Chapter 9

The team has finally driven to the dumping cave in order to search it for possible dead bodies. They get out of the car and begin walking toward the dumping cave. As they get closer and closer to the cave, the foul stench begins slowly creeping into their noses. They're now standing next to the underground cave. At what they're smelling each of them makes a facial expression of disgust. McGee immediately holds his hand over his mouth and runs to the side in order to vomit.

"I've never smelled something so bad before." Ziva said.

"Are you serious about us going in there?" Tony asked.

"Not us... If there are any bodies down there, I don't want you to see them. So you and McGee stay up here." Gibbs said. "Me and Ziva are going down."

"I'm all for helping Tony… But that stench is just too overwhelming." Ziva stated.

Gibbs glares at Ziva.

"But, I have absolutely no problem going down." Ziva adds to her previous comment.

"McGee!" Gibbs exclaimed to get his attention.

"Yeah Boss?"

"Get the rope and flashlights from the trunk."

"On it."

After about two minutes McGee walks over with holding the rope and flashlights. As he hands the flashlights to Tony, who was the furthest away from the dumping cave, he felt like puking again. He drops the rope and puts his hand over his mouth and runs off to the side again. Tony looks at Gibbs as he hands him the flashlights.

"Are you sure you don't wanna take him with you?" Tony asked. "It might be good for him."

Gibbs looks over at McGee who is puking behind a bush.

"I'm positive I don't wanna take him down there." Gibbs said. "Tie the end of this rope to the tree over there." Gibbs points to the tree.

Gibbs hands a flashlight to Ziva as Tony walks over to the tree and ties the rope around it tightly. After the rope is securely fastened to the tree, Gibbs tosses the other end down into the dumping cave. Gibbs grabs hold of the rope and begins to descend into the cave. Ziva grabs hold of the rope. Tony waves as Ziva is about to descend into the cave as well. Ziva looks at Tony like she's going to kick the crap out of him once she gets out.

Inside the cave, with both Gibbs and Ziva at the bottom, they turn their flashlights on. There are dead animal bodies all over the cave. Since this has been a dumping place for a long time, they see animal bones toward the sides. More toward the entrance is a huge pile of dead animals that are just rotting. The smell of the dead carcasses overwhelms both of them.

"And I thought the smell wouldn't get any worse." Ziva stated.

"It's not that bad." Gibbs said.

"Are you kidding me!"

"Actually… I'm just trying to remain positive about it." Gibbs stated. "This is the worst smell I've ever encountered."

"Can we please just hurry up cuz I don't think I can bare this stench for too long."

"Mark said the pool of water is toward the back."

They notice a rat running around close to them.

"I can't stand rats. They're such horrid little creatures." Ziva said.

"I think you have a secret admirer." Gibbs stated.

"I don't like secret admirers, so this is what I do to them." Ziva kicks the rat to the side.

Gibbs and Ziva begin walking to the back of the cave. They notice, toward the back, the cave begins to slant downward a bit. They walk down the narrow pathway of the cave. Gibbs starts to hear the faint sound of running water.

"Shh… Do you hear that?" Gibbs asked.

"I can't get over the stench, so don't expect my ears to work." Ziva said.

Gibbs points his flashlight around until the light shines unto a pool of water. Gibbs and Ziva walk down to the water. Around the pool of water, they see a couple dead bodies. The corpses that have been there for years are practically just bones. The only recent human body is that of Tony's old partner Danny.

Meanwhile, on the outside of the cave, McGee is sitting on a rock away from the cave entrance. Tony walks over to McGee and stands close-by.

"When we were at that Zinc mine, you know what it reminded me of?" Tony asked.

"Please Tony… I'm not in the mood for movie references right now." McGee stated.

"Actually, what I was gonna say isn't so much a movie reference, but it does deal with a location in the movie."

"Spare me the…"

"You ever see the movie, Zoolander?"

McGee rolls eyes and decides to play along.

"It's a pretty stupid movie if you ask me." McGee said.

"It was kinda ridiculous. I mean… A movie about male models, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, who obviously couldn't pass as real male models to begin with, was a truly ridiculous movie."

"Then why do you wanna start a movie reference if you thought the movie was ridiculous?"

"Ben Stiller plays the role of Derek Zoolander and Owen Wilson plays the role of Hansel, a rival male model…"

McGee's head falls into his hands.

"Anyway… Jon Voight, who plays Larry Zoolander, Derek's father… And Judah Friedlander, who plays Scrappy Zoolander, Derek's brother… They both work at a Coal mine in New Jersey…"

"Wait… What does a Coal mine have to do with a Zinc mine?"

"I was just getting to that McGeek… Let me finish."

"Oh please… Continue." McGee said sarcastically.

"The location of that specific mine the father and brother work at, isn't actually a Coal mine. The location is the Sterling Hills Mine in Ogdensburg, New Jersey. It's actually a Zinc mine and has no Coal in it at all. But they used it as a Coal mine for the movie."

"Huh… That actually is rather interesting."

Suddenly, a steel pipe is bashed against the back of Tony's head. As Tony falls to the ground, McGee turns and tries to stand. McGee reaches for his gun, but before he could pull it out fully, he's shot with a tazer gun. While McGee is being electrocuted, his gun drops, Tony's unconscious body finally lands on the ground. McGee also falls to the ground. The tazer gun is finally shut off. McGee is lying on the ground, looking at Tony's unconscious body. The man, who attacked them, lifts Tony's unconscious body over his shoulder. McGee lies there on the ground helplessly as the man walks away with Tony over his shoulder.

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Author's Note: The information about Sterling Hills Mine being the location of where the father and brother work in the movie Zoolander, is true. When I went there for a field trip with my Mineralogy class, our tour guide was telling us about it.