The Explorer's Quest

Convoy

"Come on," said Grant, tugging at the sleeves of Hugo's coat. Hugo snapped out of his paralyzed state and looked at Grant with uncertainty.

"What are we doing?"

"We're gonna get the hell outa here, what'd you think?"

Hugo motioned towards the large pit where a wooden bridge once rested, connecting the two ends. "We're not jumping are we?" he asked.

"Yes. We're jumping across a bottomless fifty-foot hole in the ground," replied Grant sarcastically. "C'mon, Hugo! Where's your adventurous side? Don't you know that this isn't the end? It's never the end! There are only two possible outcomes when it comes down to it: you either get out alive or you don't. Now, we can't just stay here and think it's all over! We haven't even checked the back of the temple for a way out!"

Hugo's eyes lit up. "There's a way out of here?"

"There could be. We should go look for one."

"Do you think there actually is an exit?"

"Well, maybe not a back door. I'm thinking that we can get out somehow."

"Then let's go! We gotta help Johnny!" Hugo started walking down the corridor of death cradles. He reached down and grabbed his flashlight and Johnny's pistol, then he looked back to see Grant, who reached down to grab one of the ice axes used earlier and then continued walking, following behind Hugo.

"We should hurry!" said Grant.

They sprinted all the way down the corridor, not pausing once to take a breath or notice how far down they actually were. When they had arrived at the end of the temple, they were disappointed. It had seemed like they had reached a rock solid wall. But Grant could feel a subtle breeze coming through a crack that they couldn't have noticed without the breeze. They used the ice axe to break through the wall, creating for themselves a small hole to crawl through.

The cold breeze turned into a rushing wind that stung their faces as soon as they had crawled through the hole. "Look!" shouted Hugo. He pointed to a convoy of black CLOVER vehicles moving down the mountain on a trail that led to the bottom.

"We have to get onto one of those vehicles," said Grant.

"How?"

Grant scanned the area for a minute and then pointed to three or four mercenaries loading themselves onto a smaller vehicle. "That one. We steal it, then follow the others to find out where they're going. We'll rescue Johnny and get away. Then we'll finally be back home safe."

"Hold on, what about the gold? We came all this way I don't think we're just gonna leave empty handed."

"Hugo, seriously? It is way too dangerous to go up against these guys! We almost died by them, Johnny is in no condition to do all this running around either! And I don't want to see what horrors Marco was warning us about, especially if they're worse than what we've already seen! Come on, is it really worth it?"

"Yes. It is worth it," Hugo started. "Have you wondered why CLOVER is after this treasure? Why an industry with probably way more money than what's at stake here, is after this treasure? Grant, there's something more to this that we don't understand! They know something we don't!"

"Where's your reasoning?"

"Remember that old guy in the village, who let us use the balloon? Remember he said that CLOVER wants to become the most powerful empire in the world by achieving powerful artifacts? They're not in it for the gold, they're looking for something more powerful!"

The vehicle started, making a low rumble. Grant and Hugo looked forward again, realizing they had spent too much time arguing. The vehicle started to move forward and Grant said, "We gotta go, now."

The two broke off at a fast sprint. They sprinted straight for the truck. As they got closer, the truck got faster, and it took every ounce of breath they had to move close enough and jump onto it. Grant jumped on first, then held a hand out for Hugo to grab when he jumped.

When he felt Hugo's cold hand grasp onto his own, he pulled Hugo up where they could both stand on the top of the vehicle. Hugo held onto a bar that was on the top, while Grant crawled down the left side. He opened the door and pulled the driver out of the truck. The passenger was startled at first but then began to pull his gun out and fire when Hugo opened the passenger door and pulled the man out of the truck.

The two crawled into the seats that were previously occupied and closed the doors. "That wasn't so hard," Hugo said, letting out a relieving sigh.

"Oh we're not finished yet," said Grant. The top door of the truck in front of them opened up and four mercenaries climbed onto the roof. They readied their guns and began firing at Hugo and Grant. They both lowered their heads just enough to where they could still see through the windshield but not get shot. A few bullets punctured the windshield, shattering a hole in the glass. Grant sped the truck up, moving them so fast that they collided with the truck in front of them. The impact sent two of the mercenaries flying off the top of their vehicle, and the other two only stumbled down onto their knees.

Hugo rolled down his window and aimed his revolver at the men. He fired and missed. He fired again, this time one of the mercenaries dropped his weapon and clutched his arm. He fired, and the same mercenary dropped dead, rolling off the top of the vehicle and landing in the snow never to be seen again. He fired, the other man grabbed his stomach and fell backwards.

"Damn, Hugo! Nice shooting!" said Grant.

"Thanks!"

They came to a low cliff where driving safely was crucial. The path that which they were on was only wide enough for one vehicle, and below was a long drop. The convoy of trucks had slowed down their pace for this part, giving time for Grant and Hugo to think about things for a moment in silence.

This moment was the most relaxing moment they had had since back in India before they were attacked by enormous tigers. They both missed home, but for different reasons. Grant saw this as the most dangerous quest he had ever been on in his entire life, therefore he wanted to be back where it was safe. Hugo was excited by the danger and wanted to tell this awesome tale to everyone he knew back at home.

The relaxing silence was cut away too soon, as the ground began to rumble. It growled quietly but loudly, building suspense with every second. Grant looked in the mirror on the side of his door, and saw that a large ball of snow and rocks were moving down the side of the cliff. Hugo looked up and out his window to see that snow was falling down the mountain and towards the convoy. It was an avalanche.

"Get out, it's an avalanche!" shouted Hugo. The two crawled out of the windows and onto the roof, where they jumped onto the truck in front of them. They moved as fast as they could, jumping from truck to truck until they got far enough ahead to look back and see that their vehicle, along with two others, had been swept off the cliff by the falling snow and tumbling rocks.

They opened up the doors of the truck below them and threw the mercenaries out. They buckled up, and continued to follow the convoy.