The Cavern
My November 2007 NaNoWriMo novel, all 50,000 unedited words of it. Talking gorillas! Callous villains! Exploration! Danger! Biplanes! Plot inconsistencies! Clichéd dialogue! One-dimensional characters! Copyright © 2007 Matt Wilson, for anyone who cares!
1. Setting Out
(The first part of my nanowrimo novel, which I will be posting serially.) Chapter 1! In which we meet our protagonists, and they trade banter while taking their sweet time setting off on a journey.
2. The Building in the Lake
Jay and Melissa hit rough weather and are forced to detour, discovering a strange lake nestled in the hills.
3. Once Imprisoned, Twice Shy
Melissa looked around the small room she found herself in. She was feeling pretty grumpy; they’d shot her and Jay out of the sky, then grabbed her, thrown her in a truck, and now she was locked up here, somewhere in the depths of this weird building in the middle of the lake. She examined the room from where she sat on a narrow bunk.
4. Follow the Yellow Brick Road
In which Jay takes stock, then sets off to find Melissa.
5. Down the Rabbit Hole
Jay was woken by the clang of the truck’s tailgate dropping open. He started upright, realised that was a stupid thing to do, then decided that (a) at least he was behind a crate and (b) lying down again would probably be even worse. He tried to stay as still as possible. He heard someone climb up in the truck and start dragging crates around.
6. Interrogation
The man’s face went deadly serious, and he stepped forward and dealt Jay a ringing slap to the face that rocked the chair back on its legs and left Jay stunned. Jay gasped, as much for the pain as for the shock.
“And you were doing so well, too,” the man sighed. “Why do you always have to have smart mouths?” He turned away. “Karl, why do they always have to have smart mouths?”
“I think they watch too many movies,” Karl ventured. “Should I start the paperwork?”
(The author really enjoyed this chapter.)
7. He Should Have Gone Left
He was a few meters up the corridor when he remembered just how very, very sore he was. His muscles all cramped up at once, and he whimpered and subsided into a pile at the base of the wall of the corridor. He worked his arms until he could feel them again, then rubbed his face with his hands for a few moments, wincing and whimpering as he brushed the beautifully elliptical welt that ran right around the outside of his face.
8. Village of the Apes
As they drew near the huts Jay began to see other gorillas moving around; working in a garden behind the village, stoking the fire, weaving and carving in the open central area. Jay stuck close to his guide, a little nervous.
9. A Brisk Morning Swim
Jay plunged into the pool and found himself in a strange blue twilight. He ducked his head down and his feet up, and started swimming in the direction of the most light. He had gone perhaps fifty meters when he saw ripples above him. He popped up above the surface, and banged his head on a low rock ceiling. He was in an air pocket, he realised, still within the cave. Still, a good chance for some more oxygen. He breathed for a few moments, then ducked back down and continued swimming.
10. Escape
It had been; well, maybe a day or so? It was hard to tell, but Melissa could remember at least a couple of meals, and she’d slept for at least one extended period. It was hard to tell, with the constant light and no windows in here. There wasn’t much by way of external noise to give any indication of rises or falls in activity, either.
So there she was, kicking back on her bunk, as usual, when the door hissed open, and there was Jay, with some strange little guy in a fancy suit. Jay looked in control; Melissa jumped up off her bunk.
11. Up and Out
Jay awoke and groaned. He went to rub his throbbing head, but his hands were tied behind his back. He opened his eyes and looked around. No interrogation cell, this.
12. The Road Home
Melissa stopped for diesel in a small, single-street community at the base of the rolling hills, where they met the plains. She got some funny looks; no surprise, really, a lone, attractive woman driving a big-rig. Well, they could screw off. She was probably a better truck driver than they were. She finished fueling, and pulled out of the station and across the bridge back onto the main road.
13. On the Warpath
Melissa was woken by a banging on the door to find the sun streaming across her face. She’d overslept.
14. In the Valley of the Shadow
Jay heads deeper into the valley, as the rescue party makes their way back to the building in the lake.
15. Home Sweet Someone Else's Home
Sometime in the late afternoon Jay reached the end of the valley. The riverbed widened out into a shallow pool, a small puddle surrounded by a larger dry area. The pool sat under a cliff that climbed straight up a distance, thin and bare trees and shrubs growing out of it here and there.
16. The Man in the Valley
Melissa and the others woke with the light the next morning, but no-one was in any real hurry to rise. Daniel rolled his sleeping bag over to the fireplace and poked the fire back into life, throwing another ruined strut onto it. [2030 words]
17. The Meetup
The fliers stopped in at the club to explain to their backup force exactly what was happening.
“We’ll be heading back out tomorrow, weather permitting,” Melissa said.
“Any sign of him?” someone asked.
“Not yet, but I think I have an idea of where to look; a hunch at least,” said Melissa.
18. Forwards
They flew fanned out, like a flock of metallic birds, sun glinting off the undersides of their wings as they headed for the mountains. They were far enough apart that they couldn’t see anything of one another, tucked away inside their cockpits, but to see even one other plane in the sky, let alone the seven or eight flying with them this morning, was plenty for today.
19. A Cocktail Party
Lana pulled a bag out from from under her seat as Daniel pulled the plane sideways and down, looping around and back towards the road. She opened the bag. “Grenade, or a cocktail to start with?”
20. Comings and Goings
“See, this is why we need guns,” he said, taking aim at the latch. He fired; a loud bang and a burning smell, and the door swung open a little way. He yanked it open, gun pointed through the doorway.
“Man, tone it down before you hurt yourself, Jay,” said Vi. “You’re not Ned Kelly.”
21. Truth or Consequence
“Don’t do anything stupid, Daniel,” Lana said.
“What, like bombing a bunch of unarmed guys at their day-job?” Daniel snapped.
22. Down the Chute (Reprise)
They were only a short way down in the lift when the sirens started, and the lift jolted to a stop. The doors slid open, with ‘level 6’ lit up on the control panel. Outside in the corridor, lights flashed red as the sirens whooped, much louder with the lift doors open. Jay winced, and leaned out of the lift to look around.
23. Prisoner of War
The truck stopped, and the men piled out. Two of them dragged Lana’s limp body over the tailgate and dumped it unceremoniously beside a line of other bodies, some covered with canvases and tarpaulins, most not.