Aquifer: A Novel (38 page)

He could see Gimp Foot closing in on Tina as he began his third swing back toward the mouth of the cave. His only thought was to rescue Tina from the jaws of the alien creature that was about to pounce and take her life.

Frantically Larry pumped his legs as he called out her name.

“Tina!”

Gimp Foot crouched atop a boulder two feet above Tina and several feet to her side. Poised for the attack, its muscles tensed as the creature prepared to spring at its intended prey. Defiantly, Tina stared the creature in the eye as if daring it to attack. She then squatted down and grasped a hand full of rocks. Standing, she hurled them at the alien hoping to momentarily drive it from its attacking position. The rocks merely bounced off Gimp Foot’s thick hide.

“Tina,” Larry yelled again, realizing that his final approach would still be short and that his forward motion was beginning to slow as the pendulum arc was about to change directions. Slowly the vine twisted, turning Larry’s back toward the mouth of the cave. He switched his grasp on the vine, turned his head to the left, and reached behind him with his left arm outstretched. In desperation he yelled, “Jump!”

Tina turned toward the abyss, took two running steps and lunged for Larry’s outstretched hand just as Gimp Foot lunged for her.

Larry was closer to the mouth of the cave than he realized and Tina’s leap easily covered the distance. She landed on his back, grasped him about the waist with her legs, reached around his neck and grabbed the grapevine with both hands.

As they swung away to momentary safety, Gimp Foot roared in defeat, perched on the edge of the cliff, awaiting their return swing. The two other aliens arrived at Gimp Foot’s side and joined in the vigil.

The grapevine neared the far end of its swing and began to slow in its forward motion. It was readily apparent to both Larry and Tina that they were not going to make it to the other side of the abyss. They were dangling above a 400 foot deep hole, five feet short of the safety of the far side and about to swing back into the waiting jaws of three hungry alien creatures.

At that moment, the gnarly old walnut tree snapped at its base and began to fall forward into the chasm. The long branch to which the grapevine was secured, tilted toward the bank on the far side of the abyss and started to fall into what used to be the bottom of the spring basin. As it did so, it carried the grapevine with it, increasing the swing of the pendulum’s arc. The massive tree continued to fall, providing Larry and Tina a graceful swing across the abyss until they were unceremoniously dumped on the gravely bottom of the spring basin’s floor. They landed with a crashing thud a few feet beyond the edge of the cliff that dropped into the depths of the chasm separating them from Gimp Foot and the other aliens.

Then the trunk of the old tree crashed into the basin floor just missing Larry and Tina by only two feet. It lay on the forty-five degree incline with a major portion of its massive, three-foot-in-diameter trunk extending out over the edge of the cliff, suspended above the abyss.

Larry tried to stand, but his feet sank up to his ankles in the loose wet gravel. Then, to his horror, he realized that he was slowly sliding backwards, toward the edge of the abyss. The gravel below him was gradually rolling over the rim of the precipice, and it was dragging him with it.

“Larry?” Tina said with alarm.

“Don’t . . . move . . .” he calmly instructed her.

But his instructions were meaningless. The steep slope of the spring basin floor, strewn with deep, loose gravel, prevented anyone, or anything, from gaining purchase. Both he and Tina were slowly sliding downhill toward the sheer drop-off. Instinctively they tried to scramble up the steep slope, but the more they struggled the quicker they slid backwards. Suddenly, the entire section of loose gravel where they stood gave away. A tremendous quantity of gravel and rock sloughed down the steep embankment and began pouring over the edge of the cliff.

The cascading gravel carried the couple along with it, down the steep incline. They were whisked along the side of the massive tree trunk, which remained on a stable section of the graveled basin. Frantically they clawed at protruding stubs of tree branches, but the branches were rotten and crumbled in their hands. Their descent toward the precipice began to pick up speed.

