Well, this isn't exactly the beginning of the story, but i don't have a beginning just yet, so i'll just make do with what i have. =D -jake
The gun was in his hand, but he didn’t remember shooting it. Then why did the person in front of him lay dead on the floor? He surveyed the body in front of him and searched for bullet holes and blood. Why was he holding a gun anyway? Why was he not panicking that there was a dead person in front of him? Did he cause this persons death?
Jake Mesh closed his eyes for not even two seconds before he whipped around to face the shadows. Was someone else in here? Where was here anyway? Why was here so icy cold? This coldness was the kind that seeped in through the skin and went farther than the bones. Maybe the coldness was affecting his thinking. Was that why he couldn’t remember who this person was, or what he was doing here, or if he was in danger? His brain felt so foggy, like icicles were forming in his head.
Jake looked down at the steel weapon in his hand. Instinct kicked in. He dropped down to a crouch and darted to the nearest, darkest corner, away from the lone light blub next to the only door in the room. Something felt on fire. Searing, hot pain. He looked down at his camouflage-cargo pants and saw red oozing down the side. He was shot. How could he not remember that? He un-tucked his black shirt from his pants and pulled it over his head. Stopping the bleeding was first on his mind. He wasn’t sure which was the fastest way to die, freezing to death or bleeding to death. He wasn’t sure he really wanted to find out.
Oh God, help me!
Where did that come from? Maybe he was a religious man. If so, he shouldn’t be afraid to die. Though it didn’t feel right to be afraid, it felt like he had been trained not to be.
That didn’t stop him from jumping when a voice spoke directly in his ear.
“356 we have lost your location, please report,” a masculine voice demanded.
He darted his head from left to right. No one was there. Great, now he was hearing things. He wrapped his shirt around his leg tight enough for it to go numb and make him wish he hadn’t, that was when he knew it was tight enough. The room spun darker than it already was. Maybe he was getting delirious, maybe it was the dead body talking. But the dead didn’t talk, did it?
Looking over to the body, he looked at the man’s gray face for the first time. He felt like he should know the man who looked to be about his own age. A single shiver ran down Jake’s bare spine. This man was his friend. What was his name?
“356 we have lost your location, please report,” the same masculine voice repeated in his ear. “Jake? If you can hear me, please answer.”
Jake brought his hand to his face and felt hard plastic in his ear. Drawing it out, he stared at it for second. A slight remembrance of sticking it in his ear at some point earlier that day came back to him, recalling it to be some sort of communication device. Jake lightly cleared his throat, testing to see if his voice still worked, he answered, keeping his voice low.
“Hello?”
“Jake, where in the world are you! We lost your location and thought you were down.”
The voice sounded familiar. Where had he heard that voice?
“I don’t know where I am. Who are you?”
“Jake that’s not funny,” the voice warned.
“I’m so cold”, He was loosing more blood by the second.
“Cold? Jake its 102 degrees out-...Jake get out of there now.” the voice hardened. “If you want to live, get out.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in a dark room with one door, the whole place is steel. I feel like I’m in a modern castle dungeon.”
“Whatever you do, don’t go out that door. It probably will not open though, so don’t even try it. Go to the wall east of the door and remove the second steel plate from the left, then pull the lever.”
Groaning with pain, he grabbed the wall and pulled himself up. Slices of white fire shot up his leg making him feel like he was about to past out. What a welcome relief that would be, he thought. But the numbing cold made his survival instincts come alive. He slung his gun around his back, drug his leg to the wall, and removed the plate that was heavier than it looked, then groped in the darkness for the lever. The wall immediately swung in revealing a long hall.
“The wall is open.”
“Good, now run.”
Jake almost rolled his eyes. Shot in the leg and nearly frozen, he was lucky he could walk. He started down the hallway, but stopped short. He turned and looked back at the body lying on the ground. What if he had a family? He was dressed in the same camo-pants and black shirt as Jake. He felt something for this man. Had they known each other long? Jake felt a sense of grief at the thought of loosing a friend, though he didn’t know who he was. He stumbled back to the man and knelt down beside him. He didn’t know if he could make it if he tried to carry him out. He looked down at his arms; he looked strong enough to do it. Well, more than strong enough, either he must workout immensely for the fun of it everyday or he was a wrestler. But the thought of putting any more pressure on his leg that felt as though it was about to explode made the cold go away for a moment. He didn’t know how, but he knew this man wouldn’t have left him behind.
He bit down on his bottom lip and lifted the man onto his shoulder. His breath escaped and pain came crashing through as he stood unsteadily on his good leg.
