CHAPTER SIX
INTO THE LION'S DEN
THE LONGER I look at the scene in front of me, the more confused I get. Ranger Gonzalez's appearance was so sudden that it leaves me with many unanswered questions. I thought he died, I saw him being bitten by Santanico, so I expected him to be dead or at least turn into a culebra. Curious, I glance at the opening in the floor that he came out of and the sight of what's inside makes me immediately look away.
"You're not a thinking man, are you? If you were, you would've let this go. No, but you're like one of those junkyard dogs, right? Just can't stay on your leash," Seth tells him.
"I came to do what I had to do," Gonzalez replies. "And I ain't leaving till I do it."
He's very determined, I'll give him that, even if his goal — killing Richie and Seth, I suppose — isn't something that I fully support. How did he manage to live through everything, I wonder as I question the ranger's humanity. Maybe he's a culebra, too.
Jacob steps forward and points a gun at Seth's head. "Let him go."
"This ain't your fight, Padre," Seth tells him without moving away from the ranger.
"And it ain't your call to kill him."
Interrupting the new argument between the two men, Kate says, "We already saw him get killed, but he lived. He might know something."
"She's right, I know a way out." the ranger says. "But you're too stupid to listen."
His words instantly draw my attention and I finally voice my thoughts. "Why should we trust you? You easily could be a culebra by now."
"I'm—"
"Shut up," Seth tells the ranger, probably angry that there is some sort of negotiation going on. "This guy thinks he's Dirty Harry. You out for blood? That's good, cause you're gonna die bloody."
"Let him go," Jacob repeats.
"This is Old Testament, Padre."
"My Scott is gone because you kidnapped us and forced us to come here," the preacher accuses. "By your scripture, you raise that blade, I can splatter that melon of your all over that wall."
Seth grabs the Ranger's face and turns it to the side, exposing his neck. "You see this? Looks like this little piggy already had a close encounter."
Moving closer, I stand a few steps behind Seth and look at the man's neck. The bite marks are there and as I realize how long has gone by without Ranger Gonzalez turning into a culebra, I don't know what to think about it.
The Ranger partly releases himself from Seth's hold and claims, "I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with me."
Believing him isn't exactly an option — even if he does feel fine, he was bitten, which means that at some point or another he's at least supposed to turn. In this case, his feelings are simply not enough.
"Nothing's wrong with these bikers either, till they got up and they started chomping," Seth replies and nods towards where the dead culebras are lying.
"I know a way out. It's down that trap door over there, through a hole," Ranger Gonzalez says and nods towards the door that he came in through.
It's already clear that getting out of here will not be easy, so his words don't surprise me. I remember clearly what I saw when I looked down there and I'm not sure that I want to know yet what else awaits us there.
"Down to where?" Jacob asks and I notice how the subject of a way out has caught everyone's curiosity.
"It's a grinder," the Ranger replies. "For flesh. Get past it, might be an exit."
The word 'might' sticks out to me and questions about what the ranger has been through pop up in my head, but before I can even open my mouth to ask, Seth talks to the man again.
"Thanks for the tip, but it's the end of the line for you."
"Leaving him behind is like pulling the trigger," Jacob says, his gun still pointed at Seth.
Looking at the preacher, I wonder if he will really shoot Seth if it will come down to it. My guess is that he won't shoot him in the head if he will shoot at all. One of the reasons why I'm don't think that Jacob will actually kill Seth right here and now is because Kate is here. She's a good girl and I don't think that she'll be fine with her dad shooting someone like this. It might be stupid of me, but I hope it won't come down to a certain thief getting hurt or shot.
Suddenly, Jacob adds, "I say we vote on it."
My jaw drops in shock as I wonder what the hell he is thinking. Then, I look at the people next to me and realize that Jacob counts on his daughter and Tanner to make the choice that he thinks is right, which they probably will do. He probably thinks I'll make the same choice, but I won't.
"Does this look like a parish hall to you?" Seth asks and turns to look at the preacher, his voice rising angrily.
Jacob's voice raises as well and he says loudly, ''All those in favor of leaving the Ranger, raise your hand!"
