Chapter 56
Jodie had been drifting in and out of consciousness. Everything around her was black. It was as if her eyes had been removed. Even her thoughts had no colour. Something felt different. She lay in complete darkness and tried to comprehend what had changed. Eventually it occurred to her what it was. She was no longer cold. She remembered how she shivered with fear and cold. Now it was only fear that caused her to shudder. Wherever she was felt temperate. It was like there was no temperature at all. She noticed whatever it was that she lay upon equalled the warmth of her body. But there was something else. Although she was still scared, she felt a little more relaxed, as if a weight had been removed. She rubbed her hand across her face. It felt good to feel her fingers touch her brow. And then she worked out what had changed. She pulled herself up and into a sitting position. Whatever had been preventing her from moving was no longer there. She felt her wrists and then her ankles. Her clothes, like her skin, felt a little damp. She raised her right arm over her head to feel for whatever may be above her, but there was nothing. Gradually, she rose to her feet. The floor moved, like she was on a child’s bouncy castle. Again, she raised her arm above her head to feel for a something above her. Nothing.
She got down on her knees, and edged forward, carefully feeling her way. She had no idea what lay ahead, and was wary that there could be something even worse than what she was currently experiencing.
With each cautious move, she noticed that the temperature became a tiny bit warmer. She stopped and turned her head. Still, she was in complete darkness.
“Hello, is there anyone who can hear me?”
Again, there was no reply. She carried on moving in the same direction. The further she moved away from where she had been, the warmer it became.
“Where the hell am I?” she whispered.
Jodie stopped moving, and evaluated the situation.
I’m a clever person, I’ve got a degree in science, why can’t I work this out? she thought to herself.
Her fear turned to anger. She was livid with herself for ending up in the position she was in. She thrust her thoughts to one side and continued to move forward. Each time the palms of her hands touched the strange ground upon which she crawled, she felt the temperature rise. But still she advanced, ignoring the change.
If only I could see where I am, thought Jodie. Then she remembered the torch app on her smartphone. She lunged her hand into her coat pocket, but her heart sank when it displayed almost zero battery and not enough to power up the torch. She sighed and slipped it back into her pocket.
She carried on, aimlessly moving forward. It was hard to know whether she was moving in a straight direction or if she was veering off at an angle. The flexibility of whatever it was she crawled over skewed her senses.
“Help! Can anyone hear me? Is there anyone there?”
Just as before, there was no reply. Jodie had two choices. She could either stop and wait where she was, or continue in whichever direction she was heading and hope that she would find some kind of way out.
She lay on her back, stared up into the blackness and thought about her circumstances. Jodie didn’t take long to decide that her best choice was to keep moving. Warily, she turned over and continued on all fours. The only thing which suggested she was moving away from where she’d started, was the continuing rise in temperature as she moved. She perspired, and stopped to wipe her forehead with the sleeve of her coat. She contemplated taking it off, but decided against it. Wherever she was, it was still the month of October, and if she was to make it out of this strange confined place, the chilliness of outside wouldn’t be pleasant.
Onward she continued, at a painstakingly slow pace. The strange springy ground was damp, and again, it reminded her of something organic. She felt as if she was crawling across a huge version of something she would see for sale in the window of a butcher’s shop. The thought made her nauseous, but she carried on regardless.
Every few minutes Jodie called out, and every time her pleas were met with silence. Everything was silent. Even her hands and knees made no sound as she crawled. The only sound, other than her heartbeat and breathing, was the rustling of her clothes as her limbs cautiously propelled her to wherever she was heading.
Then something was different.
Something tiny dug into the palm of her right hand. She stopped, rested on her knees, and felt her palm with the fingers. Although she couldn’t see, she felt what seemed to be a small piece of grit. She removed it, and rolled it between the thumb and forefinger. Whatever it was dropped from her hand.
Jodie continued, and more pieces of grit stuck into her palms. They were larger and embedding into her palm every time she advanced into the darkness.
“Ouch!”
Something larger jarred her knee. She picked up what felt like a small stone.
