C O U N T D O W N
By Karisma (Girl Power Crypties!)
The lift descended down the mineshaftloudly. The grating of metal uponmetal was audible and the progressionwas slow. Leroy looked down at hiswatch, squinting one eye to make outthe time in the dim light; "Twentypast eight" he murmured to himself.He noticed that he was murmuring a lotmore than he used to- still, it waskind of comforting down in the minewhen you had no-one to talk to exceptEric Hudson. He grinnedunconsciously.
The lift squealed and shook violentlyas it transferred itself from the oldstructure of the shaft to the new.Then, after a second or two it resumed
its original grating as it descendedthe extension.
Leroy enjoyed his job; in this tradeyou had to or you"d go mad. Theseclusion from humanity during the daymade him appreciate life more betweenshifts- or so he said. He was aconformist; a member of the NationalUnion of Mineworkers not for his ownpersonal benefit, but because everyoneelse was.
The lift lurched to one side causingits occupant to momentarily lose hisbalance.
Leroy adored routines; long, loopingroutines. Wake up. Eat. Dig coal.Eat. Dig more coal. Eat. Sleep.That was one of his favourites. Atthe tender age of eighteen, Leroy hadbeen taken on as an assistant drilloperator and promised fantastic"career development opportunities".Now, sixteen years on, he was leadingsupervisor of group 6C. Theprogression had been very slow andpainful, but now he supposed it hadall been worth it. He had never eventhought about retirement; compulsoryresignation (or redundancy as it wasmore commonly known) was the thoughton most miner's minds. The demand forcoal had been on a constant decreasesince the early eighties and now thesituation was becoming desperate.However, when the -
The lift crunched to a halt,exhausted.
Leroy stepped out and glanced up at asign which read, "Sub-Level six.Please ensure that all hard-hats andheadlamps are fitted and workingcorrectly."
He instinctively reached for the backof his hard-hat and flicked the switchto "on". Immediately a powerful beamof light shone down at the ground infront of him. He started off down thetunnel. It was lit up every fewmetres or so by a safety bulb (safebecause no sparks were created fromthem). Unfortunately though, thelight they gave out was minimal andthey were always having to bereplaced. His heavy black leatherboots dispersed large clouds of blackdust around him when he walked.
As he veered to the left, the tunnelsuddenly became narrow and he couldhear voices. He ducked his head tonarrowly avoid a dangerously lowsupport beam and continued, halfwalking, half crawling, deeper intothe tunnel.
"Hey Leroy!" He looked up. It wasJake. He was studying some plans.
"Morning Jake!" he replied. Henoticed Ricky and Hudson fiddling witha drill engine at the end of thetunnel.
"What"s wrong with Terence?" Terencewas the "friendly drill". "Terence?Don't talk to me about that piece ofjunk. He's more trouble than he'sworth." Jake looked annoyed, "Oh, Idunno, something's jammed the damnmotor."
"I see, so what's our next move? Wehaven't got long if we want to stay onschedule."Jake smiled, "I don"t know sir, you'rethe chief supervisor." He enjoyed theoccasional joke about Leroy's positionof authority, or rather his lack ofability to use it. On paper, Leroywas in charge and there was nodisputing that; but down in the mine,there was a kind of friendly alliancein which everyone was as equal as eachother. It had always worked that way.Jake stared at the ground and rubbedhis temple in search of an idea. Helooked up, "We could always takeTerence back up to the maintenancecentre and get him fixed."
"What - are you crazy?!" Leroyspluttered, "And have Stevens on ourback for the rest of the week tellingus how we should be looking aftercompany equipment! No way man." Leroyand Stevens hated each other. Morethan that, it had mutated intosomething much more grotesque andcomplex than hate. They wereintimidated by each other and in away, respected each other to someextent. But Leroy was a threat toStevens" career and similarly, Stevenspossessed the power and authority toruin his life. Leroy's heart missed abeat whenever the word "Stevens" wasmentioned.
"Ah shit, I'm sorry man. I'm sorry."
"It's ok Leroy, everything's cool."Jake turned back to his plans.
-=-
It was a quarter of nine when thesounds started. Ricky was the firstto notice them.
"Lee, did you hear that?" Theabruptness in his voice startled him.
