Chosen.

Chosen. Chapter 36

Chapter THIRTY-SIX

Autumn

The Trials: Round 4, Day 2

10:49 PM

"Dad is going to kill us, Autumn!! We should really turn back around....right now!" This is coming from Heath's muffled voice behind me.

Inside, I know he is right. It's already more than 30 minutes past our deadline when we were supposed to be back at the split tunnel to meet with him and Hannah. I'm honestly surprised our wrist links haven't changed to the red termination color, and every other minute I check it to make sure it's still the green, active color.

"I can feel it in my bones, Heath. The exit tunnel is not far from us, I'm sure of it!" I'm so determined not to quit this Trial, and I know if we turn back around that's it, the end, we're all going home. The Barloc family will be defeated on the second-to-last Trial. That's just not happening, if I can help it! And I am not only helping it; I am going to lead this family out to victory!!

The tunnel we're currently making our way down is a doozy, though. There is all these rocks and debris starting to pile up that we have to work through, and I can also hear water not far from us, which means another disturbing night swim on the agenda. But, there is this overwhelming feeling inside of me to keep going. It's like some unknown force is guiding me -- and my gut says to trust it -- so that's what I'm doing.

Heath obviously doesn't want to quit either, but I can tell he is starting to become uneasy in this foreign territory. I read that as just another sign to me, though, that this tunnel isn't like any of the others we've been down, so it HAS to be the way out!

"Can you at least turn on the flashlight for a second, Autumn? We haven't looked around us for awhile, and this part of the cave feels really different."

I can hear Heath pause in his movement behind me; I stop as well. His breathing sounds all shaky in the silence, and I realize how hard I've been pushing him. I instinctively feel around until I find his hand in the darkness and squeeze mine around his, "Hey, we got this okay? As soon as we get to the water, I'll turn it on and we'll see where we are. We can't afford to use the battery until then. Just hang with me a little longer, Bub." I wait a second, and eventually he squeezes my hand back, "Fine, I'm following you, Sis."

A few minutes later we hear the echo of flowing water, and I immediately know we're at a new water cave. Heath stops behind me while I take a second to listen before turning on the flashlight. When I do, the flashlight is dim with its dwindling battery and it's pretty loud in the large, open space, but I think I can hear another family moving nearby. That instantly gives me even more confidence that we're on the right track out of here. Please, please, please, let us be at the Break-out Tunnel, I silently pray.

"Holy shit, Autumn! There it is!! You can see real light over there!" I point the flashlight in the direction Heath is gesturing and realize he is right. You can barely see a tiny corner of light across the humongous water cavern at the top right, but there is only one possible the source. It's the friggin' moon!! It's only been two days, but the craving I have to see the night sky above me is so strong that it feels like I've spent a lifetime underground at this point!

"We did it, Heath! We found it!!" I'm so happy that I don't even care we have to swim to get there. But I take another look around now with clearer eyes and a new adrenaline pumping through my veins. I see the other family I heard a second ago making their way to the sliver of light and notice there is another path they are taking that looks so much easier than the way we took to get here. I point the flashlight in that direction, "See that, Heath? That's the way we'll go to get back to our family and lead them out of here. There's just no other way to get over there from this side except to swim."