What the hell is this?
The change in her surroundings gave her hope that she was getting somewhere, but at the same time her fear was growing.
“Help, can you hear me?”
No reply. She continued to make her way and as she did the floor became grittier, until it got the point where it was too painful for her to continue on hands and knees. Tentatively, she climbed to her feet. The floor wasn’t quite as springy as it was a few feet behind her. She put her hands out in front of her, as if she was reaching for something to hold on to, but there was nothing. Jodie continued to move in what she considered to be a forward direction. Through the soles of her shoes she felt loose grit and stones.
The floor had lost its elasticity and was more solid. She felt like she was walking through a recently ploughed field. The small pieces of grit were now the size of small stones, which were becoming larger. She bent forward and picked up a stone which was the size of a small pebble, but instead of round and smooth, it was rough and jagged. Jodie dropped it, and heard a clunk as it hit the ground. Other than her own voice, breathing and heartbeat, it was the first sound she’d heard since she’d been there. Just hearing the stone hit the ground made her feel as though she was getting somewhere. The sudden difference in the weird environment gave her a glimmer of hope. With her arms outstretched, she continued forward, occasionally reaching out to her left and right. The temperature was rising with each step.
Perspiration trickled down her brow like teardrops which stung her eyes. She stopped to wipe her eyes, and continued to fumble in the dark like a visionless person.
Jodie became more familiar with her surroundings, and advanced at faster rate, although in reality she still moved at an excruciating slow crawl.
And then she felt something in front of her.
She let out a gasp and pulled her arms down by her sides.
Carefully, she lifted her arms and reached out. She prodded with the tips of her fingers and tried to figure out what it was. Jodie ran her hands up and down and to her left and right. It was a wall. She got back down to her knees and touched where the wall met the ground. But it wasn’t like a wall. It was as if the ground below her rose up ahead of her. She clambered back to her feet, and little by little, ran her hands up the wall. Just like the floor, it was gritty. Jodie stood on tiptoes, and reached as high as she could. The grit covered wall sloped behind her and over her head as if she was in a cave. Jodie rubbed her right hand over the loose grit and jutting stones, which fell to the ground. The temperature was becoming unbearably warm. She could move no further forward. There was nowhere else for her go, other than to her left, her right or back from where she came.
Jodie stopped and thought.
With her arms pressed against the strange stone and grit peppered wall, she made her way to her right. Loose gravel fell like hailstones. Her pace quickened and she continued, feeling her way as she went.
She stopped in her tracks when she brushed against something jutting from the wall. It was stringy, tough and she reckoned it to be around a centimetre thick. She ran her fingers up and down and estimated it was around n
ine inches long. It was coming from and going back into the wall. Its texture was covered in tiny lumps and swellings. Then Jodie worked out what it was.
“It’s a root,” she whispered, “It’s the stem of a plant.”
Feverishly, she felt the wall in greater detail, and found that if she used a lot of force, she could push her fingers into it. She sniffed her forefinger.
“It’s soil.”
After fumbling around she located the root again, and cleared hardened soil from the wall. Jodie worked hard to move as much soil as she could.
“Where the bloody hell am I?” she cursed, whilst continuing to scrape away soil. She couldn’t see a thing, but in her mind’s eye Jodie imagined a huge dirt wall ahead, above and all around her. There was no way of knowing how thick the wall was, or what was behind it, but Jodie was certain that her means of escape lay beyond.
She continued to dig around the root, and found by tugging it, she was able to dislodge loose soil easier.
The heat was rising and her throat was dry. She was desperate for a drink of water, but didn’t stop from scraping and scratching away with her fingertips. She tugged at the root, but was cautious not to snap it, as she was sure that it led to somewhere beyond the strange place where she was imprisoned. It was her lifeline, her umbilical cord and her only means of guidance. Her fingers hurt with each splinter of grit that cut her fingertips. But she had made progress. Jodie stopped for a rest, and placed her hand in the hole she’d dug in the wall. She was pleased when she approximated she’d cleared around nine inches of soil, which was enough space for her hand to reach into, up to her wrist. She had no idea how much more she had to clear, but wasn’t going to stop until she’d found out.
