Blackout • NH

Chapter 6

"Liam hold this." Elliot said. He puts a pair of binoculars up to his eyes.

"What is it?" Ellen asked.

"I can see the start of the desert from here. We're close. Let's keep moving. There should be a cave up here we can spend the night in." He said looking at a geographical map.

We continue walking for about 45 more minutes until we reach this cave Elliot talked about. Apparently he was right because we made it and it was a deep cave. Elliot began to walk into the cave.

"Wait!" Liam said. "How do we know if there aren't tigers or bears in this cave?" He asked.

"First off, Tigers don't live in California you dumb ass. Secondly, this cave was used by some old native tribes that survived out here for hundreds of years." Elliot replied.

"Damn, it was just a question. No need to get pissy." Liam replied. Elliot ignored him and began to head into the cave. We followed him in, everyone started getting set up to go to sleep.

The cave wasn't small but it wasn't big either. It could fit about 30 people in it. Liam began to start a campfire while Elliot and Ellen started setting up sleeping bags.

I turned on my flashlight and what I saw amazed me. Cave paintings were everywhere. I walked up to one to get a closer look and saw two people shaped figures.

They looked as if they were in love, but the painting next to it showed that the girl was killed, leaving her lover to suffer in agony and denial. He lost his one and only. It was so depressing to look at. I began to tear up a bit.

"Hey what's wrong?" A slightly panicked voice said beside me. I look to see Niall standing there looking at me, worried.

"Nothing Niall. I was just looking at some of the cave paintings." I said, sniffing a bit. Niall looked at the one I was staring at and understood why I was crying. Suddenly he put his hand on my back and began rubbing it to comfort me.

"I came to America to study geology, earth science and history. I learned about these cave paintings. The tribes had it rough back then. These stories they tell with their paintings are based from personal experiences." He said. I didn't say anything but I continued listening.

He points at the painting I was just looking at. "This man, he was in love with the girl. She loved him back." He started. "She was carrying his child." I looked up to see that she did have a rounder belly drawn onto her.

This made me even more sad. "Their camp was ambushed by another tribe. She was killed in the attack. Leaving him without his woman and unborn child." He said.

Tears were running down my face but I wasn't a sobbing mess. Kind of like when you watch a sad movie. These paintings told stories among stories. And this specific one had to be the most tragic story.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath to calm to tears. Niall puts and arm around my shoulder and pulls me to his side and rubbing my arm to comfort me.

"Thank you Niall." I said. I hugged him with the one arm I had wrapped around him and let go and began to make my little bed for the night.

Liam and Elliot were sleeping near one wall of the cave. Ellen was sleeping on an elevated flat surface, it looked like a giant rock that had been eroded over the years of wear and tear, mostly by the tribesmen.

I was in the back of the cave near the paintings. About 10 feet from Liam, Elliot and Ellen. Niall set up his sleeping bag right near mine.

"You don't mind if I sleep here do you?" Niall asked.

"No, you're fine Niall. Go ahead." I said. Niall then crawled out of the cave. Probably to relieve himself before bed. I laid down looking up at the ceiling.

Stalactites hanging down looking like they could break off and pierce into you at any second. Some of them came so far down that you had to duck and crawl a bit. I began to think about the cave paintings as I began to drift off to sleep.

"Fuck!" I hear someone yell, and I jolt up. I see Niall holding his head. Liam and Elliot laughing their asses off.

"What's so funny?" I ask.

"Niall forgot to duck when he was crawling back to his bed and slammed his face right into a low hanging stalactite." Liam said while laughing. I began to laugh and look at Niall rubbing his forehead before laying down and going to sleep.

This has been one interesting day indeed.