Village in the Mountains

Chapter Thirty Two

"You see the end yet?"

"No!"

Neci's irritated shout echoed easily through the stone tunnel, and after a moment of thought, she paused her crawling in order to shine the beam of light clenched in her hand over her shoulder.

Nothing. Nothing but darkness behind her and darkness to the front. A shiver wracked through her frame and she continued forward.

"When should I stop?" The hunter called back restlessly. It was unclear how far she'd already gone, the tunnel already having narrowed down enough that she had to switch to crawling on all fours and she wasn't keen on continuing if the path got any narrower. Where the end was, neither of them knew.

Heisenberg's response was delayed, even for the increasing distance between them.

"Um..." Every sound in the tunnel seemed magnified and she worried dully for the moment when it would stop being so, the echo for now allowing her to hear the uncertainty in Heisenberg's own voice, "Just a little further. You must be close by now."

Neci frowned. She wasn't so sure.

Several minutes ago, she'd felt the need to abandon her bag and gun, shoving the camera restlessly inside her coat pocket; and she was getting worried about the efficacy of Heisenberg's backup plan. The only positive sign for this whole journey was the rapidly thickening smell of smoke that surrounded her, the walls darkening with soot and smoke as she crept further, thankfully clear of any black mold, presumably held at bay by the fire that had burned through here some time ago.

The floor sloped sharply down and Neci's fingers scratched deeply into the rocky floor, pulse pounding as the space tightened once again. Neci sniffed the air again, glad for the fabric protecting her from being completely overwhelmed by the stuff.

"I'm going to stop soon!" She called back threateningly and her stomach panged as she didn't get a reply.

Her head was hurting. She had already struck it multiple times by now against the ceiling and-

A sudden downturn in the tunnel and she slipped, sliding forward violently as the earth skidded painfully beneath her knees, ripping up the fabric and forcing her into a wide sprawl.

Smacking her hand painfully against the wall, Neci's fingers spasmed wildly and the flashlight fell away, disappearing into the dark, and wide eyed, Neci heard it fall.

For a long period of time- before a small crack rang through the tunnel and she heard it no more. The light was gone. Stretching, Neci realized that the space between her and the walls had shrunk down from a few inches, to zero inches.

Blood painfully rushed to her head.

A breath wheezed out of her and her head spun wildly, "Okay," She croaked out loudly, "Please pull me out now!"

Silence met her. Nervously, she called out again, louder and louder until finally she got a response, too quiet to make it out distinctly.

The clink of metal came from above her head around her waist and with a start Neci realized it was shifting all on its own. Weakly, and ineffectually, nowhere near strong enough to move her body in any actual way.

Neci waited and paused, closing her eyes against the pitch black of the cave and breathing deeply, ignoring the bandana as it fluttered past her face. The chain slackened again, rising up feebly a second later.

Neci understood that was going to be it.

"Son of a bitch!" She murmured angrily and scrambled against the side of the cave, jerkily trying to shove herself backwards and get out of the tight spot she was stuck in. Rock pressed painfully against the bone of her pelvis, and when she eventually had to relax from the ache in her arm, she only shoved herself in further, gravity and her weight working against her immediately. A stiff breath shuddered out of her.