Time meant nothing as she continued to clear the soil and stones. Around her feet, a mound of earth and rock piled up. The further she dug, the more roots she found. None were as large as the one which had been guiding her. These new roots were only millimetres thick, and were like loose strands of hair.
I must be getting somewhere. I can’t give up.
She continued to dig, despite the pain in her fingers. Her wrists ached, and her skin felt scratched and horrible. She imagined how filthy she must look. She visualised her sweat soaked face caked in soil and blood seeping from her cuticles.
Jodie refused to give up. Nothing was going to stop her until she’d cleared the soil.
As she continued, she wondered what had happened to Markland and Howie. She recalled the look upon Markland’s face as he watched her dragged to the hill by the stranger. She remembered how he tried to climb the hill to reach her, but appeared to be held back by some kind of invisible force. Where were they both now? How long had she been here? Who was the stranger who pulled her away, what did he want from her and where was he now?
On and on she dug deeper into the wall, until a large clod of soil fell down upon her arm which was now a good fifteen inches into the wall. Instinctively, she pulled her arm out of the hole, and moved back as the lump of soil fell apart and rained down upon her feet. For a few seconds she stood completely still, and thought about what had just happened. Then Jodie thrust both hands into the hole, which was now twice as big since the loose clod had become dislodged. She pressed her body against the hole to allow her to reach further and continued to dig. More clumps of loose stone and soil fell, and soon she was pulling larger chunks of earth from the hole. Her breathing was laboured and tiredness slowed her, but still she persisted at what seemed to be a never ending battle with the wall.
The root was still in place, and now she was able to grip around twenty-four inches of the rope like vine, which was a lot thicker than it was when she’d discovered it. She felt tendrils jutting out in all directions.
“I must be almost through,” she muttered breathlessly.
Jodie had given up calling for help, by now she was certain she was alone and any further cries were pointless.
The hole was now so deep she was unable to reach her arms any further in. The next thing she needed to do was to make the hole wider, to allow her climb in. Jodie worked hard to widen the cavity, and soon she was able to lean in far enough so that her shoulders rubbed the edges of the hollowed out area. She reached for her lifeline, pulled herself in further and continued to work away at what was between her and what she hoped would be freedom. As she pulled upon the root, a huge clod of soil fell into her face. Colours flashed before her eyes as she slammed her lids shut. She spat earth from her dry mouth and wiped her tongue against the sleeve of her dirty red coat.
Jodie leaned into the hole, and immediately sensed that something was different. At first she couldn’t work out what it was, but something had definitely changed. And then it hit her. It was a smell. A very, very faint smell. It was almost undetectable, but she could sense it. She lunged further in and grappled with the soil around the root which was now falling away with ease. She scooped handfuls of earth, grit and stone and let them drop to the ground. Weariness was overcoming her, but she was determined to continue.
Another unmeasurable period of time passed. Her head ached, her shoulders throbbed and she was becoming delirious with fatigue. Jodie was about to slump down and give up, but instead gave a huge pull on the root and dislodged the largest clump of soil and stone since she’d started digging. The clod came away with such a force, it sent her reeling backwards. She landed, sprawled on her back still holding the root which had snapped in the process.
Jodie wiped her face and looked ahead into blackness.
But blackness was no longer there.
She blinked and wiped her eyes again before scrambling to her feet.
She had broken through the vast wall of soil and saw that beyond was a dull, pinkish-orangey light. Even after Jodie’s eyes adjusted to what she saw, she had no idea what she was looking at.
The opening was about six inches by four inches and was just enough for her to push her arm through. The air beyond the wall was as hot as the stifling heat within. Undeterred, Jodie widened the small opening until she was able to push both arms through. Although the aperture was a little larger she was unable to determine what was producing the strange light.
Even with renewed vigour because of the breakthrough, Jodie was too exhausted to dig. She pulled her arms out of the hole, turned around with her back against the gritty soil wall and slumped to the ground.
