Kord’s forearm poked through the rocky tomb, along with several hairy spider legs and torsos. Jane rubbed dirt off of her face and gazed at the remains. That easily could’ve been me, she thought.
“I…I killed him,” Matt was a statue, standing frozen in shock.
“Don’t say that,” Dwight said, “The plan wasn’t full-proof…”
Jane and Jacob were still recovering from the blast. Dirt and rock confetti embedded in their hair and eyelashes. Jane was in intense pain, but she knew the pain would get even more unbearable as soon as the shock wore off. It was still sinking in; the spiders and Kord being crushed.
“There’s no chance he’s alive?” Matt said helplessly.
Jacob coughed and hung his head between his legs. All of their ears were ringing endlessly.
“No,” Jacob grumbled, “No…”
Matt had some cuts and bruises himself. His knuckles were bleeding from punching spiders in the face. The blast pushed him and Dwight down and his right knee was bleeding through his jeans. The lenses in his glasses were pretty dirty and one had a long crack through it.
“Even if he were…” Dwight started, “The spiders probably got to him already.”
Jane could feel it now. She held her arm tightly against her body. Blood kept trickling out of the wounds, continuing to soak her jacket. The pain was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. She imagined normal bug bites that came from tiny spiders, and how they were tiny pink itchy bumps.
Then she imagined the bump that would come from these spiders.
Hot tears escaped her eyes, unable to hold in her agony any longer. Jacob helped get Jane off the ground and he examined her wound.
“How bad is it?” he asked.
Jane almost couldn't speak, “Awful…”
Jacob tore at her jacket sleeve until it ripped off. It was ruined anyway so she didn’t protest.
“Oh!” Jacob clenched his teeth, “It’s… Pretty gnarly.”
His tone changed, probably in hopes to not frighten Jane more. Too late. Dwight hobbled towards them, but Matt still didn't budge.
“Yikes,” Dwight gasped.
“It’s hot,” Jane whimpered, “Like it’s boiling my skin…”
Obviously it was poisoned and had to be impossibly strong. Jane knew enough about animals, cute or ugly, to know that she was in trouble.
“What should we do?” Dwight said.
Jacob sighed, and patted Jane on the shoulder, “Don’t hate me.”
Jane narrowed her eyes at him, unsure of what he meant until he lightly pinned her back onto the ground. She was on her stomach, her head turned to the side and her arm stretched outwards, still in Jacob’s hands.
“What’re you doing?” Jane asked.
Jacob didn't look completely convinced with what he was about to do either. He pinched the outer rim of the two bite marks with both of his hands. Each hole was about the width of a penny, dark red and oozing. Jacob squeezed.
“Ow! Stop!” Jane bit her lip.
She wriggled, but Jacob steadied her arm. A thick yellow and clear substance escaped the wound. He had to turn away to avoid getting sick.
“I have to get the venom out,” he explained her.
Jane groaned aggressively. Her arm felt like it had its own fever. It was throbbing, warm, and now oozing pus. She was tempted to tell them to chop the arm off. At this point, she was losing it anyway. It still hurt like hell, but her fingers were getting tingly and the swelling was consuming the entire limb.
“Ah…sick,” Dwight took a step back, “We need to get her to a hospital.”
“We need to find a way out of this hell hole first,” Jacob said, exasperated.
Jane was about to pass out. Her vision of the ground was getting blurry and their voices sounded distant.
“Oh man…” Jacob said, “Look at her veins…”
He was whispering for her benefit, and she wanted to scold him for bothering, but she had no energy.
“She’s getting pale,” Dwight said, “Let’s keep moving. We’ll have a better luck finding help if we get out of this mine…”
“Can you stand?” Jacob asked Jane.
She rolled her eyes. You were the one that put me back on the ground, she thought. Dwight and Jacob each took an arm and lifted her onto her feet. It was definitely a struggle. Jane felt like the walking dead.
Matt finally got out of his trance, and spoke softly, “I can carry her.”
He was definitely the tallest and broadest of the group, next to Dwight who was fairly skinny and Jacob standing at about the same height as Jane. Matt scooped her up, letting her sad arm dangle lifelessly. She felt ridiculous, but it wasn't the time or place to worry about it.
The group walked back down the tunnel and all the way back into the room that they’d started. The pit was empty and no longer on fire, but a thin haze of smoke was trapped in there with them.
“That guy is dead…” Matt said absentmindedly.
“It’s my fault,” Jacob said, “I dropped the flare and triggered the spiders.”
Matt shrugged, “I found the flare.”
Jane listened to them subtly argue in silence. She couldn't even move her injured arm anymore. It was dead, like after falling asleep on it for too long.
“Do you think Thanato Project means: kill five strangers with S.O.U.Ses?” Matt grumbled.
“With what?” Dwight asked.
“Spiders of unusual size,” Matt smiled to himself, “Princess Bride reference…bad joke.”
“Well,” Dwight huffed, “Let’s think for a second. What did the voice say?”
“Um… we were welcomed to the project and we need to survive?”
Matt added, “And they would give us hints.”
Jane remembered the cryptic notes left in their pockets. Whoever was doing this is a real prick!
“What’s the point of all this…” Jane spoke in a raspy voice.
“Killing us off,” Matt replied.
“C’mon…” Dwight said discouragingly.
Jane could feel Matt wanting to throw his hands in the air. His arms tensed, but he sighed realizing what he was doing. “Well, why else then!”
“We need to keep cool, alright?”
“Guys,” Jacob stopped them.
He was holding something in his hands. Everyone came in for a closer look like he had a magnet. It was a small black tape recorder, and it had already been used.
“Where was it?” Dwight asked, “I don’t remember seeing it out here before.”
“Right here by the pit.”
“That’s impossible, I was looking everywhere when I found the flares. I didn't see that,” Matt said.
"I know..." Jacob played the tape. At first, there was nothing but static. Then the voice returned.
"Congratulations. You’ve overcome the beasts that crawl through these tunnels."
“Son of a gun…” Matt said.
"Remember, failure is not an option."
"As promised, there’s a hint for you in this room. Find it, but don’t stay too long. Stay afloat, follow the path of the rescued, and do not wallow with the dead."
The recording stopped. This time, the voice sounded almost playful. No one spoke for a good long minute, regardless of the voice urging them to not linger.
“How did they know…” Matt said.
Jacob’s eyes were wide, and his nostrils flared. Jane mulled the words the voice said over in her head. It was odd that they used words like afloat and wallow. Not the mention saying “the rescued” and “the dead”!
What did that mean?
Jacob started edging closer to the hole. There was a faint sound, slowly getting louder, and it was coming from the pit again.
“What is that?” Jacob asked.
“I don’t think its spiders this time,” Dwight said.
“Hopefully not…” Matt groaned.
Jane could barely move, but she could still hear. It sounded like gurgling and rushing. Kind of like a waterfall. Water!
The pit was filling up with water.
Heh. Gnarly.
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