Sliders: Underground (2 of 2)

by Nigel G. Mitchell

"Oh, man," Quinn said. "Don't move, Wade. It cut you."

"We must disinfect it," Arturo said. "I doubt this cave is very sanitary."

"Disinfect it with what, professor?" Rembrandt asked. "This ain't exactly Walgreen's down here."

Quinn ignored them, focusing on the injury. He was trying to remember his first-aid training in health class. The wound bled a lot. That meant he needed to stop the blood. With pressure. That was it.

Quinn tore off the sleeve of his shirt. There was some dirt and pebbles in the cut. Quinn used the cloth to gently brush out as much of the debris as he could, then pressed the cloth onto the wound. Wade winced and tried to pull away.

"No," Quinn said. "Keep up the pressure. It'll stop the bleeding long enough to get you some real bandages when we get out."

Wade smiled up at him, and he tried not to notice how pale she grew. "Don't you mean 'if' we get out?'"

"Don't talk like that. We're gonna get out of here."

"And we must do so quickly," Arturo said. "This world seems to have a considerable amount of tremors. If they continue, there is a good chance they will trigger a cave-in. We'll be buried alive."

Wade sighed. "Then we better get back to work. Somebody..."

She pushed herself into a sitting position, but dropped back down again into Quinn's arms. She grimaced, her breathing coming in short gasps. He could smell the sweat on her skin from the effort.

"I told you not to move," Quinn said. "You're hurt bad. You won't be digging anymore."

Wade opened her eyes, looking up at him with slightly unfocused eyes. "But...then there'll only...be three of you digging. We'll never make it..."

Quinn tightened his grip on her, pulling her close. "That doesn't matter. Just rest. We can pull this off by ourselves. Right, guys?"

He looked up at Arturo and Rembrandt, who stood over Wade. They looked at each other, their faces showing doubt, but Rembrandt forced a smile.

"Yeah, sure," Rembrandt said. "We'll be outta here in no time."

"Uh, yes, of course," Arturo said. "Quicker than you can say Pythagorean Theorem."

"Right." Quinn gently lowered Wade back onto the ground, lying prone on the rocky soil. "Just relax, and we'll do the rest."

"Okay," Wade sighed. "I am...kinda tired."

Rembrandt pressed a hand to his forehead. Quinn watched him sway a little from side to side. Or at least, Quinn thought he was swaying.

"Hey, yeah," Rembrandt said. "I'm feelin'...kinda tired, too. Dizzy..."

Arturo took a deep breath, then said, "The air. We're running out of air."

Quinn got to his feet. He was surprised at how hard it was to remain standing. His body seemed to be pulling him to one side, dragging him back down. "We gotta get back to work. Back to...work. Gotta get out."

He staggered over to the part of the wall they had been working on. It had been filled in by gravel and loose soil. "Oh, no. The quake caved it in."

"Terrific," Rembrandt said. "We gotta...start all over again?"

Quinn speech seemed slurred to him as he dug his fingers into the debris. "Yeah. We gotta keep digging. Gotta get out. Gimme a...a hand."

Arturo and Rembrandt moved to his side. They joined Quinn in clearing the hole again. The crackle of the rocks against rocks seemed unbearably loud to Quinn, but he ignored it, forcing himself to work.

Then the hole was clear again, the limestone exposed.

Quinn dug the diamond he had been using as a shovel up from the ground. He raised it high above his head. His arm seemed frozen there, unable to move. Then his arm seemed to break loose, crashing down on the wall again, the impact shaking his arm.

A small piece of the limestone came loose, flying off into a corner.

"Let's go, guys," Quinn said, but wondered if he was saying it to the others or himself.

Arturo and Rembrandt began to dig, their diamonds cracking against the rock in a steady rhythm. Quinn worked, his arm growing heavier with each blow. The cave seemed to be fading in and out, blurring before his eyes. For a moment, Quinn wondered why he was doing this, then remembered he was trapped in a cave with his friends. They had to get out. Had to dig their way out. Break the rock and free themselves. Had to...

