Enterrées Vivantes
"Good to be home," Kate sighed, giving one last salute as she left Hammersley.
"Sure is. No more coups, gun battles, explosions... just beer, sleep, and –" Mike stopped himself, his stride faltering. Kate cast him a single sideways glance, her legs carrying her forward. He jogged a few metres to catch up. "Are you coming to the pub?" he asked.
"I think I will," she replied. "If just to make sure they don't all get wasted." She pointed at the boys, in particular ET and Spider, who were pushing each other around and laughing.
"And they're not even drunk yet," Mike deprecated, shaking his head slightly.
"We've got plenty of shore leave. They'll be right."
Will we? he wanted to ask. The thought of him and Kate, drunk, resistance lowered... a week of shore leave on the horizon...
Instead, he just nodded, his thoughts already elsewhere.
Behind them, Ray Walsman was, yet again, being loaded into a police van. He heard the Hammersley crew's joyous comments and scowled.
"I get a phone call," he snapped at the man holding his arm. "I want to call my lawyer."
"You'll need him," the cop replied, smirking.
***
"Can I get you a drink?" Mike asked, sliding onto the seat next to Kate.
Watch yourself, Kate, she thought to herself, but nodded.
"The night is young," she said, smiling. Behind them, the rest of the crew were getting rowdy. "They'll be on the floor soon."
"Like you said... they'll be fine. What's the harm in one night out?"
***
One hour and several drinks later, Kate was sitting by herself once more. Mike had ducked out to get some fresh air, and she wondered if their conversation – which had steadily been pulling away from work and into more personal areas – had contributed to the stuffiness of the room. Nav and ET had found their own niche and were deep in discussion about something.
There were other patrons milling around, all looking like they were having a good time. A pair of kids in their late teens were over in the far corner, their lips glued together, only breaking apart for oxygen and beer. A small family had a table near the crew's, the two youngsters sipping diet cola. A middle aged man and a young woman who could only be his mistress were having some sort of celebration at the bar next to her.
The man's phone suddenly rang, and with a business like apology, he ducked away. Ordering another drink, Kate sighed in contentment. The world had, for the moment, righted itself. She unconsciously remembered something Jim had said...
"When this mess is over..."
"There'll be another mess," she had replied. Of course, there would be... but not tonight.
She noticed the man come back in, carrying a decent sized parcel, with a bright pink ribbon. The girl smiled flirtatiously as she accepted it.
Your wife didn't want a party? Kate thought bitterly. The man leant down and whispered something into the girl's ear. Kate bit her lip, knowing this was practically the same as eavesdropping... but... Mike wasn't back yet.
She remembered what Jim had taught her. She looked only at the man's lips.
Wait... minute... open it... I'll be outside...
His next words caused Kate's eye to widen, and she looked away. Behind her the girl gave a coquettish giggle, which caused the hairs on her arms to rise unpleasantly. She was drawn back to the present as Nikki suddenly swept over, pulling her off her stool and behind a plant.
"Nikki?" Kate asked, surprised.
"I gotta tell someone!" Nikki squealed. "Josh... ET... he's applying for a transfer. So that we..."
"Nikki, that's great news! How'd you convince him to do that?" Kate replied, having to place both hands on her friend's shoulders to stop her from literally bouncing up and down.
"It wasn't hard... the guy hasn't had sex in a year."
"Now, how'd you do that?" Kate asked with a smile. Nikki started to shrug, but the movement never registered.
There was a thunderous cracking all around. The bass tones of it made her bones tremble, and she pressed her hands over her ears. Everything was shaking, and the smell of burning reached her nostrils. Screams echoed around her.
And then came the heat. Waves of it, pushing against her. Nikki fell to the floor, unable to comprehend the situation, unable to react. She couldn't see, her eyes pressed tight. The pain was incredible, her skin burning, and she couldn't shake the feeling that thousands of bugs had dug down and were making their way up her arm, beneath the skin. She may have added her own cries to the clamour around her.
Flames licked at the air around her. She was still trying to scream, but her voice had vitiated, and all that came was a faint whimper of terror and the horror of impending death. Tears made their way down her cheeks, and her fingers unconsciously groped for the cross she usually wore on shore leave. She couldn't find it, and instead continued to crouch, her body curled up as tight as possible while she prayed, any words that came to mind, which in any other situation wouldn't have made sense.
She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her, and pull her sideways. The roaring hadn't stopped, but was now of a different calibre. It sounded more real, less like something out of a horror movie or a hideous thunder storm.
She realised Kate had pulled her behind the counter, giving them a bit of cover. She tried to look around her, but her eyes stung so badly she couldn't keep them open. The brief glimpse she did catch was of Hell – what any artist's impression of Hell would have looked like.
