Alex used the blue crystal he found earlier to light his way through the dark tunnel. He hoped it would lead him back up to the entrance. He never felt particularly claustrophobic until now. The crystal only gave off a small glow, not even enough to light up both walls to his side.
Every so often he felt like he was being watched from the darkness. It was an uncomfortable feeling when he himself could not see. Even so, he kept moving.
Eventually the tunnel started to incline. This made him feel hopeful. Maybe he would be able to find his way out after all. He felt like he had been down here for at least a few hours now.
He wondered if Tom and the others would wait for him, or even care about where he went. He quickly pushed those thoughts from his mind. Thinking like that wouldn't help.
There was the distant sound of dripping water somewhere far away echoing through the cave. The walls were slick with moisture. Alex was constantly worried about getting lost and having to survive down here by licking the walls and eating bugs. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen a single living creature since he got to this planet.
As he walked deeper and deeper through the tunnels he could feel the air getting colder, yet he felt completely warm. Even his hands were warm. Of course he still had the magical fur that Tom gave him but it wasn't that effective earlier.
Maybe it was his new jacket? He didn't know for sure. While he was thinking about that his thoughts were interrupted by the faint sound of voices ahead of him. He couldn't make out what they were saying. He picked up his pace and headed straight for the sound.
Not long after he could see light up ahead. Had he actually made it? The voices got louder and louder until he could finally make out what they were saying.
But it didn't sound like Tom or Rose.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here boys! A couple of kids that think the laws don't apply to them." Alex couldn't see the man but he sounded like he was whining through his nose when he spoke.
Alex chose to stay hidden for a moment and listen until he had a grasp of the situation.
"What? You got nothing to say now that your caught huh?" The whiney man said.
"Why wont you just leave us alone? Were just trying to get home, that's all." Tom sounded angry. He must have known these guys were after them.
The man was silent for a moment. "You should know better than anyone you cant make so many unregistered jumps and get away with it. We have rules for a reason."
Tom was quite this time.
"You. Call it in so we can get off this planet already."
Alex didn't know why but he was already thinking of ways to help Tom and the others. He had barely known them for a couple of hours but he felt bad letting this happen. He wanted to help. But he couldn't do anything right now. He slowly moved back down the tunnel far enough so that he could not be heard and assessed his options.
It sounded like these people needed to wait for someone to come and get them so he still had time. He needed to find a way to distract them or find some way to draw them away. He checked his pockets to see what all he had. That's when he noticed his lack of things. Come to think of it, he was in class before he jumped through the rift and he accidentally left all his belongings in his backpack next to his desk.
The only things he had to work with were whatever he could find in this cave. Not promising. He moved quickly back to the room with the skeleton. Maybe there was something he left behind that could be useful. Alex also imagined using the glowing crystals somehow.
The first thing he did when he got there was pull off a few more of the crystals. Then he took another look around the room and through the skeletons belongings. There were only some normal items like clothes and old paper and such, but at the bottom he saw a square plate. At first it did look like much but after flipping it over he found a small button. When he pressed the button the plate slowly got warmer and warmer until he had to throw it down to avoid getting burned.
Was it some kind of hotplate? Or a camping stove? He didn't know but it would certainly come in handy with what he was thinking. But before he could put his plan into action he accidentally tripped over some debris on the cave floor. He dropped all the crystals he was carrying in his hands and they hit the ground hard.
As soon as the crystals came into contact with the ground they shattered and made an explosion of light that blinded him. He was completely caught off guard and sat on the ground and rubbed his eyes until he was finally able to see again.
At first he was confused as to what just happened, then it hit him. This would be the perfect distraction he needed. As soon as he could see again, he carefully gathered up a bunch of the crystals and stuffed them in the skeletons backpack.
"He doesn't need it anymore right?" He said to nobody in particular. He slung the backpack over his shoulder and made his way back through the tunnel.
Back at the mouth of the cave Tom and the others were sitting against the cave wall, looking miserable, while those people watched over them. They were hunkered down in the cave while they waited for reinforcements.
Alex took to calling them rift police because they seem to think that Tom broke some kind of law. At least that's what Alex could gather.
He took his backpack and put it on backwards so that it was on his chest. This way he had quick access to the crystals. He took a second to mentally prepare himself for what was about to happen. He thought back to just a few hours ago when he was sitting in class overwhelmed with boredom. Now he was about to lead an ambush on these rift police to save people he just met.
What a crazy turn of events.
After a few moments Alex was able to enter a sort of Zen state. His legs regained their strength and his hands stopped shaking. He was ready. He reached into the backpack and pulled out a crystal in each hand and took off running.
Tom was the first to notice him. He looked confused only for a brief moment before jumping in to action but Alex quickly signaled for them to close their eyes.
Thankfully Tom got the message and shielded Rose and Daniel just in time.
"What the hell? Who is that?!" One of the rift police yelled out while trying to reach for the weapon sheathed on his belt. Alex didn't have time to think. With all his might he threw the glowing crystal right at the guy's feet.
"What-" His eyes followed the crystal through the air all the way until it hit the ground and cracked. One second they were able to see and the next it was like they went deaf, blind, and dumb.
Alex had covered his eyes with his arm just before it impacted the ground. When he uncovered his eyes he saw all of the rift police freaking out and rubbing their eyes. They stumbled around aimlessly bumping into each other and falling down. Alex had to try hard not to bust out laughing at the sight. There wasn't much time.
He kicked himself into gear and ran over where Tom and the others were sitting. "You can open your eyes now! Come on we gotta go!"
They were already starting to recover their sight. Luckily they only needed a few seconds to get on their feet and run out of the cave. Their feet immediately sunk into the snow and the wind stole most of the warmth they had built up, but they pressed on.
Tom took the lead with Rose carrying Daniel in the middle and Alex taking up the rear. They moved like this and moved to get as much distance from the cave as possible. It looked to be early in the morning but it was still dark. Alex noticed the wind was getting stronger and picking up a lot of loose snow.
It was getting hard to see.
He hoped with all his heart that it wasn't the beginnings of a blizzard. But then again maybe that was exactly what they needed to keep those guys off their trail.
Alex kept his eyes on Roses back. By now it was the only thing he could see through all the snow. It was indeed a blizzard.