Arachnoextinction Chapter 8: Chapter Eight - Not a Prologue, Dr. Rose Part One

Read chapter 8 of Arachnoextinction by ShowerKrogan on NovelPedia.

A deep crack spread across the ice floor beneath the group of scientists. A rumble echoed around them as the world began to shake. “Okay, everyone stop what you’re doing. This is bad, but it could be worse,” Dr. Caitlyn Rose said, struggling to maintain her balance on the unstable ice. “Jesus Christ. Did you just—you can’t say that!” her intern Jared protested. He took a step toward her, lost traction, and went heels over head, the back of his skull smacking against the ice. “Balls. See?!” “What is wrong with saying that?” she said. “It could be much worse! My words did not make you slip on the ice. Your panicky and jerky movements did.” The shaking came to a stop, and the small group of three scientists relaxed as a calm settled over them. “We are in way beyond-freezing temperatures, trapped in this mountain of pure ice, which is now cracking! You saying it can’t get worse will immediately make it worse! Any worse from this point right here would be catastrophic, so let’s not test fate, because fate tends to be a super asshole,” Jared said, climbing to his feet as slowly as possible. Once balanced, he started to rub his hands together, desperate for any feeling of warmth. “A super asshole? Now that is a terrifying thing to imagine,” Edgar said. “Does the asshole have a cape, or is it just really big? I want to know what the ‘super’ implies in regard to the asshole. Does it have superpowers?” Caitlyn asked with a straight face. Well, she was smiling as much as her partially frozen face would allow, though Jared couldn’t see it through her gear. The three of them were bundled head-to-toe in multiple layers, black winter coats cinched tight around their heads. Each exhale and spoken word visible as white clouds in the painful cold. They wore multiple pairs of mittens stuffed full with as many hand warmers as they could squeeze in. With all that, plus the dark face masks and goggles, it was impossible to tell who was who besides the sound of their voices. “Calm down, Jared. They’re obviously not in here, Caitlyn. So let’s just get out of here before Jared gives himself a heart attack,” said Edgar, Dr. Rose’s partner. “I know they’re in here. We just need more time,” Caitlyn insisted. “We are out of time!” Jared yelled to her. “This whole thing is about to come down on top of us.” “What the hell are you so scared of? What’s the worst that could possibly happen?!” Caitlyn yelled back. There was a crumbling noise directly above the group. Caitlyn looked up in time to see the blur of a massive ice boulder crashing down on Jared. The sickening crunch of his body crushed under the giant ball of ice bounced around the glacier walls. Blood splattered across her coat and mask. She touched her fingers to the blood on her mask while she struggled to comprehend what had just happened. “I think that was what he was afraid of,” Edgar whispered. “Oh, lord, I think I’m going to be s--” Caitlyn yanked up the now bloody mask covering her face just in time to vomit on Edgar’s feet. “Awesome. This is what happens when we go too far. People die, Caitlyn! Can we please leave now? Before anyone else dies. Specifically, one of us!” Edgar said, kicking off what vomit he could. “Yes, let’s go. We need to report what happened to Edgar,” Caitlyn said. “You mean Jared?” Edgar asked. “What?” The floor started to shake again, and the room began to spin. Caitlyn found an ice wall to brace against. She wrapped her hands around her head and tried to focus. Black spots flooded her vision, and even with the wall's support, she struggled to remain upright. “Jared is the one who… I’m still here. I’m Edgar. Are you feeling okay?” Edgar asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. Caitlyn looked around, trying to locate the floor. “I’m so cold,” she said, sliding down the wall and onto the ground. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Edgar reached down and carefully helped her back up without slipping. “Lean on me; I’ll help you walk. We need t