Blood of My Death

Blood of My Death: The Ancient Earthscrapper - Chapter Forty-Three

The touch from Diane nudging me by the shoulders softly woke me from my dream. I knew she wanted me to wake up quietly as she clutched my shoulder. I listened as my senses searched the darkness surrounding us, and I could barely hear breathing off in the distance.

"Do you hear it!" Diane whispered in a low, almost non-existent voice.

She moved her hand down my shoulder to my arm, finally to my hand, taking it in her own. Her wounds must have healed enough for her to move. She dragged me up while she stood up, backing away from the noise. We moved as slowly as possible towards the wall. I was careful as I didn't want to make any more noise than I could help.

Diane stopped squeezing my hand when she found the closest wall to us. She pulled me close, raising my hand to the wall, allowing me to feel her feelings. The surface of the wall was damp and slippery. 'We're deep inside a cave system, but not deep enough. I can't feel any airflow,' I thought, trying not to breathe too hard.

"We have to go deeper, Kristen. I can hear it looking for us. I can smell it in the air. It's one of those creatures. We can't go that way," Diane whispered as she could.

"We might get lost. How are we going to navigate in the dark?" I questioned, matching the level of her voice.

"We have to use our ears and noses. I don't know how it's possible; I can hear and smell better than I ever could before. It's how I found the wall and knew something was looking for us. One of those creatures likely hauled us here after they were critically injured. They want us alive for a reason," Diane explained as she held my other hand, leading us deeper into the cave. I used my free hand to feel across the wall as she was.

We walked at a steady pace, making sure we were careful not to move too fast. I was astonished that I could hear further down the passage we had taken than I would have thought. I could also smell the dampness of the moisture from the walls. The smell was musty and earthy dirt type mixed with the scent of mold. I could also smell the pungent stank of the creature pursuing us from behind.

"How far down do you think we have to go?" I quietly asked.

"As far as we need to. Maybe there is another entrance we can find. Most caves have several entrances. If we find one of those, we can escape the one looking for us," Diane replied as she squeezed my hand.

"What if we come to a point where it's too narrow for me to get through? I can't walk without my exoskeleton," I responded.

"Then we will find another way out! Or we'll just have to leave it behind," Diane replied firmly.

We didn't talk anymore for an extended period as we walked through darkness. After a while, Diane stopped, and she squeezed my hand as she did so I would know what was going on.

"I've run out of wall. I don't know what's ahead of us. It could just be the passage splits in two or there is a drop off. Let's back up and find some pebbles or rocks we can throw ahead of us. If they hit the ground as soon as we throw them then it's safe to keep going and find another wall to guide us. If not, then we can't go this way," Diane explained as she squeezed my hand again for me to back up.

"There wasn't an opening in the wall on the side we have been following though," I replied.

"We have to cross over to the other side. Maybe that side has an opening somewhere back the way we came. Let's see if we can move forward first," Diane added.

"Yeah, I would hate walking over a sheer drop not knowing how deep it was, but I don't want to run into those creatures pursuing us," I responded.

"Me either. Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Diane said as she kneeled towards the ground, taking my hand with her.