The Exfiltrator by Garner Simmons (read after txt) 📗

scrape of a boot, sound of a footfall.  Michael, she thought?  He’s come back.  Pulse racing, she started to scramble up only to hear muffled voices drifting through the darkness.  One… no two.  But who?  Maybe it wasn’t Michael after all.  Paranoia stoked by fear fueled her imagination.  The memory of gunfire. The explosion.  Some madman come to kill them all?  She felt around her for something she could use as a weapon.  Her hand found a broken shard of rock.  Picking it up, she crouched in the darkness expecting the worst.

*****

High above, Jarral could once more hear the sounds of movement coming from below but saw nothing.  He strained his eyes to pick out some definitive sign, but nothing revealed his prey.  Tariq was down there of that he was certain.  And with him, no doubt, the American Infidel.  To find and kill them.  A true test of faith.

Starting forward, Jarral began to feel his way down along the rock wall just inside the entrance.  As he suspected, his feet found a rock ledge leading downwards into the void.

“There is a ledge.  Bring the torch.  It will show us the way.” Stepping aside, he allowed Raif to go first.

Looking down into the pit, Raif hesitated, filled with a momentary sense of acrophobia.

“Trust in Allah,” Jarral intoned, “and the path will rise up beneath your feet.  Such is the will of God.”

Drawing a deep breath, Raif faced the rock wall.  Then holding the torch out ahead of them, he began to follow the ledge as the two men began their descent.

*****

For Corbett, time seemed to stand still as they waited in the dark for the sounds of gunfire to subside.  Shielding the flashlight beam with his left hand, he turned it on and off in rapid succession. The momentary illumination allowed him to locate Tariq in the blackness.

“You ready…?” he whispered.

“If you are,” came Tariq’s barely audible reply.

“Place your hands on my shoulders and don’t let go.  When I move, you move with me.”

“Let’s do it…”

Slowly at first, Corbett started deliberately forward over the uneven ground as Tariq attempted to stay with him.  Cupping his left hand over the muzzle housing of the flashlight, Corbett kept the beam fixed on the terrain immediately ahead while using his body to shield the light from whoever might be tracking them from above.

Silently picking their way through the darkness, they moved as one.  High above them in the black void of the cavern, Corbett thought he could hear the sporadic sounds of muted voices.  Without question, the Jihadis had begun to make their way down into the cave after them. The only hope was to keep moving.  It was not until they reached the lower chamber that Corbett felt safe enough to expose the light.

Releasing his grip on Corbett’s shoulders, Tariq followed the light as they began to move more quickly now.  From somewhere in the distance, they could hear the muffled sound of rushing water.  When they finally reached the wall of the cave paintings, Corbett stopped, playing the light across primitive images. Ella’s abandoned camera equipment was still in place before them.

“Ella…?” he called quietly into the darkness.  Nothing.  He called again.  “Ella… are you here?”

“Who’s Ella…?” Tariq asked slightly confused.

“One of our interns…  Ella?” he tried one last time.

“Michael…?” her voice was filled with uncertainty, a mixture of terror and relief.  Stepping tentatively from the shadows, Ella let the rock shard slip from her hand and ran the last few feet. Corbett caught her in his arms.

“Easy…  It’s going to be okay,” he whispered evenly, draining all the emotion from his voice.

“The explosion… then losing the generator… and the lights going out. I didn’t know what to do.  I tried to move but I hit my head…” Fighting not to lose it, she pressed against him, burying her head in his chest.  “I thought I was the only one left.”

“I know,” he said in an effort to quell her fears. “But you’ve got to trust me.”

Glancing up, she finally saw Tariq barely visible as he stood in the darkness to one side.  Uncertain what to think, she stared unblinking as Corbett attempted to answer her unspoken question.

“This is Tariq,” he said quietly at last.

“Tariq…?” she grappled with the name.

Corbett nodded.  “An old friend.  We knew each other at Oxford. He needs our help.”

“Oxford…?  Michael, what’s going on?”

“There’s been a terrorist attack.  We have to move…”

“Terrorists…?” She stared at him not quite comprehending.  “Here? In the middle of nowhere…?  You’re joking.”

Corbett looked at Tariq.

“Unfortunately, no,” Tariq said flatly. “It’s me I’m afraid.

They’re after me.”

“But if they find us,” Corbett added, “they’re going to kill us all,” Corbett touched Ella’s cheek.  “You said you struck your head?  Let me see…”

Using the light, he ran his fingers through her hair discovering a knot just above her hairline.  The moment he touched it, she recoiled.

“That’s it. Right there… ahhh.” she winced. Then reaching up, she tentatively touched the spot herself.

“Could be worse,” he said.  “You’re probably going to live.”

“Is that the good news or the bad?” she replied, half smiling.  From somewhere behind them came the sound of voices.

“Michael…” Tariq spoke with a renewed sense of urgency. “Time to go.”

“Go…?” Ella reacted to the absurdity of the statement.  “Go where…?”

Hearing the edge of panic in her voice, Corbett tried to sound decisive.  “We’ll head toward the sound of the underground river.  Take the second passageway – the one we saw the other day. There’s got to be a way out.”

“But my camera equipment…” Ella started to protest without thinking.  “I can’t just… leave it.”

Tariq stared at her in amused disbelief.  “Not to worry.  I’m guessing whoever’s out there isn’t interested in photography.”

“Assuming we’re still alive when this is over,” Corbett