Arachnoextinction Chapter 9: Chapter Nine - Dr. Rose Part Two

Read chapter 9 of Arachnoextinction by ShowerKrogan on NovelPedia.

She tried not to scream as her body propelled down, but failed. The ride was horrifying. Freezing air was flying past her face, not knowing if or when the sliding would come to an abrupt end. She slid for only ten or fifteen seconds, but to her it felt like an eternity. The ice wall gradually flattened, allowing Dr. Rose to slow to a stop without further injury. She lay in the darkness for several minutes, too scared to move. She was unsure whether her shivering was due to the cold or terror. Either way, she wanted nothing to do with her current location. At least the ice had stopped shaking. “Flashlight,” she muttered and dug through her coat until she felt the handle. She pulled it out and clicked the button, but darkness remained. She mashed the button several more times, trying not to panic when nothing happened. “Oh, come on, you stupid thing. Just give me ten seconds of light,” she said, smacking the flashlight against the ice a few times. There was a small flicker of light that died out fast as it appeared. Dr. Rose gave the flashlight a particularly hard smack, and light burst through the darkness. “Oh, thank God,” she said, directing the light to see around her. “Thank God, Buddha, Gandhi, the Sun God, just thank who-the-hell-ever.” Dr. Rose pointed the flashlight in every direction, at every angle possible. All she could see was ice. The ceiling above looked to be high enough to stand, if her legs stopped shaking enough to allow it. There was dull pain in her right knee, but she would have to worry about that later. Her breathing became less labored and returned to normal. She forced herself to sit up, avoiding adding any pressure on her knee. “Gah, this stings like a… lot of something that stings; it’s too damn cold to think straight,” she said, returning to examining the surrounding area with her flashlight. “How am I going to get out of here?” A dark shape caught her eye when the light flashed over it. She stared and tried to make out what it could be. Her stomach twisted into knots when she realized it was Edgar. “Edgar? Can you hear me?” she whispered, as if talking too loud might wake the ice. She tried to stand and walk to him, but her knee exploded in pain and she fell face-first onto the ice. She screamed into her arm and waited for the throbbing to stop. She had never experienced pain like this. The numbness brought on by the freezing cold helped limit what pain she felt, but it was still enough to make her want to pass out. She felt her tears freeze on her face as soon as they emerged. Taking a few seconds to compose herself, she ignored the pain as best she could and pinned the flashlight between her neck and shoulder so she could scoot across the ice to Edgar. Every movement she made was strained and exhausting. She wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and never wake up. She reached Edgar’s body and rested her hand on his shoulder, taking the flashlight and directing the light onto him. She immediately turned away. There was no doubt he was dead, his body was twisted and disfigured. She forced herself to look back at his mangled body, at the life she had brought to an end. “I’m so sorry, Edgar. I should never have made us come after these stupid eggs; there is nothing we could find that would make this worth it,” she said. She moved the flashlight to aim past Edgar, hoping to see a coffee house or at least someone giving out hot chocolate. She would settle for either at this point, she wasn't picky. There was no coffee house or hot chocolate. Instead, something far better caught her eye. She scooted toward it as fast as she could move, grimacing but ignoring her knee protesting. “I can’t believe it. Finally. Finally I found you,” she said, reaching out to touch an egg that was almost the size of her head. The eggs were such brilliant white they seemed to glow under her flashlight. Small black spots freckled the white shell, but did not diminish their appeal. “You’re so beautiful,” she said, stroking t