Dillon Hunt And The Desert Oasis Resort by Chad Stewart (books suggested by bill gates txt) 📕

The only thing that the two brothers could hear as they walked slowly down the passageway was the sound of their own steps, and the crackle of the torch as the flame burned on. Dillon waved the torch from side to side as he walked, trying to illuminate the long tunnel as much as he could. Jordan also moved the flashlight around trying to get better views as he went. After about twenty feet into the tunnel they came to an intersection.

“Which way now Genius?” Jordan asked.

Dillon moved the torch to the left passage then to right passage. He was about to move the torch back to the left when something caught his eye on the wall. There appeared to be an arrow chalked onto the wall pointing down that passage. He looked back to his brother who was now standing beside him, equally curious about the marking.

“Who do you suppose made that?” Jordan asked.

“I don’t know,” Dillon replied. “But I know one thing for sure, it wasn’t John.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well let’s think about it for a moment,” Dillon responded. “John had packed this bag that we have so he could come and investigate this place, but he left it in his room. He even sent the watch and arrowhead away from here to someone at The Orion Group probably in the hopes that if something happened to him they would be able to use it to find him, which we have.” Dillon shook his head. “No. I don’t think John ever made it down here. I think he knew that someone was onto him, but didn’t have time to get out before they grabbed him.”

“Then why do you think he’s down here?” Jordan asked, trying to follow Dillon’s logic.

“That’s the thing. I’m not sure if he is or isn’t,” Dillon said. “Derek seems to think that whoever took John still has him alive. I’m not sure what he bases that on as he didn’t provide any information that would lead me to believe that.”

“So we’re just following the blind hunches of a stranger?” Jordan’s anger was now evident.

“Shhhh! Remember what I told you about possible creatures being down here?” Dillon reprimanded. “Anyway, we’ll never know for sure unless we continue on.”

“Whoa! Little bro. The only thing I want to do is find the way out before we get killed or eaten or both. Or be killed by being eaten!” Jordan said as he waved the point of the knife he was carrying in Dillon’s direction.

“Yes, but the only way we know for sure how to get out of here is back the way we came where that, whatever-it-was, was trying to kill us! Going forward is our only option Jordan.”

Jordan thought for a moment, contemplating their situation. “Fine,” he said at length. “Lead on.”

Dillon nodded and continued down the passageway. They went another twenty feet or so and came to another intersection and saw another one of those arrow markings leading down the left one this time. Dillon moved down that passage without saying a word as Jordan followed. Then they saw another intersection with an arrow marking leading down the right passage this time. “This has to be marked out for whoever it is that works down here so they don’t get lost,” Dillon said as he worked out the logic in his head.

“You’re probably right,” Jordan replied. “I can’t think of any other reason why these are here. Can you?”

Dillon looked at him and shook his head.

“Great! So if we follow these we run into bad guys!”

Jordan’s exclamation sent a chill down Dillon’s back. If he was right, then they were heading somewhere that didn’t have good prospects for their continued health. On the other hand, they would probably find John.

Not too much further down the passage, as the light illuminated to the extent of its reach they noticed that there was a split in the tunnel which branched into two again. They also noticed that something, or someone, was lying on the ground right at the intersection. They slowed their pace not knowing what to expect. As they got closer Dillon recognized the clothes that the person was wearing.

“Gwen!” he yelled as he broke into a run, closing the gap quickly between him and his sister. He reached her and knelt beside her, touching her shoulder and trying to rouse her. She groaned as he did so. Jordan also ran up and knelt beside their sister.

After a few seconds Gwen’s eyes fluttered open. She smiled weakly as she noticed Dillon and Jordan. “Wha—” she tried to speak but the words wouldn’t come. She appeared so groggy.

“Don’t try to speak yet Gwen,” advised Jordan as he rubbed his hand on her head. He looked at Dillon, concern in his eyes.

“Why would she be here?” Jordan whispered to his brother.

All Dillon could do was shrug. He saw her in his dream but didn’t think she would actually be down here. As he and Jordan were moving through the tunnel he actually began to believe that maybe his dream was wrong; maybe it was only giving him generalities of what was happening, or could potentially happen. In truth, the dreams already differed a little from what he actually experienced to this point; most notably was the missing details of his and Jordan’s conversation. That dream wasn’t that specific; it was more like faded snippets of the general event.

This much was true now though, the important details of their current events had come to pass. Suddenly Dillon cocked his head up.

“What?” Jordan asked in surprise.

“We need to go,” Dillon responded sharply. “We need to go now!”

Jordan’s face went suddenly serious. “Okay,” he said as he reached his arms around Gwen and hoisted her up. “Come on Gwen. It’s time to go.”

She nodded weakly, but was able to stand with the boy’s help.

“Which way?” Jordan asked.

Dillon shone his light between the two passages and noted that there was an arrow etching on the passage to the right pointing that way. “This way.”

“Wait a minute Dillon,” Jordan cut in, grabbing his arm. “Didn’t you say that these were probably made by someone—probably the bad guys—who worked down here? Probably someone who would most likely kill us if they got the chance? I don’t know about you, but what I’ve experienced so far in dealing with these people, whoever they are, is that I really don’t want to meet them. We are probably walking into their secret lair or something. And no one likes it when you just waltz into their secret lair! So if we can go another way that maybe leads out without meeting up with them, then I think that’s a better option.”

Dillon couldn’t refuse his logic. It was clear that, if John was alive, he would be down here with these guys. It was also clear that these people weren’t friendly. Dillon was starting to agree with his brother about not wanting to meet any of them anytime soon, even if he had to abandon his quest to find John. Seeing Gwen down here made him desire nothing more than to get out—and fast!

“Alright,” he said as he started walking down the passage to the left. Before going too far he stopped and looked at Jordan. “Give me your knife for a second.”

“What for?”

“Let’s make our own marks, just in case.”

Jordan got what he was saying and scraped an X in the side of the tunnel. It wasn’t as noticeable as the arrows were, but it would at least be noticed by them if they had to come back this way.

After Jordan was finished, and they began moving again, he couldn’t shake the images of the spider-like creatures he saw in his dream, or the jump they were forced to take off the cliff. He couldn’t help but think—and hope—that these events could be altered somehow, but he wasn’t sure. In fact, he wasn’t confident of anything anymore. The dreams had come true to a point. The only difference was that Jordan and Gwen were in the dreams but never together. This puzzled Dillon more than a little, but it also gave him hope that maybe he could somehow change the outcome of what was about to happen.

As his mind whirred with these confusing thoughts something on the wall caught his attention. It was the symbol!

“Oh