“It was Jiggs,” Vernon says from behind us.
We whirl around as Lindsay screams, her hand going to her mouth. “Oh my God!” She looks at me and pulls me into a hug.
I’m stunned, frozen in space. I hear her talking and watch her ask me something, to which I nod. She leaves the room with Vernon and I’m standing alone, watching a television screen where nothing is happening.
I flick the buttons on the side until the sound comes on.
“They’re still working on the gears, Gerald. The problem stems from the lowering harness. We’re being told it’s urgent they retrieve the other two miners as quickly as possible because water is filling the cavern below. Everyone listening, pray for these men.”
Gasping, I back up until I’m against the wall. My legs sway beneath me as the television blurs from the tears.
TY
The cart begins to lower in our direction and I heave a sigh of relief. Then reality strikes.
The water is at my throat, sloshing around against my mouth. It’s cold and thick and bitter.
I angle my chin towards the ceiling and look at Cord. “Your turn, buddy.”
He shakes his head.
“Cord, get the fuck in there!”
“Only one of us is gonna make it, Ty.”
“Don’t say that,” I shout. “Get the hell in that cart and get up there before neither of us makes it!”
I grab his arm, the shoulder that got banged up, and he winces. Easing up, he takes advantage and I find myself spinning in the water.
My head jerks to his, my eyes wide. His teeth clenched, a look of pure determination on his face.
“No, Cord,” I say, my voice cracking as I realize what he’s doing. I fight back with everything I have left in me, but he overpowers me.
“Get in there, Ty.”
“No!” I shout as his hands find my shoulders and he shoves me into the cage. We continue to struggle, the water inching up. The walls of the shaft begin to crumble, water splashing in our faces.
He reaches inside and pulls the cord. Immediately, the cart starts to move upwards. “What are you doing?” I scream, tears pouring from my eyes. “Cord! Damn you!”
“Take care of Yogi for me,” he shouts over the sound of the dirt giving away.
I see his eyes in the sea of darkness as I ascend. I collapse into a heap on the floor of the makeshift elevator, trying desperately to hear his voice.
“Thanks for everything you’ve ever done for me, Ty,” he shouts as he slips out of sight. “I love you, man!”
“Cord!” I shout, slumping against the back wall, sobbing.
ELIN
“Mrs. Whitt,” Vernon’s voice says beside me. “One more is on the way.”
I’m afraid to look, but there’s no way I won’t. Taking a few tentative steps toward the television, I hold my breath.
The man makes it out of the cart, on his hands and knees, before a blanket is thrown over him and he’s helped to his feet.
“Who is it?” I ask, wheeling around. My heart threatens to explode in my chest. “Who was it!?”
Vernon pokes his head out of the door and pulls back inside. “It was Ty.”
I fall to my knees, weeping into my hands.
TY
“Get Cord!” I scream, my words broken with grief.
I know there’s no chance. The water was too high and the channel was disintegrating as we rose. The cart will never be able to reach him. I know that, but I can’t believe it. I can’t give up.
“Get Cord,” I shout again, my vision blurry as halogen lights shine brightly on me. “Hurry!”
“We’re going back down after him,” a man says to me, but I don’t see his face.
“You have to get him!” I throw my helmet to the side and tug at my hair. “Get him. You have to fucking get him!”
“Why did you do this to me?” I scream as tears stream down my face as I sob into the night. “Why? Damn you, fucker!”
My head buries in my hands as my body racks with grief that my best friend just gave his life for me. “Damn you, Cord!”
No one approaches me for a few minutes, giving me time to get myself together. Whether I look together or not on the outside, I’ll never be the same on the inside. A piece of me will be down that hole, a part of me as jagged as the walls of that room.
“Where’s my wife?” I ask, finally taking a proffered towel and wiping at my burning eyes. The white linen is smeared with grease and debris. “Where’s Elin?”
“We’ve sent someone for her. We need to take you to the emergency room, Sir.”
“Not until I see her,” I say, refusing to get into the ambulance. “I need to talk to someone. I need to know if they got Cord.”
A man in a black business suit comes into the tent set up with a look of defeat on his face. “Mr. Whitt?”
“Did you get Cord? Tell me you got him. Please . . .”
“I’m sorry. We hit water.”
“No!” I wail, covering my face with the towel. “No!”
ELIN