The Last Election (38 page)

Clay dropped the phone and kept walking.

Chapter 87

Ixchel was holding Daniel’s head in her lap as the Maya medicine man put a pressure bandage over Daniel’s side wound. Ixchel had tears running down her cheeks as she stroked Daniel’s hair. “Do not be afraid,” said the medicine man to Ixchel, “he will live.”

“Thank you,” said Ixchel through her tears as she looked down at Daniel’s face. She quickly looked back at the medicine man and cried out, “You speak English?”

The man shook his head yes as he continued to treat Daniel’s wounds.

“Please, tell me. The phrase that the people here keep saying, what does it mean?”

He stood up and wiped the sweat from the back of his neck with a handkerchief. He looked at Ixchel for a moment, then pointed into the darkness of the cave and replied, “Shield Place.”

Martineau had moved to the cave entrance to look for signs of Clark and Clay. Minutes later she saw Clay weaving his way through the crowd of Maya. She ran to Clay and asked, “Where’s Sam?” Clay didn’t need to answer, the look in his eyes said it all. Martineau buried her head into Clay’s shoulder and started crying.

She looked up with tears in her eyes. “Did you stop Bonsam?” Again, his eyes said it all.

“We can’t stay here,” he said as he brushed past her on his way to check on Daniel. The medicine man and his companion had already lifted Daniel and placed themselves on either side to hold him up. The medicine man was on the left and he motioned to Clay that they would help Daniel move on, and then they slowly turned around and made their way further into the cave.
 

As Daniel and the Maya men faded into the cloudy darkness, Clay turned to Martineau and gently took her hand. “Come on Kenna, we need to go.”
  

Martineau wiped the tears from her eyes as she walked with Clay toward Ixchel. She noticed that Ixchel had a confused look on her face. “Are you okay, Ixchel?” she asked.

Ixchel peered into the darkness of the cave. As she took a few steps forward, she heard her great
-
grandmother’s voice call out,
“I am here.”

Ixchel smiled, for she finally understood why her great-grandmother had been calling for her all this time.
 
Somehow she knew she would be safe within the darkness of the cave. She looked over her shoulder at Clay and Kenna. She smiled again and said, “I know the way.”

With Ixchel in the lead the three walked deeper inside the mysterious cavern, knowing they had to go, but unknowing of what they would find inside. Clay, Kenna and Ixchel slowly disappeared into the shadowy abyss, and in the skyline beyond the ancient temples of Tikal, the sun set for the final time.

Epilogue

Nothing survived the nuclear holocaust that was unleashed on that fateful day. The entire planet was dead. As the end came sweeping across the Earth, humanity cried out for its final time, begging for a second chance. But all life was gone, everywhere.

Just like every other place in the world, the sky over Tikal was dark and cold and filled with acrid smoke. This is where it had ended. Yet deep beneath the surface a secret lay. Perhaps this was the second chance.

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Kevin Carrigan is a former elementary school teacher and a proud member of the U.S. Army Reserve. He lives in Portsmouth, Virginia. This is his first novel.

[email protected]

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