Free Cave Dwellers by Jonathan Randall

don’t think it is psychic. I’m not exactly sure what it is. But it does look like you have a gift and maybe it just needs to be more developed to reach its full potential.”
       Ramira thought about that. “How do you suggest that we do that?”
       Zaac knew that he was about to blow her mind. “I was thinking along the line that maybe you could try to lead us down here in the dark.”
       “You what? Are you crazy?” She thought Zaac had flipped. “There is no way that I’m going to lead us in this nightmare down here.”
       “I’ll be right behind you all the way. When the space allows us, I’ll walk beside you.” Zaac paused for a moment to let Ramira absorb what he was saying. “If you like, we can hold hands. That way you’ll know that I’m with you.”
       “It’s bad enough being down here period. It will scare me to death trying to lead us in the dark. Just the thought of it gives me the creeps.”
       “Will you at least try? You never know until you give it a shot.”
       Ramira thought about it for several minutes. She definitely did not want to lead them around in the dark. He must have lost his mind to even suggest it. But she had done some strange things the last few days. Maybe she did have a gift that she was just now starting to experience. She had no other explanation for what her brain had showed her recently.
       Ramira was indeed experiencing a very strange phenomenon, one that no human had experienced before. The bat bites, the bat saliva, had caused a change in her biological functions. Her vocal cords had transformed, along with her ears and eardrums. She was intermittently sending out vocal signals that were being picked up and processed through her ears to her brain. Her brain was then processing the information and giving her a visual image in her head. In layman’s terms, she was beginning to acquire echolocation, much like bats use for navigation. It would become a lot more acute in the coming days.
       “I’ll give it a try,” Ramira responded finally. “But I want you holding my hand every step of the way.”
       “You don’t have to worry about that,” Zaac said. “I won’t be able to see a thing. I will definitely be holding your hand.”
       She reached out with her right hand and took a hold of Zaac’s left. They started up the cave passage.
       “Put your hand on my shoulder, I need both hands to feel my way along.” She lifted his hand to her shoulder.
       She extended both hands, trying to feel in the dark. He placed his left hand on her shoulder and tried to use his right hand to feel anything that protruded.
       “Let’s step to the right,” he suggested. “We can place our right hand on the wall and use that as a guide.”
       “I’m starting to get very dizzy. I think the darkness is throwing off my equilibrium.” Ramira’s knees started to tremble.
       “I am too.” Zaac’s head began to spin.
       They reached out to touch the wall. Holding onto it, they stood swaying, trying to regain their balance.
       “I don’t think this is going to work.” Zaac hoped that he wouldn’t fall over.
       Ramira’s head started to spin also. Her body began to sway. Her breathing increased with fear. She was having a panic attack. She opened her mouth to take more air into her lungs. Unknown to her, that allowed her to send air waves vibrating out from her vocal cords. They resonated off the cave walls and came back to her in signals. Her brain processed those signals and an image appeared in her mind of the cave passage surrounding her. The image was faint, but it was there.
       Closing her mouth, she reached out to touch the far wall, working from the image in her brain. As soon as she closed her mouth and started forward, the image disappeared. Dizziness engulfed her and she fell to her knees. With another panic attack starting, she opened her mouth again to take in more air. Once more, the signals were sent