CAPTURED

Chapter 12: A Tragic End

      Cold water dripped steadily from the rocky ceiling of the cave making a quiet dripping noise that echoed off the walls. The slick mud sloshed under the footsteps of the group with the Guardian's footsteps being the loudest. The chains that were around his ankles rattled loudly with each footstep he took.
      Charlie still remained on top of the Guardian with her hands resting lightly on his broad shoulders. His body rocked back and forth as he moved making it slightly difficult for Charlie to maintain a comfortable position on his back.
      Max trailed behind them and kept a close eye on Charlie while Agostino lead the group and made sure no one got left behind or decided to follow a different path on their own.
      "So, are you going to tell us?" Charlie asked, breaking the silence.
      "About?" Agostino asked.
      "Korbitron. The evil corporation that you're still working for," Charlie replied with a little bit of sass in her voice.
      "Ah, yes. I don't work for them anymore. We split off into a different faction, a better one that doesn't involve illegal experiments to create monsters," he replied.
      "Wait, we? You mean other people split off from the company with you?" Charlie asked.
      "Yes, but there's only a small handful of us. It's not likely all of us will make it out alive. Korbitron is still targeting us."
      "So what do you do now? And how do you survive in here? Why haven't you left this place?"
      "My, my, you have many questions," he paused and chuckled before continuing, "You see, we haven't left yet because we've been looking for you. Our group is a search and rescue team that was created for you and you only. The boss of our team has the evidence and he wants you to have it. He knows what you're trying to do and he wants to help you, Charlie."
      "Do I know this guy? Why does he want me to have it if he doesn't even know me?" Charlie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
      "But he does know you, and you know him. It's Ben, Charlie. The boss of our team is Ben. He's the one who came up with the idea and he's the one who started the team," Agostino replied.
      These words shocked Charlie as they came out of his mouth. That familiar name brought back so many memories and gave off so much evil.
      "What? Why would he want to help? He's the one who brought us here and he's the one who tried to kill me. Don't forget how he locked Max up in the basement with a freaky psycho!" Charlie began to raise her voice again. In the back, Max sighed and then remained silent.
      "You don't understand, that was all apart of his plan! He had to deceive Korbitron to deliver the evidence to you. If he hadn't done all of that, he would've died and Korbitron would've destroyed the only piece of evidence! Without him, you wouldn't be standing here right now," Agostino finished his explanation with a soft sigh.
      Charlie blinked a few times and suddenly felt bad for being so rude to Ben. She knew Agostino was right, without Ben she would be dead and so would Max. She decided that the next time she sees him, she would give him the biggest hug.
      "Now do you see? Ben isn't the bad guy, and neither am I. Everything that we put you through was to help you and we're sorry for the pain we inflicted. Though...putting you through everything also puts you at high risk." Suddenly, Agostino stopped in his tracks when he heard a strange skittering noise echo from the tunnel in front of them.
      Behind him, Charlie grew confused and frightened. "High risk of what?" She asked out loud.
      Agostino quickly put his hand out behind him and whispered, "Quiet! Something is down here with us."
      Charlie immediately shut up and tightened her grip around the Guardian's shoulders. The creature looked ahead of Agostino and growled disapprovingly, like there was something in front of him.
      Max hid behind the Guardian's broad body and looked ahead, hoping that nothing would jump out.
      After examining the tunnel for a few more seconds, Agostino's tense body finally loosened up and he drew a quick breath in.
      "I think we're clear now," he said quietly as he began moving forward again.
      "What the hell was it?" Max asked from behind the Guardian.
      "Hopefully just a mouse," Agostino replied.
      Charlie looked around the cave cautiously when she heard eerie whispering and the same skittering noise that Agostino heard. She decided not to say anything to the rest of the group and shrugged it off as the wind.
      "Now, what were you saying abo-"
      Charlie was quickly cut off by a large force that had slammed into her body, throwing her off of the Guardian's shoulders. She tumbled to the ground and clawed at the air in front of her, searching for the object that hit her, but felt nothing. Her blurry vision cleared and revealed and empty space in front of her with no evidence of what had just hit her.