Tons of tumbling gravel had already spilled over the lip of the precipice pulling Larry and Tina ever closer to the edge. Somehow they had managed to remain on their feet atop the cascading mass which was now carrying them to the brink of the chasm. As they reached the edge and were on the verge of plummeting into the abyss, they embraced for the last time and exchanged an expression of hopelessness and terror. Helplessly they were washed over the edge of the cliff and began their free fall, careening into the depths of the abyss.

Larry lashed out, flailing his left arm, groping and grasping for anything. His hand struck something and his reflexes grabbed it tight. The grapevine which they had used to swing across the chasm now dangled limply over the edge of the cliff. Larry had snagged it with his left hand while his right hand connected under Tina’s shoulder and held her tight. Tina’s head was near his waist and she had wrapped both of her arms around his right leg just as they snapped to a jerking halt.

The sudden weight of their bodies yanked on the grapevine and dislodged it from a rock that had loosely moored it at the edge of the cliff. The sudden slack in the grapevine allowed them to swing under the protective safety of the massive overhanging tree trunk which they used to shield themselves from the remaining gravel that tumbled over the basin lip.

There they dangled, five feet below the lip of the spring basin. Within seconds, the last of the gravel-slide had passed them.

“Grab the grapevine!” Larry yelled. “ Use me as a ladder and try to climb onto my shoulders.”

Carefully, Tina made her way up the grapevine, climbing over Larry until their heads were even. Then they were suddenly splattered with falling gravel and debris while at the same time the grapevine jerked and dropped them six inches.

Looking up, Larry could see that the tree trunk was losing its grip on the spring basin floor and was now jerkily sliding in short spurts toward the edge of the abyss. Realizing that the tree’s momentary reprieve from its slide would not last more than a few seconds, he yelled at Tina.

“Climb! Climb!”

Frantically she continued to climb up Larry’s back until she stood on his shoulders.

Again the tree slipped a few inches sending additional gravel onto the couple.

Tina reached up and grabbed the stub of an old branch that protruded from the side of the tree and struggled to climb onto the top of the inclined trunk.

Jerkily, the old trunk continued its slide off the edge of the cliff.

With Tina safely atop the trunk of the old tree, Larry used the grapevine like a mountaineering rope. He planted his feet firmly against the wall of the cliff and walked up the wall, going hand-over-hand with the grapevine to keep himself perpendicular with the cliff. Reaching the top of the cliff he quickly joined Tina as he climbed onto the massive, unstable tree trunk.

“We’ve got to get to the other end!” he yelled. “Stay on the tree trunk or you’ll sink in the gravel. Climb! Go! Go!”

They quickly picked their way along the inclined tree trunk, dodging the few remaining broken limb stubs as best they could, working their way to the far end. As they climbed, the trunk began to pick up momentum as it continued to slide backwards, off the edge of the cliff behind them.

“Run!” yelled Larry. “Run and jump as far as you can!”

They both ran to the tip of the jagged trunk, where the top had been broken off. It appeared to have been struck by lightning in years past. Then they jumped as far forward as possible just as the trunk lost its last hold on the incline of the basin floor, picked up speed and plummeted over the edge of the cliff into the abyss.

They landed on a relatively level section of the spring basin floor and were no longer in danger of sliding over the edge. They lay there panting for several minutes, visibly shaken by the ordeal they had just experienced.

Then a faint, unfamiliar sound caught Tina’s attention. She listened attentively while the volume progressively increased.

“What’s that noise?” she asked.

Larry cocked his head to listen better. “It sounds like rushing water . . .”

Tina’s eyes opened wide in fear.

“It is . . .” she stammered. “The water’s coming back. It’s climbing up the walls of the abyss.”

Larry jumped to his feet. “And where we’re standing is about to become inundated, thirty feet underwater. We’ve got to climb!”

They ran as fast as they could in the deep loose gravel toward what would soon become the bank of the spring’s lagoon. They only ran about forty feet when the gentle angle of the basin floor once again sharply increased. They would have to scramble up a ten-foot very steep embankment to reach the top of the bank. Glancing over his shoulder Larry noted that the water was about to crest over the lip of the abyss and begin to fill the basin.

