Cibola

Chapter 22

The bouncing vehicle jolted Dane to full alertness. He scanned the barren landscape. Red rocks and sparse hills surrounded them, morning light casting their surroundings in a faint, golden hue. There was no road in sight.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to doze off on you,” he murmured, rubbing his eyes. It was not like him to fall asleep like that, especially after the startling revelations from earlier. “Where are we?”

“We’re close to Zion,” Jade said. She sounded oddly subdued, so unlike her excited, almost manic behavior of earlier. Of course, she had been driving since early morning and was operating on very little sleep. “I had to go off-road a bit. This will take us in through the back door. Assuming, of course, you’re up for a bit of a hike.”

“Always ready,” he said, though his head still felt thick from his nap, as if his brain was filled with molasses. “Just need to finish waking up.”

“If you don’t have any coffee left, you can have the rest of mine.” Jade inclined her head toward the two Styrofoam cups in the console.

Dane swirled the contents of his cup before drowning the three remaining lukewarm swallows. One glance at the clock told him he had been asleep for only about a half-hour.

Jade brought the vehicle to a halt and hopped out before reaching into the back seat and grabbing a paper bag she had brought from the convenience store. Dane assumed it held bottles of water for their hike.

They started walking. There didn’t seem to be any distinct landforms by which to pinpoint their location, but Dane trusted that Jade knew where she was going.

“There’s a cleft in the rock over there.” She indicated a spot in the distance where a dark, vertical line cleft the sun-illuminated stone.

He had to turn sideways and exhale in order to squeeze through the narrow opening, but on the other side it widened enough for two people to walk abreast. The way was strewn with loose rock and choked with cactus, but the slope was gentle and the path straight.

He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs. The moment of alertness he had felt when he first awoke was long gone, replaced by a feeling of increased heaviness, as if his head was slowly filling with cement. He stumbled and barely caught himself before his face hit the path.

“You all right?” Jade asked. His sluggishness and heavy feeling made her words sound cold and flat.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I think… I think I need to sit for a minute.”

“There’s an outcropping up here where you can get out of the sun. Come on.” She took him by the hand and guided him like a child up to the sheltered overhang where she settled him against the bare rock. “Close your eyes,” she whispered.

He fought to stay awake, but his eyelids drooped, and Jade faded from sight.

It was hot… dry… he was in the depths of a canyon. A winged, skeletal figure hovered over him, spreading its arms to welcome him into its deadly embrace.

“Aaah!” Red light flashed across his vision as he bolted upright and cracked his head on the low-hanging rock. “Stupid!” He rubbed his head and looked around for Jade, but there was no sign of her. He searched the defile, calling her name. No luck. Had she gone on ahead? Surely not, but who could say? Perhaps she had left a note in the car.

Utterly confused, he made his way back the way he and Jade had come earlier. Heat ripped up from the parched earth, the late morning sun hung angry in the sky. He rubbed a dry palm across his equally parched forehead. He was dehydrated. The single cup of coffee he had drunk hours ago was not remotely enough in this climate. On the positive side, he felt much more alert than he had upon arrival. His relief was short-lived, as he squeezed out of the rocky cleft to discover that their car was gone.

His mind raced. What had happened to her? She wouldn’t have just left him. They must have found her, and she had hidden the fact that he was with her. That was the only possible explanation. So what was he going to do about it?

He considered his options, which were few. He didn’t know how far it was back to the road, or exactly which direction they had come. For that matter, there was no telling how many back roads Jade had taken before leaving the road entirely. Were he to make it back to any sort of road, he wouldn’t know where to go from there. The wide open spaces of the American southwest meant one could seemingly go forever without a glimpse of civilization. That had, for the most part, appealed to him until this moment.

The only thing that made sense to him was to keep on going. Jade had indicated that their destination was within walking distance. His limited examination of the map on the way here, and his estimation of the distance they had traveled provided a degree of confirmation. If Jade had been kidnapped, they would expect her to lead them to whatever waited in Zion. His only chance was to find her there. He checked his cell phone just in case, but he had no coverage, as usual.

His thoughts flew unbidden to a moment, years ago. He remembered the sound of Melissa’s voice, the scream the crash… He had stood there staring numbly at his cell phone, knowing his wife was dead, and he could do nothing about it. It had been completely beyond his control, but this was not beyond his control. He would find Jade and bring her back. Setting determined eyes on the horizon, he set off.