Flames, devouring furniture. A body or two, those who had been closest to the blast. Smoke, thick in the air, billowed around what had only minutes earlier been a source of comfort and leisure after a long day.
Finally, Nikki's mind pieced together the scene.
Bomb.
Explosion.
Death.
Pain.
Kate's arms were still around her, the other woman not moving, and Nikki panicked for a moment, thinking her friend was dead, that she was hugging a corpse, but when she began to flail, Kate's arms tightened, pulling them together, trying to comfort and protect, crouched in Aides' backyard.
The XO had reacted slightly faster, used to making split second decisions, and had done her best to get the two of them out of the direct blast zone.
It wasn't over yet, however. Chunks of falling debris were smashing against the ground, and the two women could do nothing but sit and pray, and beg for their lives to be spared. Larger and larger blocks were falling. Kate looked up, squinting against the smoke and the acrid fumes. The ceiling was coming down. In minutes, the entire building would be rubble, and while she wasn't at all sure what was happening, she knew they didn't want to be in there any longer.
"Nikki! Nikki, we need to move!" she yelled, her voice lost amidst the rumbling of the walls and the dying echoes of the explosion.
"Nikki, we need to go, now!" she yelled, right in Nav's ear. Nikki was trembling, her eyes were clamped shut. When Kate tried to stand, Nikki weighed her down, and Kate suddenly realised it was hopeless anyway. They couldn't move without being hit by the falling bricks and chunks of wood, the latter of which were helping to feed the flames.
The bar was giving them a shred of protection, and so far the roof above them had remained stable. She didn't know how long it would stay like that. She crouched down, hearing another crack as something above them snapped. She was voraciously sucking in huge breaths, knowing all too well that each one might be her last. Now that the time had come, she was desperate to fit in another heartbeat, another blink...
Beside her, Nikki was hyperventilating, trying to breathe but finding her throat closed. Her lungs burned, and she wondered for a moment if she'd inhaled the flames. There was an intense, searing pain in her mouth, and the sudden taste of thick blood. She had bitten through her tongue.
Something from above crash down, slamming the back of Nikki's head, and she fell forward, unconscious. Kate shouted, her mind stopping at the thought, she's dead! My God, Nikki's dead! Then she heard another crash, and looked up in time to see the roof beams finally give way, and saw planks of wood and blocks of cement, and even a few tiles, spiralling down towards them.
She automatically wrapped her hands around her skull, closed her eyes, and waited for the end.
***
Mike stared at the stragglers as they pulled themselves free of the disaster zone. He saw two children, barely ten, screaming for their mother, the boy bleeding from a head wound, as their father dragged them free, his face distorted with a variety of emotions too primeval to understand. Almost viscerally he knew what had happened – the husband had abandoned his wife to the inferno in order to save his children.
Kate! he tried to scream. No words came out, his mouth hanging open, too dry for him to inhale properly. He choked, finally managing a strangled scream, a sound of masculine grief and horror. Nearby, a teenage boy was throwing up, his hands covered in blood, and he kept slipping as he tried to grab the railing.
The crew, Mike thought. Had they made it out? Had Kate made it out? He saw Spider and Bomber, Swain, RO, all of them staggering blindly away from the carnage. There was Charge, pulling ET out. For a moment, he thought ET had been injured, then realised he was actually struggling, trying to get free, trying to get back inside.
Which meant one thing. Nav was still inside. Mike knew he needed to act, to heroically race inside and get out everyone who was still in danger. But his legs were frozen, and his mind was barely able to cope with video – participation was beyond him.
Kate is still inside. Kate was in there. Kate is in there.
She can't be dead, he thought. Please, don't let her be dead.
What is going on? Why is this happening?
He continued to remain stuck, until he realised Buffer was also missing. Then he began to shiver, and even knowing it was supposed to be up to him to make decisions and save whatever lives could still be saved, he also knew that within seconds, he would lose it.
He didn't have time. Just then, the entire structure, six vertical metres of concrete held up by flame, caved. The sound would remain with Mike for the rest of his life. It was like the growl of Satan, the devil's insane shriek, as the top half of the building folded, the structure collapsing like a pack of cards.
Nearby, ET's furious battle suddenly subsided, and he fell to his knees, eyes staring blankly at the disaster in front of him. Then he cried, his arms hanging to the ground, his fists opening and closing, and he dared not take his gaze from the pool of death.
***
Once the emergency services crew arrived, Mike was able to regain some semblance of control. He wiped his face, and headed over to the man organising things.
"I'm Lieutenant Commander Mike Flynn, Australian Navy. Some of my crew are still in there," he said as introduction. There was no time for flowing speeches. The man nodded, and shook Mike's hand grimly.
"Heath Stanton. Were you in there..."
