Reel Three

Daniel and Shaunda quickly made their way past the ‘dart hall of death’ and came to a large chasm. Two great statues of rulers past towered over them and brushed the roof of the cave itself. On the other side looked to be a set of stairs descending further within.

When Shaunda looked down into the chasm, she told him it looked like there were pieces of a bridge scattered amongst the stalagmites. Daniel reasoned that either someone had blown up the bridge or it would only manifest itself to those who were part of the tribe.

There was a gnarled root that had cracked through the cave at some point, dangling halfway between each end of the chasm. Daniel thought he might be able to grab it with a running jump and swing across. Good enough for one swing, perhaps. But what about the return trip?

He found himself looking back to the statues and trying to do some basic geometry in his head. Finally, he pointed at one of them to Shaunda. “Give me a hand, will you?”

Daniel started trying to push and pull the statue. When Shaunda joined him, the statue started rocking on its base. With effort, the two eventually built up enough momentum to force the statue to fall forward.

The statue’s head crashed onto the other side with a deafening thud. The entire thing rolled slightly to one side but came to a rest after that.

Shaunda immediately started crossing, her bare feet scampering over the fallen statue. Daniel prepared to follow after only to see something in the walls. It looked like stone reliefs of rulers past carved into the walls behind him.

For a second he swore he saw one turn to look at him.

It was foolish. But it was enough to get Daniel to take the rest of his revolver’s ammo and move it for easier access.

-----

The stairs were deep, just enough to trick you into thinking you’d stepped too far and were going to fall. Daniel could hear Shaunda complain about how slick they were, too. And about how cold her feet were getting.

“How much gold do you think is down there?” asked Shaunda. “I mean, it has to be a lot if they’re not putting much value in it.”

The answer was breathtakingly clear as soon as they took their last step.

Not an ounce. No bars, no coins, no jewels of any kind.

“There’s nothing down here but a bunch of plants.” Shaunda lightly kicked at some of them. “Why would they go to so much trouble to protect these?”

Daniel took a closer look at the plants. They looked like a strange cross between cilantro and spinach, but smelled like mint.

“I told you,” Daniel said. “The natives don’t value that kind of material wealth when it comes to gold. I guess the same is true of money in general.” He rubbed one of the leaves between his fingers. “There are tribes that placed a higher value on maintaining a balance with nature.”

Shaunda glared at Daniel. “That’s nice, but then why would they protect these plants in particular?”

Daniel took his best guess. “Because these are probably what the natives use to make that potion you gave me earlier.” He pulled a small shovel out from his backpack and carefully dug out a few plants before pulling out the box he’d put that dart in. He swapped the dart out and put the plants in, sticking the dart point down onto his belt.

When he finished putting the box back into his backpack, Daniel saw a larger mass in the center of the room. Beneath a layer of the plants was a skeleton. Most of the clothes were caked in dirt and there was a distinctive hole with dried blood where the left shoulder would have been. But Daniel would never mistake that tweed bowtie for anything else.

Daniel pulled his goggles off his head out of respect. “Woz.”

“Huh?” Shaunda come over and recoiled at the sight of the skeletal remains. “Agh! What is that?!”

“That was Wozniak.” Daniel tried clearing more of the plants away to work him free. “Old work colleague of mine. He’s the whole reason I came out here. Because someone else – ngh – sent him on a wild goose chase.”

“What for?”

Daniel paused, having cleared enough away to see the rest of what was left of Wozniak. There was another bottle of that green stuff at his feet, but clutched in his hand and to his chest was a book and a piece of paper.

He freed the book first. It was bound with leather. A series of blue branching cracks ran over the book’s cover, giving it a subtle glow. Daniel flipped it open after noticing it had a bookmark sticking out.

The yellowed page showed a map of a city surrounding a lake, with points of interest labelled. It matched up with everything Daniel had seen since he woke up from the crash. But it was what was written beneath that troubled him.

El Dorado.

Impossible. The Atlas of Anomalies was real. It was in his hands.

Daniel turned his attention to the slip of paper that had come with it. The handwriting was terrible, like someone had been in a hurry. But it was unmistakable. And addressed to him.

----

Daniel,

Knew they’d rope you into this. Don’t let him leave with it.

Woz

----

Daniel’s flight or fight reflex almost kicked in when he heard a gun cock behind him.

He turned to see Shaunda gasp at the sight of Mike pointing a gun at Daniel. “Mike?! What are you doing?”

“Knew they’d send someone after us sooner or later,” said Mike. “I should be thanking you; you brought me the Atlas and a way home. I wouldn’t worry too much about getting left behind. The locals tend to like the company of outsiders once they submit.”

Shaunda kept staring at the gun. “Why are you doing this? Can’t we all get in the plane and go home?”

Mike told them he couldn’t. “Last thing my organization needs is for anyone to hear that we've got the Atlas. Sorry, but you’re all staying here.”

Daniel grit his teeth. Of all the people he didn’t want to have the Atlas, the CIA – or whoever Mike was really with – were high on that list. “You’re crazy if you think we’re staying here.”

Mike rolled his eyes in disappointment. “Why’d you have to say that?” He fired his gun. Daniel fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. “Oooh. Gut shot. Nasty way to go. Painful. Your own stomach acid’s going to eat you alive.”

He then pointed the gun at Shaunda when she started trying to move. “Ah-ah. Hand me the book and I promise the next bullet doesn’t have your name on it.”

Pain. So much damn pain. Daniel’s hand was covered in his own blood. He could only watch as Shaunda took the Atlas off of him and gave it to Mike, who then left without another word.