"What?" Leroy hated it when peoplecalled him 'Lee'".
"There - there it is again!"
"What the hell are you talking about?"He listened hard but heard nothing;either Ricky was kidding them or hewas losing his hearing. He hopedRicky was kidding them.
"Listen!" There was silence. Rickyflicked sharp glances between them.Empty seconds passed... Hudson wasthe first to speak, "There"s nothingthere! There's no sound ok? I - "
"Shut up man, I can hear something."It was Jake.
"I told you, there"s nothing t - "
"I said shut up, I can hear it can'tyou hear it?" Jake was frowning indeep concentration, his dreadlocksfalling about his face protectively.Leroy looked up. Everyone was stillagain. Listening. "God, I am deaf"he murmered to himself... then heheard it. It was a distant rumblingsound, like a thunderstorm.
It paused, then started again, just alittle louder than the first time.
"Jesus, I heard it... I can hear it!"It was Hudson, his face was white.
"I can hear it too, what is thatnoise?" Leroy spoke in a softer, morecalmer voice than Hudson, "It doesn'tmake sense." The other miners, glad tohave a "superior" mind interested,looked round at him, expecting him todo something or give an order. Hecould only stare back. The rumblingappeared to be coming from all sides,and now they heard something new. Itwas small in comparison to thedeafening rumbling sound but it seemedso... so close. The mine "groaned",it was a long high-pitched whine.Hudson started to shakeuncontrollably, "W-what is it Leroy?".The rumbling stopped abruptly. Thegroaning began to decrease in pitch.
He was in a trance. Frozen inposition. Staring at the others. Itwas Ricky who brought him round, "It'sa cave-in guys, we"ve got to get outtahere N-O-W!" Then he ran for it.
"Wait Goddammit - you"ll get buriedalive... Ricky!" Jake ran after him,in an effort to prevent an accident,but it was too late. Leroy could onlywatch as the roof of the mine omittedone last growl and then collapsed, infront of him. Ricky screamed, but hisscream was muffled as he disappearedunder an avalanche of rock. Jake hadsurvived the main section of the fallbut was now lying in a crumpled heapon the ground surrounded by largeboulders. There were massive cloudsof unsettled dust everywhere, makingLeroy's eyes sting and water, it wasalso making it difficult to breathe.There was only one thing to do though,go in and rescue the bodies.
-=-
It had taken them ten minutes tolocate Jake"s body, and a furtherfifteen to carry him to safety.Equipped with only two workingheadlamps to guide their way (Jake'shad been smashed in the fall), it hadbeen a near impossible feat, but theyhad managed it.
On discovering Jake's body, Leroycould tell instantly that he wasunconscious. He had sustained a deepcut above the right eye which wasbleeding badly. A large rock hadshattered one of his legs to the pointthat a small area of his shin bone wasprotruding through the skin. Leroyhad decided that it would be foolishto stay and treat Jake there and then,when another rock fall could occur atany moment. The only other option hadbeen to carry him back to Terence andwait for help. This was easier saidthan done, as Jake, standing (orlying) at six foot two, was notexactly a willing member to thisexpedition - nor was the whimperingHudson as a matter of fact.
-=-
Leroy looked down upon Jake's body.It was in a bad way. He had torn offan arm of his once-orange boiler suitand wrapped it around Jake's head.Its purpose had been a makeshiftbandage to prevent any more bleedingbut it wasn't working very well.
"What the fuck do we do now?" Hudsoncried despairingly, startling thesilence.
"Well, basically, we sit here andwait." Leroy tried to sound calm. Buthe wasn"t calm, far from it in fact.While he and Hudson were looking forJake he had noticed something veryunsettling indeed. He had noticedthat the air around him seemedunusually still and well, idle. Moreinvestigation and proved his theorycorrect: the air conditioning hadshut down with the lighting. Theywere trapped in an enclosed area withlimited oxygen...
"What - you think I'm just gonna sithere and die? 'Cos I'm not - d'yaunderstand?""Really... yeah." Leroy wasn'tlistening to him. His thoughts hadbeen broken for a second, but now heblocked out the intrusion and resumedstaring into the blackness. He waswondering what the first symptoms of"lack of oxygen" were and how torecognise them. He could just pictureit as an article for one of thoseshite Readers Digest magazines...
