They found all the letters that complete the word TREASURES. It was a big golden box, looking dusty and untouched. Again taking it requires going through sharp rusty metal thorns, all pointing upwards. There was no space to match on. One must pass through it which was impossible going on foot, definitely no one can endure the pain. This was more difficult than any of the previous discoveries.
“Its not possible getting over there. We better forget about it” Bond said.
“Than die for greed” Dina added.
“Let’s go guys. Let’s try something else in the book” Bond urged and the girls followed him but Dylan and Rickie remained motionless. Pondering about something. He thought of how to leave the box untouched after finding it. Again he remembered their family’s suffering and how to go back to it. He also remembered Jenny leaving him to another man because he doesn’t have influence. As a matter of fact, taking the contents will be the answer to his quest for riches.
“Hey guys! Let’s go. There’s no way” Sonia called.
“Let us look for something else or even look for the EXIT before it gets late” Dina advised.
“Guys call me greedy for this, meanwhile I am not leaving this place with nothing” Rickie said. Dylan was surprised to hear that. He thought he was the only one with that desire.
“I will go” Dylan said.
“No. I have made up my mind. You have done enough on this journey. I need to contribute”
“Guys, tell me how you want to get that. You can see for yourselves that there’s no way. Even if there is, you don’t know what is in that box. It maybe something out of use. It maybe invaluable in this present generation. Think about it. Money of then might be useless now. And if it’s jewelries, they must be rusted broken by now. Don’t risk your life for nothing” Bond said keenly.
“Let’s find out first” immediately Rickie said this he went to one side and jumped to the wall. He cleaved to some holes dug in the wall. Nobody knew there were holes there until Rickie walked through it. It wasn’t easy for the dust in the holes were making his hands slip.
Finally he crossed to the other side. He opened the box, there he found many objects but coins dominated. He couldn’t see them clearly because he didn’t cross over with the light. It was dark that side.
“What is in it?” They asked curiously.
“I can’t see clearly here, but some are glowing”
“Those might be diamonds” Dylan said
“Diamonds?” The two bigger girls asked.
“Yes”
“Does diamonds glow?”
“I guess”
“How do you convey it?” Dina asked eagerly.
“We can’t take everything. The box is heavy”
“I have an idea” Dina said.
“And what’s that?”
“Take off your shirt and throw to him” She said to the boys “Rickie, you will fill the shirts, tie them and throw it back to us”
“Yes. Two good heads are indeed better” Dylan confirmed. At once they did as said. Rickie sent the shirts back heavily filled, including his own. Thereafter he returned the same way. They untied the clothes and confirmed the contents. They were not sure if what they were seeing because the yellow light seemed to affect the object with its color.
“So, big Bond what do you have to say about the risk I took?”
“I have always known you to have monkey blood in your veins. And about being stubborn I link that to pressure of life”
That was an amusing statement. Everyone’s lips pulled sideways.
“Now, time to go. The exit”
“I wish we could find Nazi, Mata and Zack” Dylan cried. “Now if we succeed going home what do we tell our mother? That we lost them forever? That she will never see them again? No, that sounds awful. I regret everything. I regret this trip, I regret fishing, I regret craving for success”
“It’s okay, Dylan. It’s not your fault we lost them” Dina consoled.
“I shouldn’t have allowed us abandoned them there. We should have carried them along”
“You know we didn’t do that because we wanted to. The condition compelled us to. We had no choice”
Now Dylan couldn’t say more because it wasn’t anyone’s fault that they left the dying ones behind.
“How are we sure we are returning home from here?” Dina asked thoughtfully. “Remember we have been helping each other. We never abandoned anyone anywhere for any reason. And these ones we allowed them stay there because we are too weak to carry them. We were carrying them when we do not know where we were going. If we had known we were going to find these stuffs we would have carried them no matter how far it will be. I think It’s been up to two hours since we left them. Who would still have the strength to lift anyone’s arm? We should blame nobody for what has happened”
“Thanks to the book, anyway” Dylan said.
“Absolutely. If not for the book who knows what would have become of us? I dropped the book. I didn’t know you picked it up”
“I bent to pick the one I dropped. I didn’t know it was this one I picked”
“None of us would have come out of this place alive. The book is the only way out” Dina said
“Exactly. Without the book we all were going to perish in this Godforsaken dungeon. And you can see, with the book all was made easy”
As they were following the letters, it was remaining just the last letter which is T, they noticed something on the ground. It was far and dark so they couldn’t see it clearly. They walked silently to know what it was.
“They are the ones” Emily announced and rushed to meet them. It was Nazi, Mata and Zack still lying where they were left.
“So this is where we left them?” Dylan asked.
“Hurry up, check. Are they still breathing?” Rickie asked. And quickly they listened to their heart beat and confirmed they still have breathe in them.
“Yes” they shouted excitedly. “Get me those vaccine quickly”
The vaccine was given to each of the patient and after three minutes they became strong again but the skin irritation did not heal immediately. It was going to take days as normal wounds would. They sat on the dust face to face leaning on the walls for discussion.
“We are glad to have you guys back” Emily said. “See, we have nothing to regret”
“Of course. In as much as we are in this shit hole, God is still with us” Dina said.
“We have lost nobody, and I wish we find our way home like this” Dylan wished.
“Yeah. We lost nobody. Instead we have one additional in our midst” Rickie said looking at Emily. Emily smiled and bent her head as all eyes were turned to her.
“She is God sent” Dina added. “She have helped so much in restoring lives”
“How?” Zack and Nazi spoke same time.
They began narrations. From how Dylan discovered the book in his position and how they have used the book to get all they needed, so on and so forth. Indeed, everyone tried. Everyone contributed. Everyone played an essential role.
“Now, where have you discovered to be the EXIT?” Zack asked bringing back their minds to what they were walking on. They looked around for the last letter. They saw it writing on a wall and not a door. They expected to see the letter T above a door, why then on a wall? They checked around to see if there was another T somewhere but there was none. Dylan returned to look at the wall closely. He discovered it was a door blocked with a large stone that fit the gap. He checked the walls to find the opening device or a puzzle to help roll away the stone but all what was carved on the wall doesn’t seem relevant.
“That means we need to break here” Bond said.
“So i see it. For we can push the rock away” Dylan concurred.
“But how? With what?” Mata asked.
“We can find tools with this book. I told you”
“Now I see the use of the tools” Rickie said.
“That same book?” Nazi asked.
“It’s been our guide so far”
“Finally we are needing everything in the book” Rickie added.
“And have you noticed we have not been able to take everything?” Dina reminded.
“Yeah, right” Sonia recalled. “We left half of the light, we couldn’t carry all the vaccine and also the treasures. It’s obvious nothing was meant to be taken away completely”
“Who knows what we are going to face now?”