Chapter 40The Ape Gigans

It was tough to figure out exactly what time it was, but I’d guess, looking back, it must have been around ten at night.

I was basically out of it, half-dreaming, and I saw some seriously wild stuff. Deep-sea monsters were hanging out with this huge, elephant-like shepherd. Giant fish and animals were all mixed up in strange ways.

The raft suddenly swerved, spun around, and went into another tunnel - this one lit up in a really weird way. The ceiling was made of these porous stalactites, and a moonlit mist seemed to drift through them, shining a bright light on our tired, worn-out faces.

The light got brighter as we went further, and the ceiling rose higher, until finally, we were back in this huge water cavern, with a dome that disappeared into a glowing cloud!

This small, rocky cave looked like a decent spot to rest our exhausted bodies.

My uncle and the guide were acting like they were in a dream. I didn’t want to startle them, knowing how dangerous that could be. So, I sat down next to them to keep watch.

As I did, I noticed something moving way off in the distance, and it totally grabbed my attention. It was floating on the water, moving like it had paddles. I stared, wide-eyed. One look told me it was something monstrous. But what was it?

It was the legendary "shark-crocodile" from those old geology books. About the size of a regular whale, with these terrifying jaws and two huge eyes. It was coming straight at us. Its eyes were fixed on me with this intense, scary look. I got this feeling it had picked me out.

I tried to stand up - to run, anywhere - but my knees were shaking, my limbs were trembling, and I almost lost it. And the huge monster just kept coming. My uncle and the guide didn’t even try to save themselves.

With a weird noise, unlike anything I'd ever heard, the beast came on. His jaws were at least seven feet apart, and his mouth looked huge enough to swallow a boatload of guys.

We were about ten feet away when I realized that even though his body looked like a crocodile’s, his mouth was totally like a shark’s.

His two natures were now clear. To snatch us up in one bite, he had to roll onto his back, which made his legs kick uselessly in the air.

I actually laughed, even facing death!

But the next minute, with a wild cry, I bolted into the cave, leaving my unlucky friends to their fate! The cavern was deep and creepy. After about a hundred yards, I stopped and looked around.

The whole floor, made of sand and malachite, was covered in bones - freshly gnawed bones of reptiles and fish, mixed with mammal bones. My soul felt sick as my body shook with horror. I’d really fallen out of the frying pan into the fire, like the old saying goes.

Some beast, even bigger and scarier than the shark-crocodile, lived in this den.

What could I do? The cave entrance was guarded by one crazy monster, and the inside was home to something too horrifying to even think about. Escape was impossible!

Only one option left - find a small hiding spot the scary creatures of the cavern couldn't reach. I looked around wildly, and finally spotted a crack in the rock, which I rushed into, hoping to calm down.

Crouching down, I waited, shivering like I had a bad fever. Nobody’s brave during an earthquake, or when a boiler explodes, or a torpedo goes off. You can’t expect me to feel brave facing the scary fate that seemed to be waiting for me.

An hour passed. I could hear a weird rumbling outside the cave the whole time.

What happened to my unlucky friends? I couldn’t stop to ask. My own messed-up life was all I could think about.

Suddenly, a groan - like fifty bears fighting - hit my ears. Hisses, spitting, moaning - it was seriously creepy. Then I saw...

I’d never forget that terrifying sight, even if a million years went by. It was the Ape Gigans!

Fourteen feet tall, covered in thick, coarse hair, blackish-brown. The hair on its arms pointed down from the shoulder to the elbow, but went up from the wrist to the elbow. It was moving forward. Its arms were as long as its body, and its legs were huge.

It had big, long, sharp teeth - like a giant saw.

It pounded its chest as it came closer, sniffing and smelling. It reminded me of those stories we read when we were kids about giants who ate people and little boys!

Then it stopped. My heart went wild. I knew, somehow, that the scary monster had caught my scent and was looking around with its ugly eyes, trying to find me.

My reading - which usually helps me out, but felt like a total curse right then - told me the truth. It was the Ape Gigans, the ancient gorilla.

Seriously! This awful monster, lucky enough to be stuck deep underground, was the ancestor of those freaky monsters in Africa.

It looked around like a maniac, searching for something - probably me. I figured I was a goner. There was zero chance of safety or escape.

Just as my eyes started to close for good, I heard a weird noise from the cave entrance. I turned, and the gorilla clearly spotted a bigger threat - something more worthy of its massive size and strength.

It was the giant shark-crocodile, which maybe had already dealt with my friends and was looking for more food.

The gorilla got defensive, clutching a bone - like, seven or eight feet long, a total club - and swung it at the creepy beast. The beast reared up and crashed down on the gorilla.

