Jack swept the room with the flashlight. It was probably about the same size as the previous one--estimating was hard when it was so dark. At least the light reached the back wall here as well. There, at the far end of the room, it also reached something more interesting: the light was reflected from the gently rippling surface of a large pool of water. Which was good. On the other hand, Jack didn't spot any doorways at all, and the walls were smooth, without any carvings.
"Okay. We need to check that other doorway too. But at least we've got water," he noted to Daniel, who just nodded, and they started their slow progress away from this room, back to the previous, and then to the next door.
The next room was a lot smaller, and again had a door to the left and straight ahead. None to the right, which had been the outer wall in the upper floor.
"Which way?" Daniel asked.
"What do you think? You've seen more ruins than I."
"Never seen any built by dinosaurs... Anyway, I'd just go straight ahead. At least we won't get lost that way."
"Sounds good to me."
So, they walked straight ahead, through to yet another similar room--it was small compared to the first, had several doorways, and smooth walls.
They decided to keep going straight on, and ended up in the third exactly similar room. It'd be really easy to get lost down here.
The one and only good thing was that what had been the outer wall up there seemed to be the outer wall down here as well. At least the tunnels didn't seem to stretch much farther than the ruins on the ground level.
The bad things... There were too many to count. Though the first short stretch to the first doorway had felt relatively easy, things went downhill and fast as soon as they left the first room.
Jack would've given anything for a walking stick of any kind, anything that would allow him to walk on his own, without burdening Daniel further. Because, even though he'd done his best to reassure Daniel, he was terribly worried about him.
Daniel was coughing now, and the sound echoed loudly in the empty stone halls. He was clearly having trouble breathing, and the strain of walking around obviously didn't do him any good.
Jack tried to put more weight on his injured foot. It just was so damn painful... But not as painful, not nearly as bad, as it would be to have Daniel suffocate because of him.
One step ahead. Another step. Felt like he'd stepped in a bear trap. Jeez. Don't think, just walk.
One more step... And whatever he told himself, whatever he thought, his leg just wouldn't take it. It gave in, folded under his weight. It took Daniel by surprise, and they both toppled over, landing heavily on the cold stone. The flashlight stayed on, but it slipped from his hand and rolled on the floor, the light pointing uselessly away from them.
Jack heard Daniel gasp out in pain, and start coughing again. He reached to take a hold of his shoulder.
"Jeez, I'm sorry, Daniel!"
The coughing fit passed, and after a few rapid breaths, Daniel answered,
"Nah--Sorry--I couldn't catch you."
"Aw, come on, you're doing more than your part already. We'll just rest here for a while, all right?"
"Yeah... Could do with a break."
Jack sat up and picked up the flashlight.
"I'm going to turn this off. Save the batteries," he warned in advance, and pressed the button, leaving them in the dark again.
As far as he could remember, Jack had never been afraid of the dark, not really. Still, this was pretty scary. The place was so completely lightless. It might've been that way for a long, long time, too, before they'd fallen in and started waving the flashlight around. Who knew for how long.
Even the air smelled old down here, now that he thought of it. On the ground floor, there'd been the unmistakable scent of the rainforest, made of the gazillion flowers and other plants out there, maybe with a trace of the stinking lizards. That was missing here. He could just smell... dust. Ancient, ageless dust.
And it was silent. So very silent, no birds, no bugs, no wind. And no dinos--he definitely didn't mind that. Every sound came through awfully loud in here. Every breath. Every cough. Jack didn't want to force Daniel to get up again, but he was afraid that if they'd stop for too long, they'd never get going again.
He reached to squeeze Daniel's shoulder, just about to tell him that they should get moving, when the most frightening sound he'd ever heard cut the air.
He'd heard it before. It was the angry roar of a huge angry dinosaur, just like the one that'd chased them last night. And it came from behind them.
"Oh God, no," Daniel whispered, gasping awfully fast again.
Jack tried to think, think fast and clear. It could've sounded like the thing was closer than it really was. The sounds echoed in these halls so that it would be impossible to know where, exactly, it had come from, but it was clear it came from some of the rooms directly behind them, the rooms they'd left.
He didn't know if the dino would see in this darkness. He didn't think any animal could see if there was no light at all. Even nocturnal animals needed moonlight or starlight or something, didn't they? But it would definitely smell them. And hear them, if they wouldn't be careful.
They were lying at about mid-floor in the room. They couldn't stay here. They'd have to keep moving.
Daniel had figured that out as well, and was struggling to get up. Jack put the flashlight to his belt. Turning it on would reveal them instantly. He had a pretty good idea where the doorways were in this room. They'd head to the one that was opposite from where the dino-sound had come from.
