Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, Book One) (26 page)

He turned and spotted Rogan on the ground being mauled by two bats. Oliver gasped and followed Quinn back toward him. He kicked out at the beasts, connecting with one of their jaws. It flew away with a loud
squawk
but the noise drew the other's attention.

Oliver and Quinn hauled Rogan to his feet and they ran as hard as they could towards the exit. With every footstep Oliver could hear the creatures grow closer, just inches behind them.

They slid out into the corridor as the swarm of bats dived at their heads. Anna slammed the door shut and Oliver heard the sickening
cracks
of the creatures colliding with it on the other side.

He collapsed into a heap with relief, his chest rapidly rising and falling.

"You idiot," Quinn snapped at Oliver, her voice filled with venom.

"I'm so sorry," Oliver breathed, furious at how clumsy he had been.

"It's okay. Any of us could have done it," Rogan said, panting.

Oliver eyed his friend's bloodied arms and guilt racked at him.

Quinn pulled bandages out of her bag and wrapped them tightly around Rogan's wounds. Anna quickly followed suit and bandaged Oliver's arm. He barely noticed the pain from the adrenalin pumping through his veins.

They pulled their boots back on and got to their feet. Oliver took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. "I'm so sorry, Rogan," he said again.

Rogan clapped him on the shoulder. "Seriously, man. It's fine. All part of the fun."

Quinn glared at Oliver unforgivingly.

24

Cascade

Q
uinn stormed off down the corridor as a team rushed past them, covered in mud and blood.

"We better get moving," Anna said.

They nodded and hurried after Quinn.

Oliver looked at his watch and his heart fluttered. "Oh, no. We've only got forty five minutes left."

They began to jog as fast as they could and found Quinn waiting for them in a large cavern. At one side, the cave opened out onto a ledge overlooking a lake and an vast crowd of people.

"Down there. That's the exit," Quinn said and they followed her out to the ledge. Their faces were projected on survision screens far below and they could hear Truvian Gold's voice echoing around the valley that ran down to a long beach. Oliver looked at where she was pointing and saw a track leading up from a smaller beach further along the lake.

"The Pandalins have made their appearance up on the balcony. With just forty minutes left to go, will they make it to the finish line in time?" Truvian Gold said dramatically.

The crowd roared with cheers. Oliver could see survision screens flicking between teams undergoing various challenges. The Visikins were squeezing through a narrow tunnel on their bellies, the Ninagoons were swimming through a dark pool of water, and the Thrakes were sliding down a muddy descent.

Oliver didn't linger to see any more. They retreated from the ledge and searched the cavern for an exit.

The only way out of the cave was through a narrow hole in the floor. They dropped down, one by one, and crawled along the descending tunnel as fast as they could. Oliver realised this must have been where the Visikins were being filmed. They weren't much further ahead than them, which gave him hope.

They rounded a corner and the floor became soft and slippery so they had to continue more slowly. He was at the back of the group with Quinn's heels kicking mud up at him as he followed her.

The material at his heel snagged on something sharp as he crawled along, and he was tugged backwards. He stopped and awkwardly tried to reach his hand back to untangle himself but the tunnel was too narrow. He reversed a few paces so the material was released and continued forwards.

The tunnel veered out of sight and he could no longer see Quinn. He continued in the darkness and turned the corner. The passage dropped down again and he slid forward on his knees several feet. He dug his palms into the mud to slow himself down and continued at a snail's pace.

He could hear shouts up ahead and tried to speed up towards them.Quinn's barked something loudly back to him but it was too muffled to make out.

"What? I can't hear you!" Oliver shouted.

The tunnel opened up a bit and he picked up the pace again. The shouts grew louder and he heard Quinn's voice above them all but still couldn't make out any words. He grew frustrated as he continued on. The dark tunnel was making him feel claustrophobic and he longed to stand up.

The floor disappeared.

He was falling.

His heart jumped into his mouth. He was plummeting head-first into the abyss. A hand clasped his collar and he was yanked upwards giving him half a second to grab the ledge above his head and pull himself up to face his saviour. Quinn.

"I
said.
There's a great big hole in the floor, you moron." She helped guide him across the gap and he scrambled into the space next to her, his heart pounding.

"Thank you. You saved my life," Oliver said, astonished.

"Don't get soppy on me. I can't finish this race without you." She turned away and kicked mud up in his face as she continued through the tunnel.

Oliver didn't mind. His hands were still shaking as he followed her and the tunnel began descending rapidly. He was barely able to keep his grip in the soft mud. Quinn slid forward in front of him and she screamed as she plummeted downwards. Oliver clawed the walls to slow himself down as he followed.

They fell, with a splat, into a huge pile of mud out of a hole in the bottom of the tunnel. The others were already getting up, their jumpsuits now filthy.

"Ergh, disgusting," May said, wiping a great blob of mud off of her leg.

"You didn't fall down that hole then?" Rogan asked Oliver, grinning.

"No. Thanks to-" Quinn was throwing him a look of death so he finished, "-you guys. I heard you guys shouting." She clearly didn't want any credit for saving his neck though he considered whether the moment had been broadcast to the world or not. With fifty teams to survey he wondered how much of their progress was being shown on the survision anyway.

"Good," Rogan said. "Let's keep going."

The room led to another corridor of doors and they chose the only vacant one. Oliver shut the door behind them and the sound of rushing water filled his ears.

The chamber contained an enormous, dark pool with a high waterfall cascading into it at one side.

"Where's the exit?" May asked, gazing around.

"I don't know. Where's the clue?" Anna asked.

"Here," Rogan said, pointing to the ground.

