Dourado

CHAPTER 25

Dane dropped to one knee, bringing the Walther to bear on the four armed men, all the while expecting to feel hot lead ripping through his flesh. However the roar that filled the room was not the staccato rattle of automatic weaponry, but the sharp report of large caliber rifles. Across the room, two men crumpled to the ground. The remaining pair fired wildly into the air as they backed up, seeking shelter in the passageway from which they had come. The rifle fire continued unabated.

Dane, now retreating toward the safety of the doorway on his side of the room, looked up to see men leaning out of the upper windows, sending a steady stream of bullets toward their pursuers. What is going on? Not waiting to find out, he turned and ran as fast as his injured legs would allow. Bones waited at the top of the stairs, covering his retreat. The big Indian grabbed Dane’s upper arm and helped him into the dark hallway where Kaylin and Meriwether waited.

“Who are those guys?” Meriwether asked.

“Which ones?” Bones replied, still watching the room behind them.

Dane looked back. The two fallen black clad men still lay at the foot of the stairs on the far side of the room. The others had disappeared, and the gunfire had ceased.

“I don’t know who any of them are,” he said. “Let’s stick together and try to find a way out of here. Do you remember which direction you came from?” Meriwether nodded, and led the way.

All four had their weapons drawn and they moved together down the hallway. Bones kept an eye out behind them. About fifty feet down, the passageway ended in a cross-hall. Meriwether paused, and peered around the corner, checking in both directions. He turned back to Dane and the others, and tilted his head to their left. “That way?” he asked softly.

Bones and Kaylin nodded in agreement. Meriwether nodded, turned, and stepped around the corner.

A blistering peal of gunfire rent the quiet of the hall. The old Navy man was spun half around as bullets ripped into him. Instinctively, Dane leapt forward, hitting the ground and rolling, his gun held out in front of him. Another of their dark-clothed pursuers, rifle in hand, sprinted toward him. The man had obviously been watching at head-level for someone to round the corner. His brown eyes widened in surprise as he looked down at Dane, and he swung his rifle forward, but too late. Dane opened fire, catching him full in the chest and knocking him flat on his back. Dane sprang to his feet and looked up and down the hall for more attackers. Seeing no one, he turned to check on Meriwether.

Kaylin and Bones knelt over the Admiral, who held both hands clamped over his stomach. Blood soaked his shirt, and his face was ghastly pale. Dane moved behind Kaylin and placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked down at his old friend, a mixture of fear and anger roiling inside.

“We’ve got to get you out of here Meri,” he said hoarsely, though his words rang false in his ears. They all knew that Meriwether was not going to make it out of here.

“Leave me here,” Meriwether whispered, grimacing with the pain of speaking. Kaylin started to protest, but he shook his head vigorously. “Sit me up,” he gasped. Dane and Bones grasped him under each arm, gingerly brought him up to a sitting position, and propped him against the wall. Meriwether’s face twisted as they moved him, but otherwise he made no sound. He was still as tough as old leather, Dane thought. He could not believe the old sailor might die.

“I am going to be fine,” Meriwether said softly, his face placid. “Don’t you worry about me.”

“You’re not going to be fine unless we get you out of here and to a doctor,” Kaylin said. Her fair skin was flushed, and unshed tears glistened in her emerald eyes. “We’ll find a way. We will.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Meriwether grunted. “You see, I have cancer.” He paused to take a raspy breath. “They give me six months, a year if I’m lucky.”

The words hit Dane like a sledgehammer. His blood seemed to turn to ice.

“I don’t know what to say,” Dane said after a long pause. Bones and Kaylin were silent.

“It’s all right,” Meriwether said. “When I first found out about it, I was scared. I realized I was afraid to die. I had too many unanswered questions. But after what I’ve seen tonight, I don’t have any more questions.” He closed his eyes. For a moment, Dane thought the man might have expired, but then Meriwether opened his eyes again. “So, like I said, I’ll be all right.”

“I wish there was something I could do for you,” Dane said. A feeling of helplessness swelled up inside of him, all thoughts of their pursuers were forgotten in his pain and frustration. First his parents, then Melissa, and now Meriwether. What good was he? He had not been able to do anything for any of them.

“You’ve already given me a gift that I couldn’t repay if I lived forever. You’ve given me hope.” He coughed, a loud, rasping song that was painful to hear. He winced, and then extended his hand, first to Bones, who shook it regretfully. He next took Kaylin’s hand. She took his in both of hers, and kissed him gently on the forehead.

Finally, Meriwether reached out and clasped Dane’s hand.

“Good luck, Swabbie,” he said hoarsely.

“You too,” Dane replied. After a moment, he let go of the older man’s hand, but Meriwether held on.

