ARACHNOEXTINCTION

A deep crack spread across the ice floor the group of scientists stood on. A rumble echoed around as the world around them began to shake.

“Okay, everyone stop what you’re doing. This is bad, but it could be worse,” Dr. Caitlyn Rose said as she struggled to maintain her balance on the wobbly ice floor.

“Jesus Christ. Did you just--you can’t say that!” her intern Jared said. He took a step toward her and his feet lost traction and ended up over his head as he slipped and fell to the ground. The back of his head smacked against the ice. “Balls. See?!”

“What is wrong 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 they relaxed their bodies as a calm settled over the small group of three scientists.

“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 as he climbed to his feet as slowly as he could. Once he was balanced, Jared started to rub his hands together, desperate for any feeling of warmth.

“A super asshole? Now that is a terrifying thought to picture,” Edgar said.

“Does the asshole have a cape, or is it just really big? I want to know what the ‘super’ implies in regards to the asshole. Does it have super powers?” Caitlyn asked Jared with a straight face. Well, she was smiling as much as her partially-frozen face would let her, but Jared couldn’t see that.

The three of them were covered head-to-toe in multiple layers of clothes, with a black winter coat and the hood of the coat squeezed as tight as it could go around their heads. Each exhale and spoken word visible came out as a white cloud, thanks to the painful cold. They had multiple pairs of mittens stuffed full with as many hand warmers they could squeeze in. With all that, plus the dark face masks they were wearing, it was impossible to tell who was who beside the sound of their voices or the color of their eyes.

“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 to find them,” 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 about? What is the worst that could possible happen?!” Caitlyn yelled back at him.

There was a crumbling noise from above the group. Caitlyn looked up in time to see the blur of a massive ice boulder came crashing down on top of Jared. The sickening crunch of his body crushed under the giant ball of ice bounced around inside the walls of the glacier. Blood splattered on the coat and mask of Caitlyn and she struggled to comprehend what just happened.

“I think that was what he was afraid of,” Edgar said in a whisper.

“Oh, lord, I think I’m going to be s--” Caitlyn pulled up the mask covering her face just in time to throw up onto 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, like one of us!” Edgar said as he tried to shake off as much vomit as he could.

“Yes, let’s go. We need to report what happened to Edgar,” Caitlyn said.

“You mean Jared?” Edgar asked.

“What?” The floors started to shake again, and the room began to spin. Caitlyn found a wall of ice to lean against. She wrapped her hands around her head and tried to focus on what was happening in the moment. Black spots flooded her vision and even with the walls help, she struggled to remain on her feet.

“Jared is the one that…. I’m still here. I’m Edgar. Are you feeling okay?” Edgar asked, and he put a hand on Caitlyn’s shoulder. Caitlyn looked around, trying to figure out where the floor was so she could walk.

“I’m so cold,” she said and slid down the wall and onto the ground. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Edgar reached down to her as best he could without slipping, and helped her back up.

“Lean against me; I’ll help you out of here. We need to get you some medical attention,” Edgar said.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Jared?” Caitlyn asked.

Edgar led her forward, ignoring her question.

“No,” Caitlyn said and pushed herself off Edgar. “We need to wait for Jared. We can’t just leave him behind.”

“He’s waiting at the camp for us. Come on I’ll show you where he is,” Edgar said in a hurried tone, desperate to get her out. He looked around the shaking glacier; cracks were spreading out all over the floors and walls. Smaller chunks of ice fell down, and it was only a matter of time before the ice flattened them like Jared.

“Caitlyn, we need to move now, everything is becoming unstable very rapidly,” Edgar said and pulled her against him.

“You were always so nice to me, Jared. I’m so glad I convinced you to come with us,” Caitlyn said. She let Edgar lead her forward along their path out of the middle of the glacier. “I know you really didn’t want to come, but thank you.”

“Sure thing,” Edgar said. He wasn’t sure what else to say, but a pit formed in his stomach when he thought about how badly Jared wanted nothing to do with this trip.

“Wait,” Caitlyn said and pulled away from him.

“What is it now?!” Edgar said on the verge of screaming at her.

“Listen. Do you hear that?” she asked as she fought off his attempts to grab her.

“The sound of thousands of pounds of ice about the crush us? Yes, I hear it!” Edgar said.

