The earthquakes had been going on off and on for three days and we were getting desperate to get the fuck out of the mountains. The problem was that all the trail like roads leading up into the little valley where we had our dig had been wiped out by land slides. When I had been accepted onto the archeological team, I had been sure that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I was beginning to fear that it was going to be a last opportunity! I guess that I should be counting my blessings actually. Most of the Senor members had been in the main tent gloating about our finds while the junior members were in the trenches when the first quake hit. The camp including the main tent and all the senior members were buried under thousands of tons of the Andes Mountain rock when the entire cliff face sheared off and then collapsed. They were buried so deeply that we couldn’t even think about trying to dig them out. I’m not sure that you could do it with heavy equipment in less than a month.

We tried to get out an found that the main road was GONE! The little goat trails were mostly gone too so all we could do was sit out in the middle of the little valley where nothing, hopefully, would fall on us and wait for the quakes to stop. One the first day, as soon as the shaking had stopped the native workers took off. There was no hope of following them. The natives, long bred at altitude could run like the wind and at times seemed to be able to run right up or down the side of the mountain! They vanished and by the time we realized that they were leaving they were GONE!

There were four of us left. Charlie “Charlene Coleman is my best friend and part time lover. Dr. Ian Hennessey, the least senior of the big shots and so sort of the foreman in charge of the grunt labor…us. Haley Randal, Charlie’s best girlfriend working like me on her PHD. She is also the nicest person that I’ve ever known. I’m Noel, Noel Harris. I’m 25 and had hoped to have my PHD done before I’m 30! Right now I just hoped to LIVE to see 30!

The nights are a bitch! It is freaking COLD up here after the sun goes down. All of our stuff is buried and all we have is what we were wearing when that first quake hit. The water is running out too and I am not sure that we can take another day in the heat and then freeze out asses off again all night. I’m also going to kill Ian if he doesn’t stop bitching constantly.

On the third day I decided that I would rather be buried alive than freeze, have a heat stroke or die of thirst. The first huge rock fall had exposed an opening to a possible cave but the quakes had made us afraid to even approach the wall face where it was. If it was cooler in there during the day and warmer at night I was willing to chance it now… plus maybe there might be water!

I told Charlie that I was going to check out the crevice and see if there was somewhere in it that we could get out of the heat without being under too much loose rock. She an I had talked about it and she agreed that we had to do something, either walk out or find cover.

When Ian heard, he immediately became bitchy and said, “Just stay the fuck where you are Noel. If you go in that hole don’t expect me to come dig you out!”

I was tired of him and responded, “Fuck off Ian, nobody would ask you to get your hands dirty. We all know that you wouldn’t help any of us even if you could.” When the rock fall had first happened he wouldn’t even go and look to see if we could help the others.

He turned his back on us and I went to look. The opening wasn’t real big but it was obviously more than just a crack in the wall. The exposed opening was about eight feet tall and maybe twice that wide. As I eased up to it I could see that the darkness was deep and reached far back into the face. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small LED flashlight that along with a Leatherman’s tool and a few other pocket toys I was never without. I slid into the hole and was happy to see that it opened up immediately into a larger space. The floor was flat and as soon as I turned on the flashlight I knew that it wasn’t a cave. The floor was flat and the ceiling was an arched dome. It was obviously a manmade room. On the far side there was a pair of arched doors to other rooms I assumed. One thing that impressed me immediately was that the air was cool and the floor was totally clear of debris other than what had fallen in the crack when the wall had fallen away leaving a corner of the room open.

I licked my lips; this was pre-Maya or at least NOT Maya. The arches looked more like Greek arches than anything that I had ever seen in South America. I walked and peered into the two doors. One opened into an even larger room and the other was a long hall that went further than my little light reached. I listened and could hear the soft burble of flowing water somewhere down that hall. I decided to go get the girls and Ian if he would come and we would go look for the water. I also had a few tools that had been at the dig site when the landslide had covered all our other equipment up beyond recovery. I knew that at the very least there was a couple of small CD players that used the same batteries as my light.

When I crawled out of the hole and returned the girls were waiting for me right at the edge of the debris field. “Well, what did you find?” Charlie asked.

