by Willow Rose
Ole hugged his son and kissed him again and again, then kissed Christian before he kissed Jacob again. Ole was crying, his body shaking.
Then there was a loud rumble. The earth shook for a little while, some of the edges of the hole started sliding again, and Martin took a step backwards. There was someone behind him, but he moved fast as well. The children started screaming again. An officer approached Ole. “We need to get you to safety. The hole is still evolving. It’s not safe here.”
“But…But…my wife, my other kid?”
“We’re doing the best we can, sir. Please, just get behind the blockage again. We’ll let you all know when there is news to tell. But you must…you must prepare yourself. It’s not good. They’ve been down there for many hours now. It is safe to say that not many can have survived this, if any at all.”
A loud sob rang through the crowd of spectators. One woman bent over and started crying. Martin looked at Mathilde, and their eyes met. Boy, it had been close. They almost lost everything. He tried to do as the officer had told them to. He tried to prepare himself for the fact that he might never see his brother again. His baby brother that he had adored ever since the day their mom brought him back from the hospital. His baby brother, who had always gotten himself into trouble, and whom he had helped out so many times he would never be able to pay him back.
Martin tried hard to imagine him being dead down there underground, but somehow, it didn’t work. There was something inside of him that said it was impossible. With all he had gone through, it was almost like his brother was immortal. Like a cork in the water, he always had a way of floating to the top.
Martin hugged his wife and held her tight.
“He’s gone, Martin,” she said. “You have to let him go.”
Martin drew in a deep breath. He knew his wife was right. He just couldn’t. He wasn’t ready to give up on him. Not yet.
35
“Malene? Are you alright?”
I walked around the corpse and grabbed her hand. She gasped and looked at me like she hadn’t noticed us until now.
“He…He was…he wanted to find a way out. I followed him. I heard noises in the tunnel in front of us and thought it was him, but when I got here, I found him like this. He was lying on the ground. I…there was no light. I stepped on him and fell. I…I fell right on top of him, on his bloody face.”
“That explains the blood,” David said. “Let’s get her back to the others. Did you walk far before you found him?”
She shook her head, whimpering. “A few minutes maybe.”
“Okay. We’re almost back then,” David said.
“What do you think happened to him?” I asked, looking at the many wounds in his face and chest. They seemed deep.
David kneeled next to the body and shone his light in the wounds. They were pretty nasty. “Looks like he was stabbed. It doesn’t look like a knife, though. The holes are more round, but deep.”
Malene shivered.
“Did you see anything before you stepped on the body?” I asked. “There had to have been someone else in the tunnel.”
“I…I didn’t,” she said. “I was trying to get to the other end of the tunnel. I was saving the battery of the cellphone to make it last longer in case I got lost down here, so I was walking in the dark, feeling my way through the tunnel. Then I stepped on him and fell. I didn’t see anyone or anything. But, like I said, I did hear strange noises.”
“What kind of noises?” David asked.
“I…I don’t know. Just noises. Maybe a thud and some splashing, feet running, I don’t know. But whomever did this had to have come through the other end where you guys came from. Didn’t you see anything?”
David and I looked at each other. I shook my head. “No. All we could hear was you screaming.”
“Let’s get back to the others,” David said. “Maybe they know something. I don’t feel like we’re safe in here.”
Malene sobbed. I put my arm around her and gave her a hug. She was shaking. Her hands were bloody. David started walking.
“What about the body?” I asked.
“Let’s bring it back to the other dead ones and keep them together,” David said. He picked up Michael West and carried him on his shoulder. “We need to tell everyone what happened anyway.”
We walked in silence through the tunnel and ended up in the large cave. The first to meet us was Sigurd Bjerrehus. “What happened?” he asked. “Who was screaming? Oh, my God, what happened to you?” he asked Malene.
“Michael West was killed inside the tunnel. Malene found the body,” I told him, and helped her sit down while David carried the body of Michael West into the smaller cave where we had left the others who were dead. I pulled out one bottle of water and gave it to Afrim to give some to his mother. “Small sips. Just a little bit at a time. Moisten her lips with it, try to make her drink. You share this bottle with your mother.”
Afrim gave me a beautiful smile. I heard grumbling and murmuring behind me.
“Why are they getting water and we aren’t?”
I turned and looked to see Lars Dalgas and Mrs. Sigumfeldt. They looked angry. “Anyone who has a problem, come to me,” I said. “The woman is hurt very badly. The boy needs hydration as well.”
Lars Dalgas growled something I didn’t hear. He looked at the bottle of water like he would pull it out of the boy’s hands. Afrim was holding it close to his body.
“Touch the boy, and I’ll make sure you never touch anything else again,” David said. He had taken out his knife and was showing it, so there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was serious.
“How?” Sigurd asked. “How was he killed? Did the tunnel crash on him or something? I heard a loud thud just before…”
I shook my head. I spoke with a low voice. I wasn’t sure we should scare everyone further. Especially not the children. “He was killed. Stabbed to death. Did anyone besides Malene and Michael West leave the place while we were gone?”