A moment passes by in which nothing happens. No one moves. I look at the said ranger and feel conflicted until I remind myself that it might come to us or him. I raise my hand. Seth soon follows, momentarily releasing one hand from the man in his hold to show his position. Then, I see Kate slowly raising her hand and I turn my attention to her, surprised.
"Kate?" Jacob asks, just as surprised.
"I'm sorry, daddy, but you saw what happened to those bikers. He could turn on us," she explains.
With not many choices left, Ranger Gonzalez says, "Professor?" Tanner, who looks uncomfortable, raises one of his stakes. "Come on, give me a break."
"I'm sorry, sheriff, it's purely academic."
As bad as I feel for the Ranger, I honestly think that he has a chance of making it out alone if he won't turn into a culebra. He has been deeper in this place than we all did and who knows what he has lived through until he got here — he's a warrior in my opinion. If it was someone else in his place, maybe I would have voted differently.
Luckily, Jacob doesn't try to change Kate's mind, or anyone else's. He lowers his gun and looks at the Ranger. "I'm sorry."
Even though the Ranger is visibly upset, he nods at Jacob and replies, "It's okay. Thank you."
"Okay, let's this party going," Seth says and pulls Ranger Gonzalez to a standing position, his gaze traveling around the bar. It sets on something before he starts walking somewhere with the other man dragging next to him. "C'mon, cowboy."
In the background, I hear Tanner announce that he's going to gather up every weapon he can find, and Jacob talking to his daughter. I look at Seth until I see he's managing to tie the ranger to a poll on his own, then I sigh and walk over to Tanner.
Without paying too much attention to the professor, I grab any kind of weapon that I can find and place it in his bag. I can feel him watching me, but I ignore it and go to take back my knife from where John threw it to. It's dirty with blood and without a choice, I wipe it against my jeans and put it in my front pocket.
As I head back to where our collection of weapons with a few more wooden stakes that I found along the way, I see Seth walking away from Ranger Gonzalez.
"You and your brother are gonna dangle from a rope!" the Ranger yells at Seth. "I swear!"
Seth ignores him and walks towards the rest of our group with a blank expression, but it seems to me that his façade is starting to crack. Losing Richie must be getting to him. We stand around the bag of weapons with a slight fear of the unknown that's waiting for us written on everyone's faces.
"If anyone has second thoughts and is going to chicken out, this is a good time to let us know and stay behind," I break the silence and focus my attention on Tanner and the Fullers. It's completely silent for a few moments, no one even moves apart from the curious glances that look around our little circle, curious to see if someone will change their mind. No one does. "Into the lion's den, it is," I mutter and gesture at Tanner to take his bag.
We walk to the door in the floor that Ranger Gonzalez used to get back here. It's closed and after a few of Tanner's kicks, it seems to be shut quite tightly. Seth takes a big wooden log that is lying on the floor and uses it to hit the doors until they open. The smell of flesh hits me again and I stare nervously at the shadows under us, followed by the sound of wheels turning.
"All right, hold on a second. Let me think out loud," Tanner says and looks around us and back at the grinder. "There was a chain hanging from the pool table... we can wrap around a crossbar and use it to cantilever each one of us down. If we double the chain up, should give us about 200 pounds of tensile strength..."
"Yeah, you can keep working on that, MacGyver," Seth says before leaning forward on his hands and pushing himself down.
I lean forward, even more nervous now and wait to get a sign from Seth that he's fine. Even though there is light coming down there from where we are, it's still rather dark in there and Seth seems to be out of my sight. Hopefully, he didn't land straight into that grinder.
"Come on guy, water's fine," Seth's voice calls and I sigh in relief. He says something else, but I can't hear him well and hope that it wasn't something important for us to know.
To my surprise, Tanner turns to me and gestures for me to pass. "Ladies first," he says kindly.
Even though I hold back the urge to glare at him, I still don't trust him. I take a moment to think about it and realizes that if he'll do something risky, it will be much easier to deal with him with Seth on side and me on the other. Tanner might be quite a nerd, but he seems stronger than Jacob and Kate are.
