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CHAPTER

18

SOMETHING WAS WRAPPED AROUND CAL’S feet as he struggled to reach the surface of the water. It felt like a vine was constricting his movements. He managed to pop his face up out of the water, and he gasped for air through his mouth before he was quickly tugged back under. He had to reach his ankles to free himself from whatever it was. But the oxygen bag was getting in the way of him bringing his legs up so he could reach—

Someone pulled him up by one shoulder, but whatever was around his legs fought against their efforts. He opened his eyes underwater, but the light from the miner hat was useless down there. He couldn’t make anything out.

He briefly broke the surface again. “There’s something on my—”

And under he went again.

Would this be how it all ended for him? He wasn’t prepared to die. Despite Sophie’s pleas and repeated admonitions about how dangerous his adventures could be, he still didn’t believe he would die on one. He was too young. He had too much to live for. Too much to still do. More love to give Sophie.

But as her face flashed in his mind, he started to lose the fight. She’d said she would leave his body in the desert. She was mad at him, and they had a huge difference of opinion about his expeditions. What if him coming here had been enough to push her away for good? Then he’d have no reason to survive. She was his best friend, his favorite person in the world.

Through his depressing thoughts, he felt hands working around his legs.

He wanted to yell for help, but if he did, his lungs would fill with water. Instead, he screamed in his head.

Finally, his legs were free, and he kicked hard in a fight for his life. He also felt hands pulling him upward.

When his head was finally above water, he gulped in the air, but as soon as it reached his lungs, he started coughing violently. He had yet to open his eyes, but as he did so now, the air was a hazy blur. He could make out, though, that Matthew was right in front of him and his hands were under Cal’s arms, as if he would go back under without the help.

“I’m—” Another cough erupted from deep in his lungs. He was chilled to the bone, and he felt something move against his side. His heartbeat ticked up, and he flinched. “There’s—”

Matthew pulled his hand out from under the water, and he was holding the antenna cable. “This was wrapped around your legs. I was holding it and the transmitter module when we jumped into the water.”

At least it hadn’t been a man-eating anaconda like the one they’d found while searching for the City of Gold.

“Is everyone okay?” Matthew called out, then coughed himself.

“I’m fine,” Alex said, handing the module to Matthew. He must have passed it off to her to hold while he had worked to free Cal’s legs.

“I’m here, too,” Jasper confirmed.

Then silence.

Where was Robyn? Cal looked around, not that he could see too much, but he could see the shadows of the others through the beams of light from their miner hats. The air was heavy with dust, and the grit went into his lungs, making each inhale and exhale painful. He counted heads and came to a total of three.

“Robyn?” Cal yelled, but it didn’t come out nearly as loud as he’d intended. Still, his voice echoed back to him.

Matthew let go of him and treaded in a circle.

“I’m…okay.”

The sound of Robyn’s voice let Cal breathe easier, if only for a mere second. Both his friends were alive.

But now what? Everyone was hacking. They literally had to wait for the dust to settle because any exertion would suffocate them. And even then, where would they go?

The oxygen…

Cal reached to his side and felt the bag, wishing for nothing more than a hit of fresh, clean oxygen. But there would be no way to utilize the tank while in the water. The bag was waterproof, not the machine. Thankfully, he’d managed to think fast enough to stick his camera inside when the tunnel started caving in. And luck was on his side when there was room in the bag for it. He’d lost one camera to water on a previous expedition, and he wasn’t willing to lose another. As the thought sank in, he started to laugh.

“Cal? What’s going on?” Matthew asked.

Cal heaved, trying to keep his laughter shallow but to no avail. It was cough, laugh, cough, laugh…

“Has he lost it?” Robyn asked.

Cal couldn’t talk between laughing and coughing. Poor timing, but what could he do? His musings about his camera struck him as funny. How ridiculous it was to be concerned about such a thing when his life and others’ lives were at stake. He considered how to stop this hysterical bout, this teetering on the brink of insanity, and looked back to where the tunnel had been. A sickening weight balled in his stomach.

