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Authors: Alex Lukeman
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that? "
" I don ' t know. I didn ' t see anything. "
" What ' s that squeaking sound? "
The passage curved and they came around the corner. Fifty feet ahead the tunnel ended in a fall of rock and a churning nest of swarming and squeaking rats. Hundreds of red eyes gleamed in the narrow light.
Carter froze. Selena gripped his arm, hard. The rats squirmed and wriggled, darting towards them and back again into the mass.
Neither said a word as they backed away. He felt Selena shudder . Back in the main shaft they passed a boarded passage on the left, then another on the right. They began to see more closed off entrances. A rat ran by his foot.
They came to the remains of a stable cut into the side of the tunnel, stalls still standing . A rope halter h ung on a rusty nail.
" Why would they have a stable down here? "
It was the first thing Nick had said since the rats.
" For the mules. Mules hauled the carts. "
Fifty feet past the stable the tunnel branched off in three directions. The tracks ended here in a decaying wooden triangle. The rusty head of a miner ' s pick lay in the dirt. Nick picked it up and put it in his jacket pocket.
" I don ' t like this, " Selena said.
" Me neither. " He shone the flashlight at the shaft on the right, then the others. There wasn ' t much difference between them . T hey all looked like highways to hell. He wet a finger and felt for a breath of air.
Nothing. Just a wet finger.
The flashlight beam was turning yellow. If they ran out of light they might never leave. He didn ' t like the idea of being in the dark with rats and spiders, but the batteries were fading.
" I ' m going to turn off the light. "
The blackness closed in. Nick remembered a cave in Afghanistan where he was almost buried alive, remembered his drunken father locking him in a dark closet , remembered a cellar in Colombia filled with the sewer odors of pain and death. He pushed the thoughts away, wished he had a drink or a cigarette or both.
Selena clenched his hand. In the black silence he heard sounds. Too many sounds. Water dripped somewhere. There was a soft , constant noise of dribbles of earth falling from the roof. The tunnels creaked and he heard wood groaning. Something scuttled close by.
Talking was strange. The relentless dark sucked words away like velvet as soon as they were spoken .
" I don ' t think we should go further in. Those tunnels go deeper, and they ' re lower. We ' d have to crawl. The tracks end here and that ' s not good. If these passages went through, the miners would have run the tracks all the way to get the ore. "
" Nick, I ' m scared. What if we can ' t get out? "
" We can ' t think like that. "
" Yes, but what if we can ' t? "
" We ' ll get out. "
" Maybe one of the side entrances we passed back there can take us out. "
" Yeah, but which one? "
" If we open them up, something could give us a clue. Those boards they used, they don ' t look strong. We can break them down to get in. "
" That ' s good thinking. " He smelled her fear, a faint, sour, coppery smell. Or maybe it was him .
He turned on the light. It was weaker.
Back up the tunnel they came to a side shaft and Selena held the light while Nick pulled boards away. He tossed a rock through the opening waiting for the sound. T here was a pause, then a splash, a long way below.
" You heard that? "
" Yes. "
" I ' m not up for a swim. Let ' s keep going. "
The next two were the same, vertical death traps dropping hundreds of feet into the flooded lower levels of the mine. They came to the next entrance. Carter played the light around it.
" There ' s something written there, " Selena said.
Chinese characters were scribed into the rock over the entrance.
" Can you read it? "
" Yes. It says, ' Dreams ' . "
" Dreams? "
" That ' s what it says. "
" Why would someone write ' dreams ' on a mine shaft wall? "
" How would I know? "
He kicked in the boards. They stepped through into a low tunnel and followed it bent
" I don ' t know. I didn ' t see anything. "
" What ' s that squeaking sound? "
The passage curved and they came around the corner. Fifty feet ahead the tunnel ended in a fall of rock and a churning nest of swarming and squeaking rats. Hundreds of red eyes gleamed in the narrow light.
Carter froze. Selena gripped his arm, hard. The rats squirmed and wriggled, darting towards them and back again into the mass.
Neither said a word as they backed away. He felt Selena shudder . Back in the main shaft they passed a boarded passage on the left, then another on the right. They began to see more closed off entrances. A rat ran by his foot.
They came to the remains of a stable cut into the side of the tunnel, stalls still standing . A rope halter h ung on a rusty nail.
" Why would they have a stable down here? "
It was the first thing Nick had said since the rats.
" For the mules. Mules hauled the carts. "
Fifty feet past the stable the tunnel branched off in three directions. The tracks ended here in a decaying wooden triangle. The rusty head of a miner ' s pick lay in the dirt. Nick picked it up and put it in his jacket pocket.
" I don ' t like this, " Selena said.
" Me neither. " He shone the flashlight at the shaft on the right, then the others. There wasn ' t much difference between them . T hey all looked like highways to hell. He wet a finger and felt for a breath of air.
Nothing. Just a wet finger.
The flashlight beam was turning yellow. If they ran out of light they might never leave. He didn ' t like the idea of being in the dark with rats and spiders, but the batteries were fading.
" I ' m going to turn off the light. "
The blackness closed in. Nick remembered a cave in Afghanistan where he was almost buried alive, remembered his drunken father locking him in a dark closet , remembered a cellar in Colombia filled with the sewer odors of pain and death. He pushed the thoughts away, wished he had a drink or a cigarette or both.
Selena clenched his hand. In the black silence he heard sounds. Too many sounds. Water dripped somewhere. There was a soft , constant noise of dribbles of earth falling from the roof. The tunnels creaked and he heard wood groaning. Something scuttled close by.
Talking was strange. The relentless dark sucked words away like velvet as soon as they were spoken .
" I don ' t think we should go further in. Those tunnels go deeper, and they ' re lower. We ' d have to crawl. The tracks end here and that ' s not good. If these passages went through, the miners would have run the tracks all the way to get the ore. "
" Nick, I ' m scared. What if we can ' t get out? "
" We can ' t think like that. "
" Yes, but what if we can ' t? "
" We ' ll get out. "
" Maybe one of the side entrances we passed back there can take us out. "
" Yeah, but which one? "
" If we open them up, something could give us a clue. Those boards they used, they don ' t look strong. We can break them down to get in. "
" That ' s good thinking. " He smelled her fear, a faint, sour, coppery smell. Or maybe it was him .
He turned on the light. It was weaker.
Back up the tunnel they came to a side shaft and Selena held the light while Nick pulled boards away. He tossed a rock through the opening waiting for the sound. T here was a pause, then a splash, a long way below.
" You heard that? "
" Yes. "
" I ' m not up for a swim. Let ' s keep going. "
The next two were the same, vertical death traps dropping hundreds of feet into the flooded lower levels of the mine. They came to the next entrance. Carter played the light around it.
" There ' s something written there, " Selena said.
Chinese characters were scribed into the rock over the entrance.
" Can you read it? "
" Yes. It says, ' Dreams ' . "
" Dreams? "
" That ' s what it says. "
" Why would someone write ' dreams ' on a mine shaft wall? "
" How would I know? "
He kicked in the boards. They stepped through into a low tunnel and followed it bent
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