“You think I’m pretty?”
I watch the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen blush at the idea. How could she not know? How could she not have a clue that she’s all I think about as she sits in front of me in math? How does she not understand she’s all I’ve thought about when I’m alone since she showed up to our school ten days ago?
“I hope you’ll think about being my girlfriend.”
Her blush deepens as I try not to do something stupid and ruin my chances before I get this locked down. I’m afraid to say too much, smile too big, touch her too much just in case I’ll burn any points I’ve managed to get with the gorgeous new girl in class.
“Really?” Her voice is soft, just like the faint scent of strawberries in her hair. “You want to go out with me?”
“Who wouldn’t want to go out with the prettiest girl they’ve ever seen?”
A light flickers to my right. It’s weak, an almost brown hue instead of the yellow light that usually comes out of the headlamps. Cord’s face sags, bags evident under his eyes. “Everyone good?”
We all nod because anything more would be a lie.
The light flips off again and the darkness takes over.
“I fucking hate the dark,” Cord laughs. “I always leave the light on in the bathroom down the hallway at night because I hate waking up to pitch black.”
“My dad always said you’re safer in the dark because the odds are even between you and whatever is after you,” Jiggs relays. “I don’t think this counts.”
“This fucking sucks,” Cord says, blowing a breath. “I need a fucking shower and I don’t know if it’s more to get clean or warm up.”
Everything is damp. Even the little platform we built now has water just below the tops of the rocks. The chill is settling in our bones, making our bodies ache.
“Better get used to this not sleeping stuff,” I say. “Lindsay is having a baby, you know.”
“Yeah . . .” Jiggs voice trails off and I know he’s considering our situation. But I need his spirits up. We need to stay as positive as we can for as long as we can.
Until we can’t.
I can’t go there. I feel like I should, to prepare, but how do you prep for . . . that?
“You’re naming it after me, right?” I ask instead to distract me as much as anyone.
He snorts, the sound making me grin. I can imagine him shaking his head, rolling his eyes—but I have to imagine it because, although he’s a foot away from me, I can’t see him.
“Lindsay thinks it’s a girl,” Jiggs says.
“So, Cordelia, right?” Cord asks.
“No, assholes. I’m not naming my kid after you two,” Jiggs laughs. “After we get out of here, I might not want to ever see you again.”
“I feel you there,” I sigh, making them both chuckle.
“And as cold as I am,” Jiggs says, “I might go along with her plan to move to Florida.”
His voice softly carries through the cavern as he begins to cry. “Fuck it, you guys. I just want out of here. I’ll move wherever the fuck she wants. I just want her.”
The silence we’ve come to know intimately takes over once again as his crying tapers off. Our breathing rattles through the room, the drips of the water piercing the stillness. It’s like a scary movie, and we’re waiting on the predator to jump out.
“You know,” Jiggs gulps, “if we don’t get out of here . . .”
His voice breaks again and I reach for him but can’t find him in the dark. My chest tightens as I scoot my ass along the jagged rocks until I’m beside him.
“Listen to me,” I say, “we’re gonna get out of here.”
“Maybe,” he says, his voice raw, “maybe not. But, you know, at least Lindsay will have—”
“Look,” Cord interrupts, his voice booming over Jiggs’. “Shut up about this ‘maybe not’ bullshit. Okay? They’ll come for us. You know they will.”
“Yeah . . .” Jiggs says, sniffling. “This isn’t fair, man. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“Elin says we all have a purpose in life,” Cord says, his voice even.
“What?” I ask, irritation heavy in my tone. “To come to the pits of hell and die? I object.”
“Maybe—” Cord is cut off by a faint sound that isn’t our voices, isn’t our breathing, and isn’t water.
It’s the sound of a drill.
ELIN
“Have you eaten anything?” Dr. Walker looks at me, then Lindsay, and back to me again.
I shake my head no.
“You both need to eat. For you and the babies.”
Looking away to the paint-chipped walls of the conference room, tears blur my vision. My heart is broken. My soul ripped to pieces. My mind unwilling, unable, to consider my life in any way other than with a happy ending with my husband.
My brain spins out of control. If I don’t keep it focused on a memory, a plan, an idea, it starts wondering where he is, if he’s hurt, in pain, cold.