Then he saw what he had least expected to see. Incredibly, Gimp Foot and the other aliens had waited at the edge of the cave that was about to be filled with water. As the water began to lap into the subterranean tunnel, Gimp Foot dove into the swirling mass of rising water and began to swim across it toward them. The sucking current of the water rushing into the cave behind the alien slowed its progress, but Gimp Foot was definitely coming for them.

“Climb!” Larry shouted. “We’ve got to reach the Jeep.”

The basin filled with water much faster than Larry expected. Before they could reach the bank, the spring had completely filled. They struggled the last few feet in waist deep water. Reaching the edge, Larry hoisted himself up onto the dry bank then turned to give Tina a hand out. Gimp Foot was only twenty feet away and gaining on them fast. The other two aliens were not far behind.

Larry and Tina sprinted for the Jeep which was parked just a few feet away. The soft top was down so Larry jumped in without bothering to open the door. The keys had been left in the ignition which Larry grasped and began cranking the starter just as Tina slammed the door on the passenger side.

Ramming the stick-shift lever into first-gear, Larry popped the clutch and spun the tires flipping gravel and dust into Gimp Foot’s face just as it lunged for Tina.

Tina screamed and dodged the powerful jaws which clamped shut on the towels that had been hanging over the edge of the passenger side door.

Larry slammed the gear shift lever into second gear and started to pull away from the pursuing creature. But Gimp Foot was faster than anticipated and quickly closed in on the vehicle. Gimp Foot roared a trumpeting blast, then lowered its head and bit into the padded roll bar at the back of the Jeep. Lowering its head the alien tilted the Jeep, rotating it on the real axles and raising the front end of the Jeep several feet off the ground.

Planting its feet firmly, Gimp Foot dragged the Jeep to a stop, keeping the font-end suspended in the air.

“Don’t kill the engine!” Tina yelled.

“I won’t,” Larry yelled back as he skillfully rode the clutch, down-shifted into first, and kept the rear tires spinning, flipping sand and gravel onto the creature.

Tina whirled around and leaned over into the back seat. Reaching down to the floor of the Jeep she retrieved a long-handled shovel. Wielding it like a baseball bat she began to repeatedly bang Gimp Foot on the nose in an effort to make it release the Jeep.

At that moment, Gimp Foot was joined by the two other aliens. They halted and flanked Gimp Foot. One of the new arrivals eyed Tina and advanced in an attack mode. Immediately, Gimp Foot growled, released its hold on the Jeep and nipped at the aggressive alien to reassert dominance.

The font end of the Jeep slammed onto the dirt road, bouncing Larry and Tina like ping-pong balls. Yet Larry kept his foot on the accelerator and the Jeep immediately surged forward. Quickly he shoved the stick-shift into second gear and popped the clutch. Then, a second later, into third.

Gimp Foot and the other aliens sprang into pursuit, but the Jeep had too much of a head start. They could not close the gap and soon gave up the chase in frustration.

When the Jeep was a safe distance from the creatures, Larry slowed to a more reasonable speed.

“And Clayton wants to save those things?” Larry rhetorically stated.

“We’ll deal with that later. Right now we need to get back to the chem lab and make more anti-toxin,” Tina reminded him.

=/\=

C
HAPTER
F
ORTY

Town Meeting

Later that night a Town Meeting was in progress at the Eminence City Center in the town square across the street from Opal’s restaurant. The large meeting room, adjacent to Sheriff Aker’s office, was filled to overflowing. Never before in the town’s history had so many of its citizens gathered to discuss anything.

Everyone in the over-crowded room was angrily talking at once. Though the Mayor had tried to call the meeting to order no one heeded his call. Finally, in desperation the Mayor banged his gavel several times on the lectern. Gradually the room began to quiet.

“Now let's stay level-headed and not jump to any erroneous conclusions,” insisted the Mayor, trying to be heard over the din of the concerned citizens who were still noisily talking. He banged his gavel several more times to complete the quieting process.