      "Charlie, are you okay?" Max shouted as he rushed over to her.
      Agostino quickly joined him and knelt beside her.
      "My dear, what happened?" Agostino asked while examining her fallen body.
      "I-I don't know! Something just slammed into me and I went flying off of your Guardian!" She explained while trying to spit out the dirt that was stuck in her mouth.
      In a flash, Charlie's body was suddenly pulled into a hole that was burrowed into the side of the cave wall. She screamed as the unknown presence dragged her across the slick mud, into a mysterious cave that was shrouded in darkness. Rocks pressed against her back and sliced open her arms as she was mercilessly dragged.
      The back of her collar was raised and she clawed at it, feeling for the hand that would not let go. Eventually, she found it and it filled her stomach with a sickening feeling. It was a bony, scaly hand that was slimy to the touch and it seemed to have lizard-like claws. The claws dug into her shirt while the front part of her collar dug into her throat, suffocating her and starving her of oxygen.
      Back in the other tunnel, Agostino and Max stood dumbfounded. Panic and realization quickly set in and Max began to scream.
      "CHARLIE! CHARLIE, NO!" He screamed as loud as he could, causing the walls to vibrate.
      He dove into the hole and clawed at the muddy floor trying desperately to pull himself through the tiny tunnel.
      "Max, stop! Calm down! We'll find her together!" Agostino shouted over his struggling.
      But panic still controlled Max's body. He was in too much of a struggle to notice the man's words, and he continued to claw at the mud.
      Agostino grabbed the lower half of Max's body and pulled the rest out of the small hole, causing Max to freak out again. He clawed at Agostino's face and kicked at his legs, but the man didn't give up. He slapped Max as hard as he could and gripped his shoulders tightly.
      "Damn it, Max, pull yourself together! If you calm down we can find Charlie together. Your panicking will only make matters worse!" He yelled.
      Max held the side of his cheek where Agostino slapped him and he looked him straight in the eyes. He nodded silently allowing Agostino to finally release the tight grip he had on his shoulders.
      "Thank you. Now, we can either try to fit through that tiny hole and fail miserably, or we can find another path that might lead us to her and we can stop whatever caught her," Agostino said while hopping onto one shoulder of his Guardian. He patted the other shoulder that was empty.
      Max quickly climbed onto the Guardian's empty shoulder and gently held onto his head for extra balance. His body rocked back and forth as the creature slowly trudged forward at a steady pace.
      "Follow that tunnel there," Agostino said to the Guardian while pointing to a new tunnel that went left.
      It might lead them to Charlie.
      Over in a mysterious cave, the creature finally let go of Charlie's collar and instead threw her into the mud. It hissed quietly as it slowly made its way over to her body. Charlie could only make out the silhouette of the towering creature.
      It was an alien humanoid with a muscular body and a long, spiny tail that lashed around. Small spines lined its shoulders and two protruded from the top of its head. Long, reptile-like claws sat on each finger and toe that it had.
      The creature approached Charlie and stared down at her, thinking of what to do next. It eyed every part of her body and then grasped her ankles with both of its large hands. Charlie gasped out loud as the creature began to drag her again, but this time less aggressively. It pulled her into another cave with a single portable light that sat on a large wooden desk, and it moved her over to a square structure that was really a cage. It pushed her inside and then shut the gate, locking it after it did so.
      "Wait, what are you going to do with me?!" Charlie yelled at the creature, but it ignored her.
      The face of the creature and the rest of its body was finally revealed when it moved over to the light. Its skin was a light grey, with its entire body being muscular and fit. Its tail rested directly above its buttocks with long spines that lined the top of the tail. The spines also rested on top of its broad shoulders and lined the center of its back. Its face closely resembled a humans with a human sized mouth that had corners that stretched to its pointed ears. Small, pointed teeth sat in its mouth and it had large, yellow reptilian eyes.
      The creature stood in the light with a hand resting on the dusty desk. Its tail swayed slowly back and forth until the creature again turned around to face Charlie. It raised its arm in front of it and pointed a single finger at Charlie, leaving her confused.
      "You," the creature murmured in a raspy demonic voice.