No pain, no pain, I feel no pain. The chant ran through his head as though he had been brainwashed. He stepped into the hallway and the voice in his ear said, “I have finally located your position. What are you doing on that side of the caves?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Rogers is with you? I haven’t been able to get him on his radio.”
Jake shifted the man on his shoulder, “Yeah, I guess he is.”
“Good, now take a right at the end of the hall.”
“It’s dark, can’t see a thing.”
“Ok, I’ll see if I can turn on the security lights. I don’t identify any dangerous activity around you, but the moment I do, be ready to be back in darkness.”
Jake took a right at the end of the hall. Caves? This didn’t look like a cave. More like an underground maze of steel corridors that you would see on an Xbox game. The air wasn’t quite so cold in the hall, but he could still see his breath come out in big clouds.
“Alright, go through this door coming up on the right. You are now in the western cave, coming onto an exit.”
An exit…an end to this nightmare. His breath was coming in hard now, the harder he breathed, the more the frigid air burned his throat and lungs.
“It’s so cold,” he whispered.
“It’s going to be ok, Jake. I’ll get you out. Hold on-...Jake pick up the speed, I’m getting some movement going on somewhere behind you.”
“I’m going as fast as I can.” Jake panted.
“Dude, you are barely crawling. You have to go faster, no telling what this thing is and you don’t want to find out.”
“How much farther to the exit?”
Jake could hear the anxiety in the voice.
“About 80 seconds at the rate you’re going, but this thing is moving faster than you and according to my surveillance, this thing is big.”
No fear, no fear, I feel no fear. Jake chanted through his head. He picked up the pace, half running, half hobbling.
“I see the door,” Jake choked out.
“Good, I’m going to half to turn out those lights though. It knows you are there. Hurry!”
Sweat from the struggle leaked down his back, but froze about midway into little drops of ice. One second later, Jake was plunged in darkness. Straight ahead, I will not alter my course. Perseverance, determination, willpower, purpose …I have all of that. I can make it.
Jake heard the stomping of heavy boots in the distance.
“20 seconds, you’re almost there man. Go faster!”
Jake heft Rogers into a better position so that he could reach his gun.
“15 seconds, he is gaining! Lighten your load. You can make it!” the voice almost shouted in his ear.
Jake grabbed the butt of his gun. He would not leave Rogers behind. The steps were closer. He turned and opened fire. Sparks flew as the bullets rapidly ricocheted off the steel walls. He heard a yell but didn’t know if it was the voice or his attacker.
Jake stumbled, but didn’t cry out from the pain. There is no pain. Jake tried to run faster.
“10 seconds. This thing is almost on top of you.”
He turned and shot off another round. The shots echoed of the walls, ringing in Jake’s numb head. I will make it.
“5 seconds, go, Jake, go!” the voice pleaded.
I will make it.
“3!”
At the same time Jake reach and opened the door, he heard a growl and felt a hand on his arm as he stumbled outside and rolled onto hot sand. Rogers going one way, and he the other. The door slammed behind him closing in his enemy, whoever he was.
Heat poured over his body like a wave. The sun warmed his frozen face. His whole body was numb; the only thing he felt was relief…and heat. It felt so good.
“You’re safe, Jake, you’re safe. You made it.” the voice in his ear whispered, “Well done.”
You have no idea how good that was, you had my heart pumping like I was reading Dekker!!! You better write more...soon!!
Thanks, I only discovered my love of photography in the summer :) But I'm glad you like my photos.
Yeah, well you're a guy, you would like all of the blood and guts. House just had too much of that and not enough...I don't know...I just felt it was lacking something.
Peretti's books don't grip you from the first page like Dekker, but once you get into them you can't put them down. You should try reading Monster, that was his best I think. Totally believable too. It was different from a lot of his others because it didn't have the same spiritual aspect, but brilliant all the same. I also loved Prophet, but found it hard it get into at first. But yeah, if you can get past those first pages, you'll be good to go :)
~Tallulah
this was really good! loved it.
have you read 'skin' or 'adam' by dekker? i've read 'skin' bu not 'adam'. my mom doesn't like me to read a bunch of his books at a time or anything. i want to check out 'adam' sometime soon. my bro read it & liked it.
GAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! Jake LIIIIIIIIIVES!!!!!!!
*is happy*
I think I'd read this before but it's so good, what the heck, I read it again.
*chants* more, more, more, more...
God bless,
~PIP~
Hey! Thanks for adding me to you friends list! By the way, I am not alowed to PM, so if you just leave a me a commement I will get it! Oh, btw, my brother does not write, but I do. I am working on a Pirate story called THE BLUE DIAMOND, and a fantasy story as well! =)
