Descent into Darkness (Major Spoilers for House of Ashes)

Chapter Three

The new cave network Gabrielle and Salim found themselves in had been a lot smaller than the last one, and had been so dark it was pitch black without a source of light. She instictively turned her flashlight on so the pair could see better as they slowly and cautiously navigated their way through the caves.

Eventually it opened up into a large, dimly lit cavern. They both were able to spot the silhouette of another of those batlike creatures lurking around and stopped in their tracks, Gabrielle turning her flashlight back off, so as not to give their presence away to the creature.

"What do we do now?" She whispered to Salim, not taking her eyes off it so she didn't lose track of it. Their next course of action was something he wordlessly mulled over, unsure about how to handle the situation. "Maybe we could try sneaking around it?" He suggested after a moment. Their options had been limited, so that seemed like the best option to her. "Anything's better than staying here with that thing, so it's worth a shot." She agreed.

It had been a pretty steep drop to the cavern floor from the way they'd come, but they both took it slowly and carefully, so as not to alert the creature that was no doubt still skulking around the area. Once they were certain they were clear of the creature, the pair continued on their way. Gabrielle turned on her flashlight again as they walked.

After a moment, she could hear someone talking in Arabic coming from Salim's radio. She'd assumed it was one of his own comrades. "Dar!" Salim responded to the voice with relief and some enthusiasm, before proceeding to talk back to the person on the radio in Arabic. She came to the conclusion that the man, Dar, possibly didn't understand English.

Salim continued talking to his comrade over the radio while the pair continued onwards, Gabrielle noticing someone approaching the pair. As soon as they could make out the figure, Salim had stopped communicating over radio.

The moment she noticed the Iraqi uniform she tensed up a little and aimed her gun. "Relax Gabrielle, it's just my captain." Salim reassured her before addressing the newcomer in more Arabic. She was able to pick up on her name and the Captain's name, Salim still keeping up the reassuring tone of voice, like he was trying to keep things civil between her and Dar. But she had no idea what they were talking about. Dar's constant responding in Arabic all but confirmed he didn't speak English.

Luckily for her, Salim took it upon himself to translate. "He wants you to lower your weapon." He explained calmly. She hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "If it alleviates the tension, fine." She complied, lowering her gun. In response, Dar just barked more orders at Salim that she didn't understand due to the language barrier. 

His initial reaction was to contest whatever order he was being given. The captain seemed extremely hesitatant work with Salim on this one, reacting aggressively to whatever had been said. "What the fuck is he saying?" She asked, almost drawing her gun again in response to Dar's aggression.

The tension was so thick that Salim was having trouble keeping things calm. "He wants to kill you, but I'm trying to go for a compromise to stop him." Salim responded. That didn't stop the tension at all, but she appreciated his intentions at least. After some more conversation with Dar in Arabic, the man seemed to calm down a little bit, but not much, the two at least seemingly able to come to a satisfactory compromise, for both of them anyway.

She waited for the translation before saying anything. "Give me your gun." Salim instructed out loud for show, then leaning in to whisper in her ear. "It's just for now, you'll get it back when the opportunity arises." He finished quietly before pulling away. Gabrielle wasn't exactly happy with the situation, but his assurance was enough to get her to hand over the weapon. She was just grateful it didn't end in more killing.