"Not this time," I reply and title my chin to the side in a small shake.
"I tried," he mutters and turns to the opening in the floor.
Then, he carefully slides down with the bag of weapons on his back, almost disappearing in the dim lighting there. Kate gives him his shotgun after a few seconds and we wait to hear when the next person can come down. The grinder is rather noisy, but I manage to hear Seth and the professor talking and a noise that follows.
While the two men argue, I look at Jacob and Kate and say, "I'll go down and I'll help Kate. Then, Jacob, you follow, okay?"
They both nod at me and I sit on the edge, ready to enter, only that Seth and Tanner are still arguing. I don't know what happened down there, but I have a feeling that I won't like it. After I yell at them, I manage to see Tanner waiting for me and I slide down towards him. I'm not too keen on getting help from the professor, but he does help me regain my balance.
"Chivalry isn't dead after all," Tanner says, but I choose to ignore him.
My eyes widen when I see where we are. It's like a small room for a big grinder, much bigger than I imagined it would be. As it turns, you can see that its wheels are dirty with blood and the small pieces of flesh in it. Sick to my stomach, I look away from it and see Seth standing between the grinder and the wall with a passage behind him.
When I look at Tanner, I notice that the bag of weapons is no longer on his back. "Where's the bag?" I ask him.
"The genius let it slip into the grinder," Seth replies.
My jaw clenches as I glare at the professor, who chooses that moment to follow Seth to the other side of the grinder.
"Fucking idiot," I mutter and look up to see Kate and Jacob waiting for my permission to follow me down. "Come on, Kate."
My legs spread a bit as I watch the teenager coming closer to me so that I'll have more balance. I hold her hands until she's standing safely next to me. She thanks me and I start to walk next to the wall so that Jacob will have a place to land in. I watch where I'm going with every step and hope that my life won't end because I slipped on someone else's blood.
When I hear Jacob and Kate scream one after the other, my heart drops. Luckily, I stay stable and stop to turn around and see the preacher sitting on the floor with a pained expression. Kate hovers over him for a few seconds and I wait for her so I can help her cross. Her dad is the last one to carefully cross the grinder as Seth finds a hole in one of the walls.
Climbing through the hole is rather easy, aside for Jacob who slightly struggles. He certainly has a timing with getting injured, but I don't feel bad for him — he could have had it much worse. Then, we enter a dark hallway that is illuminated with random lamps and candles and has dust all over the ceiling. It isn't ideal, but for now, this is the calmest minutes I have head since we stepped into the Titty Twister.
We walk in the same order in which we got into the grinder with Seth and Tanner at the front, Kate and Jacob in the back and myself between them. The two men talk amongst themselves, although it's easy to hear their conversation in the silence. The professor still annoys me with cocky things he says, but I focus on the symbols that are drawn on the walls and on looking around for any sign of danger. It's suspiciously calm and quiet here, in my opinion, not that I'm complaining.
The worst thing about having Tanner with us, I realize as we walk through the endless hallways, is his knowledge. Sure, he knows a lot and it's useful, but the more he explains to Seth, the more his information freaks us out.
At one point, I turn around to see how the Fullers are doing and notice the scared look that Kate has as she looks at the professor, who is now walking about the culebras communicating with alien races. When her gaze meets mine, I try to smile at her sympathetically. The anger that I felt towards her isn't gone, it's still there, but there isn't time for it. Plus, she has it worse than me and with a missing brother and an injured father.
"Stop," Seth tells Tanner as they lean around the corner, checking that the coast is clear. "Don't make this weirder than it already is. I can do Temple of Doom, man, but Krystal Skull? I'm out."
"This place is filled with Chanan markings," Tanner continues his little lecture.
Seth motions at us to keep going and asks the older man, "What do you mean?'
"Chanan — it means 'snake', but it also means 'guard'," the latter explains.
The next hallway is like the ones we already passed through, but a bit shorter. The fear of something bad happening makes me extremely nervous and I mutter, "Worst story time ever."
