Читать книгу Antakarana. Quest in Reality - Татьяна Шуклина - Страница 28

***

Despite all efforts, our team is progressing unacceptably slowly. Fatigue, thirst and despair do their job. When we finally stand in front of a cramped manhole, which looks like copied from a real horror movie, a voice announces:

«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: one hour and thirty minutes.»

This grotto is not much different from the previous ones – convex rocky walls, sounds of drops and inhospitable piercing cold. And yet there is a difference: it ends with the release to freedom. Or a way to nowhere.

It seems to me, that the sound of water is heard in the distance. Fear runs cold in my veins.

«I’ll go ahead,» Runner commands. He is sweating a lot and can hardly keep on his feet. His hands are trembling. «As soon as I get to whatever it is, I’ll immediately give a signal. You are all waiting here, got it?»

«No time for that,» Joleo objects sharply. «We follow you right after».

«What if the hole gets too narrow? I won’t be able to go back and we’ll all be stuck in this damn tomb!»

«Nooo!» Yu falls into uncontrollable sobs again. I try to put my arms around her shoulders, but she struggles.

«In this case», Alex intervenes, «we are still drowned. So what’s the difference where?»

Runner just waves it off and climbs into the tunnel without further protest. Alex, BeBe, Joleo, Planck and Martha follow him at two minutes intervals.

Surprisingly, Angel, without any persuasion, climbs after Blonda. The emotional shake-up obviously did him good.

Only me, Leeloo and Yu remain in the grotto. Yu is sitting on the floor, huddled into a ball and muttering, without ceasing, under her breath «no… no… no.»

«Yu», I try to sound soft, but convincing, «you can’t give up now, one step away from being released. After having come all this nightmarish journey!»

«You don’t understand,» she raises her face, wet with tears, «This isn’t just fear, but a disease that I cannot overcome. Breathing is out of rhythm, and the brain refuses to work. Terror paralyzes the entire body. I am like a fly in a sticky web – any movement only tightens the threads of fear, blocking the access of oxygen and common sense».

«It’s poetic, Yu, but let me tell you that staying here means certain death».

«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: one hour, zero-zero minutes.»

Now not any doubt remains: we hear the sound of water, which gradually fills the grottoes, and is getting closer and closer to us.

«Don’t leave me,» Yu grabs my hand in panic, «You promised. You remember?»

«I won’t. But don’t leave me either», I frantically try to imagine what Alex would say in this situation, «don’t let me down! I don’t want to drown here… because of you, Yu!»

For some reason, from my lips it sounds like an awkward accusation, and not at all as a stimulus to active action. The art of persuasion, apparently, is not my strong point.

Leeloo softly touches my hand and whispers:

«Tell her that she is not alone, that you are also afraid. Tell her the truth».

The girl nods to me encouragingly and finally disappears into the tunnel.

«Yu, listen,» I say carefully, «I’ve never been so scared in my life. If it weren’t for all of you, I wouldn’t budge, I swear! Instead, I would sit and obediently await my fate. Only thanks to your strength of mind, I find the courage to move on. I just want you to know that».

Yu looks at me in surprise:

«I thought you were one of the few who managed to maintain composure. I admired your courage. Today you are a hero, just like Runner, Alex and Joleo.»

«No! I’m weak. Help me survive this final stretch of the road».

«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: fifty minutes.»

Now the metallic echo counts down every ten minutes.

I hold out my hand to her. Yu takes it, gets up, squeezes her eyes shut and dives into a narrow hole. I have no choice but to follow her. At the same time, only one thought is spinning in my head about what a big mistake I am making. She has only to start panic, and we will be forever stuck in this hole. I had to go first!

The tunnel seems incredibly long, it becomes more and more difficult to crawl: the walls narrow and, judging by the sensations, we are moving upward. Behind, the sound of approaching water is heard more and more clearly. Almost all the time I cheer Yu up, try to find the right words, and this is no less exhaustingly than the movement through the tunnel.

At some point, the walls become so narrow that you have to lie on your stomach. It is no longer possible to crawl on all fours. And then what I most feared happens: Yu begins to choke. To all my attempts, from soft persuasion and reasonable arguments to rude curses and threats, she doesn’t react at all. Instead, the girl repeats all the time like a mantra: «I can no longer, I can no longer, I can no longer.»