The shaking of the glacier intensified. The ground began to open up behind them. Baseball-sized chunks of ice rained down on them, forcing Edgar to give up on helping Caitlyn and cover his own head. The crack in the ground widened enough for a person to fall into. Edgar looked down into the crack and only darkness stared back. It went too deep for him to see where it ended. The room they had for movement was fading at a rapid pace, and it would not be long before there was not enough room to walk.

“If we don’t leave right this minute, then we won’t leave at all!” Edgar said and reached out for Caitlyn.

In a moment of clarity, she nodded to him and grabbed his hand. They slid along the icy wall together, using each other to balance and remain upright. The shaking of the glacier was so strong, Caitlyn had to stop walking to avoid falling in the expanding crack in the ground. As they turned a difficult corner, a beam of sunlight greeted them.

“We have to keep moving! We’re almost out of here. I can see the light of our exit!” Edgar said.

Caitlyn nodded with her mouth firmly closed. She was worried if she opened her mouth she would get sick again. Edgar held out his hand for her to grab.

As soon as Caitlyn grasped Edgar’s hand, a chuck of ice came sliding down the wall and slammed into Edgar. He grunted on the impacted and was thrown forward off the ledge. Dr. Rose gasped as it ripped him from her grip, and sent him plummeting into the depth of the glacier. Caitlyn’s stomach dropped as the impact almost pulled Caitlyn down with Edgar.

“Woah, woah, woah!” she said as she struggled to maintain her balance and reached out in a desperate attempt to grab onto anything to keep her from following Edgar into the darkness.

After a brief moment of waiving her arms around like she was trying to fly, she was able to even out her weight and balance out.

“Okay, just breathe. You’re okay,” Caitlyn said to herself and closed her eyes for a few seconds. “Just stay steady.”

Caitlyn took a step and her ankle gave out beneath her. She tried to lead her body away from the crack, but all it did was cause her to smack her right knee onto the edge.

Caitlyn screamed as she began to slide down into the crack. With her last desperate grab, she caught the edge of the crack and stopped her from going any deeper. Her gloves were made to have extra grip, but she could still feel her as her hands started to slide off the ledge.

“Edgar?!” she called out to the darkness below her. As she expected, the only reply was the echoing of her voice. She had a flashlight stuffed inside her coat, but even if she had two free hands, it was doubtful the flashlight would do her any good. “Please, God, oh please, please, please. Don’t let this be how it ends. Please.”

One hand slid off, leaving her hanging on by the tips of her fingers.

“Help!” she yelled, knowing no one was close enough to hear her cries. “Please, anyone, or anything help! I’ll do anything!”

Caitlyn looked down at her potential fall. She knew it was just a matter of time before she would join Edgar at whatever was waiting below. She noticed that the ice seemed to curve as it went down. She could slide down the side of ice, and--it was unlikely, but if the ice curved at the end and straightened out instead of going straight to a flat bottom, then she might be okay. She could not see as far down as she was about to go, but it was not like she had a choice.

“Ah, beaver dam it. Okay, here we go,” Caitlyn said and turned so she could slide on her back. Then she let go, and began her rapid descent into the darkness.

She tried not to scream as her body propelled down into the darkness below, but failed. The ride was horrifying as the freezing air flew passed her face and she did not know if or when the sliding would come to an end. She only slid for ten or maybe fifteen seconds but to her it felt like she would never come to a stop. The wall of ice flattened out gradually and allowed Dr. Rose to slow down to a stop without hurting herself any more.

She lay there in the darkness for a few minutes, too scared to move. She was unsure if her shivering was due to the cold or the fall. Either way, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with where she was at this time. At least the ice stopped shaking.

“Flashlight,” she muttered to herself and started digging around in her coat until she felt the handle.

She pulled it out and clicked the button, but the darkness remained. She clicked the button a few more times and tried not to panic when nothing happened.

“Oh, come on, you stupid thing. Just give me ten seconds of light,” she said and smacked the flashlight against the ice a few time.

There was a small flicker of light that died out as soon as it began. Dr. Rose gave the flashlight a particularly hard smack against the ice and the light burst through the darkness.

“Oh, thank God,” she said as she directed the light to see what was around her. “Thank God, Buddha, Gandhi, the Sun God, just thank who the Hell ever.”

Dr. Rose continued to point the flashlight in every direction at every angle possible. All she could see was ice. The ice ceiling above her looked to be high enough for her to stand, if her legs stopped shaking enough to give her that option. There was a dull pain in her right knee, but she would have to worry about that later.

Her breathing became less labored and started to return to normal. She forced herself to sit up and worked to avoid any pressure being added to her knee.