"Ow!" Rembrandt lunged away from the wall, clutching his hand. "You hit me, professor! You hit me!"

Arturo looked down at the diamond in his hand as if he had never seen it before. "Oh...I'm...I'm sorry, Mister Brown. I seem to be having...trouble...seeing what I'm doing."

Rembrandt brought his hand close to the lighter's flame. "Oh, great. It's bleedin'. Probably infected, too."

"I said I was sorry," Arturo murmured. He raised his diamond to strike the wall again.

Rembrandt grabbed him by the lapels. He slammed Arturo against the wall, leaning close to his face.

"You're sorry!" Rembrandt yelled. "Is that all you can say? You nearly bust my hand wide open, and all you can say is sorry?"

Quinn reached out a hand to calm Rembrandt. His hand missed Rembrandt's shoulder somehow, grasping at air. "Hey, Remmy, come on. Calm down. It was an accident. Forget about it."

"It's not an accident!" Rembrandt yelled. "He's always lookin' out for himself! Never the rest of us! Just like in the park!"

Arturo struggled to break Rembrandt's grip. "Mister Brown, please..."

"Don't gimme that Mister Brown crap! My name's Rembrandt! And it's always the same, isn't it? You always gotta be better than everyone else! You always gotta be lookin' out for yourself! Like in Prison World! You were gonna leave us behind!"

"Rembrandt," Quinn started, but couldn't finish.

"What are you talking about?" Arturo asked. "That was a trick, a ruse to exit the cell..."

"Yeah, that's what you say. But that speech you gave...that's wasn't all part of the plan. Some of it was improv. It was true, wasn't it? If you got the chance, you'd drop us all in a heartbeat. Admit it!"

Quinn finally managed to get his hands on Rembrandt. He pulled with all his strength, hauling him away from Professor Arturo. Rembrandt seemed to be as weak as Quinn, because his hands slid off Arturo's coat easily.

"Stop it!" Quinn yelled. "You're delirious, Remmy. You don't know what you're saying! Now, let's get back to work..."

Rembrandt ran his fingers through his hair. "Aw, man, this ain't work. It's suicide. We're not gonna dig our way outta here. You know it, I know it, the professor knows it."

Rembrandt let his arms fall to his sides. "We're dead, man. We're dead, and you won't even admit it."

Quinn closed his eyes, the words stinging him somewhere inside. "No. No, that's...that's not true..."

A soft hand closed around his. It belonged to Wade who looked up at him with a face as pale as a cloud.

"Come on, Quinn," she whispered. "He's right. You know it. We're just working ourselves to death over nothing. This is it. We're gonna die."

Quinn pulled himself out of her grip, throwing himself at the wall. "No. No, you're all crazy. Delirious. We can do this. Right, professor? We can do this!"

Arturo looked at him with dark circles under his reddening eyes. "No, my boy. I'm afraid I must agree with the others on this one. My plan...is an exercise in futility. We are going to die."

"No." Quinn pressed himself at the wall of the cave. He forced his fingers deeper into the rock, jagged edges cutting into his skin. But he kept going, trying to claw away the stone with his nails, his bones, his very soul. He felt tears burning his eyes until they burst free, running down his cheeks.

"No!" he screamed. "We're not gonna die! It can't end! Not like this! Not...not like this, please! Don't let us die like this..."

The hand closed around his jacket again. Quinn allowed himself to be pulled down next to Wade. Her soft lips touched his, kissing him deeply. Her warm hands wiped away the tears on his cheeks.

"Please, Quinn," Wade whispered. "Don't let us die like this. Struggling to fix something we can't change. Let's die together. At peace."

Quinn opened his eyes, looking into hers. He tore himself away from her to look up at Rembrandt and Arturo standing over him. They looked down at him, Rembrandt's
eyebrows raised.

"Please," Wade whispered.

Quinn closed his eyes. "Okay. Okay, I give up. You win. It's over."