Obviously, the main thing on Seth's mind is staying alive and finding something. "What are they guarding?" he asks Tanner.
We stop again as Seth looks around another corner and the professor replies, "Duh, the underworld."
"Don't you have anything a little more inspiring to tell us?" I ask Tanner and purse my lips. Then, I whisper, "Or you can just shut up."
He turns around to look at me and starts saying, "Sorry, princess, but life isn't—"
A loud noise interrupts him and makes my heart skip a beat. It sounds to me like a raven, but then growls follow it and make it clear that it isn't the sound of a damn bird. Considering the fact that we're lacking weapons, I take out one of the two wooden stakes that I have in my pants pockets and hold it tightly.
The noise seems to be getting closer and when I look ahead, I see Tanner and Seth hurrying forward. My heart beats wildly in my chest as I start following them in a quick walk, yet when I hear Kate yelling for us to wait, I stop.
Jacob is leaning on her as they both hurry after us. He is obviously heavy for the small teenage girl. With Seth and Tanner already out of my sight, I don't leave myself a choice and hurry towards the Fullers. As much as I would like to stay safe and get the hell out of here, I will never forgive myself if something will happen to them just because I was selfish.
Quickly, I let Jacob lean his other arm over my shoulders and the three of us move as fast as he can. He's heavy, but with my help, we move faster than the father and daughter would have been able to if I wasn't there.
The fear of something unknown killing us brings tears to my eyes and a few of my muscles hurt from the weight that has been added to me. I feel a little relieved once we're around the corner and I see an open door with Seth and Tanner standing in the doorway. However, I'm still terrified that we won't make it in time because that something is still coming for us.
"Close the door!" I hear Tanner yell.
"Seth!" I call brokenly and see him standing there, ready to close the doors, but not doing so yet.
Seeing what possible be a shelter gives the Fullers and I motivation and we move even faster, while Kate yells for the men to wait. The closer we get to Seth, the more I feel hopeful. However, it all shatters when Jacob falls.
"Jacob!" I hear Seth yell as I use all of my strength to pull the preacher back up.
Kate struggles on her side, but I'm relieved when I feel the weight being pulled up and see Seth standing on Jacob's other side. From that point on, the way to the door is rather short and we walk in just in time. Tanner immediately closes the door and tells Kate to help him, while Seth and I let go of Jacob, before helping keep the door closed.
Once Seth and Tanner block the door with a long wooden piece, we all relax a bit and try to catch our breaths. I take deep breathes as I look at Seth and when he meets my gaze, I give him a thankful nod. He has proven that he can be trusted, again. At least for now.
"You can thank me later," Tanner breaks the silence and looks at Kate.
In response, she walks towards him and, to everyone's surprise, knees him in the crotch. "Chivalry is dead now."
"Stealing my moves?" I ask her with a smirk while Tanner groans painfully in the background. Kate gives me a small smile. "I feel proud."
Once we feel ready and we check on Jacob's leg, which is only red and swollen, we open the next door and walk in. I see mainly shelves and boxes as I walk behind Seth and I wonder where we are. After what we've been through, I didn't expect we'd come into a storage room.
"Preacher, check this out. It's a cargo, probably from all the truckers and travelers these buzzards snacking for years," Seth says as he approaches the shelves and starts looking at the boxes. "Maybe centuries."
While Tanner closes the door behind us with another wooden, the rest of us do the same as Seth and study the storage in front of us. Most of it is closed in boxes, but I wonder what we will find inside these.
"Jesus," Seth continues muttering as he walks along the shelves with an impressed look, curiosity written all over his face. "They have stuff here that goes back who knows how long."
A half smile crosses my lips at the sight of the different side of the thief in front of me. "The perfect place for you to be in, right, Gecko?"
He chuckles, but when he takes another step, I see something hitting him in the face. Seth groans painfully and mutters a curse, falling to the ground. Left in front of an armed man, I gasp. His shotgun is pointed at us and he wears an angry expression.
"Welcome to the party, baby."
Not daring to take my eyes off the stranger, I remind myself the knife that is hidden in my boot and slowly reach out for those stakes in my jeans. "Seth?"