ONE: a pain in the lungs, first inone concentrated point, then spreadingthroughout the entire respiratorysystem to include the trachea...
TWO: a sudden stroke of dizzinessduring which double-vision and "spots-before-the-eyes" syndrome is not
unusual...
THREE: a strong urge to sleep thuscausing -"roy... Leroy... I said - "
...thus causing -
"For Chrissakes Leroy!"
...thus c -
"Wha- what is it man?!" Leroy jumpedup suddenly, "What do you want,Hudson?" Hudson shrugged, embarrassed.
"I just thought we oughta stay awake -that's all, y'know, in case somethinghappens to Jake or whatever. I mean-"
"Yeah, alright." Then Leroy rememberedthat Hudson was only eighteen and feltsorry for him; "Hey, Hudson."
"Yeah."
"We're gonna be alright."
"Yeah, I know, but... yeah, I know."
-=-
"I left the office as soon as youcalled me."
"Yeah, thanks."
"What's the problem? You saidsomething about an accident. It's notserious is it?"
"The new tunnel has collapsed down insector C, sub-level six."
"Who was down th - "
"Leroy's group, four of them. I'vejust checked the rota."
"Sounds pretty bad. You reckonthey're alive?"
"No telling."
"Shit, that's all we need - you'vecalled for help?"
"Yeah, the men should be here anyminute now."
"Alright, but just keep the wholething as quiet as possible, we don'tneed any more publicity, understand?"
"Yeah. Sure."
-=-
Time passed in elastic minutes. Leroywas scared. It was pitch black, (theyhad decided that they would save onbatteries by leaving their headlampsoff). Jake's slow, drawn-outbreathing echoed around the tunnel,creating a somewhat strange effect.
"Hudson?"
"Yeah?" He sounded nervous.
"I've got something to tell you." Heknew this was going to be difficult.
"Yeah?"
"We"re running out of oxygen," hespoke with grim determination, "Theair conditioning shut down. With thelights." He grimaced, anticipatingHudson"s reaction.
"Yeah?"
That's all?! Yeah? Hudson probablywasn't listening to him anyway.
"Yeah."
"So we're going to die then."
His eyes widened in the terror ofactually realising what he knewalready. He was glad that Hudsoncouldn't see him.
"I dunno. Maybe."
-=-
"OK people, listen up! This job"snothing new to us; there's been acave-in inside sector C. Four men aretrapped down there and it's up to usto get them out alive. Number ofcasualties: unknown. It's gonna taketime though and that's the mostimportant factor on this rescue.Time." Barton Armstrong spat the wordacross the room, daring anyone tochallenge him. He had lead the miningrescue squad for five successful yearsduring which he and his team hadcompleted scores of operations andsaved dozens of lives. He put it alldown to his strong disciplined methodsand often violent temperament. He wasnot wrong.
-=-
The mine was silent. Still. Leroyshivered. He felt uneasy about a lotof things. He opened his mouth tospeak- but stopped himself,remembering his promise to Hudson. Notalking, it wastes precious oxygen.Common sense really. He wonderedwhether or not thinking used up a lotof oxygen. He didn't think so, but -
A blinding light shone directly intohis face, making him gasp in surprise.It was Hudson. "Get that light out ofmy eyes, dammit!" Leroy yelled,screwing up his face in thebrightness. Hudson lowered his headso that the lamp lit up the groundbeside them."What on earth do you think you'redoing, man!" Leroy blinked repeatedlyas he tried to adjust his eyes to thenew light, "I thought we agreed toleave the lamps off!"
"I thought we said no talking," Hudsonreplied, "Wastes oxygen, you said." Hestood up, his knee joints clickingaudibly.
Leroy stared up at the gangly figureof Eric Hudson in surprise. His eyeshad a slightly glazed look about themand his jaw hung open, giving him asort of stupid and gormlessexpression. Leroy gasped: Jesuswhat's happened to him?
"You know that thing when you feelreally hot and you can't breathe rightand you want to be sick but - "
"You mean claustrophobia?" askedLeroy, noticing for the first time thesweat on Hudson"s brow.