Somehow Quinn felt more at peace once the words were out of his mouth. He said it again. "It's over. I give up." And the peace grew. For some reason.

Wade smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her cool cheek against his. "Thank you, Quinn. Thank you."

Rembrandt sat down, and leaned against the opposite wall of the cave. Arturo dropped next to him with a sigh. They lay there for a moment, watching the dancing light of the professor's lighter.

"You know," Arturo said, "Edgar Allen Poe's greatest fear was that he would be buried alive."

Rembrandt nodded. "You know...it's not so bad. It's like Wade was sayin'. I know we're runnin' outta air, but...I don't feel that bad. Feels pretty good, actually."

"Yes," Arturo murmured. "There is a slight buzzing in my head that is not unpleasant. Facing death...it's surprising how it affects you. I find myself thinking of a few papers I had meant to write on the subject of super spatial boundaries. Now, I won't get the chance."

"Science's loss, professor," Quinn said.

Rembrandt put his hands behind his head. "Yeah, me...I'll never get my career back off the ground. I had a few songs bouncin' around in my head. Bet there was a hit single in one of 'em. How 'bout you, Wade?"

Wade smiled up at Quinn, pulling him closer into her arms. "I only have one regret. That me and Quinn never got a chance to have a real go at a family. You know, marriage, kids...that whole white-picket fence thing."

Quinn brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. "I'll say this now, Wade. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I...didn't see the signs earlier. Didn't see you for who you were. For the beautiful, wonderful woman you are. We could've made something great out there, instead of...ending it here."

Wade leaned her head against his chest. "It's okay,  Quinn. You're here now, and to be able to spend my last few minutes with you is better than nothing."

Arturo folded his hands over his stomach. "How...how about you, my boy? What's your...regret?"

Quinn's tongue seemed to be swollen in his mouth as he tried to speak. For a moment, he found it hard to remember what they had been talking about, then he caught the thread again. "I...I wish I could've been able to fix the sliding machine."

"Doesn't matter now," Arturo said.

Quinn looked up at him. The professor seemed to be growing blurry. "No. It does. I'll never know if...I was good enough to fix it. I never solved that problem on the blackboard. My double did. And my first slide ended...like this. I'll never know if I could...have done it. Maybe...I wasn't...smart enough...after all."

Silence.

Quinn squinted into the darkness. It seemed to be growing thicker. He could barely see anything now. "Professor?"

Arturo didn't move.

"Professor? Guys, the professor...I think...I think he's...guys? Rembrandt?"

Rembrandt didn't move. He was a small blur leaning against a larger grey blur. Quinn could hear the wheeze of labored breathing filling the cave breaking up.

"Wade?" Quinn looked down at the blur in his arms.

Wade. That was her name. The woman he loved. But she wasn't moving, either. She was either asleep or...asleep. She must be asleep. She had to be asleep. She couldn't be...no. Not yet.

But Quinn felt something pulling him down, away from the cave. It was so peaceful and quiet here. So relaxing. His skin was tingling lightly, pleasantly, and a dull ache was in his skull. It wasn't an uncomfortable pain. More like a pain that let him know he was alive. But not for long. He didn't care. He was with his friends. He was at peace. And he was so tired. He would just take a quick nap. When he woke up, he would feel so much better.

Then Quinn remembered the cave. Rembrandt. Arturo. Wade. All asleep, perhaps dead. All because of something. Oh, yes, he remembered. The sliding machine. And the cave.

Quinn focused on the rock next to him. It still bore the marks of their attempts to break through it. So useless.

He wondered why he had bothered. Sleep was all he wanted now.

Yet something drove him to reach towards it. To touch it. Just to feel something. Quinn's fingers tingled as he stretched out a hand. He reached the rock. It was cold against him, cold like ice, but not ice, rock. So sleepy. So sleepy.

He closed his eyes. So tired. A dream. Something blue galloping out of a blazing sun. The light was so bright, he could feel its warmth. The warmth of a sun. A light. So bright. So bright.

It wasn't a dream.

