The dust had mostly settled but it James thought it might be getting harder to see. The flashlight must be wearing down. He should probably turn it off and save some of the battery.
He looked over at John who was resting. Probably do him some good. At least he hoped so. For all he knew he was going into shock and this was the worst possible thing that he could let him do. Should he wake him? No. He didn’t know what to do, so he’d stick with the safer course and let him sleep.
Ms Gao was still out. If he sat really still and listened he could hear her breathing. It was a little labored and had a catch in it. That was probably bad news but again, he didn’t know what the hell he could do about it.
Where were the rescuers? Didn’t they hear what went on? It wasn’t that late in the day. They wouldn’t all just pack up and leave without the team coming back up, would they?. He really didn’t know.
Ok, he’d try turning off the flashlight. Maybe they’d get lucky and there would be some kind of natural light. Couldn’t hurt to try it, right?
There was absolute darkness. It was impressive in a way. This was a dark that was so black it was almost aggressive. If any light dared to show up, it would swallow it and never let it go.
It was kind of spooky.
James had to consciously get a grip on himself. He would sit here in the dark and just remain calm. They might be down there a while and it was important that he not panic. Someone would come and save them. That’s how it works.
Wait, what was that sound? Was there someone on the other side of the wall? He kept very still and strained his hearing to it’s utmost limit. There seemed to be some kind of rhythmic…something. Maybe they were hammering or something.
James shook his head to clear it. The sound was gone. He spent another few minutes just listening for it but there was nothing. Maybe it was just his pulse, echoing in his ears somehow.
At least the distraction had shown him he could stay in the darkness and be calm. That was something. He tried to wave his hand in front of his face to test the old cliché. It was so dark that he really couldn’t see it. Suddenly he wished he hadn’t taken off his watch before coming down here.
A thought occurred to him. He didn’t know what was at the other end of this part of the mine. It looked like it went straight back but maybe it curved around or branched over or something. Why hadn’t he asked John?
Probably because John hadn’t acted like there was another way out. If they could just walk a couple of hundred feet and be out, the man would have said something to him, right? The fact that he hadn’t spoke volumes.
Unless…maybe he didn’t know if they could get out that way. Sure, he’d looked at maps but who knew if something was missed. Or maybe there was another fall that opened up a passage. James would feel like the biggest fool if they died down here when a little exploring would have found an alternate route.
He carefully got up, minding his head. He wanted to stay quiet so as not to disturb the others. Only after he was standing, did that seem foolish to him.
What should he do with the flashlight? He couldn’t keep it on continuously or it would burn out. Stumbling around in the dark didn’t seem a better idea. Maybe if he turned it on every few minutes that would be enough. That didn’t seem like the best way to do it. Didn’t you use more power during the initial start up?
He didn’t know. That was turning into kind of a theme here. He didn’t know what to do if someone was going into shock. He didn’t know how batteries worked. In fact, his emergency skills were sorely lacking. He’d have to work on that once he got out of here. A small interior voice said ‘if you get out of here’.
He decided to shuffle his way in the dark down as far as he could remember. He kept one hand on the wall and the other out in front in case there was a wall or something. A dozen steps in he suddenly became certain that something would bite his hand.
James stopped and decided to give himself a pep talk. He was starting to think silly thoughts. Panicky thoughts. He had to get a hold of himself!
That’s when he heard it.