"Yeah, that's it. Well, I got it. Igot it real bad, Leroy."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I have to get outta here now,ok?" Hudson started to walk off downthe tunnel towards the rockfall.
"Hey Hudson, you can't do that - it'stoo dangerous down there man." Leroyattempted to stand up, but fell downagain, his head spinning. He turnedon his headlamp and looked down thetunnel through which Hudson had justdisappeared.
"Eric, can you hear me? Where areyou?"
"Yeah, I can hear you fine, I'm nextto the rocks." Leroy was surprised athow close the rockfall must have beento himself and Jake. Under tenmetres, he guessed.
"What the hell are you doing downthere anyway?"
"Digging myself through to the lift."came the reply.
"You're WHAT? Hudson, are you crazy?"But then he realised. Hudson wascrazy. "Get yourself back here nowHudson! C'mon come back here andwe"ll talk about it. Me and you...and Jake. We can get through thistogether, man."
"I can"t move this rock, Leroy, itwon"t budge... ah, here we go."
There was a terrifying crash...
"HUDSON!" ...then silence.
-=-
"Did you hear that? Sir, did you h -"
"Yes, I heard it." Barton Armstronglooked up at the wall of seeminglyimpenetrable rock, "There are peopleon the other side of this wall andnothing is going to stop us reachingthem. Come, hurry." He beckoned tothe drill operators, "Our time isrunning out."
-=-
"Damn you, Hudson." Leroy groaned. Helooked down through the tunnel but allhe could see was a large cloud ofblack, choking dust moving in hisdirection.
He shifted his body to ease the crampin his legs and pain in his back andsat up against Terence, the friendlydrill. He sighed. What a day.
Leroy could feel himself fallingasleep and made no effort to stophimself. He was awakened by the soundof a drill, far off in the distance.As he opened his eyes, a horrible numbfeeling crept over him. His mouth wasdry and he felt slightly dizzy. "Heyman, I"m dying" he whispered tohimself, "Coooool." he smiled. Heheard a sound from somewhere to hisleft and turned his head slowly. Itwas Jake!
"Jake - you alright?" Jake did notlook alright.
"I"m not good, Leroy." He forced thewords out of his throat. They cameagonisingly slowly, "What's... thisthing... on my.. head, man?""It's a bandage to stop you bleeding,Jake."
"Where the... others?" He noticedthat Jake had started to dribble fromthe effort of speech and turned awayfor the sake of Jake's dignity.
"They're dead, Jake - both of them."
"What... about... Ricky?"
"I told you, he's dead - they're bothdead."
"And what... about... Hudson?"
"He"s dead, man - Goddammit what'swrong with you?"
Jake smiled, showing his shining whiteteeth. Leroy looked down on the bodyin sorrow; "It wasn't meant to turnout like this, Jake.""I... know. Le... roy?"
"Yeah?"
"I"m... going to... die... now."
"Yeah..." Jake closed his eyes and wasstill.
Leroy was finding it hard to breathenow; what should have been a short,inhale of air was now a long and thinrasping sound. It was painful, up toa point where he had started to coughup blood instead of carbon dioxide.His eyes were aching in the dust. Hewanted to sleep badly but the drillswere too loud. They were all aroundhim now, buzzing and drilling. Hewished they would go away so he couldsleep. Then he could hear voices,very close. But sleep was beckoningand his eyelids were heavy so he shutthem and then felt good, strong andoh, so fresh and young again. Thedrills had stopped now and he wantedto open his eyes again so he did.
The first thing he saw when he openedhis eyes was two, lifeless bodieslying beside a large drill. It wasvery light in the mine now, buteverything felt slightly blurred andsoft-edged. He recognised the firstbody straight away as Jake's but theother one he couldn't recognise atall. He stared hard. The body wasclad with a white hat, orange boiler-suit and a pair of tough, black boots.
"Wait a minute" he thought to himself,"I know those boots well. This isstrange, Leroy, I've seen thembefore." He looked down at his ownfeet, hesitantly.
"...mmmm, where are they? This isgetting stranger... guess I won't beneeding them any more.... verystrange isn"t it Leroy? Yes, it is."
He let himself gaze around the tunnelfor a little longer but very soon hebecame bored. He closed his eyes, butwhen he tried to open them once more,he found that he couldn't.
End.