Quinn forced himself to focus on the light on his hand. It meant something. Yes. It wasn't the light of Arturo's lighter. It was stronger. Like real light. A small
circle of light on his hand.

Quinn followed it up to a bright spot on the wall. A hole. The light came from a hole in the wall.

"I see light," Quinn murmured.

Then it sank in. "I see light."

His voice grew stronger. "Yes. I see light. I see...light!"

Quinn tried to get up. His legs were like Jell-O, fighting to keep from moving. He forced them to respond. Quinn shook Wade as he rose. She was murmuring to him, whispering something about an alarm clock.

"Guys," Quinn said, "get up. It's light. From outside."

Wade opened an eye. Her pupil rolled around in the socket, unfocused. "Mm?"

Quinn stood, but fell forward, towards the hole. He hit the ground, and began to dig away at the hole with his hands. Rocks and soil broke loose. The hole grew wider, and sweet airs flowed in that made Quinn's head hurt, but he kept on breathing it in. It was a pain that let him know he was alive. Light flowed over him from the hole, but he couldn't see a source. Quinn realized his eyes were clearing. He could see again.

He looked back at the others. Wade was lying on the ground where he had left her. Quinn crawled over to her, shaking her. She murmured protests.

"Come on, Wade," he said. "You gotta wake up. We're free. We're free!"

He dragged her limp body over to the hole, propping her head near the opening so she could breathe the fresh air.

Wade inhaled sharply, then opened her eyes. "Wha? Wh'oppen?"

Quinn ran back into the cave to where Rembrandt and Arturo lay. After breathing in fresh air, the stale air in the cave almost choked him with the stench of butane and sweat, hot and humid. But Quinn grabbed hold of Rembrandt and Arturo, dragging them towards the hole.

"We're free, guys," Quinn said. "Come on, we gotta get out of here."

Wade was at the hole. Her eyes were open, staring at the hole in disbelief.

"We're free?" she asked, then looked up at him. Her voice was strong as she yelled, "We're free!"

Wade began clawing at the hole, laughing, as she widened the gap in the rock. Quinn rested Rembrandt and Arturo near enough to breathe in fresh air, then joined Wade. The two of them tore away the stones and earth, making an opening that flooded them with cool, dry air.

The first thing Quinn saw was more rock. Another cave. But not like the one they had been trapped in. This was lit by a white light, projected from an electric lamp mounted on the wall across from them.

Quinn stumbled forward into the second cave. It stretched far to the left and right. It wasn't a cave. It was a tunnel.

Arturo and Rembrandt staggered out of the cave, holding each other. Rembrandt clutched his head, groaning.

"What happened?" Rembrandt asked. "I thought we were goners."

Quinn couldn't hold back his laughter as he turned to face them. "We did it, guys! We dug our way out!"

"So it worked," Rembrandt muttered. "Wasn't a waste of time, after all. If we'd just stuck with it for a few more seconds, we'd have been free. Huh. World's a funny place."

Arturo squinted at the walls around the. "Yes, but where are we? It looks like a tunnel of some sort."

Quinn took a step forward. His foot caught on something that sent him crashing to the ground, his arms striking something hard and cold. It was metal.

Quinn sat up. He lay on a set of metal tracks, like train tracks, but smaller. "What..."

Arturo let go of Rembrandt to stand on his own. "It would appear...to be some sort of mine shaft."

The rumble came from somewhere to their left. Quinn sat up as the tremor grew, swelling into a roar. Chunks of rock fell inside the cave that had been their former prison. The tremors increased, beyond the deafening level they had experienced before.

Arturo clapped his hands over his ears. "It's the worst yet! I think this is it!"

Quinn realized there was something different about this quake. It was more localized. In fact...

"Guys!" Quinn yelled. "If I didn't know better, I'd say the quake is coming from that way!"

Wade held out her hand towards him. "Quinn! Get over here! Now!"

Quinn stumbled over to her, stepping off the tracks. He took her hand. She pulled him close to her.

He looked back. The roar was getting closer, louder, deafening, piercing, and then...

