Treasures of the Lochs by Hunter H. White

Author:Hunter H. White [H. White, Hunter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: River Grove Books

Chapter 18

CARTER’S EARS RANG, his head pounded, and dirt filled his nostrils and covered his face. Violent coughs forced their way out. He tried to open his eyes, but they hurt and all he saw was darkness. He felt around with his hands, unbalanced and disoriented. His heart rate spiked with the terrifying and lonely feeling.

When his mind cleared, he remembered the blast, followed by an equally frightening collapsing of walls and stone around him. He also recalled a sense of falling before his shoulder and head slammed into the ground. It felt like he had fallen a kilometer, but it was probably more like five meters.

He pushed himself onto his knees, but when he tried to stand up, something large blocked him. He heard moaning and crying from someone nearby, but he couldn’t see them. Worse, he couldn’t help them.

This reminded him of battle and the confusion and helplessness soldiers often felt after a battle plan went horribly wrong.

Remember your training. Calm your breathing! He wiped away the dirt from his eyes and nose with the inside of his shirt. Thick dust filled the air, and he could hardly breathe without coughing.

Opening his eyes a little wider, he now saw a few small streaks of light. He realized that those were from the headlamp of his hardhat, which had fallen a short distance away. He crawled over and grabbed it. Even though the deafening rumble of rocks had subsided, he still heard large pieces of rock breaking off and falling.

The light from his headlamp revealed a large hole above him, where he had been when the bomb went off, close to the place the bottom of the stairs used to be. Only the last few metal stairs were visible; the rest were twisted under tons of rock. Seeing the devastation above, he knew that falling through the floor had probably saved his life.

Vivian’s head and shoulders were visible, extending out and over the edge of the hole. Her eyes were open, but they had an empty, vacant expression. He estimated that a metric ton or two of rock had crushed her below the chest. He shuddered at the thought of her mangled corpse and remembered that six or seven other tour members had been to the right of her and were likely dead as well.

It feels just like war. All this pointless death. Why? None of it made sense to him. They could have just killed him if all they wanted was to eliminate a competitor for the treasure. Why would they destroy the treasure’s location and possibly the treasure itself? he pondered.

They wouldn’t, unless they had already found and removed what they needed. The destruction of the tower was simply to remove all traces of their activity and to eliminate me. He slumped as he exhaled.

He had lost. He had lost the journal, the treasure, and the opportunity to find the Russian and end the threat to Hassie and her grandfather. That last realization pained him more than the throbbing in his shoulder and his head.

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