It was dark, darker than the deepest night. For a second James didn’t know where he was. He thought his eyes were open but he couldn’t see anything at all. Was he blind? He could still hear. There was a very obvious and continuing ringing noise. What the hell had happened to him?

He quickly took inventory of the rest of his parts. There were some aches but no sharp pains. He seemed to be thinking clearly.

Where was he?

He coughed. Two thoughts, his chest hurt and wow, did that sound distant. Almost as if someone else had done it. He tried coughing again. Yes, very distant. The pain seemed to be on his right side. More of an ache than anything sharp. He thought that was probably good.

Another sound, someone moaned. He answered, “Hello? Who’s there?”

“Is that you, boss?”

“Yes.” It was the leader of the survey group. What was his name? He hadn’t paid attention enough to know. “Where are we?” Panic started to rise.

A moan and an answer. “Just stay calm.”

“Just stay calm? What the hell happened?”

“Hey! You listen to me! You’ve got to stay calm!” Then his voice dropped down to a normal conversational level. “We’re in the mine. There must’ve been an accident.” The pressure in James throat eased a bit. “Hey, are you ok?”

That seemed to make sense. They were in the mine but it was important that they stay calm. His mind flashed back to the rumbling and the rocks. That’s why it was so dark. “Do we have any lights?”

A groan this time. “I don’t know. Are you ok, boss?”

James took inventory. Was he all right? He might be. Nothing serious so far. “I think so. Let me try and get up.” He started to roll over from his back. No problems so far. His wrists seemed fine. Over on his knees without any pain. Now to stand up and, wham, there was the ceiling. He cried out.

“Boss, are you ok?”

“Yes. I just hit my head on the ceiling. I’ll be fine in a minute.” It occurred to him that he was being very rude. “Say, are you ok?”

A pause. “I don’t know. I’ve got a serious pain in my leg. I can’t quite feel my foot.” A gasp, this time.

“How are the others?”

“They aren’t answering. I don’t know how they are.”

“We need to get some light.”

“Yeah. Look, we had a pack with us. It might be just up the shaft from us.”

“Which way?”

“Ok, let me think. The cave in was between us and the main corridor. It was further back, towards the left side. Feel for it and see if you can find it.”

James thought he knew which side the cave in had been on. He mummy walked across the mine to get to the left side. He got there and was surprised at how smooth the wall was. Keeping on hand on it, he moved forward, kicking his feet out to find the pack. Finally, he kicked something.

“I think I found it. Something like a duffel, right?”

“Yep. That’s it. Ok, go into the side pocket. There should be a flashlight.”

He fumbled around and wanted to ask which side. Then he remembered that it was pitch dark and the other man had no idea. He simply explored the pockets until he found it. A simple twist of the lens and they had light.

The first thing he noticed was that the air had turned gray with dust. It was everywhere. Visibility would be only a few feet at best until it settled. He couldn’t see anyone in the circle of light that he’d created. He swept his other hand through it. Some small cuts and very dirty but not very bad. Down to his legs and everything seemed fine. The protective suits had done the trick.

“Hey, you found it. Come over here.”

“Right away.” James slowly made his way over in case of rubble. The floor had some gravel sized pieces but otherwise looked as flat as it had before. After a dozen steps he came across the other man.

“How do I look?” He seemed fine from the waist up. There was a rather large rock pinning his right leg down. He could see the foot but everything between the ankle and upper thigh was covered.

“Most of you looks fine. I can’t see your leg though. Where does it hurt?”

“Somewhere under this giant rock!” The other man laughed at that. Then he looked around. “Where are the others, man?”

“I don’t know, they haven’t said anything yet.” James quickly moved closer to the rubble. He came across Ms Gao, lying face down and half buried. He yelled out her name and rushed over to her. Her head and neck were clear. He checked for a pulse and it was there. Did it seem slow and weak? Who knew? How fast and strong should it feel like? He checked her mouth and he could feel some breath coming out.

“Hey, I found Ms Gao. She’s breathing and I can feel a pulse. Her eyes are closed though. She must have been knocked out or something.”

“What about the other guys? Can you see them?”

James looked around but he couldn’t see anyone else. “Nothing. Maybe they made it to the other side.”

“Oh, man. Maybe they’re underneath all that stuff. Oh, man.”

James couldn’t think of anything to say. It seemed like he should clear some of the rocks off of Ms Gao. It might make it easier for her to breath or something. Or maybe she was injured somewhere else and they couldn’t tell yet.

Another thought occurred to him. Well, it was embarrassing but he couldn’t avoid. “Say. I, uh. Well, I’ve forgotten your name. Sorry.”

A chuckle. “Don’t sweat it, boss. The name’s John.”

“Good to meet you, John. And you don’t have to call me ‘boss.”

“Reckon I will anyway, if that’s all right with you.”

“Suit yourself.” He kept clearing the rocks away. “Were we in an honest to God, cave in?”

“We sure were. Hell, we’re still in it.”

James chuckled at that. “Yeah, I guess we are.” More clearing. “So now what?”

“Well, we do what we can for Ms Gao. You’re already doing that. Then we wait. They know where we are. They must know what happened. I can’t imagine that this didn’t make a hell of a lot of sound for someone up there. They’ll dig us out.”

“All we have to do is wait?”

“Yes, boss.”

And that’s what they did.