Title: The Price : Soul Meets Body
Rating: K+ (language & subject)
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Disclaimer: TGE does not belong to me, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Willie hears the soft rumble of soil above him, and he only has time to roll over half-way, eyes squeezed shut, before the noise crescendos and he suddenly can't breathe. It's only for a minute, tops, but the dirt is in his mouth and in his nose and in his skin, and it is the most scared he's ever been in his life. In that minute, struggling weakly to reach air, he understands exactly why Danny wakes up yelling at night, understands why he sleeps with a light on and refuses the bottom bunk. Understands why Roger Bartlett puts his soul into escaping, and why Ives, even now, is in the cooler slowly going wire-happy. Understands it all, and has a long moment to think about how unfair it is that he'll never be able to do anything with it, because he's going to die in this tunnel, buried in Tom, alone and dead under a cabin thousands of miles from home.
Then there's a hand on his leg and it's yanking him backwards into air, god, air, and he forces out a word and feels himself moving backwards. He's practically thrown back into light, and looks up to see Danny and Sedge and Roger behind him. Everything is blurry; whether it's because his eyes are watering or because of the dim lights, he doesn't know. There's a hand rubbing at his face, and water pours into his mouth, filling it with mud. Willie chokes and coughs, and makes himself speak to Roger, mostly to just to make sure he can still talk. His voice is strained and weak, and he tries to tell Danny that he's alright, but his chest is still heaving and he's taking in huge gasps of stale tunnel air like it's the best he's ever breathed. Danny's voice is angry and loud next to his ear. Willie allows himself a quick, selfish thought- he knows why Danny entered the war (Warsaw in flames, everyone gone in one fucking night, everyone) and why Roger did (pride duty honor country family) but he wanted to fly. Wanted to throw off gravity for hours at a time and feel the cold numb his bones to needles, jarring through the vibrations of the plane.
It seems as far from the close, hot tunnels as possible, and for the first time in his incarceration he feels like he might not make it out.
