A 23rd Century Girl in the 20th Century, Chapter 16

I have been gone a long time, so you may want to read a previous chapter to catch up with what is going on.  I am sorry for the delay, but I hope to be able to keep current. I may modify it later, but, as for now -- here is the new installment.

23th Century Girl in the 20th Century
                                  

                             Chapter 16

“Look,” exclaimed Jake, who had been studying the torches. “There seems to be something like oil dripping into the torch holders. That must be what keeps them from going out.”

Dr. Ledbetter examined the liquid that Jake mentioned, discovering that it was a mixture of oil and something similar to kerosene. “Mmmm – strange. I wonder who designed all this – if they are human or alien.”

“That is why we have got to find Lizzie Jane,” stated Ruth. “There is no telling what she may have stumbled upon.”

Josh looked around in all directions. “Where’s George? He should be following us.”

“Maybe he followed Lizzie Jane,” answered Jake.

“That could be a good thing,” answered Josh. “He may understand if she is in trouble and find a way back to find us.”

“Well, let’s quit jabbering and find find her,” insisted Ruth.

The group made its way toward the end of the hall, expecting to find some kind of exit. The surprised discovery revealed a cave-like opening to another chamber, which could not be seen until they came to the end of the hall.  Peeping inside, Dr. Ledbetter notice a dimly lit room which he slowly entered with the others following.

Upon entering the strange room, they were suddenly surrounded by human figures wrapped in what appeared to be rotten bandages.

“Zombies!” exclaimed Dr. Ledbetter.

“Zombies?  What’s that?” shouted Josh.

Ruth did not ask questions. She pulled one of her six shooters and began firing wildly until one grabbed her around the arms, preventing any further action on her part.  The rest of the group was likewise immobilized. Jake and Josh struggled, but Dr. Ledbetter kept a cool head to assess the situation.

Noticing that none of the zombies seemed to be trying to harm anyone, Dr. Ledbetter advised, “Stay calm. Zombies are supposedly deceased people, but I don’t believe there are real zombies. Look at their eyes. They appeared to be in a trance – probably hypnotized. Let’s see what they do with us.”

The zombies pulled, and sometimes dragged their victims to a cold, damp room that was also cave-like and roughly threw the humans to the floor like rag dolls and quickly left, closing the door behind them.  Rushing quickly to the door, Jake and Josh tried to re-open it without success.

“No use,” said Dr. Ledbetter. “I am sure it is locked.”

“What do we do now?” questioned a frighten Ruth.

“I don’t know. We will look around and see if there is any way of escape.  This is not a prison with bars, you know,” replied Dr. Ledbetter. “Well, not a modern prison anyway.”

Jim agreed. “I think Dr. Ledbetter is correct. Remember – I have been in situations more dangerous and secure than this.”

“Yes, but remember the last time?  Granny Lizzie Jane and me – your little girl – rescued you from an UFO,” answered Linda.

“Yes.  I know I have a very brave and intelligent daughter. With your schooling, you could easily be the one to determine how to escape ”

“What do you think they will do with us?” asked Jake.

“I don’t know. I think these are humans who lack any conscious experience. In other words, they do not know what they are doing, but have been programmed by some outside source – like a robot, for instance. The question is – who is doing the programming?  An alien or some other being?  It could be possible they may try to program us.”

That remark caused some quietness for a few moments.

Finally, Ruth asked, “Can they do that?”

“One thing in our favor – we are more civilized and capable of thinking to a higher degree than primitive people, so we may be able think of some way to escape.  However, I noticed some Egyptian writings, but are not ancient to this age. They were more modern as if an Egyptian civilization has progressed the same, or more, than the current civilization of Egypt.”

“Poor Lizzie Jane.  There is no telling what she is going through right now.”

Josh replied, “We are in a pickle.” 

Jim laughed at the remark, remembering that people talked differently in this age.”

“I dropped my gun when they grabbed me, but I still have the other one,” mentioned Ruth.

“Good,” replied Dr. Ledbetter. “We may need it.  None of the rest of us has our weapons.”

Josh put his arm around Ruth, attempting to ease the chill on her body as the group sat in silence while Dr. Ledbetter and Jim considered the situation among themselves.

Time passed slowly as the group’s eyes became accustomed to the darkness and began to notice the room.  Each one studied the rock walls, but failed to observe anything that might help.  All of a sudden, a small sound was heard – first by Jake.

“Listen!  That sounds like George!” he exclaimed.

As they focused their attention to the source of the sound, a small gorilla appeared from a narrow hole in one of the walls.

George ran to Jake, grabbed him by the arm and pulled him toward the hole.  Jake followed George's urging and  and examined the opening.

“I believe this is just barely big enough for us to squeeze through,” he reported. “George had to come from somewhere in there and wants us to follow him.”

Dr. Ledbetter also checked the small opening and stated, “Maybe – but it will be a tight squeeze. However, it seems that is our best choice right now..”

A tight squeeze was an understatement.  Ruth had to unbuckle her gun belt and push it ahead of her, but still had a problem getting her hips to cooperate. Josh, a little thinner, entered feet first, pushing with all his might to propel her forward. Ruth suddenly had a fear of being stuck there the rest of her life – but maybe that would be better than being a zombie.  After all, in the hole she would eventually starve to death and would find herself in Heaven. A horrible way to die, though.

Crawling and clawing when necessary, everyone finally made it through.

“Whee,” puffed Ruth. “I don’t think I want to do that again.”

Looking around at their surroundings, the new chamber was similar to what Dr. Ledbetter assumed would be the style of a room in a palace.

“Ah – fancy,” stated Jake as looked around at the fine royal furnishings.

George continued to motion that Jake follow him, which he and the group did. Carefully they made their way through halls attempting to stay concealed from any person to whom they may come in contact.

After checking numerous rooms, Jake finally came to one and exclaimed, "Here she is!"

Lizzie Jane was sitting on the edge of a canopy bed when she saw Jake enter her room. She quickly ran and threw her arms around him.

“Jake, I am so happy to see you, but what are you doing here?” she asked.

“To find out what happened to you!” exclaimed Jake.  “Hurry and let’s try to find a way out of here.”

Lizzie Jane, looking over Jake’s shoulder, saw Dr. Ledbetter, Linda, Jim, Josh and Ruth enter.

“Well, looks like everyone came,” smiled Lizzie Jane.

“Hurry, we need to go – before those zombies get here!” exclaimed Jake.

“Zombies?” Lizzie Jane asked in astonishment.

---To be Continued