Something came rattling down the tunnel. It was square, on wheels. It was filled with people screaming at the top of their lungs. And laughing.

Quinn watched as the mining car roared by them. It shrieked down the tracks, headed farther into the tunnel, away from them. Quinn leaned out to look at the back of the car. His jaw dropped.
 
Printed on the back of the car were the words "Disneyland Mining Madness Adventure."

* * *

The tremors had been too much for the cave. It had collapsed behind them, filled in with rocks and earth. Their prison was gone, as were the diamonds they had used to dig with. There was nowhere left to go but up.'

Quinn trudged along beside Wade. Rembrandt and Professor Arturo were right behind them, picking their way along the slats of the tracks on the floor of the tunnel. Sunlight came into view as they approached the mouth of the tunnel at last.

They walked out into a scene of joy and fun. Rides and exotic buildings filled the uneven horizon. Children ran across the park, chased by their exhausted parents. A group of children were surrounding a Mickey Mouse impersonator, who mimed cheerfully for them.

"Disneyland?" Wade asked. "How'd we end up here?"

"Hey!"

Quinn looked up at an attendant standing on the bank of the platform beside the tracks, glaring down at them.

"What're you guys doin' down there?" the attendant yelled. "Get up here before the next car comes through! You wanna get killed?"

Arturo hurried to the ladder that connected the tracks to the platform. "Not at all, my friend. Not at all."

They all climbed up out of the tunnel. Quinn helped Wade onto the platform when another car roared up alongside them. It came to a screeching halt. Passengers climbed out, laughing and chatting with each other.

Quinn looked up at the mountain that surrounded the  tunnel they had left. Gigantic letters had been embedded in the mountainside that read "Disneyland Mining Madness Adventure. The Largest Roller Coaster In The World!"

"A roller coaster?" Wade asked. "We were in a roller coaster?"

Rembrandt took a flier from a stand nearby and flipped through it. "Hey, guys, check this out. 'Disneyland Mining Adventure. An actual mountain was hollowed out to form the world's largest indoor roller coaster. Ride through catacombs and passageways in mine shafts buried beneath hundreds of feet of rock.' Wild."

"But this is San Francisco," Wade said. "Isn't it?"

Rembrandt looked at the back of the flier. "Yeah. But I guess in this world, Disneyland is in San Francisco instead of Anaheim."

"So we're not home," Quinn said.

Arturo clapped a hand onto his back. "No, my boy, we are not home. But we are alive. And that, I believe, calls for a celebration."

Wade nodded, sliding her hand under Quinn's arm. "You're right, professor. We're here for eight more days. We've got money. We're in Disneyland. I say, we have some fun."

"An excellent suggestion. I believe I shall adjourn to the World of Tomorrow exhibit. It has always been my favorite."

Rembrandt pointed at a nearby hot dog stand. "I'm with you, professor. Right after I get myself somethin' to eat."

Wade ran over to him, headed for the stand. "Now there's an idea. Just lemme find the first-aid station to fix my shoulder."

Quinn looked back up at the mountain. A strange urge came over him, one that he felt compelled to obey. "You guys go on ahead. I'll be right there."

Wade slowed, looking back at him. "Quinn? Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna ride this Mining Madness ride. For some reason, I feel like going through it. Just for fun."

Wade shook her head, holding up a hand as she walked away. "Well, not me. I've had enough caves to last me a lifetime. See you when you get out."

"Right."

Quinn approached the line for the ride, which was unusually small. Quinn took his place inside a mining car that rolled up to the platform. When everyone was settled, the car lurched forward, headed for the dark mouth of the tunnel.

Quinn wondered why he was doing this. Then he realized it was because they had all taken something special away from the cave. They were all closer to each other, more
aware of the dangers that awaited them. Life was more precious to Quinn now, and he assumed the others felt the same way. In many ways, the cave had been one of the best
things that had ever happened to them.

And so, Quinn rolled back into the tunnel, back into the dark one last time.

THE END