A blast of chilly, murky air washes over my face, cooling beads of sweat that had formed on my forehead. I almost can’t bear to look in, fearing what I will find. Ashes swirl, filling my lungs and making my diaphragm spasm. I swallow thickly and blink in an effort to clear my vision.

The tunnel walls themselves are just packed dirt: nothing more, nothing less. I take one hesitant step inside. And then a second step. A quick glance behind me tells me that Elie, Sheila, Jayne and Dev are close behind.

Sheila furiously wipes at her face, spreading ash all over her cheeks. “Am I the only one thinking about that chimney sweep dude from The Sound of Music? ‘Cause that’s who feel like right now.”

Dev raises a semi-offended eyebrow, “It’s Mary Poppins, you insentient protohuman!”

Jayne rolls her eyes, looking amused.

Sheila turns her head dangerously towards Dev, “What did you just call me, gonad? I can make you scream bloody fucking murder with this fist if you don’t shut up,” she lifts her fist menacingly. Dev shrinks back nervously and mimes zipping his lips.

I wave a pilfered gas station flashlight at them, “Concentrate, guys.” Sheila glares at me but reluctantly lowers her fist, and Dev smiles triumphantly at her.

The flashlights do little to light the pathway--the farther we walk into the tunnel, the dimmer the lighting gets. The flashlight is simply one cutting beam with the power to shine over one single patch of soggy muck; so the farther we venture, the more I begin to doubt the flashlight’s capability to help us. Elie comes up beside me, sliding his hand up along the wall. He looks fine now, but a moment ago, he looked like he was going insane. The image had only been made more complete with the flames dancing across his eyes and reflecting off glowing strands of hair. I realize I’m staring, but what’s the chance that he’ll notice in the dark anyway?

As if hearing my thoughts, his eyes flash in the darkness towards me, and I trip in spite of myself. He cracks a smile and pointedly steps over a pebble, demonstrating mastery when he doesn’t trip and walks over to me. “I leave you alone for one minute and you trip over a rock the size of my pinky toe.”

“Well then, your pinky toe must be really big, because the rock I tripped on was huge.”

“Nah, I take it back, that rock was as big as your heart.”

Sheila snorts just as I scoff. “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying that my heart is small or big? Think carefully before you answer.” His smile falters slightly and he shrugs. I bump against him playfully, trying to show him that there are no hard feelings. His posture stiffens and he subtly quickens his pace. My hearts tugs and I’m surprised to find that I feel ever so slightly hurt at this gesture.

I slow to match Sheila’s pace. “What’s up with him?”

She sighs, “And now you decide to talk to me.”

“What?”

“I mean, you’ve kinda stopped talking as much to the rest of us. Like, I get it. You have a thing for Elie or whatever, but you can’t just ignore us all the time.”

I feel the defensive part of me rising, but I tamp it down for the sake of the conversation. Have I really just been ignoring them? “Well, we haven’t gotten many opportunities to talk in the first place with all that’s been going on, anyway.”

She tilts her head away disappointedly. “Fine, just ignore us.”

“Oh, come one, Sheila!” an uncomfortable feeling crawls up into my chest and my cheeks flush hot. I’ve never really had to deal with conflicts concerning close friends before. I look back at Jayne, and Dev, who pretend not to notice. All of a sudden, I feel angry, and I cross my hands defensively across my chest.

Up ahead, Elie calls back to us, “There’s a fork in the tunnel!”

Sheila jogs up to him and peers into both tunnels. “Which path should we take?” she questions. Her eyes skip over me and focus on Dev and Jayne. “I think we should take the tunnel on the left. There’s a slight breeze coming from there, which means it opens up to the outside.”

“We should take the tunnel on the right,” I blurt.

That is my first mistake.

Sheila’s eyes narrow, “You can take whatever path you want, but we’re taking this path.”

“Wait, guys, I don’t think it’s a good idea to split up. I don’t have a good feeling about this place,” Elie protests.

“Come on, Elie. If she wants to go down the other path, then she can go. You can come with us.” Sheila stands firmly on the left path, and I stand firmly on the right. Dev and Jayne join Sheila, leaving Elie in the middle.

He clears his throat anxiously, “Are you sure about that path, Elodie?” When he sees that I won’t budge, he says, “Elodie shouldn’t go alone. I’ll go with her. If it’s a dead end, we’ll just catch up with you guys.”

The others nod and start walking down the left tunnel. Elie and I start walking down the right. For a while, we are surrounded by silence.

“Are you okay?” Elie finally asks. “You seem a little . . . off.”

I give him nothing more than a curt nod, still feeling wound up.

We continue forward.

“Elodie, I don’t think this is a good idea. Something doesn’t feel right.”

“It’s fine,” I dismiss his concern. That is my second mistake.

He grips my arm, preventing me from going forward, “Did you hear that?”

“No,” I hiss. “You’re imagining things.” I yank my arm out of his grip and begin striding forward again.

Elie stumbles forward, and I start running. The beam of my flashlight bounces with each footfall. I stop in surprise when the beam hits something solid: it’s metal. Backing up slightly, I sweep the flashlight across and see that the path is blocked off by a metal door. A small window covered with a wire grid sits on the door at eye level. I cautiously venture closer, hoping to peek in through the window. That, that is my third mistake. The one where it all goes wrong.

As I inch closer, a buzzer echoes through the tunnel. The door opens with an ear-piercing screech. A cool breeze floats through the door along with the first inkling of natural light.

Go inside.

I decide to go inside.

Look up.

I look up, expecting more mud and dirt. Instead, it’s sunshine. A pleasant glow warms my face and I realize that we are at the bottom of a pit. The patch of blue sky shines down through a hole. I lean backward, absorbing in as much sun as possible and stumble backward.

Lie down.

I lower myself onto my back.  

“Elodie!” Elie’s voice finds it’s way into my ears. I open my eyes, the walls of the pit are lined with concrete. It’s rather quaint. “Elodie, get out of there! Look around you!”

See how nice this is?

The pit is rather nice.

“Elodie, there’s blood on the wall!” his voice barely reaches me.

Hands grip my shoulders, “Wake up!”

The voice is vaguely familiar. Familiarity, I find, is most comforting.

“Please. Wake up.”

An array of emotion lies heavy in the voice. I manage to force my eyes open. A face hovers above mine. Blue eyes. That’s all I see.

Close your eyes.

My eyes want to shut, so I shut them.

I feel my body being lifted, and the sun that was warming my face before is gone. All is feel is cold. I am placed on the floor again.

“Can you open your eyes?” Elie’s voice grinds against my ears, and I open my eyes to see that I’m back inside the tunnel.

My tongue feels heavy along with my thoughts, which run like molasses. “My flashlight. It’s still in there.” Elie looks back and spots the flashlight lying past the metal door, right in the middle of the pit. He smiles in relief at me and jogs back in to get the flashlight.

The door closes with Elie inside.

I should have known.

But I didn’t.

And now I’m alone.

***

Author's Note:

So, fun times for the troop. They're learning that their actions have consequences :)

And, okay, I feel like 30 is a milestone so I'm proud. Thanks for reading! See ya next week!

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