Chapter 95: S#16. The Cave (2)
by fnovelpia
Area 51.
Meeting room of the underground base.
Agent Frank opened the bomb bag. His eyes were very serious.
The cowboy sneered and spoke in a Texas accent.
“So, this earthquake we feel right now is its breathing? What the hell is in this damn underground cave? Are they raising King Kong or something?”
“Similar. But you don’t need to know much. Just blow it up with this bomb.”
Agent Frank assigned roles to the six gathered in the meeting room.
The cowboy, the nurse, and the Indian seemed to be mercenaries. They were used to playing soldiers.
But Bob, Reiko, and I were not.
Frank handed me the bomb bag.
“Woodman will play the most important role. The finale.”
“The finale…”
“Shove this bomb into its mouth.”
We didn’t even know what the entity in the underground cave was, and now we had to shove a bomb into it.
It was an unreasonable operation in many ways.
The nurse, crossing her legs, looked the men in the meeting room up and down suggestively.
“But we’re so awkward together, right? It’d be nice to have some time to get to know each other better…”
“We don’t have time for that.”
Agent Frank said firmly.
Then Bob raised his chubby hand.
“I always practice before doing anything. If I don’t, I feel the urge to pee. I want to practice handling the bomb.”
“Cop, practice is not necessary. Woodman will handle the bomb.”
“Wasn’t I Woodman?”
“You’re the cop.”
“Anyway, I need practice. If I go into the cave, I’ll need to pee.”
“We’re going down to the cave in three minutes, so if you need to pee, go to the bathroom before that.”
They gave us protective suits. Thick protective suits used in laboratories handling hazardous materials.
The underground vibration continued. If this was breathing, how huge was the ‘enemy of the nation’?
Reiko tilted her head.
“It’s hard to accept. Sending us in without telling us what to eliminate.”
“A hunting dog doesn’t know what kind of beast the hunter will catch today. It just bites whatever comes. We’re the same.”
The cowboy said.
“But I know. What’s in the cave is an alien. Damn sure it’s an alien.”
“An alien?”
When I asked, the cowboy squinted his eyes.
“Want to know what happened, friend? An alien escaped from the lab and hid in the cave. Like a rat. The big shots must be pissed because the one that should be quietly dissected ran away. So they called in experts like us to catch it quickly.”
That’s what Area 51 is like.
Agent Frank.
Cowboy.
Nurse.
Indian.
Whisper.
Cop.
Woodman.
The seven of us headed to the underground cave. We were given the necessary equipment for the operation, but for some reason, no firearms were provided.
We didn’t pass through a rugged rocky area.
The entrance to the cave was an extension of the underground base. A desolate concrete space and machines with unknown purposes.
A group of soldiers and scientists were busily checking the situation. None of them had guns.
Soon, the large door at the entrance opened. The pitch-black underground cave was revealed.
“My God…”
It wasn’t an ordinary cave.
The walls were made of red-tinged flesh.
I think I’ve seen something similar in the subway…
It wasn’t just raw meat stained on the surface. It looked like a vividly living organism.
It seemed like I could hear the dark, black pulse from somewhere. It was an unreal landscape.
The nurse reached out and sensually stroked the wall.
“What is this? It’s incredibly soft and sticky.”
“Don’t touch the walls. It’s dangerous.”
Agent Frank warned.
“I’ll take the lead. Indian and Cop, you cover the rear.”
Indian nodded. Bob was eating a donut.
We ventured deeper into the cave. The lights attached to the shoulders of our protective suits illuminated the path.
It was all red flesh.
I walked, gripping the bomb bag tightly.
The ground was also mucous membrane, and the cave squirmed unpleasantly with each step.
“Reiko, you must not get isolated.”
“What do you mean, Summer?”
“In this bizarre place, isolation means death. So stay close to me.”
“Hehe, thanks for worrying. With you around, I should be safe.”
Reiko’s shoulder brushed against the fleshy wall.
The wall, resembling crushed intestines, split open and swallowed Reiko whole.
In less than half a second, Reiko vanished as if by magic.
“Re-Reiko…?”
I felt dazed.
I wasn’t so much angry or despairing as just utterly stunned.
Agent Frank turned and shouted.
“I told you not to touch the walls!”
“I didn’t f*cking touch it! It just… brushed against her…!!”
I never imagined Reiko would be taken so easily.
The others were also in shock.
“We lost Whisper. I repeat, Whisper is lost.”
Agent Frank reported through the radio installed in the protective suit.
No, we can’t lose Reiko. I pulled out my axe.
I hacked at the fleshy wall that had swallowed Reiko. The axe blade turned crimson with blood.
The cave shook violently.
“Stop! Stop it, Woodman!!”
Agent Frank and Indian restrained me.
“Do you think I banned firearms for no reason?! This cave is sensitive! If it collapses, we’ll all die!!”
“But Reiko…”
“Whisper is dead! You saw it yourself!”
From deep within the cave, a low, grand breathing sound echoed.
“Blow up the ‘enemy of the nation’ at the end of this cave. That’s the only way to avenge Whisper.”
