"How much longer?" Bailey asked. It seemed that he had been in the tunnel for an eternity, crawling through the rocks beneath the prison. His hands and knees had a thousand cuts in them, and his back ached from not being able to stand upright.

There was a rustling and a shifting of shadows as Smithson - Bailey's companion in this escape - shifted position. "I think we're almost there," Smithson said, the lamp on his headband momentarily shining straight into Bailey's eyes. His voice soundly strangely flat, damped by the closeness of the tunnel's walls.

"You think?" Bailey let the frustration flood out of him. "Why don't you know? I thought you said that map of yours -."

"It's not a map!" Smithson awkwardly turned so he was facing down the tunnel once more. "It's more like a set of instructions."

Bailey counted slowly to ten, then exhaled. The act helped him rein in his temper. "Alright. What do your instructions say?"

"If I've been counting right - ."

"If."

"Then we don't have far to go."

"Are you sure?"

The light from Smithson's lamp moved, reflecting off the tunnel walls. "Look - we're in a tunnel. It's a bit difficult to go wrong. But, if it makes you feel any better, we're at the bottom of the list. Once we get out of this tunnel, we're free."

"Fine." Bailey shoved his companion forward. "Let's go."

The two men continued their interminable crawling, pulling themselves forward as best they could on the stone until:

"Whoa! Stop!" Smithson shouted. "We can't go any further. Somebody's put a barrier across the tunnel."

"Can you shift it?" Bailey asked.

"Should be able to. It's just old planking that's been wedged in place." Smithson shuffled forward, stopped, then heaved on something. There was a cracking sound. "The planks - they're rotten!"

"Pull them off!" Bailey grabbed at the splintered pieces of wood, pushing them out of the way behind him. The promise of freedom gave him strength and hope. There were more cracking noises, then silence. "What is it?"

"My God ... ," Smithson whispered. "It's ... ."

A sudden burst of light enveloped Smithson. Bailey turned away and raised his arm to shield his eyes from the momentary brilliance. When he looked back, Smithson had vanished. There was no sign of where he had gone, except for a square of grey light that filled the tunnel ahead.

Bailey crawled forwards, towards the light at the end of the tunnel. The patch of light was like a barrier, its edges crisp and straight on the rock. He peered into the grey, but his eyes found nothing to focus on. Gingerly, with trepidation, Bailey reached out into the void beyond and