Atlantians

Chapter 13

"Are you sure you're well enough to do this?"

"Yes Anthony I am."

It was three days since Katarina had fallen. Her arm was still hurting. The wrapping was still on that the doctor had done and it was supposed to come off in another two days. Katarina's ribs were still very tender and she favored her left leg as they went down the hill. Anthony went in front of her to break her fall in case she fell. Christiana stuck close by her side in order to help her down the hill.

"Just a few more feet Anthony. It'll be to your left." Christiana pointed to the left when Anthony looked back at her.

Katarina slowly made her way down the hill. She kept a hold of the arm that Christiana offered her. Sweat poured down her face and her breath came sharply. She paused and let out a grateful sigh as they reached the entrance to the cave. She wanted to sit down, but didn't think that she'd be able to get back up if she did.

Anthony stood back and looked at the entrance to the cave. He motioned to the workers who had followed them down. "Okay fellas. There's a lot of work that needs done in order to get into the cave. Let's see if we can get into the cave before noon."

Everyone divided up into teams and got to work. Katarina stayed back and watched. Christiana stuck close to her side. It was enough to annoy Katarina, but she was secretly glad for the help. The sun was unbearable as they worked. There was no protection here until the sun topped the ridge and that wouldn't happen till late afternoon.

Time seemed to drag by. The work was slow going since they had to make sure that the entrance to the cave was safe to pass under. Midmorning came and went and it was drawing on towards noon when they managed to clear the cave and stabilize the entrance. Katarina limped over and peered at the structure.

"This cave won't hold for very long."

Anthony stepped up next to her and inspected the opening. "No, but it'll have to do till we can find or dig another entrance."

"Alright people," Anthony said as he turned and addressed the group of workers. "We need to take things slow and steady. Katarina and I have already seen what we believe to be the main part of the cave. I have no idea what we can expect once we enter the cave. Be prepared for traps, false doorways, and dead ends."

Katarina stood back and watched as the workers turned on head lamps and balance bags of equipment of their shoulders. They filed into the cave being extra careful to avoid the cave walls. After everyone had filed in Katarina, with Christiana's help, followed. It was painful going, but there was no way she was missing out on this.

"Just let me know when you need to rest."

"I will Christiana," Katarina got out between pain filled breaths.

The passage was tight and narrow, most of the time you had to go through one by one. Sound echoed down the passageway as people tried to find their way to the main part of the cave. A lot of side passages opened up from this one. People kept breaking off from this passage and heading down other ones before they came back. This one seemed to be the main passageway into the caves. The passageway led in a straight line till it stopped at a three way branch. The one to the right was bigger than the other two. The one in the middle fell sharply while the left one rose at a sharp angle.