UNDER THE DOME

Chapter 2: Shackled in the Bone Cave

Joe woke up hanging in chains, shackled to a rock wall. A trickle of wet slid down his cheek and dripped off his chin. He looked down. Blood. He squeezed his eyes shut, shook his head. Bad idea. Fireworks of pain exploded behind his eyeballs.

He squinted through blurry eyes at Norrie. Manacles bound her wrists and circled her ankles. Her head hung limp, chin to her chest, snoring lightly. She was out cold.

They were still underground. That hadn't changed. A torch on the far wall blazed and hissed. Demon shadows flickered and danced over the rocks. An ocean of bleached white bones lay heaped around their feet. Ribs, femurs, tibias, skulls.

Then he saw their roommate. A human skeleton draped in rags, hanging in chains matching his own and Norrie's. Joe's gut clenched. He burped up sour gas.

"Norrie! Wake up. Snap out of it." Joe's voice echoed through the cavern. He struggled against the chains, yanking and kicking. "Hey!" he yelled, clanking and rattling his chains. "Whoever the hell you are, show yourself and let us out of here."

"Quiet!"

Joe shrank back, heart thudding. A short stocky man in a soiled coat hobbled toward them. His hair was tied back in a messy ponytail. He raised a hand. Three fingers were missing. He put one finger to his lips. "Shhh, you'll wake the dead."

Joe snorted. No way this dude could have knocked them both out and chained them up. He looked like one of Snow White's dwarfs. All he needed was a pickax and a lunch pail. This had to be somebody's idea of a bad joke.

"OK, Grumpy," Joe said. "You can come clean now. Who sent you down here. It was Big Jim, right?"

Grumpy coughed, turned his head and spat a wad of greenish phlegm. "Runt of a pig," he rumbled. "No one sends me."

Joe threw his head back and bellowed at the ceiling, "We give up, Big Jim. You can come out now."

Grumpy stood on tiptoes and clapped his hand over Joe's mouth. "Shut your trap or I'll cut out your tongue. There's no escape from the Crypt of Bones." His hand reeked of excrement. "Don't waste your breath, runt." His lips drew back, exposing four black teeth. "Or I'll boil your bones for broth."

Joe snickered. A dwarf calling him a runt, that was a laugh. His head only came up to Joe's chin. He sucked in a breath, ready to holler his lungs out.

The point of a blade pierced Joe's belly. The words died in his throat. Joe pictured the dwarf slitting his belly, scooping out his guts and splattering them all over the cave. Crushing his corpse to a bloody pulp. Stripping his flesh. Cracking his bones for marrow.

The game had changed. Weapons were involved now. Joe wasn't scared -- he was petrified.

"What do you want?" Joe silently inventoried the contents of his pockets. A few dollar bills. Some coins. A couple of Power Bars. "Take my money. Take whatever you want." He cursed himself for leaving the iPad up top. It could have bought their freedom.

"Don't want your stuff," Grumpy groused. "Junk."

"How about my boots? Look, they're hikers. Waterproof." Chains clanked as Joe tried to lift his leg. "Please, please let us go," Joe pleaded. "I swear I won't tell anyone. We won't turn you in."

"Bah!" Grumpy sputtered. "No matter to me if you do or don't." He stomped, grinding his foot as if squashing a bug. "I crush you and your lady like roaches."

Norrie moaned and struggled weakly against her chains. Her head bobbed once, then dipped forward, back into unconsciousness.

"If you kill us, Big Jim and Barbie will come looking for you. We're from Chester's Mill. You can't just kill Americans. Tell me what you want. I promise I'll get it for you." Joe held a strict personal rule about lying, but it didn't apply to ugly little trolls with medieval torture methods. 

"Now you're talking, runt of a pig. You give it to me, I set you free."

Joe took one last desperate stab at a bribe. "How about my Power Bars. They're really good for keeping up your energy. And the FDA says they're a growth enhancer." Yeah, right. Like the troll might actually sprout a few inches.

"Not your bars of power," Grumpy said. "The egg. Give me the egg and you will be free."

Joe started to protest, but the words died in his mouth. How did Grumpy know about the egg? Only Joe's and Norrie's close circle of friends knew about it: Junior, Melanie, Julia, Barbie, Pauline. And, of course, Big Jim. He seemed the likeliest big mouth. But Grumpy didn't seem to know Big Jim.

Joe decided to play dumb. "Egg? I normally don't carry eggs around with me. And besides, you can't refrigerate them because there's no power since the Dome--"

"You lie." Grumpy pressed the blade under Joe's ribcage.

Joe felt the tip of the blade pierce his shirt. A red stain blossomed on the fabric. Grumpy wasn't playing games.

"I don't have it," Joe choked out. "But I can get it for you if you let us go."