“You need to have hope, son,” he whispered. His eyes had gained a sudden clarity. “It’s nobody’s fault.” The intensity of his expression took Dane aback.

“What isn’t?” Dane asked.

Meriwether did not reply. He closed his eyes and let his head rock back against the wall. He sighed deeply. Dane leaned closer, and could hear the man’s shallow breathing. He gave his old friend’s shoulder a squeeze, and then stood.

“We need to go,” Bones said. “I hate to leave him as much as you do. We’re too vulnerable here.”

Dane knew that his friend was right. Someone could come upon them from any of three directions. He stood and addressed the other two.

“All right, let’s get our directions straight. We’ll call the direction from which the river enters the main hall ‘north.’” He pointed down the hallway away from the dead attacker. “Left is west, right is east, behind us is south. Got it?” Bones and Kaylin nodded. “Now, can you tell me how you got here?”

“Go ‘south,’ as you called it, to the end of this hall,” Kaylin said. “Then two rights and we’ll hit the passage to the well.”

Dane turned wordlessly and led the way south down the passage. Over his left shoulder, he could hear the faint rushing of the river through the main hall. Approaching the end of the hall, he paused to relieve their attacker of his rifle. It was an older model NATO CETME. At .51mm, it carried serious stopping power. He tucked the Walther into his belt and stood, rifle at the ready.

Bones knelt down over the attacker. Reaching under the man’s collar, he grasped something. With a curse, he gave the object a forceful yank. He held up his hand, displaying a silver chain with a familiar pendant.

“The sword crucifix.” Kaylin’s voice was scarcely a whisper.

“The same guys who came after us before,” Bones said bitterly. He stood and gave Meriwether’s assailant a vicious kick in the ribs.

Dane gritted his teeth. He would find out who these people were, and he would make them pay. He stalked angrily to the end of the hallway. He peered around the corner to the right, and saw another short hallway, twin to the one in which he stood. To his left, a spiral stone staircase wound upward. He heard a faint sound coming from the stairwell, and held up a warning hand to Bones and Kaylin.

Moving to the inside wall, he knelt down, and waited. Bones squatted behind him, gripping his Beretta. The faint sound came again. Someone was coming down the stairs. A brief glimpse of black clothing was all the motivation Dane needed to open fire, cutting his target down. Bones hastily appropriated the man’s rifle and pointed back down the hallway.

Dane led them along the featureless passage. The corridor was dimly lit by the same diamond-shaped rocks that illuminated the main hall. They made a sharp right at the end of the hall. Far ahead of them, he could see the pathway leading to the tunnel. He made a mental note that they were now moving north, parallel to the inside hall where Meriwether lay, and to the river.

He paused where the passageway intersected a hall on the right. A careful look revealed no pursuers, but in the faint light he could just make out a spiral staircase at the far end. Kaylin came up beside him, her gaze following his. “Do you think…”

“It’s a big old circle,” Bones said, pausing between them. “Or a square, I mean. I guarantee you, you go down there and hang a right, you’ll be in the hall where we left Meriwether.”

Bitterness and frustration welled up inside of Dane as he thought again about leaving the Admiral behind. The rational part of him knew there was nothing they could do. Meriwether was probably already gone.

Kaylin seemed to read his thoughts. She squeezed his arm, and then pulled him forward. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.” They hurried across the hall and into the tunnel that led back toward the well and, hopefully, safety.

This tunnel differed from the one they just left. There were none of the glowing stones on the wall, and they had to use their flashlights to find their way. Also, this passage gradually curved back to the right.

“Smell that?” Bones asked, raising his head and inhaling deeply. A smile spread across his dark face.

“What?” Dane asked.

“Water. We’re almost there.” Bones claimed to have heightened senses due to his ancestry, but Dane suspected that his friend was usually blowing smoke. This time, he hoped Bones was right.

Behind them, shots rang out again. They were muted, sounding far away. First one barrage, then another reverberated down the hall. The sound was unexpectedly drowned by a deep rumbling that seemed to come from within the bowels of the earth.

“Tremor!” Dane shouted, dropping to the ground. The hallway shook as if some giant hand had grasped it and given it a jiggle. Chunks of rock fell around him. The vibrating lasted several seconds. As the force dissipated, he heard a loud crashing from down the tunnel ahead of them, and a cloud of dust filled the air.

“No way,” Bones said flatly, his voice filled with resignation.

Dane did not say anything. He stood and trotted down the hall. Just around the next bend, the ceiling had collapsed, blocking their exit. He and Bones climbed onto the pile of rubble, and attempted to dislodge some of the top stones, but to no avail.

“The tremors are getting worse,” Kaylin said, a worried look on her face.

“Maybe they feel bigger because we’re underground,” Bones said. “What do you think, Maddock?”

Dane took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I think we need to find another way out, and soon.”