It was only when Mike left that Shaunda went to Daniel’s side. “Oh my god. You need a doctor.”

That wouldn’t do any good. He’d need the plane for that. “Shaunda,” he groaned. “Woz’s feet. The bottle.”

Shauna found the spare potion without a problem. “You think this will work?”

He wasn’t sure. But he didn’t want to tell that her that. Shaunda popped open the bottle and pulled up Daniel’s shirt. Then she began pouring the green liquid onto his wound.

A loud fizzing filled Daniel’s ears. Something hot, very hot, it was burning in his gut as foam seeped out of him. He felt something push out from his body. Push. Push. With teeth gnashed, Daniel screamed.

One final effort and the bullet popped out of his body. His skin resealed itself right after. Getting up was trivial after that.

Daniel pulled out his revolver immediately after. “Come on. We’ve got a plane to catch.”

----

A fine boast. But immediately tested.

No sooner had Daniel and Shaunda come back up the steps than they saw the stone relief begin to break open. A mummified corpse emerged, groaning as it trained its eyes on the two.

“Get to the plane,” Daniel shouted. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“While you do what?!”

He pointed his revolver at the corpse. “Creative problem-solving.” Daniel kept an eye on Shaunda as she made her way back across the fallen statue over the chasm.

When the corpse began shuffling its way over to her, Daniel opened fire. The first bullet knocked it aside. The second knocked its head clean from its neck. He supposed he should be thankful she had taken off running the moment her bare feet were back on solid ground.

Now it was his turn to start crossing. And to start worrying when more corpses began breaking free from the stone relief. He fired all of his remaining shots, downing one of the corpses and knocking the other’s knee out.

Daniel frantically loaded six more bullets into the cylinder as he jumped off the statue and began sprinting towards the exit. Darts flew across the room after him; there was no time to worry about watching his step.

----

Daniel was no professional athlete. He’d done track and field back in high school, but those days were long behind him.

He was absolutely winded by the time he finally got back to the docks. Mike was halfway out of the plane, fending off Shaunda’s errant punches. She managed to pull him out of the plane, only to be pushed off the dock and into the lake.

Daniel sprinted down the dock and sent a wild running punch into Mike’s jaw.

Mike spun around and clutched his jaw. “You’re a stubborn guy. I can respect that.” Then he proceeded to destroy Daniel in fisticuffs.

It wasn’t anything Daniel was doing wrong. He got a fair few shots in at Mike. But Mike was pulling some kind of martial arts bullshit on him. Working his joints, slamming him repeatedly into the plane head first.

Daniel wasn’t going to win this by Marquess of Queensbury rules. But he did have one move to try.

Mike grabbed a bloodied Daniel by the collar and held a fist up to his nose. “How did you think this was going to go? That I’d just roll over and die?”

“Something like that.” Daniel plucked the dart out of his belt and stuck its end into Mike’s chest. He watched Mike take a step back and clutch at his chest. Mike slowly pulled the dart out as his limbs began to stiffen and seize up.

Daniel couldn’t bring himself to watch and pulled Shaunda out of the water. He felt the dock shake from an impact and saw Mike on his back, unmoving.

Shaunda blinked. “Is he...”

Daniel wasn’t sure and didn’t intend to check, ushering Shaunda into the plane instead. He finally got inside after er and saw the Atlas of Anomalies resting between the seats.

Once he buckled his seat belt, he felt it. The earth was beginning to quake. Or rather, something in the lake was starting to stir. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to stick around to find out what. His hands flew around the seaplane cockpit, beginning his procedures for takeoff.

He really hoped Mike hadn’t screwed up putting in the battery or this would be a short trip. The propeller sputtered to life and Daniel nearly cheered at the sight. He pushed the throttle up with an authoritative slam.

The seaplane began puttering forward over a lake now glowing gold. Daniel’s hands tightly gripped the yoke. His knuckles were white, his eyes glued to his speed.

As the plane started to rise, Daniel watched a golden hand break though the surface of the lake behind him. He glanced back and saw a golden man rise from the lake.

The golden man turned towards the plane and the plane soared towards the mountains. “Shaunda, open the Atlas!”

She followed Daniel’s direction, opening it up to the ‘El Dorado’ page. “Now what?!”

“Look for a page that says ‘Earth’!” he shouted.

A golden hand stretched out towards the plane. Daniel yanked hard right; this thing was not built for aerial maneuvers.

“Hurry!”

Shaunda flipped through page after page, showing places Daniel had heard of only in fantasy novels. “Avalon… Shangri-La…” She screamed when the plane suddenly dived to avoid another swipe from the golden man. “You’re not helping!”

“I’m keeping us alive! Find it!”

“Gorias… Kitara…” Shaunda put her finger on the next page she turned to. “Earth! Got it!”

----

There was a flash of light.

The golden man was gone. The mountains had been replaced by the open ocean and the sun was setting before them.

Daniel flipped his goggles on and Shaunda held her hand in front of her face. “Did we make it?”

“Probably.” Daniel stared at the Atlas of Anomalies lying on Shaunda’s lap. He had a lot more questions than answers about that tome. Wozniak had apparently sacrificed his life to keep it out of the wrong hands. Now he had it and no idea what to do next.

Well, not no idea. “Shaunda, where was that cruise of yours supposed to take you?”

“Bermuda. Was supposed to be a five day cruise.”

Daniel checked his GPS for a location and set the plane on a new heading. He’d have time to figure out what to do with the Atlas of Anomalies after he got a few drinks in him. A well-earned rest in Bermuda sounded like a lovely idea.