“That isn’t a cave it’s some sort of manmade ruin or something. It is cool in there and from the looks of things it is safe. There is no sign of anything falling in there. Also there is a hall leading off of it and I can hear running water some where down it!”

Haley grinned, “That sounds like heaven to me. I would kill to feel clean again!”

“Let’s go get Ian and look.” Charlie exclaimed. “I will be happy to just not be hot or cold for a while!”

We went and found Ian squatting in the shade of a small bush. With his usual winning way he asked, “Well I see you made it out. What is it, a shallow hole; or did you find the lost treasure of the Incas?”

“Maybe the Incas might not be too far off. It isn’t a cave it is a manmade chamber with almost Grecian arches. It has a couple of doors leading out and down one of them I can hear water running. Let’s go look and see if we can find the water. We are nearly out and in this heat that will be ugly!”

“Yeah sure, I’m sure you found water in a Greek fountain here in Peru! What kind of dummy do you think I am. There is no way you are getting me in that hole. It’s a death trap!” He rolled his eyes, “What a bunch of losers! Fuck off and go play your stupid games and leave me alone!”

I looked at Charlie and Haley, “I say we leave this jerk here. I’m past tired of him and his stupid mouth.” They nodded and I turned back to Ian. “Sit out here and sweat your fat ass to death Ian! We’re going to find some shade and water.” We gathered our stuff and were gathering a few tools when Ian came over.

“Leave those tools right where they are! They are project equipment and since I am the senior staff left I’m in charge. You aren’t authorized to use them on unsanctioned business!” He informed us officiously.

“Fuck you Ian. You aren’t in charge of shit. I’m sick of your crap. If you don’t get out of our way I’m going to stomp a hole in your fat ass!”

“That’s it Harris! When we get back I am going to ruin you. You will never find anyone to sponsor you and you will never finish your PHD!”

I popped him in the mouth, he landed flat on his fat lazy ass and we left him there lying in the dirt. When we got into the room again the girls were shocked. We peeked into the other room and found it to be a slightly bigger version of the one we entered from the outside. After a little looking around, the sound of water drew us back and down the long hall.

We hurried along, probably not the smartest thing to do, and soon came to a huge room with what was doubtlessly a Roman type bath. Charlie took one look at it and gasped, “This is unreal!! This isn’t Mayan or Incan, it is straight out of the Greco-Roman architecture guide book!”

Haley bent over and dipped her hand into the pool. “Ooooo, It is heated!” She brought her fingers to her mouth. “It’s fresh so we have water!” She looked at us and grinned, “I’m sorry guys but I’m going skinny dipping! If you don’t want to look turn your back. If you want to look then you are about to get an eyeful.”

Haley is a lovely woman. I guess you might call her Rubenesque. I preferred to think of her as just having a double dip of everything luscious. It is all stacked up in boobs and butt with her waist packing little in the way of extra. She was athletic with long strong legs but no matter what she did, as she put it, she couldn’t get rid of the bubble butt. I personally was glad. She and I had never messed around but there had always been a certain tension between us. Charlie loved us both and we both loved her enough that we would never do anything to hurt her.

Haley shed her clothes without the least thought of modesty and when I turned my back to be a gentleman I saw that Charlie was doing the same thing as Haley. When she was skinned she looked at me and laughed, “You need to get naked Noel. It is easier to bathe that way and you can wash your clothes. I hate to tell you honey but you are a little woofy!” She began undoing my belt.

“What about Haley??” I asked in a panic.

She laughed, “Don’t be silly. Haley come and tell Noel that he is being silly and that you don’t mind if he comes in with us. I heard her walking up behind me and tensed.

“What’s the matter Noel? Are you shy? Don’t be, we will be gentle with you. Won’t we Charlie?”

Charlie pulled my shirt out of my pants and over my head. “We will be very gentle Noel. Don’t be shy.” She looked over my shoulder to Haley. “He has a hard on and I think he’s embarrassed.” She unzipped my pants and gently pushed them down. “Oh yeah! He’s loaded and ready! Noel would you like to DO something with that?”

“You KNOW I would Charlie.”