A crazy fight broke out, way too intense to describe. I bailed, seriously. Figured I was next on the menu, so I had to get out of there. I slid out of my hiding spot, hit the ground, and stuck to the wall, trying to reach the cave entrance.

But I didn't get far when the noise stopped. Then came this weird mumbling and groaning - sounded like someone won.

I looked back and saw this huge ape, covered in blood, chasing me with wild eyes and flared nostrils blasting hot steam. I could feel his gross, hot breath on my neck. Then - bam - I woke up from a messed-up dream.

Yeah, it was all a dream. I was still on the raft with my uncle and the guide.

I didn’t feel better right away. The nightmare totally messed with my head. But after a bit, I started to chill out. The first thing I really noticed was sound. I listened super closely. Everything was totally silent. The loud water noises were gone, replaced by total peace.

After a while, my uncle spoke, his voice quiet: "Harry, boy, where are you?" "Right here," I mumbled.

"Dude, don’t you see what’s happening? We’re going up."

"Uncle, what are you even talking about?" I asked, still out of it.

"Seriously, we’re climbing fast. Our downward trip is over."

I held out my hand, and after a bit of a struggle, managed to touch the wall. Instantly, my hand was covered in blood. The skin was ripped from the flesh. We were shooting upwards, super fast.

"The torch - the torch!" the Professor yelled, totally frantic. " It has to be lit!"

Hans, our guide, finally got it lit after a bunch of tries. The flame burned bright, giving us a pretty clear view. We could finally get a sense of what was happening.

"It’s exactly what I figured," my uncle said after a moment of quiet.

"We’re in a tight well, maybe four fathoms across. The water from the inland sea reached the bottom of the gulf and is now blasting its way up this massive shaft. Naturally, we’re being pushed up to the top of the water."

"Yeah, I see that," I replied glumly. " But where does this shaft end? And what kind of drop are we looking at?"

"I’m just as clueless as you are. All I know is, we gotta brace ourselves for the worst. We’re going up crazy fast. Judging by the feel of it, we’re climbing at about two fathoms a second, that’s over a hundred and twenty fathoms a minute, or more than three and a half leagues an hour."

"At this speed, our fate is pretty much sealed."

"Definitely," I said. "But my biggest worry right now is whether this shaft even has an exit. It could just end in a granite ceiling - then we’d be crushed by the air pressure or smashed to pieces. I already feel like the air is getting thick and heavy. It’s hard to breathe."

It might have been my imagination, or maybe it was the speed, but I definitely felt a tightness in my chest.

"Henry," the Professor said, "I seriously think we’re in a pretty rough spot. But, hey, there’s still a bunch of ways we could pull through, and I've been thinking about them while you were sleeping - a heavy, restless sleep, I might add."

"Basically, we could die any minute, or we could be saved just as easily! So, we gotta be ready for whatever happens in this crazy situation."

"But what do you want us to do?" I blurted out. "Aren't we totally helpless?"

"Nah! As long as we're alive, there's hope. At least, there’s one thing we can do - eat, and get some strength to face whatever comes our way, victory or death."

As he spoke, I looked at my uncle, feeling totally drained. I’d been putting off telling him, but now I had to. Still, I hesitated.

"Eat," I said, trying to sound casual, like it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah, right now. I feel like a starving prisoner," he said, rubbing his shaky, yellow hands together.

Turning to the guide, he said something encouraging, sounding really upbeat, as far as I could tell, in Danish. Hans shook his head, looking super serious. I tried to act like everything was cool.

"Wait a sec!" the Professor exclaimed.

"You’re not saying all our food is gone, are you?"

"Yeah," I mumbled, holding something out, "this tiny piece of dried meat is all we have left for the three of us."

My uncle stared at me like he couldn't quite grasp what I was saying. The news just floored him. I gave him a moment to process.

"Okay," I said after a beat, "so, what do you think now? Any chance we can get out of this messed-up situation? Are we totally gonna die in these huge holes at the center of the earth?"

But my questions just hung in the air. My uncle either didn’t hear me, or pretended not to.

A whole hour just flew by. We didn't really feel like talking. I started feeling seriously hungry - like, ravenous. My companions probably felt the same awful feeling, but neither of them would touch the last bit of meat we had left.

It was just sitting there, a reminder of all the crazy planning for this wild, pointless trip!

I looked back, kinda amazed, at how dumb I’d been. I totally realized that, even though my uncle was super hyped, and that annoying scroll from Saknussemm was around, he shouldn't have started this dangerous journey.

My head was filled with memories of good times and scary thoughts about what was to come!