“Gah, this stings like a… lot of something that stings, it’s too damn cold to think straight,” she said and returned to searching her surrounding area with her flashlight. “How am I going to get out of here?”

A dark head caught her eye when the light flashed over it. She stared at it and tried to make out what it could possibly be. Her stomach twisted into a tight knot when she realized it was Edgar.

“Edgar? Can you hear me?” she whispered as if she was afraid talking too loud would wake up the ice. She tried to stand up to walk to him, but as she did, 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 a pain like this before. The numbness of the freezing cold help limit the pain she could feel, but it was still enough to make her want to pass out. She could feel her tears freeze on her face as soon as they came out.

She took a few second to compose herself, then, ignoring the pain as best she could, she pinned the flashlight between her neck and shoulder so she could scoot across the ice to where Edgar lay. Every movement she made was strained and exhausting. She wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and never wake up again.

She got to Edgar’s body and rested her hand on his shoulder. She took the flashlight and directed the light onto him. She immediately turned away. There was no doubt he was dead. His body was twisted and disfigured. She looked back at his mangled body, forcing herself to look at the life she brought to an end.

“I’m so sorry, Edgar. I should have never 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 it passed Edgar, hoping to see a coffee house or at least someone giving out hot chocolate. She would settle for either one 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. She grimaced, but ignored the pain in her knee begging her to stop.

“I can’t believe it. Finally, finally I found you,” she said. She reached out and touched the shell of an egg that was almost the size of her head. The eggs were such a bright white that they seemed to glow under the light of her flashlights. Small black spots freckled the white shell, but did not take away from the eggs appeal. “You’re so beautiful,” she said as she stroked the white egg shell.

There were fourteen of the large eggs grouped together in front of Dr. Rose. She shined the light to a few more locations, there were small groups of eggs everywhere. At first glance, she would say maybe a hundred and fifty or so. Maybe more.

“Edgar, Jared…. I wish you guys could see this,” she said with her jaw hanging open. “It’s all real.”

A large groan came from the glacier, and she felt the ground began to move again.

“Oh no, no. Please don’t do this,” she said as the shaking grew more violent.

A large chunk of ice fell from the ceiling and crushed a small group of the eggs. Then another chunk fell, followed by another. The air was filled with the sound of ice cracking followed by the sickening wet crunch of egg shells breaking. Dr. Rose covered the fourteen eggs in front of her with her body as best she could.

“I can’t let you all break now. Not after all of this,” she said with a clenched jaw. “I refuse.”

“Dr. Rose? Edgar? Jared?” came a distant voice from above.

“Down here!” Dr. Rose screamed to the ceiling. “Please hurry!”

A smaller patch of ice fell from above and broke against Dr. Rose’s head.

“Ugh, no. Please hurry,” she grumbled as specks of black began flooding her vision. She tried to keep talking, but her words became slurred, and then she was unable to fight the urge to drift off into unconsciousness.

The first thing Dr. Rose noticed was the uncomfortably bright light that was followed shortly by the stabbing pain in her knee and the uncomfortable roar of an engine. She opened her eyes slowly to see a large, bearded man standing above her. The man could pass for Santa Clause, except his chest length beard was a dark brown. He was also wrapped up in a winter gear, but his face was uncovered.

“Clark?” Dr. Rose asked.

“She’s awake!” Clark called out to whoever was near him. “How are you feeling?”

“Let’s not get into that right now. Where am I? How did you find me?” she asked.

“Helicopter on the way to the hospital. You need medical attention something awful. I consider it nothing short of a miracle you’re alive after the state we found you in and what we saw was left of Edgar and Jared. The rest of the group went in after you guys once you didn’t return when you were supposed to. We heard you yell and were able to grapple down and grab you, but you are still badly injured. That knee does not look good,” he said. His dark eyes were full of concern for Dr. Rose; it made her squirm in discomfort while he was looking at her like that.

“The eggs! Did you get the eggs?!” Dr. Rose said in a sudden panic.

“Yes, we have them! We have the fourteen that you covered; we’ll deal with them once you get help,” he said.

“No way. No. We have to do what the boss said. We need to get these to Dr. Kale right now, and then we deal with my injuries. I can live until we pass the eggs onto him,” she said with an authority Clark could not question.

“Okay fine, we get the eggs to Dr. Kale. Do you mind telling us what exactly these eggs hold?” Clark said.

Dr. Rose gave him a small smile and said, “Something incredible and terrifying.”