      Charlie just stared at the creature in shock. She never thought the creature would be able to speak like a normal human.
      The creature continued, "You...you're the one." It removed its hand from the desk and moved over to Charlie where it crouched down to her height. The creature looked straight into her eyes.
      Charlie spoke the only words that would come out, "What...are you talking about?"
      The creature stood up and turned around while saying, "It's too dangerous."
      In one tunnel over, Max and Agostino rushed down the dark cave, still searching for Charlie. The Guardian ran at a steady pace, trying to keep its balance and keep from slipping in the filthy mud.
      "We're almost there! I can feel her presence," Agostino blurted out.
      With those words, the Guardian charged full speed until it came to another tunnel that joined with the tunnel they were in. The Guardian rushed down the tunnel again until finally reaching a well-lit room.
      They barged in and stopped when they discovered another creature standing directly in front of a cage. Inside the cage was Charlie.
      "Charlie! We're here!" Max shouted, catching the attention of the creature and the girl.
      "Guys, help!" Charlie screamed while trying to reach out of the cage.
      The creature in front of her stared at the trio and hissed. "It must be contained!" The creature screeched in its demonic voice before suddenly going wild.  It bounced onto one wall and moved to the next, almost taunting them.
      It jumped closer and closer before crawling onto the ceiling and leaping toward the Guardian at full force. The Guardian roared and caught the creature in mid-air, tossing it around by its long tail, and slamming it into the walls around them. The cave began to shake violently.
      "Hurry, please!" Charlie shouted again.
      Max and Agostino threw themselves off of the Guardian, rolling and dodging the swings of the creature's fists. They made their way over to Charlie only to discover a large chain coiled around the door of the cage.
      Agostino immediately yanked his large knife out of his pocket and began to slam it against the chain. It rattled and groaned with each hit until it finally split in half leaving to finally swing open.
      Max grasped Charlie's arms and escorted her out of the cage, examining her body for any new wounds. "Are you hurt?" Max asked.
      "Don't worry about that now! We need to get out of here!" Charlie shouted over the loud grunts and the rumbling of the caverns.
      The trio ran out of the crumbling cave, but Agostino grabbed both of their arms to halt them. "We can't leave my Guardian!" He shouted.
      "I'm sorry, but we don't have time! He can fend for himself!" Charlie replied and Max nodded beside her.
      "No, I can't leave him!" He shouted back as he began to head back into the cave.
      Everything was begin to fall apart.
      Charlie grabbed the sleeve of Agostino's suit and yelled, "We need to go now! Come on!"
      But the man still resisted.
      Suddenly, the roof of the cave began to crumble in and it quickly came tumbling down on them. Charlie closed her eyes, expecting to feel the heavy weight of the boulders on top of her, but she was instead pushed back along with Max. The rocks in front of them toppled onto Agostino and the brawling creatures, consuming and crushing everything. The rocks formed a massive pile up to what was left of the ceiling and silence again remained.
      "Oh shit...AGOSTINO!" Charlie shouted as she tried to tear through the boulders.
      Only a few small rocks were removed, but the other boulders proved to be too heavy for her. Charlie knelt down next to the fallen pile of debris and covered her face with her beat up hands, tears already shrouding her face.
      Even though Charlie never was a fan of Agostino in the beginning, she still felt terrible for what had just happened. She felt that her only way of escape was just taken from her and she was going to be stuck in this place for the rest of her miserable life.
       Max hobbled over to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Charlie, look," he pulled her up and gently held her face in his hands, "we're going to get out of here." He started his last sentence in a firmer voice before continuing, "Please don't give up now. We're so close to victory."
      Charlie sniffled quietly and suddenly remembered what her long journey was for. It was for Max and for their escape. She didn't come all this way just to die in the very end. She didn't know how her journey would end, but she did know Agostino's death was not going to be the last death they would see.
      Suddenly, a pair of warm lips broke Charlie out of her thoughts. The kiss was sweet and made her feel much better than she did before.
      Before she could deepen the kiss, Max pulled away and gave Charlie a small grin. In return, she gave him an even bigger grin before saying, "Let's finish this...together."