Lonely Animals

Chapter III: The Entrance

Third day in the Fields Area. ‘Just one more day to go.’ I thought to myself. Jones and Eli walked side by side, exchanging news that we had heard before we left. Some sort of virus was going around. Apparently, it spread really fast. “Probably nothing to worry about.” I said. Eli and Jones replied in argument. I climbed to the top of a small hill, one of exceedingly pathetic size, but a hill nonetheless. I gazed across the landscape, searching. Eli and Jones climbed up behind me, rather clumsily. “How much farther? My legs are killing me.” Jones whined. I didn’t reply. Until I saw it. A spot of black abyss in the wheat-colored land. It wasn’t that far either, only a couple yards away. “Found it!” I replied. I pointed in its direction. As soon as their eyes hit the black, the three of us started running madly towards it. Almost there. How excited we were. How… happy. The well-developed atmosphere of shared joy faded in an instant. The mouth of the cave seemed enormous, and even in the light, the darkness of the entrance remained unbroken. It seemed as if darkness radiated out of the cave in a manner opposite to the light, as if displaying the cosmic forces of dark energy and gravity in an Earthly, registerable manner. Jones and I stopped in our tracks.

Eli, however, was running wild. He took out his torch, headlamp, rope, anchor, and all the gear he would need. He was ready and determined to find out what was behind the gaping maw. During this process, he stopped and stared at us. “Well, what are you two waiting for? Come on!” He chirped. With that, we regained some freedom that our fear had snatched from us. 10 minutes later, we were ready. I anchored the rope to a sturdy-looking patch of earth with rocks embedded in the ground. We turned on our headlamps, grabbed our flashlights, and began the descent. 

It was rather dark at first, even with headlamps. Trying to divert my attention from the void below, I focused on Jones. As much as Jones acted tough, he couldn’t help letting out a small whimper, a byproduct of the Sun’s nourishing light fading from view. I chuckled faintly. We proceeded deeper, deeper into that pitiful cavern. After what seemed like an eternity, we touched ground. This cave was deeper than any of us had expected. At least 200, 300 feet below the surface. I shone my light in Eli’s direction. He seemed rather excited. “Look! We found it!” I looked in the direction of his dust covered fingers. We saw it. The shiny, familiar black rock, almost everywhere. It was not just some coal, but a bonanza. This would be worth a lot.” Enough for a pay raise!” Jones cried. “Well, this is just one part of the cave system. We still have a lot of chambers and passages left.”, Eli pointed out. “True. We should stay down here and look around more.” I added.  Jones, knowing he was outvoted, reluctantly agreed. We spotted a small passage, and made our way deeper into the caverns of death.