They stood up, supporting each other again, and started limping on. It felt useless--the faster they tried to go, the more unsteady their steps got. Jack had, again, no choice but to lean on Daniel quite heavily. He felt Daniel swaying under his weight. Even worse, he felt the muffled coughs racking his body, and heard them as well, no matter how hard Daniel tried to suppress them. It wouldn't do. If Jack heard them, the dino might hear them too.
Another roar rang in the room. It didn't sound like it was any closer. Thank God for that.
Jack had guessed right, they found the doorway right where he'd thought it was, and walked through it. Without light, they couldn't have any idea of what the next room was like.
Daniel was getting unsteady on his feet, but now that they'd stopped for a moment, Jack could keep his weight on his good foot and actually support Daniel as well.
And no matter how bad he felt, Daniel clearly wasn't ready to give in yet. "Jack--all the rooms--have been--the same... If we'll--straight on... Might be--same," he whispered, the words barely audible.
That did make sense, though the way Daniel sounded, going on would not be easy, let alone a very good idea.
A third roar, sounding louder this time, left Jack feeling that they were out of options.
When they hit a wall instead of a door, Jack could barely keep himself from yelling at it and the general, merciless unfairness of the universe.
This was a nightmare. A really bad one. Worse than any he could remember right away. Except that it was really happening.
"I'll risk a bit of light," he whispered. The dino might be rooms away, it might not see it, he told himself.
The light showed that the nightmare might not come to a gruesome end in this room, after all, not yet. There was a doorway in the wall they'd reached, it just wasn't where it'd been in the previous rooms.
Now that they'd found the wall, they could just as well keep following it, leaning on it instead of each other. But Jack was afraid he'd lose Daniel in the darkness, or miss it if he should fall, so he reached for his hand.
This was getting just ridiculous, they were advancing more and more pathetically every passing minute--first, leaning on each other, then doing the same in pitch-darkness, and now, slouching ahead leaning on the wall, hand in hand, Daniel leading the way and Jack coming right after him.
After what felt like an eternity, they finally reached the doorway. Jack nearly lost his grip of Daniel's hand, as he practically fell through it, slumping to the floor in the next room. Jack landed next to him, reaching to put an arm around his shoulders. It was the only comfort and support he could give in this damned darkness.
Though they were one room further away, the roar sounded just as loud, making them both jump.
"Jack--this--this isn't-" Daniel was trying to whisper between coughs or gasps or both.
"Shh, we'll be okay. We can take a tiny break now."
"But--nowhere we can go--down here..."
"It seems like a big maze. Plenty of places to go. We'll find our way out before it finds us."
"Tombs--only have--one way out... In Egypt..."
"Well, we're not there, and we don't even know if this is a tomb. And I'm betting that the way out is right behind the next doorway," Jack said, without really believing it himself.
Nevertheless, he took up the flashlight again and lit it for a blink. It showed a doorway, again on the opposing wall, and it was actually nearer than in the previous rooms.
"Daniel, you could just stay here and rest, I'll go and check the next room. You saw it's not far," Jack told, though he really had no idea how he'd go about doing that. Following the walls for support would make the distance a lot longer.
"No way-" Daniel started, but another coughing fit took over, and all he could do was to try and keep it as silent as he could. It went on terribly long--Jack was starting to fear Daniel would pass out. And all he could do was wait, with a supporting hand on his back.
Finally, it passed, and Daniel got to finish his sentence, "-not going to stay--when it comes."
"Let's get going, then," Jack decided. He knew that Daniel wasn't up to it, but the alternative, leaving him to face the dino alone in the dark, was even worse. "One last stretch, right?" he said encouragingly as he stood up, and helped Daniel get up as he best could.
Screw the short distance, it felt like a mile, as they struggled on, arms around each others' back. Daniel's pained breathing sounded so loud that Jack was sure the dino would hear it, no matter how many rooms away it was. But they made it, made it through to yet another room--and it was different from all the rest.
The relief was so great that, combined with the persistent headache, it made Jack feel awfully dizzy.
Light was shining to the room through a doorway, again straight ahead of them, and not all that far.
"Okay. I may have lied about that having been the last stretch. This is gonna be it," Jack declared.
Daniel was probably too out of breath to answer anything at all. They staggered towards the light. Daniel was leaning on Jack now, and Jack could hardly stay standing. His leg kept trying to fold beneath all the weight.
Miraculously, they managed to cover the distance to the lit doorway and beyond, into a small room at the foot of a steep staircase leading up. Daylight pouring down from the ground floor flooded the room, nearly blinding them, and bringing some of the tropical warmth with it.
The dinosaur growled somewhere behind them again, but Jack thought it sounded different. Farther away than before. Maybe they had really escaped this time.