The wounds I inflicted on the fleshy wall quickly healed. The cave had a regenerative ability.
I sighed and put away my axe.
I realized it was too late to save Reiko.
“That woman was beautiful. What a shame, friend.”
Cowboy said, seemingly without sympathy.
The nurse approached me.
“Was that Asian woman your girlfriend?”
“No. Just an acquaintance.”
“Really?”
The nurse licked her red lips and whispered seductively.
“I can be more than an acquaintance… How about it, sweetheart?”
I politely declined.
We continued through the cave. The agent leading us suddenly stopped.
We had come to a precipice.
A gap lay between two cliffs.
The distance between the cliffs was at least 20 meters. It was impossible to jump across.
“Everyone stand back. This is my specialty.”
Cowboy stepped forward.
He skillfully twirled a rope and threw it towards the opposite cliff.
The lasso caught on the mucous membrane that jutted out from the surface.
The rope now spanned the gap between the cliffs.
Agent Frank looked at Cowboy.
“You expect us to cross on this rope?”
“Got a better idea?”
“Is it safe?”
“Does it look safe?”
The ground was flesh. It wouldn’t be surprising if the lasso came loose from the opposite cliff at any moment.
The chasm looked deep. Falling could be fatal.
“I’ll go first.”
Agent Frank crossed first. He hung upside down from the taut rope and made his way to the other side.
Next was Cowboy. He crossed much faster than Frank.
Then it was Indian’s turn, but he didn’t hang from the rope.
He walked on the rope with both feet. There was no wobbling. It was an impressive tightrope walk.
The lasso seemed sturdy enough to support three men crossing.
However, it was questionable whether it could withstand Bob’s massive weight.
“Phew, this is making me a little nervous. Can’t we practice first?”
“Practice what?”
“Like in a game. In a game, you have multiple lives and can practice a few rounds, right?”
“This isn’t a game, cop. If you fall, it’s over.”
Bob carefully grabbed the rope.
He hooked his limbs onto the rope and started moving forward, dangling upside down like a diabetic sloth.
The rope stretched taut. I was anxious it might snap.
Halfway across, Bob suddenly stopped.
“Hey, Summer?!”
“What’s wrong, cop? Why are you stalling?”
“I need to pee. What should I do?”
Bob’s precarious figure dangled between the cliffs.
“Just go and pee! Hurry up and cross!”
“But I really need to go, I think I’m going to pee myself!!”
“Then just pee in your pants!”
“A police officer who should set an example peeing his pants… I can’t let that happen!”
Bob started turning back toward our cliff.
I felt like my chest would explode from frustration. The nurse cursed as well.
The three men on the opposite cliff shouted simultaneously.
“Cop, cop! Why are you turning back, cop!!!”
“That f*cking idiot…! What the hell is that pig doing!! Get over here now!!!”
“It’s been a while since I’ve wanted to scalp someone alive.”
Bob struggled back along the rope.
“Sorry. I’ll pee quickly and come back…”
Snap—the rope broke.
The rope Bob was hanging from plummeted toward the cliff edge.
I reached out and grabbed the falling rope. The immense weight bore down on my arm.
“Hold on tight, Bob…!!”
We had already lost Reiko. I couldn’t lose Bob too.
I pulled the rope up. Bob’s weight was heavy but not unmanageable.
But then it suddenly became too light.
“What the…”
I had pulled up the rope completely, but Bob wasn’t there.
It felt like reeling in a big fish, only to catch nothing…
Bob had let go of the rope halfway.
Thud──────!
A huge sound echoed from below the cliff. It was the sound of Bob falling.
We looked at each other.
“Help…!”
Bob’s shout echoed from deep in the darkness. Fortunately, he wasn’t dead.
I asked Agent Frank, who was standing on the opposite cliff.
“What do we do now?”
“Woodman, can you climb down the cliff?”
The mucous membrane forming the cliff was uneven. It was doable.
“Go down with the nurse and meet up with Bob. There should be a path leading to the end of the cave down there. We’ll join you later.”
The three men went deeper into the cave.
The nurse and I climbed down the cliff.
The nurse moved her slim body gracefully. Like a cat.
We reached the bottom of the cliff.
We met Bob, who was sitting on the ground. Apparently, he had peed his pants after all; the crotch of his protective suit was yellow.
The flesh ground was soft, so he wasn’t seriously hurt.
“Thanks for coming… But where’s Woodman?”
“I’m Woodman.”
“Huh? You’re Woodman? Then what about the Japanese woman?”
“Reiko was eaten by the cave.”
“What? When?!”
Just then, the speaker inside the protective suit rang.
-Can you hear me, Woodman?
“I hear you, Agent Frank.”
It was Frank’s radio.
He asked if we could see a path, and I replied that I would look for one.
I led Bob and the nurse to find a path. The eerie atmosphere lingered in the winding red canyon.
The only thing we could rely on was the light attached to the protective suits.
Suddenly, the nurse grabbed my arm.
“Hey… There’s something here.”
“We’re still far from meeting up with the others.”
“No, it’s not a person.”
We all froze in place.
The darkness was squirming.
0 Comments