Left behind?

“Please explain to me why we are going to check out this disaster.” Hands on hips, she heard the murmurs of agreement behind her from the 4 other explorers.

“Because it hasn’t been looked at before. Duh!” He punctuated his comment by tossing a panel to the side of the opening with a crash.

“Duh, indeed. What else do you know? Why aren't we going to one of the “safe” sites?” He stopped looking into the gloom

“You could have raised these concerns before we left. Why now?” He dusted off his hands and turned to face her.

“Because your description of the site back home does NOT get anywhere near what this is.” She waved to the mound of building materials.

“Well, if you don’t want to go in, then go ahead and go back home.”

“Oh, right. So you can then come back and call me a coward behind my back.” The other four sniggered.

“I wouldn’t…” She stopped him with a hand.

“You HAVE done it to at least 3 others. I will not be the next one!” His face cringed at the truth of the statement. “Now. Tell us what is so important about this site that you are willing to risk OUR safety.” He paused.

“When I was here last year, I got about 40 meters in before debris blocked me. There are a lot of materials that have been protected and fairly easy to get out.”

“Oh. So, why didn’t you report this and get the finders fee?”

“Because as I was leaving, a small quake collapsed part of the tunnel and I couldn't move anything. I reported a failure so the site went to the bottom of the list. I didn’t say anything at home because there are some people with very good hearing.” She nodded sharply. The rest of the crew murmured understanding.

“Too true. Okay. I apologize for being so sharp with you.” He gave a sigh of relief.

“Thanks. I’m sorry I didn’t…” Again, her hand stopped him.

“You explained. Your reasoning is good. You are good. Let's do this.” He nodded and turned to the opening.

Over the next two hours, the six reopened the tunnel and shored it up. They were standing at the 40 meter blockage discussing how to remove it or go around it.

“Thelma, why don’t you lead any of these jobs?” Harvey, the leader, had pulled her aside as the others poked and prodded the mass of material blocking the way.

“You know why. I can’t stand the fawning and kowtowing you had to go through to get permission to do anything outside the perimeter. It makes my skin itch just to hear it going on.” She shivered.

“Still can’t see the logic of it?”

“Logic? I see old men who were brave that are now afraid of their shadows!” Harvey used hand signals to try and lower the volume. She glared at him, then took a deep breath and spoke quietly.

“Sorry. We could do so much more if those,” Harvey raised an eyebrow. “People would just regrow their spine.”

“I know. I’m working on it as are others.”

“Others?” Her surprise gave him a smile.

“Yes, others. You think you are the only one that rankles under this old men's reign?” She opened her mouth to speak.

“I won’t go into it now. We need to focus on the work here.” She snapped her mouth shut and nodded.

“Do they know?” She nodded to the others.

“Yes. That is one reason they came with me. Now that I’ve included you we can talk freely amongst ourselves. After we get around this blockage.”

They had set up camp 20 meters from the opening. Dinner was a sparse affair, which no one complained about. Once all the clean up was done they sat around the small campfire and talked.

“Some of this sounds like leaving and setting up our own settlement.” Harvey nodded at Thelma.

“It gets thrown out every month or so. I don’t think we have enough to make that work. Though, if we find a few more sites like this one, we might be able to entice enough people to join us.” Thelma opened her mouth to respond when a tremor shook the camp. Everyone froze and waited.

“Meh. A four.” Harvey poked the fire to brighten it up. He got nods and agreements.

“Did anyone hear anything from the mound?” Thelma’s puzzled face tried to see the mound. They all turned and listened.

“Well, we will find out in the morning. I’m calling it good night.” Harvey banked the fire as everyone pulled out blankets and lay down for the night. Harvey took the first watch.

“Well, that doesn’t look too bad.” Harvey and the rest were looking at the rearranged mound of materials. Most of the changes were things that had slid down. The shoring they had put in was still there. They proceeded in.

“That’s new. Thelma pointed to an opening in the tunnel near the 38 meter mark.

“It is.” Harvey and a few others leaned around the opening and shined their glow orbs into the dark.