Fortunately, Seth keeps cursing until he's back on his feet again. He stands only a step ahead, between the unknown man and me.
"You want to put down the death stick, Roadblock?" the thief asks and gestures at the shotgun.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that he and Seth will be getting along, because the stranger isn't impressed. "Do I have a smile on my face? Does it look like I'm happy to see you?"
"We're not culebras," I clarify and try not to show any feelings as the man's attention turns to me. "We're looking for people who were with us and a way out, that's it."
"It doesn't matter, I want you out of here. Go back the way you came," he replies, not showing any emotions either.
This time, Seth can't keep quiet and steps a little forward, saying, "There is nothing but death and misery that way."
The stranger holds his shotgun higher and looks at its barrel. "What do you think is on the end of this?"
His movement makes me notice the army tags that are hanging around his neck. Being in the army can explain how he's so cold towards us. The observation, however, isn't helpful since it doesn't seem like he's going to change his mind. I am about to argue with him when Kate comes to the front of the group.
"Stop!" she yells. I try to hold her back, but she slips out of my grip and refuses anyone who tells her to get back. "Mister, my brother is lost down here and we're trying to find him."
"You never will," he tells her. "Nothing's gonna survive down here."
"You survived," Kate notes before frowning. "How long have you been down here?'
Talking to her seems to calm him down a little and he says, "A month, a year... time's like a ribbon down here. Finds a way of tying itself into a bow."
Knowing that he has lost track of time causes me to wonder if it's just this place that has been getting to him, or has he really been here for a long time. I study him and notice that he looks overall fine and healthy, which must mean something good.
"Okay, buddy," Seth interrupts the conversation and I immediately try to hold him back by holding his upper arm. "Listen, we gotta get at this stuff, okay? We gotta find a way to defend ourselves, you understand?"
It sounds like he's talking to a toddler and I'm afraid it will make the stranger snap. So, I come to stand with next to Seth and say carefully, "We could use some help."
His reply makes it seem that Seth's approach has already done its damage. "I'm a bad judge of character. Either you get back the way you came from—" he says and pauses to hit one of the boxes, which causes another box to slip out from under it, ''—or you play the Wheel of Misfortune like everyone else."
"You want to play games?" Seth asks, obviously challenging him.
"I'm not playing the game. You are," the other man states, his gaze set on Seth.
After holding his gaze for a few seconds, the latter nods. He puts his hand on mine and releases himself from my hold. We exchange a quick glance as he steps to the front and stands near the game. It's a simple box that has a circle drawn on it with a Sharpie, divided into different options and a small pointer with a hand on its end is connected to the middle of the box.
We all watch silently as Seth spins the pointer. While we wait, I steal a glance at the man who is still pointing his gun at us, just in case he will use the distraction to try something. Luckily, he watches the game move like the rest of us.
When the pointer stops, he announces, "It's your lucky day — shopping spree. You get ten minutes to get whatever you want and ease down on the road."
Considering the fact that I didn't see the options of the wheel, I feel relieved. I thought we were going to have it much worse. Now we depend on whatever we will find in these boxes.
"Fair enough," Seth says.
Before anything else happens, Tanner decides to speak up from somewhere behind me. "Wait, hold on a second, you've been deeper into this temple."
"Fought my way to the heart of it," the stranger replies.
Then, Tanner asks what we all wondered at some point. "Well? What happened?"
The question makes the other man lower his gaze and he closes his eyes for a moment. "It showed me things," he says when he looks at us again.
"Things? What things?" Seth asks.
"If hell has circles," the stranger says, letting his gaze travel across every one of us. "you just stepped off the bottom rung. Now, let's start."
To my slight amusement, he takes out a chicken shaped stopper and leads us to the middle of the room. He stands next to one of the walls as we all look at him with anticipation and he sets it off. Then, we all spread through the storage room, determined to get out of here with as much as we get our hands on.
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Starting from next week I'm going to update once a week, probably Sunday. I only have season 1 written almost completely and I want to figure out how to fit June into season 2.
Let me know what you think and thank you so much for over 200 views!