Embedded in the floor was a glass bubble filled with words that floated inside it reading:

Pull me and you'll see
.

"Pull what?" Oliver asked, glancing around the room.

"Look, the exit's up there," May said, pointing skywards.

Oliver looked up and saw the door high up on a ledge at the top of the waterfall. "How are we supposed to reach it?"

"There's a rope. Look," Rogan said, pointing to the centre of the room.

Its colour blended with the back wall at first but, when Oliver focused, he could just make it out, dangling above the water.

"Let's go pull it then," Quinn said, waiting for a nod of approval from Rogan before wading out into the water.

The others followed her. Oliver felt the icy water seep into his clothes and, after only a few feet, the floor disappeared beneath him. They swam to the centre of the room and all gripped the rope with one hand. Oliver shivered as he tread water to keep afloat.

"Pull?" Rogan suggested and they nodded.

They tugged hard and several things happened at once. First, the water began to swirl around them in a whirlpool and they clung tighter to the rope to keep from being swept away. Then the waterfall became a powerful torrent, pouring gallons of water into the pool. The water level began to rise and the rope ascended too, keeping them above the surface.

Oliver looked up and saw another rope a few feet away. The water poured in until the other rope was within grabbing distance then stopped.

They all released the rope and the water level instantly dropped with a gurgling noise as if it were being sucked down a giant plughole. Oliver splashed his way back toward the rope and took hold of it but the water didn't rise.

"Everyone get back to the rope!" he shouted and watched as his friends swam back towards him and reached for it.

As they grabbed hold, the water level rose once more and the whirlpool sped up, dragging at Oliver's body. He dug his fingernails into the course fibres to stop himself from losing grip.

The water level finally stopped rising so they were high enough to grab the second rope.

"I reckon just one of us needs to grab the next one!" Quinn shouted over the rush of water.

"I'll go," Anna said, and launched herself into the whirlpool. She swam hard against the current, gripped the rope firmly and tugged hard.

The waterfall exploded again so a froth of white foamy bubbles appeared where it met the pool. The whirlpool began to speed up around them as they rose and the next rope came into sight, further out than the last.

"The current's only gonna get stronger. We need to leave the best swimmers 'til last," Oliver said as the water stopped rising once more.

"Someone will have to remain holding onto this rope the whole time," May said.

"I can do that, I'm not much of a swimmer," Quinn admitted.

"May, you should go," Oliver suggested.

"I'm a good swimmer," she insisted, her wet hair plastered to her face.

"What are you like?" Oliver looked at Rogan.

"Pretty good. You?" Rogan asked, squinting as water splashed up in his face.

"I guess I'm alright." He looked at May anxiously but knew she had always been a better swimmer than him. "I'll go."

The rope was much further out this time and the whirlpool swirled around the three of them, making them twist in circles.

Oliver let go and forced his way towards the rope. The pressure of the water pushing against him was exhausting and his muscles burned as he battled against the whirlpool. He slipped backwards several times but eventually the rope came into view just above his head.

Oliver waved his hand up and his fingers brushed the end of it. He dunked under the water and kicked out hard. He desperately reached his arm up as he breached, felt it bash against his palm and gripped it with all his strength.

"WOO!" he shouted, his voice echoing around the cave as the others laughed.

Oliver tugged the rope and the water rushed in again. He looked up as the rope yanked him upwards to see that they were closing in on the exit.

Oliver could just make out Rogan, May and Quinn over the swirl of water splashing around them as they stopped rising once more. The three of them were spinning erratically at the centre of the whirlpool.

May let go, judging the spin just right so it gave her some propulsion into the water. The next rope was opposite Oliver's on the other side of the room.

Oliver felt the water pushing against him but his rope kept him in position. He glanced across the sloshing waves to see Anna fiercely clinging to her rope nearby. May reached her one and the water rushed in for a final time.

The whirlpool became so strong that Oliver was dunked under repeatedly as they rose. When they stopped they were just a few feet from the top of the waterfall, one more torrent of water away from the top.

Oliver looked over to see Rogan and Quinn spinning out of control. The rope was directly behind them at the back of the chamber but Oliver doubted Rogan could see which direction to swim.

Rogan let go, disappearing under the waves. He powered up to the surface and let the whirlpool spin him around so he could locate the rope.

"Go Rogan!" Oliver shouted then the rest of them joined in, whooping and cheering as Rogan waged war on the water with fierce determination written across his features.

Rogan reached it at last and whooped with joy as he tugged the rope. The water poured in and they rose the final few feet to where they could climb out onto the ledge that led to the exit.

The whirlpool became a twisting, sucking monster. Oliver clung to his rope and eyed the ledge, wondering how they would get there. Before he, or anyone else could come up with a plan the ropes released from the ceiling and they were all untethered, dropping under the icy water.

The whirlpool claimed Oliver immediately and he fought against the strong pull of the current. He kicked with all his might and somehow reached the surface, gasping and spluttering. He set his eyes on the ledge above the raging waves and started to swim with all his might.

He launched himself upwards and his hand slapped down on the wet ledge with a
smack.

Oliver clambered out and turned to see his friends struggling in the water. The ropes floated on the surface, swirling in the pool. He reached a hand down into the water, gripped one and pulled it out.

Quinn was closest so Oliver threw her the rope. She caught it on the second try and he reeled her in, digging his heels into the stone to brace himself.

She grabbed the ledge and he dropped to his knees, hauling her out of the water. She panted as she righted herself then leant over the edge and retrieved another rope from the waves.

Between them they managed to quickly hoist the others to safety.

Dripping wet and exhausted, they exited through the door and the sound of their heavy panting turned to laughter as relief filled them.