“”Looks like a large room.” Thelma edged in, looking all around the opening.

“Can anyone see the far side?" Harvey held his orb higher.

“I’ll go and check it,” Harvey snagged Thelma’s arm as she passed.

“Oh, no you don’t. You know standard protocol.” She jerked her arm out of his grasp.

“Yeah, I know it. I know the old men who preach it every Tuesday and Saturday at the safety meeting. I know it has been the dogma for at least 3 generations. And I still consider it a stupid, weak minded excuse for not doing stuff.”

“I agree, for the most part. Here, I disagree with it being stupid. We had that minor quake last night. We have seen a lot of the stuff shift and some of it fall. We have both seen enough quakes to know another, stronger one could be coming anytime. The tunnel is shored up, so I am comfortable we can get out if another quake hits.” He waved to the opening and the dark beyond.

“I can’t see enough to have any idea if it is anywhere near safe.” He waved his glow orb into the room, trying to see more.

“You wuss. I thought you had more spine. Look, it is my choice to go in. The rest will back you up that I went in against your evaluation. I’m only going to go see how big the room is and come back.” With that Thelma turned and prowled into the room, light glob high and in front of her.

They watched for several minutes as Thelma carefully navigated the debris on the floor to find the far wall.

“Hey! I found the wall!” Her light waved around a bit.

“”Wow! There is a light in the wall with some writing around it.”

Everyone held their breath as Thelma’s light bobbed around.

“There is writing above and below it. I can’t read it. It is covered in dirt and I think it's old standard. Harvey, you can probably read it.”

“Probably. Okay, you found the other side, come back now.” Harvey couldn’t hide the nervousness in his voice. Something was bothering him and he couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Keep your shirt on! I am going to check a meter each way and then I’ll come back.

Harvey knew better than to argue with Thelma. He watched as her light glob bobbed around some more.

Like all larger quakes, the initial action was the ground jolting back and forth. The mound groaned dangerously and various pieces fell about them. The others ran for the opening.

“Thelma!” He yelled from the “safety” of a recent shoring up of timbers.

“I’m coming!” He watched the light moving quickly towards him.

The motion changed to a swaying and a noise that days later he still couldn’t describe. The middle of the room roared as the ceiling collapsed. He put his arm up to block the gust of dust and debris from his face. He looked around. The way out was still there. He wavered. Then he pushed off and ran outside.

Thelma had heard the ceiling start to fall. She was between two tables. She dropped under one of them and curled up. She cursed the old men for being so calm and matter of fact in their talks. As material rained down she matched the event to what the old men had warned about. If she survived this she was going to have some words with the old men.

Harvey and the rest stood at the camp and watched the mound. It had been three hours since the major quake. A few aftershocks had hit and the mound had spouted dust plumes. The last hour had been quiet.

“Do you think she survived?”

“We need to go find out.” Harvey said as he grabbed tools and supplies and headed off. The rest grabbed their stuff and followed.

It had taken Thelma two hours to crawl to the back wall with the light. The way out was completely blocked by the collapse of the ceiling and floors above. She was seated against the wall when she heard Harvey’s voice. A thrill of hope ran through her.

Over the next hour they got close enough to yell at each other.

“I’m not leaving!”

“Harvey, don’t be an idiot! You need to go get help. I’ve got water and food for a few days. I’ll be fine!”

She heard Harvey talking with the others. After a pause Harvey yelled.

“I’ve been overruled. We’ll be back in 3 days. Maybe sooner if the old men will let us use the horses.”

“Got it. Now go!” She heard them move out of the mound. She moved back to the wall and the faint blue light in the wall and sat down with a huff.

“Way to screw up, Thelma.” The glow ball was still bright. But she knew it wouldn’t last 3 days. She was going to spend time in complete darkness. Even the blue light wasn’t going to help much. She turned around and tried to rub more of the dirt off and read the words. She could only make out one word. A word the old men talked about in hushed tones.

“Tera?”

Click.

“Yes? How can I help you?”