It was not long before the intense sun led him to tie his handkerchief over his head like a turban. The thin fabric was of little help in the heat, but it did serve to deflect the worst of the sun’s rays. The wise course would be to find a bit of shade in which to wait out the hottest part of the day, and travel in the evening and at night, but he could not spare the time. He did not know exactly how far he was going, or where for that matter, but the fact that Jade had brought no water with them when they left the car indicated that she did not expect it to be far.

The shimmering waves of hot air seemed to resist his every step, as though he was swimming in molten lead. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he wiped it off and licked it off his palm. I need to conserve every bit of moisture I can, he thought. He hoped it would not be far. He did not know what he would find when he caught up with Jade and whoever had taken her, but he was certain he would need every ounce of strength he could muster.

The path he walked was not truly a path at all, but a low area among the hills and mounds of rock, where water flowed through during the rare downpour that touched the desert with its brief, violent kiss. He came upon a bit of shade, and rested for a moment, leaning against the rough, dry rock. His eyes searched the grounds for any bit of vegetation he could chew on for moisture, but he found nothing.

He continued to walk. The baked stone beneath his feet seemed to melt the soles of his shoes, and he imagined he was walking in mud, though it was only fatigue that made him feel like his feet were sticking to the earth. He came around a sharp bend, where the ground fell away to a narrow cleft where rocks and debris choked the bottom of the passage. His eyes fell on dark sand, and his heart pounded a hopeful beat. He half-climbed, half-fell to the bottom, and tumbled to his knees. He burrowed deep into the sand, working his way deeper until… yes! Moisture!

He continued to dig until his fingers struck rock. He twisted his arm back-and-forth, digging a tiny well for water to gather. He scooped up a bit of dirty, tepid water and carefully poured it into his mouth. He resisted the urge to gulp the water, instead letting it trickle back into his throat, keeping the grit and sand on his tongue. The hole yielded no more than another thimbleful, which he dribbled onto his swollen tongue. The moist sand he patted onto his sunburned arms and face. It did not come anywhere close to making him feel refreshed, but the worst of the heat seemed to dissipate. Renewed, he scooped up a couple of small, round, pebbles and popped them into his mouth before continuing his trek.

His pace grew torpid as he trudged across the unforgiving land. Concerns over lack of water and directions lay thin above the underlying fear that he might already be too late. What would they do with Jade once they found whatever it was they were looking for? He couldn’t permit those thoughts. She had to be all right. She had to be.

By the angle of the sun it was well past noon. He hadn’t the energy to even consult his watch. For the first time, he felt hope wane. Had he missed a turn? Was there a sign of which Jade had been aware that he had not? His fatigue and thirst made it increasingly difficult to fight off despair. He needed something to drink. He remembered his survival training, and groaned at the most immediate possibility. He could drink his own urine. It would be disgusting, and he had nothing in which to collect, but it would keep him going a bit longer. He really didn’t want to do that. What would Bones say if he knew? The thought of his friend made him chuckle, and his spirits lifted, if only a shade.

What about food? He supposed he could poke around under some of the clefts and try to surprise a rattlesnake. If he could find one, and if he could manage to kill it without being bitten, he could eat the meat… raw. Of course, he would waste vital time and energy in what might be a fruitless quest. He would push on a bit further before making that decision.

He glanced up at the hazy, blue sky, the waves of heat rolling up like breakers on the sea. A lone wisp of cloud drifted lazily across the horizon, taunting him with the thought of the dark, heavy-laden storm clouds that visited his home in southern Florida every afternoon. Not a chance of that in this arid clime.

Something glimmered on the horizon. In his state, he could not tell if it was anything more than a mirage, but he continued to move toward it. His head swam, but he kept moving. Jade… Melissa… Jade… He stumbled, but maintained his balance. He had to keep going.

And then something was moving toward him. A shadowy figure, little more than a dark outline against the sun-scorched sand. As it approached, the form took on a human shape. Hope welled inside of Dane. He was too tired and dehydrated to wonder if the person might mean him ill. Dane raised a hand in greeting, or tried to, but he could not lift his arm. His vision blurred, and an icy cool flowed down his back. Heatstroke. He stumbled to his knees as the figure drew forth. Dane had only a brief glimpse of a hideous, beastly face before he slumped unconscious to the ground, the silent scream dying in his parched throat.