Chapter 7: Home Again

John found himself in the dark on his hands and knees after coming back to Earth through the wall.

His skin burned but he was not in as bad of shape as the first time he had passed between the two worlds. If his guess was any good, it was because his clothing was not stripped off him this time.

However, that thought was fleeting as it suddenly occurred to him he was in absolute dark about a mile under the ground in a cave. If Hal and George had made their way into this room when he didn't come back, they may have taken all his stuff. He needed his helmet and his flashlight to get out!

He also was aware because of the cold seeping into him that he was naked. It wouldn't take long banging around in the dark for him to die of exposure. The worry descended on him like a 200 pound blanket.

He now wished he had thought this through better. On the other hand what could he have done differently other than anticipate this dilemma. He started to search around while still on his hands and knees at the foot of the wall.

After several fruitless minutes he knew his blood pressure was getting high because he could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his breathing was getting loud in the tiny area the fear was palpable.

[Maybe they had left the stuff in here, just not on the floor?]

He started searching the surrounding area. There were a few rocks near the opposite wall. They were only a lump in the floor about a foot in height if he remembered correctly. After he had searched a few rocks his hand encountered some cloth. He quickly moved his hand further in and he bumped something that clattered down. It was hard and cold and metal.

It was his flashlight! He bumped the switch to on and suddenly the room had a blinding light. He had probably been stumbling in the dark for 15 minutes now so it was quite bright to him. The cloth turned out to be a clean set of his clothes taken from his pack. His caving helmet was there as well as his backup shoes, his sneakers. His cell phone was in a pocket. He turned it on to see if it worked there were no bars of course, but it appeared to be charged. He quickly got dressed and headed for the exit.

He got down on his hands and knees to squiggle out of the room and he saw that someone had worked the hole quite a bit bigger. It had to be Hal and George because they were too big to get in here otherwise. He was wondering how they had covered his disappearance. They had obviously figured out where he had disappeared. They had to when they come up against a wall that had his shredded clothes at its foot as well as leather pieces from some else's clothes.

When he got to the big chamber he saw they had left a rope hanging for him. He had been worried about that in the back of his mind. He also hoped he remembered the way it had been a couple months since they came down and no cave looks the same going in both directions.

He didn't have to worry. They had left a trail of cut twine pieces. Every good caver carried twine so they could leave a trail of twine to make getting through a rough area easier. They had tied the twine here and there leaving a kind of trail of bread crumbs for him to find his way out.

He was very lucky Hal and George were so smart and had worked this out. It wasn't long and he found himself walking the last incline up to the light. He exited the cave and found that it was probably late afternoon.

The first thing he did was call Hal. He didn't have George's phone number.

"Hello?"

"Hal, it's JH, I'm back" he said into his cell phone.

"SHIT! It's really you isn't it I thought you were gone forever" Hal said.

"Me too, me too Hal it was touch and go for a while there. We need to talk. I have no idea what day it is or even what time it is. I just came out of the cave. I don't want to go into detail on the phone can you get George to come pick me up" I asked.

"I think he's still in Denver representing his tribe at some tribal meeting. They are doing some weird stuff now that all the tribes are into gambling. For the first time they have money and common interests. If they ever figure out how much power they have, look out world" he said.

OK, well I guess I am stuck here for a while. Did you leave any stuff here for me" I asked.

"Yes, about 100 feet down the first right turn in the cave we left your gear. That should get you through the night. I should be able to get there tomorrow around 1 or 2. Will that work" he asked.

"Ya, it's probably about as good as it can get. I don't know my way around here well. It's safer for me to stay here where you can find me" I said.

"So you can't tell me more over the phone" he asked.

"No, better to let me tell you in person, I hate to do that but you will understand better when you get here" I said.

"OK, well I might as well go get ready for my trip in the morning. I will see you then" he said.

"Great, drive careful. I don't want to have to hike out of here. I could find my way probably, but it sounds like a long hard thirsty walk."

"OK, see ya"

"Bye."

I sat down and did some thinking. It was dangerous to let this get out. The more people that knew about the portal, the worse it could be for both worlds. I wasn't thinking about any power thing. You could not take anything through the portal that was not alive so it's not like I could strike it rich with gold or uranium or something.

I just knew that as stupid as humans were and the government specifically, they would ruin the Dragon Planet. It would take no time to flood the place with idiots and morons and they would pollute that planet even faster than they had polluted earth.

Besides, I had not decided yet where I was in all this, I mean, did I like this place better than that one? It was hot and moist and had its dangers. On the other hand the water was clean, the air was breathable and if done carefully, we could have a fresh start there. It just meant we needed to be careful about who goes through.

I went and picked up my stuff, it was right where they said it would be. I set up the tent and unpacked things into it and got ready for the evening. There were bottles of water, jerky and a few bags of trail mix and dried veggies.