I myself am close to a panic attack. Judging by the splash and roar of the water, it is no further than three or four grottoes from here. Voices can be heard up ahead screaming our names. The echo is quite booming, which means that we haven’t yet approached the final goal and have to crawl at least a few tens of meters. We urgently need to come up with something, otherwise we will drown. Oh, if only I didn’t give Yu a promise not to leave her alone, if only I climbed first, if only I didn’t fill out this form on the website…

«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: forty minutes.»

«Quiet, quiet, shh» I soothe myself in my thoughts. And then an idea comes to my mind, completely absurd and inappropriate, but there is no choice left. I remember my dear mother and how she used to help me in moments of fear, anxiety or just sadness. Just one fairy tale.

«Yu, listen! I’ll tell you a story. You close your eyes and crawl forward. Don’t think about anything, just listen tp me!» Without waiting for an answer, I begin:

«Once upon a time there was a brave Bunny. He wasn’t afraid of anyone, not at all. He even kicked a Bear once. The Bear rubbed the bruised place, twisted at his temple and said «some kind of nutcase», then turned around and left. Maybe he didn’t want to mess with an crazy Bunny, or he turned out to be an overly kind and non-conflict bear. The Bunny was very brave. And extremely ill-mannered. Once he ran up to the Wolf and said indifferently: «Do you know what I like most for dinner? Wolf Steak! Medium rare».

«Go to the doctor, psycho!» the Wolf snapped, but just in case he went into the forest.

«Nonsense,» Yu grumbles, but moves from her place and slowly creeps forward on belly.

«I absolutelly agree with you! The Wolf should punish the Bunny for such bad manners! But you see, the Wolf decided that since the impudent behaves like this, he may have connections in an authoritative circle of predators! Well, a simple Bunny cannot say something like this to a wolf without having someone behind him. What if it’s Hippopotamus himself?! (I remember the tactics of my mother: for all my attempts to stop the fairy tale, continue to be offended, sad or angry, she invented new stories about the brave, ill-mannered, stupid, smart, etc. Bunny, depending on the situation. The main secret is to tell like nothing happened).

«The Bunny, elated with success, once met a wild Boar, who wanted to eat the Bunny»…

«Boars don’t eat Bunnies,» Yu interrupts angrily, but this anger is feigned. Well, if only she did not concentrate on the narrow tunnel!

«You’re right, they don’t eat. But they really want to try»…

I continue to talk some nonsense about the brave Bunny and his exploits, when at the end of the tunnel such a long-awaited light appears. Now the screams of other players are clearly audible, the clearest of all is the alarmed voice of Alex:

«Lavina! Lavina, damn you, where are you?!»

«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: thirty minutes»

The main thing is not to think about anything! Continue to crawl and in no case be silent…

«Once the Bunny met the Fox. «I’ll eat you,» she said. «No, you won’t,» the Bunny replied insolently. You see, he was also very cocky. «The Bear, the Wolf and the wild Bear are my close friends and told me in all details about your intimate relations with them (in my mother’s version, these were always more harmless options like «stealing food», but in this place I already, as a rule, laugh and am fooling around with her). The Fox blushed all over with shame. And yet she ate the Bunny. But the redness has not completely disappeared, since then Fox has been walking red».

At this moment, someone’s hands grab Yu by the shoulders and pull first her, and then me, out of the hated manhole.

«What a stupid fairy tale», says Yu, smiling weakly.

«You are welcome», I smile in response, «by the way, it’s called «Why the Fox is red.»

Barely catching my breath, I look around and see the worried faces of the participants. The cause for alarm is obvious: we are in a dead-end light grotto. Its walls are significantly lower than the previous ones, but still smooth, without a single ledge. Angel and Blonda are palpating them, while the others are sitting in the center and discussing something violently. We join this company at a merciless voice:

«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: twenty minutes.»