The dust had cleared enough to see that the tunnel was gone. Sand and rock had blocked it off. There was no way they could go back the way they came. What were they going to do? Were they going to just bob in the water until someone dug them out? That could take days.

“What are we going to do?” The weak timbre of his voice struck his own ears as if it belonged to a stranger.

“What about Reda?” Robyn was splashing water as she spun around. “Did he—” She didn’t finish her question, but it was clear she was wondering if he’d survived.

“He could have gotten out,” Matthew offered, but his sentiment sounded like it lacked faith.

“The world lost a treasure if he didn’t,” Robyn lamented.

Things fell silent among them again, and everyone’s coughing calmed. But the quiet became its own noise. Screaming doubts and uncertainties cried out, begging to be pacified. But there would be no appeasement coming because there were no answers, no guarantees. And he wasn’t even going to give too much thought to what might be in the water with them or exactly how long it would be before they took their last breaths.

“There’s no way they can get to us in time, is there?” Asking the question stamped in their desperate predicament.

“I don’t see how,” Alex said softly.

“By the time they’d dig out the tunnel and get to us”—Jasper, who had a flashlight, swept its beam around the space—“and that’s assuming they could, we’d be dead.”

A somber dose of reality pierced through Cal. Again, this could be it. Maybe he only loved the thrill that came with risk-taking because he was under the delusion that he was in control.

“We might be able to let them know we’re alive,” Alex began. “That’s if it will work, of course.”

“Jeff said it was waterproof,” Matthew reasoned.

“Yes, but it might be out of range,” Alex countered. “Can you hold it steady above the water?”

“I can.”

Alex worked to open the lid on the module and frowned. “There’s no signal strength.”

“What about the alert feature Jeff told us about?” Robyn asked and swam closer. Jasper, who had been near her, followed. “Does that need a signal?”

“I would think so.” But Alex didn’t sound too sure.

“Put it on for a minute or two—” The tension in Robyn’s voice gave away her terror “—even if there’s only a small chance someone will detect it.”

Alex nodded. “But we don’t want to drain the battery.”

She was worried about a battery? “We have far bigger problems,” Cal pointed out.

“Okay.” Alex pushed something on the module, and a series of red lights began flashing.

“Let’s say your guys get the signal, what are they going to do? Even if they know we’re alive, as Jasper said, they might not make it to us in time.” Cal’s chest tightened with fear. “We can’t just give up, though.”

Matthew faced him, his headlamp shining in Cal’s eyes. “No one said anything about giving up.”

“Great, then what’s next?” Cal looked hopefully at Matthew. His friend was good at getting them out of jams.

There was a pregnant pause. “We get what we came to Egypt for.” Matthew sounded as if he had everything under control. If he or anyone else said anything about making lemonade out of lemons, Cal might have to hold their head under the water.

“We’re…we’re not fully prepared,” Alex stammered.

“Things happen. I know it’s not ideal, but we really don’t have any other choice.” Matthew was holding strong.

“Well, we can’t go back the way we came.” Jasper shone a flashlight on what used to be the tunnel.

“I guess we’re doing this, then.” Alex took a breath deep enough that Cal could hear it.

“We have water, then a hill, a cave, and snakes, right?” Matthew rhymed off, obviously having committed the map to memory.

“Correct,” Jasper confirmed. “And after the snakes, there should be a door to the tomb.”

“Then I say, let’s get a move on.” Matthew held the module out toward Alex. She turned off the alarm and closed the lid.

“How long will the battery last?” Robyn asked.

“Up to twenty-four hours on standby, or eight hours of active use,” Alex said.

Similar claims were often made about a lot of things, from phone batteries to camera batteries, but that’s usually all they were—claims. “Let’s hope the manufacturer’s telling the truth,” Cal groaned.

“Let’s,” Alex agreed. “No one will want to hear this, but it’s probably down about eight hours. We were going to charge it up tonight so it would be ready for tomorrow.”

“All right, guys, is everyone okay and ready to swim?” Matthew asked, ignoring Alex’s comment and pressing them all into action instead.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Cal conceded. If they were moving forward, there was hope. Staying put would be waiting to die.