Blood and Sand by Matthew James

Author:Matthew James [James, Matthew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-06-01T23:00:00+00:00

28

“What did you see?” Dad asks.

We are all gathered around the edge of the precipice, peering out into the stone forest. Kane and I still have on our high-tech specs, both scanning for signs of movement. I see nothing, but Kane is absolutely convinced that he saw something. Something alive.

“Not much, just shadows, but there is definitely something out there,” Kane says still gazing out into the stone jungle. “There isn’t enough ambient light to cause that many different shapes. If there was we couldn’t be using these,” he explains pointing to his glasses.

“Everything about this valley has me on edge. From the drop into nothingness, the dead soldiers, the coded messages, and who could forget the stone wall that now has us trapped down in the Atlantean underworld…” Right as the words come out of my mouth I get an awful idea.

“It’s Hell…” I say in a hushed tone.

Everyone stops and looks up at me. The blank expressions on their faces tell me they recognize that I’m serious.

“It all makes sense,” I continue. “The bridge from one world to another—between the tunnel and the staircase. It’s a symbol of crossing over the literal threshold. Whatever populace we are dealing with believed in the underworld so much that they built a physical version of it.”

“So what you’re saying is that we are currently trapped in Hell?” Kane asks.

“Pretty much,” I answer shrugging my shoulders.

“Well, damn. That just sucks now doesn’t it,” Kane says. He then pulls a Desert Eagle from his pack and holds it down to his side, like he’s waiting for an attack.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Never better.”

“I don’t understand, aren’t we supposed to be in Atlantis?” Nicole asks.

“I thought so. I mean everything here points to Atlantis—the multiple languages and pictographs for one. But…I’m not so sure anymore,” I answer. “It seems like this place was deliberately made separate.”

“The images in the tunnel showed what looked like an above ground city, where we are obviously underground,” Dad adds. “I wonder if this is something else altogether.”

The shocked expressions say it all, everyone is flat out stunned at the revelation. But there is also another look on everyone’s faces. Fear.

Great, I think. Everyone’s going to be on edge from now on. Last thing we need is a twitchy trigger finger to go off and someone accidentally getting shot.

“Ok, guys,” I say. “Whatever is out there—whether it’s just the shadows playing tricks on us or not—we need to get some rest. Besides, we have the high ground and can easily defend this position if needed.” I glance over to Kane for reassurance. “Right?”

He looks over to me with a look that says he’s putting all the scenarios together in his head, trying to find a solution.

“Kane?” I ask getting a little worried.

He turns back toward the forest and shrugs his shoulders, “Sure.”

Not exactly the answer I was hoping for.

He speaks up, still looking off into the distance, “Either way Hank is right, let’s rest for half-an-hour and recharge the batteries.”

“How about an hour,” Dad says.

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