you come here for a minute?"
He looked at Jenny, who was sleeping soundly.
"Sure." He walked toward her, "You okay?"
"I'm feeling a little nervous again."
"It'll only be about another hour, Kara. Not too much longer now."
"I know, but I can't control when these anxieties hit me. I'm sorry." Alan was still standing, "Could you sit down for a second, maybe relax and talk to me. I think it might help," she said, as she noticed herself shaking again.
He immediately sat down next to her, setting the flashlight on the ground. There was a dimmed glow coming from the flashlight, hinting that the batteries were starting to falter. It cast a strange glow on the walls, giving Kara the creeps. She adjusted herself, so that she was as close to Alan as possible, and then leaned her head on his shoulder. He held his arms around her, as the light became less and less bright.
"You're cold," she whispered.
"Excuse me?"
Kara laughed and was relieved to be able to do something as easy as laugh.
"It's cold in here. You feel cold," she explained.
"I thought you were talking about my child skills."
"Well, that, too," she joked, still shaking uncontrollably.
He glanced at her face. She was staring at the flashlight now, watching the energy fade from it.
"Kara, when that light goes out, it's going to be okay. I've got you. We're getting out of here very soon. Just remember that."
"Okay," she whispered, as the dim light faded even more.
Alan thought about what to do, in case she couldn't handle the darkness of cave. The only solution he could think of, was to use the batteries from the radio in the flashlight, but that wouldn't be very smart. He hoped she would just be able to cope. He hoped that the little girl would be able to cope. He hoped that he would be able to cope with the little girl.
"Carl!" Rob yelled in complete happiness.
Carl drove up to the landslide area. He had the crawler on a trailer behind Alan's truck. He smiled, as he put the truck in reverse and backed the trailer toward the cave. After stopping the truck and getting out, everyone applauded.
"Thank you. Thank you very much. I take money," he joked.
Rob was already in the crawler, backing it off the trailer. He drove the tractor toward where the cave entrance used to be and got to work.
Ellie looked at Richard.
"What time is it?"
"Twenty after."
"Only ten more minutes until Alan turns the radio back on," she said happily.
Alan wasn't coping well at all. The flashlight had gone out about ten minutes before, instantly waking up Jenny. She had been crying and whining for ten minutes straight, while Kara held onto her, wrapping the blanket around her more securely. He was about to erupt with anger, but he knew that would do no good. He was vaguely wishing to be anywhere but in this cave, including out in the middle of nowhere with a broken leg. At least he had peace and quiet then. He sighed, as he realized these thoughts were just his own idiosyncracies affecting his judgment, so it would be unwise to take it out on them. He moved away from where he was sitting and carefully stood up in the darkness.
"Where are you going?" Kara asked.
"No where."
Jenny was starting to settle down a little bit, and Kara's reaction to the darkness had really surprised him. He was very proud of the way she was taking it. He decided to try and be nicer to them, especially Jenny, since things seemed to be going so well.
"Anyone want to hear a story?"
"Sure," Jenny said quickly in the darkness.
"Absolutely," Kara added.
"Well, once upon a time there was . . . uh, a . . . uh," Alan said, seeming as if he were trying to remember something, ". . . a . . . chicken."
"A chicken?" Jenny asked.
"Yeah, a chicken."
"Why was there a chicken!" the little girl asked. The whine in her voice was completely gone now.
"This is my story, so there's a chicken," he said, smiling in the darkness.
"Okay," Jenny said, and then she added, "whatever."
Alan went on with his story and Kara was just smiling in the darkness, focusing on every word spoken. Her eyes were getting somewhat used to the dark now, and she was able to almost make out Alan's silhouette, as he continued his stupid story about a chicken.
". . . and so Ralph decided to take the long way around, so he wouldn't have to run into any of the bad chickens."
"Why would he do that? Ralph was bigger than them," Jenny asked.
"Because Ralph was not a fighter."
"Ralph is a wimp," Jenny said, laughing.
"He most certainly was not a wimp. He was a . . . a . . . okay, he was a wimp," Alan said, laughing with her.
Kara joined in, as well. The three of them continued to laugh until Alan pushed the button on his watch to see what time it was. His partially blurred vision bothered him slightly, as he tried to make out the position of the hands. The tiny light partly lit the room up, causing Jenny to gasp in awe.
"Okay, time to turn the radio back on," he said.
Kara turned it on and handed it to him.
"Ellie?"
Ellie was instantly on the other end of the radio.
"Alan. Carl is here and we're digging you out right now. It won't be much longer."