«We have no choice… will try to rise to the surface as the grotto is flooded, like corks… If we made a mistake… we will pay dearly for it», Planck offers, breathing heavily. One can see how difficult our expedition was for him. From time to time, the elderly man pauses to clear his throat and catch his breath, «be prepared for the fact that the water level may be insufficient to get out of here… The walls in the grotto are no more than 10 meters high. But even if there is only one meter left to the brim, we are lost. Besides, no one knows the landscape on the surface»…

«We are in the right place!» Angel rejoices, «Look what I found!» he holds out his open palm, on which lies a stone, exactly the same as we found in the dugout with food yesterday. Only with a 1/2 fraction carved on it.

«Great job Angel!» Alex grabs a stone and shoves it in his bosom, «Now there is no doubt that these things will be useful to us in the finale».

«And you decided that this stone will be more comfortable with you?» Runner asks hostilely.

«Guys, no time to quarrel», BeBe interrupts him angrily «look!»

We watch in horror as water pours out in a thin stream from the manhole from which we have just come.

«The narrow tunnel will create a pressure as soon as the water accumulates in sufficient volume in the grotto, where this very tunnel begins», Planck announces, «We’d better move to the opposite wall and get ready».

«And what about Martha?» BeBe exclaims with horror.

Our eyes turn to her. Martha sits calmly on the floor, and only her pale face betrays her inner state. There is a painful silence.

«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: ten minutes.»

«We all go to the back wall and hold on until the water reaches the neck. After that, we sail calmly, slowly, waiting for the water level to rise. Save your energy! Martha, listen carefully! Me, Joleo and Runner will take turns keeping you afloat. Most importantly, you must relax and in no case resist, no matter how scary and uncomfortable it may be. Clear?» Alex commands an orderly tone.

«If you start to panic, I’ll have to let you go,» Runner threatens. Alex gives him a warning look.

«Martha, this could mean death for both the drowning man and the rescuer. We are already too exhausted, running along the grottoes».

Martha just nods, unable to utter a word.

«I’ll take care about Martha myself,» Angel’s gentle voice sounds.

The players all, as one, turn their heads in surprise in his direction. Confused, the guy continues:

«I’m a professional swimmer and as a swimming instructor I had to take a course on rescuing drowning people. Besides, unlike you, I still feel a little bit of energy in me».

«Because you sat on your ass in safety while we were trying to find our way out!»

«Runner, shut up!» Alex turns to Angel. «Okay, so we’ll do it.»

«Well, finally „Baby“ will be good for something», Runner throws angrily, but no one argues. It won’t be easy to get out on your own, let alone help someone who can’t swim.

I catch a glimpse of Blonda’s proud, admiring gaze directed at Angel. Her eyes literally glow with happiness. Well, it’s already clear to me that I know absolutely nothing about human relations. Now Angel, so handsome and cowardly, became a hero for Blonda and Martha. I don’t have time to finish thinking this thought, as a female metallic voice announces for the last time:

«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: zero-zero minutes.»

At this moment the water from the tunnel bursts into our grotto with a terrible roar.

Despite all the fatigue, adrenaline is pouring through my veins. Like all other players, I hold myself firmly against the wall.

Leeloo is standing next to me:

«Don’t worry, remember, I’m a great swimmer. Save energy, we’ll need it,» I hear through the deafening roar of a powerful jet of water.

The water hits my heels, ankles and knees, but I try my best to keep the balance. Gradually, its level rises and when it reaches the neck, I break away from the wall and start paddling. Under normal conditions, this would not be that difficult. But now, exhausted, scared to death, I can hardly move my legs and arms. Even a wetsuit doesn’t help. Out of the corner of my eye I see Angel, who is confidently floating on the water, holding Martha by the armpits. She hardly moves, but horror is imprinted on her thin face. There are still a few meters to the surface. Two meters. One meter. The water arrives now much more slowly. I don’t know how long we have been paddling on the surface, but for me these minutes drag on endlessly. The hands refuse to obey when the water finally reaches the surface. Someone’s faces, hands, bodies flicker before my eyes. I can only hope that the rest of the players will win in their own struggle for life.

I grab the edge of the grotto, try to pull myself up, but my fingers slip, so I go under the water. I frantically float to the surface, try to make a second attempt, but again I break down and plunge into the water. How I want to surrender, just relax, let go… The third time I appear on the surface, I stretch out my hand on fumes, when suddenly someone’s fingers grip my wrist and pull me out of the grotto. The last thing I see before passing out is Alex’s worried face.