by TheTimeTrust
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"There it is again," whispered Lance Lorenzo.
The rest of the group tensed up. With only a few gestures, half the group stood guard, and the stronger ones continued to dig through the crumbling walls.
"Shore'n I hope that's no lion. I hate lions," said Pete Glover, nicknamed the "Monkey's Paw."
"Uhnnnh!" Naecken said as he flinched and brought his hands up to his head, keeling over and unable to dig any further.
"What is it, Nae? What's wrong?" asked Marv Velo.
"I... I don't know," groaned Naecken as he bent doubled over in pain as if he had a splitting headache. "Something... it feels... oppressive. Like... like pure darkness. I can't explain it."
"Whatever it is, it seems to be getting closer," said Lance. "Tobias, Danny, how's the digging coming?"
Tobias Christopher did not reply at first, but continued to hit away at the crumbling wall using superspeed. "I can't tell. I really have no idea whether this is taking us anywhere or not."
"Damn. Anyone have any thoughts on this?" asked Mick Harrison.
"Well, this desert seems to bear all the trademarks of karst topography," Velo noted.
"Wha--?" everyone said at once.
"Karst topography... a landscape which forms natural caves."
Everyone just looked at Velo blankly.
"You see, this wall seems to have been carved directly out of the rock, and this rock is limestone, which lends itself to karst topography. If we keep on blasting away at it, we may finally get through to a system of caves, the kind used by refugees during World War II."
"That, or we cause the ceiling to collapse on us," commented Danny Hearn, whose mole-like arms continued digging through the rock.
"Well, nobody seems to have had any better ideas," said Sonja Ljzavet.
Tobias, still working at the wall, stopped and turned to the others. "Want me to take a quick look?"
"I dinnow if tha's such a good idea, me boyo," said Pete. "Whutever tha' thing is back there, it's liable ta wanna munch on our bones like you'd munch on hot wings at the local pub."
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"What IS that thing?" screamed Shirley Francis, suddenly panicking. Mick rushed to her side to hold her tightly.
"Whoa, girl. Quiet down!" scolded Sonja. "We've all got to keep it together if we're ever going to get out of this damnable country," she said, spitting upon the ground with the last word.
"Well, I think we SHOULD send Tobias out to take a look," said Velo. "At least he could take a peek and race back here before whatever it is out there could even touch him."
"It's worth a try," agreed Lance. "Tobias? You up for it?"
"Always," said Tobias. A mere split-second later he was gone.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"Holy shite!" exclaimed a startled Pete.
"Tobias? TOBIAS!" called Velo.
"Where is he?" shouted Danny over his shoulder as he continued digging away at the wall.
"I wish I knew," said Velo.
"Think we should go out and look for him?" asked Mick.
"What? And leave the rest of us here to fend for ourselves?" said Sonja.
"We'll come back," said Mick.
"That's what our lad Tobias was s'pposed ta do, an' Sam a'fore him," commented Pete, holding one grimy hand on Naecken's back. The dark-skinned Naecken was still doubled over in pain, unable to speak.
"Well, it's better than doing nothing," said Velo. "I'll go."
"No," said Sonja insistently.
"I'll go with you," said Lance.
"NO!" shouted Sonja. "We've GOT to stay together. Only united can we remain strong. As soon as we begin to separate, we'll be easy pickings. We're already missing Sam and Tobias, and Naecken is useless -- we can't afford to lose you two as well!"
"We don't really have a choice," said Velo, shrugging. "That's Tobias out there." He glanced over to Lance, who nodded and cautiously followed him toward the sound of the growling.