Sigurd Bjerrehus looked baffled. “I…I mean…several of us have been up to pee, finding some privacy in the tunnels.”
“Who?” I asked. “Who went out to pee?”
“You two were gone for quite a long time, so basically most of us. I know I did. Lars did. Even Mrs. Sigumfeldt. I helped her get to her feet. She held onto my shoulder as I helped her into the tunnel, then I left her till she called for me. Afrim was also out at one point. I helped him as well. Besides that, many of us have been walking around…walking inside the tunnels just to have a moment alone and to stretch our legs. The hours are long in here; the wait, a chilling affair, when you don’t know if you’ll get out of here ever again.”
“What about Thomas and Brian? Have you heard anything from them?” I asked. “Have they come back?”
Just as I spoke the words, I spotted Thomas Soe coming out of the same tunnel we had found the body in. He was smiling.
“Hi, everyone. So good to see you’re all still alive.”
I heard a small cry behind me and turned to look at Malene. She crouched and looked like she was trying to hide herself, while staring at the approaching Thomas.
36
He had found a new tunnel. While walking through the first tunnel, the only one he knew of, he had suddenly found another opening, leading to another tunnel. He figured it had opened up after the earth shook again, and more of the ground collapsed. Somehow, the wall had broken down and revealed another tunnel for him to take. His first thought was that it would lead out of here, so that he could find his way out and never have to deal with Brian or see the girl again.
But, he wasn’t that lucky. No, instead, it had lead right into this huge cave where everybody else was. At least he thought it had. Somewhere in between where he left Brian and his arrival in the cave, he had blacked out. He had no idea if he had walked in the same tunnel; he believed he might have been walking through several of them, but he wasn’t sure. He also thought he had been walking in a pool of blood in one of the tunnels, but was
certain it had been all in his imagination, as was the blood on his shoes.
It’s all in your head, Thomas. You know it is.
As he walked closer to the flock, he spotted the girl. She was sitting on the floor squirming and twisting her body, looking like she was about to scream if he came any closer.
He felt the pen in his pocket, and wondered if he should stab her right away. Just walk up to her and stab her. But, what good would that do him? She’d be dead, yes, but he’d still be stuck down here and everyone would be really mad at him, maybe even kill him for what he had done.
It wasn’t a good solution.
He thought of what Brian had said, and decided to go with his plan. Even though all of the people in front of him looked like stabbed corpses, he spoke to them like they weren’t. He was getting better at ignoring all those small reality-slips.
“We found water,” he said.
“Thomas?” Rebekka Franck asked.
“Yes. It’s true. Brian and I found water.”
“Thomas, what is that on your shoes? Is that blood?” she asked.
The girl whimpered again. Thomas, all of a sudden, remembered the sound from when she had been in his house, tied to the bed. He looked at her and saw blood running from her forehead into her face. He imagined himself using the axe, dividing her face into two pieces. He imagined the sound of her skull cracking.
Like the sound of a watermelon falling to the ground being divided into a thousand pieces.
He remembered it well from when he had done it to Rikke. He remembered the sound so vividly.
“Thomas, do you have blood on your shoes?” the annoying Rebekka asked.
Thomas looked down. Yes, he had blood on them, but he had been soaking in blood, hadn’t he?
“Where did it come from?” Rebekka asked.
Thomas could feel how the tension was tightened in the cave. Everybody who was awake was staring at him, waiting for his answer.
“Brian says anyone who comes back with me and helps to dig will be allowed to drink from the water,” Thomas said.
“Thomas, did you kill Michael West?” the handsome David asked.
Thomas opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t get a word out. He had no idea what to say. The fact was, he might have. He didn’t remember.
“So, who wants to go back with me and get water?” he asked. “Brian told me he thinks he can find a way out, but we need many hands to dig. Everyone willing to work for him will get water.”
Rebekka Franck stared angrily at Thomas. She took a few steps towards him. All eyes were on him now.
“So, you’re saying that not everyone will get some of that water, is that it? Only those willing to work?”
Thomas nodded. “Yes. Those were his words.”
“So, what about the people almost dying here? Those that are hurt and sick from thirst. They’re not able to work and dig. Shouldn’t we help them first? Make sure they survive?” Rebekka asked.
Thomas took a step backwards. The small skinny woman scared him a little. He pictured himself grabbing her neck and snapping it. Like a match you could break with just a finger. It would be that easy. She was small. So why did he fear her? Why did she frighten him?
Thomas wanted to run away. It was getting dangerous for him here. He took another step backwards, but walked right into David who grabbed his arm. “You’re not going anywhere, buddy. You’re staying here with us.”
37
We decided to tell everybody what had happened to Michael West. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to scare people further, but they saw David carry him away. They knew something was wrong, and the incident with Thomas made them start questioning what was going on.
We gathered everyone in the cave and David put Thomas on the ground, while keeping an eye on him.
“Michael West was killed inside of one of the tunnels,” I said.
Murmurs spread in the flock. Almost all of them were awake now. The only one still drifting in and out of consciousness was Afrim’s mother. She didn’t seem any better at all. She was heavily dehydrated and needed water. She had lost a lot of blood.