The light seeping through the small hole cast an eerie glow, and as her eyes adjusted, she was able to see where she had been imprisoned.
Wherever she was, it was cavernous. The longer she stared, the more she made out what was around her. The wall was as it had been in her mind’s eye. It was a mass of soil, stone and grit. It reminded her of a cliff wall after it had taken a battering from a recent storm, exposing loose shale and rock. But it was the floor that got her attention. The strange organic like surface, which had been pulsing, was covered in grit and soil. She got down on all fours and retreated back in the direction where she had come, to an area where the floor wasn’t quite so strewn with debris from the wall. The orange glow revealed that the floor was shiny. It reflected the light seeping through the hole which cast a long pastel blush dissipating into the distance. Like the gritty wall, the floor was as she’d visualised it to be in her mind’s eye. It was made from what looked and felt to be a black plastic substance. But as she pushed her palm against the moist surface, and felt it flex under the pressure of her hand, she knew it was not man made. Instead, it was something that was definitely organic. She shuddered at the thought of what it could be.
All Jodie wanted was to escape from the place. As tired and pained as she was, she decided to make a final push and breakthrough. She got back to her feet, headed to the hole and lunged both her arms through. She gave little thought to what was beyond the wall, or to what was creating the strange orange-pink glow. She continued to push and pull at the loose soil which crumbled around her, until she’d dug a hole large enough to fit her
head and shoulders through.
Jodie struggled through the gap. She spat soil from her mouth and squinted as dirt fell into her eyes. Her head protruded through the hole, but she found it hard to make out what there was to see. She rubbed her watering eyes to clear small flecks of soil. Eventually her vision was clear.
What she saw astounded her.
It was like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion. There was nothing, absolutely nothing. No trees, nor buildings nor grass on the ground. Other than barren soil there was nothing to see. She looked at the sky, which was the source of the strange orange light which had filtered through the hole and had illuminated where she had been.
The sky was like a brilliant sunset, but not just in the west, it covered the entire sky. There were no clouds, nor could Jodie see the sun. She could not pinpoint the light source. She pulled her petulant body through the hole and tumbled to the ground. She stood up and wiped soil from the sleeves of her coat before looking at the temporary prison, which had been holding her for how long she didn’t know.
She expected to see a massive hollow mountain or some strange huge man made structure, but she didn’t see any of those things. What she saw was something she’d become quite familiar with, and couldn’t comprehend why such a small thing could have been so massive on the inside. She took a few steps back, wiped her eyes again and walked around its perimeter.
“I don’t bloody believe it.”
Although she recognised it immediately, her mind couldn’t accept what she was looking at.
“It’s the bloody burial mound.”
But it wasn’t quite as she’d remembered it. The burial mound was normally covered in scrubby grass, weeds and the occasional wild flower. What Jodie saw was nothing other than dry soil and stone.
In the sky, there were no birds, no aircraft or anything which suggested there was life.
There was no breeze. Nothing made a sound, other than her feet upon the soil.
“Hello, is anybody there?”
Just like when she was in the hill, there was no reply. Jodie walked back around to the hole through which she’d crawled, and gasped when she saw that it was no longer there. The evidence which confirmed she’d broken through was due to the pile of stone and soil which had tumbled from it. But the actual hole had sealed itself up.
Her body ached to the bone and tiredness overcame her.
She sat on the ground, with her back against the hill and tried to keep her eyes open, but couldn’t.
Just as her eyes were about to close, she noticed something that she hadn’t seen when she’d crawled out of the hill. It was the bench. The same bench that she’d seen next to the stainless steel monument before she’d been abducted. She tried so hard to stay awake, but couldn’t stop her eyelids from slamming down. Lifting them was almost too hard to bear. She made one final attempt to stay awake, and as the orange light filtered through her tired slits, she saw a figure of a man walking towards the bench.
She opened her dry mouth in attempt to call out, but no words were forthcoming.
Jodie succumbed to the tiredness that had been waiting so patiently to take her away from the strange stark landscape.