"That's excellent," he said.
Kara and Jenny stood up and hugged him, causing him to feel a little bit standoffish, but he didn't let on that it made him uncomfortable. He simply hugged them back, annoyed with himself that he was such a jerk in the first place.
After a few more hard hits, the rocks finally fell in a way where the light from the giant tractor began to shine through into the cave. Kara and Jenny began to jump for joy, as Alan continued to look toward the light, that was slowly becoming an entrance once again. Kara stopped hugging the little girl and looked at Alan.
"We're getting out of here," she said with a relief.
He smiled at her.
"You doubted me?" he joked.
She smiled back and hugged him. The physical contact, and the way the light was hitting his face, was suddenly all the excuse Kara needed, to act. He was already turned away from the rock-filled entrance, so she nudged him back until he was against the rubble. When he stopped, she almost caused him to trip, so he stretched his arms out to balance. She looked him in the eye, reached around the back of his neck, and then . . . kissed him.
Jenny gasped, and then giggled quietly to herself.
Still reaching behind him, Alan simply grabbed the cave wall, totally shocked by Kara's reaction. He began to bring his arms around, as he was about to gently try to put a stop to it, when she moved herself away from him. Even in the dim-lit area, Kara could see that he was confused by her actions. He should be, she thought to herself, because I'm a hopeless idiot. They continued to stare at each other strangely, until Jenny coughed, causing them to come back to the here and now.
"Sorry about that," Kara said, softly, not really sorry at all.
"Uh," Alan began, but couldn't think of anything to add to that.
Jenny crawled out first, taking her time. Rob reached in and grabbed her, carefully pulling her out. The fresh air was simply wonderful. Her mother was right there, so she hurried to her, embracing her tightly.
Kara was next. Alan had been assisting her, and before she crawled out, she turned and looked at him briefly.
"Do we have to tell anyone about what happened?"
"I think it's safe to say that this can be our little secret," Alan said, smiling, still finding the situation more than a little awkward.
"Okay, good," she said, smiling. Then she crawled out of the cave and into Rob's awaiting arms.
Alan grabbed Ellie's pack and quickly followed her out of their shared enclosure. He wasn't all the way out yet, when Ellie was already grabbing him by the shirt, helping him crawl out the rest of the way. Laughing, he made his way out and embraced Ellie tightly, to which she began to cry like a baby. All the people who had been helping and praying, all gathered around the three survivors and applauded loudly and happily, whistling and yelling in joy.
When Ellie finally let go of Alan, she stood back and noticed the nasty gash on his face. She reached out and gently touched his face, causing him to wince.
"That looks pretty bad," she said, in a worried tone.
"A few butterfly sutures and it'll be fine."
"I think that may need more than that, my friend," Richard said, appearing in front of him.
The cousins nodded and quickly hugged each other. Alan looked back at Ellie, who still looked worried.
"Okay, okay, I'll go to the hospital if you'll stop looking at me like that," he conceded, causing Ellie to finally look happy.
Rob was looking over Kara carefully. She seemed okay, and he was beyond happy to see her laughing and looking well.
"Come on, I'll take you home so that you can get some rest."
Kara nodded, and followed her brother to his truck. She turned to glance over at Alan and Ellie, and Alan glanced back toward her, as well. He smiled, and then his attention was diverted back to Ellie and Richard.
Ellie could hear the other little girl telling her mom about what had happened. After the initial explanation, Jenny began to tell her mother and sister about Ralph the chicken. Richard and Alan overheard her, as well, causing Richard to throw Alan a strange look.
"You told them Uncle Charlie's stupid story of Ralph the chicken?" he said, laughing.
"It's all I could think of," Alan said, shrugging his shoulders and joining in the laughter.
All he could think of, at that moment though, was Kara. He was still floored over what had happened in the cave, more surprised that he didn't recognize her feelings sooner. She was a very beautiful woman, and Alan had always been fond of her, but he just wasn't attracted to her in that way. At least, he didn't think so. He never really thought about it before, and the whole thing was starting to give him a headache.
He followed Ellie to his truck. After waiting for Carl to unhook the trailer, Ellie drove the truck away from the dig site and toward the hospital. During the ride, she began to snicker.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"The staff at the hospital, are going to know you by name pretty soon if you don't stop hurting yourself."
He laughed, knowing she was correct yet again.
After everyone had departed the area, leaving the place calm and serene, a rabbit poked its head out of the cave opening. It sniffed the Montana air, took a quick look around, and quickly jumped out, running into the nearby field.