Mrs. Sigumfeldt looked at me. “Killed? But…but…what on earth do you mean?” She looked like she was about to cry, but restrained herself.
“He was stabbed to death. We found him in his own blood in the tunnel we came through,” I said.
Mrs. Sigumfeldt gasped and put a hand over her mouth. “Oh, my God.”
“We believe Thomas Soe did it. He came through the tunnel, had blood on his shoes, and didn’t deny it when we asked him.”
“What do you have to say for yourself?” David said.
Thomas Soe looked baffled. It was like he was trying to speak, but couldn’t. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
“That’s not an answer,” Mrs. Sigumfeldt yelled. She got up on her feet. I was impressed with her agility all of a sudden. Maybe the adrenalin caused it. She was awfully interested in this Michael West’s death. As far as I knew, Michael West had been nothing but a stranger to the neighborhood. A bypasser at the wrong place at the worst possible time.
“Did you kill him?” she asked.
“I…I swear, I…I don’t know,” Thomas said.
What kind of a weird answer is that? Either you kill someone or you don’t. Is he playing us?
“What do you mean you don’t know?” I asked. “Are you denying it?”
“Yes.” He looked up at me. He seemed confused. “I didn’t do it, okay? All your sudden questions took me off-guard. Of course I didn’t kill the guy. It’s ridiculous.”
“How did you get blood on your shoes, then?” Sigurd Bjerrehus asked. He too was on his feet, looking agitated.
Lars, the school librarian, stood up as well. “Leave the poor guy alone. He probably got blood on his shoes by walking through the tunnel, just like Rebekka and David. Or are we to assume that you killed him too?” He pointed at my shoes. I looked down and noticed they were soaked in blood, as were the bottom part of my pants.
“You two came through the same tunnel with blood on you. David is even the only one of us who has a knife. Why are we not accusing any of you?” Lars continued.
He did make a fair point. The rest of the group seemed to think so as well. They looked at us accusingly.
“How do we know you’re not just trying to cover up by blaming someone else?” Mrs. Sigumfeldt said.
I looked at David. “They’re right,” I said. “We don’t know if he did it. As a matter of fact, it might be any of us in here, right? I mean, who hasn’t left the cave to pee or to get a few seconds of privacy?”
Everyone looked at each other, then back at me.
“If Thomas Soe didn’t kill Michael West, then who did?” Sigurd Bjerrehus asked.
I inhaled and looked at David again. He shrugged.
“I’m not waiting here to find out or to become the next victim,” Lars said, and walked over to Thomas. He reached down and grabbed his hand, then pulled Thomas up. “You said you found water. Lead me to it, and I’ll work for you. I’ll dig till my hands bleed if it means I get to drink all the water I want. At least I’ll be doing something. I do not intend to stay here and wait for starvation or one of my neighbors to kill me.”
On that note, Lars and Thomas left us. I looked at the rest of our group. “Anyone else who wants to go, you’re free to do so now,” I said.
No one did. “Okay. So here’s the situation. We have some food, not much. About twelve cans of tuna, a box of oats, a packet of crackers, some broken cookies, and a little water. If we’re smart about it, we can survive on it for a long time. The important thing is to remain positive. Don’t lose hope. I know they will be looking for us. I know they’re digging for us right now. We just have to be very patient. But the fact remains that even if we’re super-optimistic about things, the best you can say is we’re in deep shit. The only thing we can do is to be strong, super-disciplined, and united. We have to stick together through this, and help each oth
er out the best we can.”
On those words, I handed out the water and food, rationing it so there would be enough for several days. It was getting late. The first day in the mines had almost passed and I had a feeling it wasn’t the last. As people dozed off after having eaten small rations of tuna mixed with water and crackers, I looked at what was left. Almost all the water was gone already. Rationing it further would keep us alive for a few days, maybe. But no more than that.
II
DAY 4, October 9th 2014
Survival of the Fittest
38
I was so unbearably thirsty. So hungry it literally hurt. The emptiness in my stomach felt like a fist pushing downward. It was painful. I had given most of the water to the sick people, thinking I could better manage with no more than a few sips a day. By noon the fourth day under the surface, we had run completely out of water, even though I had rationed it well. I was so hungry I had even considered trying to catch a bat and eat it, even though I knew they could carry all kinds of diseases. We hadn’t seen any of them in a very long time.
There was a great sense of powerlessness among us. We didn’t know if we were being rescued or what was going on on the surface because we didn’t hear any noises from machines or anything. We had tried to find a way out through the tunnels, but hadn’t succeeded, and as the hours and days passed, we became too weak to try anymore. We were even too lethargic to get on each other’s nerves. No one bothered to fight. Every now and then, someone went into a panic, but it was getting more and more rare. We simply didn’t have the strength.
Prayer helped us get through the day. We had started a prayer group for those who wanted it. Most of us did. It became the highlight of the day. It was a good way to get some of the anger and frustration out. It started on the second day when Afrim had fallen to his knees and cried out, “God, please help my mother! Please save her!”