"No. I was just outside... something exploded. Now... I've worked out at least twelve people missing, including three of mine, and eight injured, two seriously. One in shock. The rest with varying burns and scratches."
The little boy, still crying softly for his mother, had been struck by a piece of falling debris, and had lost a lot of blood. For his age, it was a terrible injury. On examination, they had also found RO to have suffered extreme burns to the hands and legs – a burning cloth had fallen across him, and he had been unable to pull it off until Swain helped him regain his wits.
ET had fallen silent, and was now staring passively at the wreckage. Mike couldn't help but think ET was wishing he was still inside.
"Thank you, sir. Now, if you can ask anyone who feels up to it to stay and assist with the digging, that would be good."
"You think they could still be alive?" Mike asked, grabbing Heath's arm. The SES man nodded.
"It's quite possible the debris has fallen in such a way as to create sheltered pockets of air... people have been known to survive in such pockets for days. After building collapses, volcanic eruptions, avalanches..."
"Bombings?" Mike asked quietly. Heath hesitated before answering.
"Sometimes. But I should warn you... something like this has other problems... smoke, fire, shrapnel... but there is a chance, and while that chance is there, it's my job to take it."
One of Heath's men came over. The SES team had managed to stop the remaining fires, which hadn't been burning that strongly anyway.
"Stanton! We think the epicentre may have been over the right of the building... we matched it to a layout diagram, looks like either behind the bar or right next to it..."
The man's next words faded away. Mike felt a cold sweat cover his back and neck. He didn't hear Heath's instructions or see the man nod and walk away.
"Kate was at the bar," he whispered. Heath lay a hand gently on his shoulder.
"Are you feeling alright? Do you need –"
"Kate was at the bar," Mike repeated. Heath blinked.
"Kate... your girlfriend?" he asked softly. Without thinking, Mike nodded.
"She may still be alive," Heath tried to reassure him, but the SES man knew as well as Mike did that it wasn't looking good.
***
Ten minutes later, they began shifting rubble, trying to move it away from the ruins of the pub, but they had to move slowly, never knowing what was underneath them or ahead of them.
Only five minutes in, they found the first body. It was the teenage girl. It was immediately clear she was dead. Her boyfriend was nowhere to be seen.
The crew of the Hammersley were doing their best to help, their throats constricted at the thought of Buffer, Nav, and the X. ET was hauling slabs of cement aside with a strength he shouldn't have had – Mike didn't notice that he was doing the same thing.
After an hour, they had found two more corpses. The next one was still breathing, just, but when the tried to manoeuvre the woman from the rubble, the blood loss and shock became too much. There was an anguished cry from behind him, and Mike realised it was the children's mother. She was very pretty, he thought sadly.
It was after two hours they had their first success. A man, his face streaked with blood and a chunk of concrete resting on his chest, but alive. The Hammersley crew watched stoically as the SES team manoeuvred him out, and quickly took him to the waiting ambulance.
It was Buffer.
***
They call your name...
She twitched, one shoulder lifting slightly, then falling, beaten by the crushing weight of heaven-knows what.
They go on loving you just the same...
There was a ringing in her ears. The bells of angels, she thought wryly. Somehow, this deep pain and sticky air didn't feel like heaven.
Give me a sign...
Which meant she was alive. She wasn't sure how. But it certainly hurt... Maybe I just get to die slowly...
Let me know we're through...
She realised that the tinkling sound in her head was actually music. Lyrics. She focused on them, not knowing why it seemed important.
If you don't love me like I love you...
Chris Isaak, she thought vaguely. It was the song, from five years ago. The one she had listened to over and over and over, stuck it on repeat until she knew ever word, every note, tattooing the rhythm onto her soul.
Never trust Mike Flynn. Why was she thinking of that now?
Kate almost laughed, but it turned into a hacking cough. Her throat felt like raw sandpaper. She couldn't identify where it did hurt and where it didn't. She tried to open her eyes, but they were stuck together, with something like glue... only...
Blood, she realised. To open her eyes, she needed to wipe away the blood. Her head must be bleeding somewhere. To wipe it away, she needed to move her hands, and she just couldn't get up the strength.
Think, she urged herself. What happened? What to do?
An explosion. In the pub... her throat caught again, and she forced away a sob. For now, right now, she would focus on herself. It was all she could do. Are you injured? asked a small voice. She didn't know.
So find out! it urged. Can I move my fingers and toes? Check, check. I can breathe. Check. What hurts? Slightly harder... Ribs? Check. Hands, arms? Check. Both itching and burning painfully. Back, neck? A little... not severely. Legs? Check.
Right. You're a walking vending machine – dispenses pain only. Only maybe not with the walking.
What do you do? I don't know.
She may have remained clueless for a while longer, had not a groan interrupted her thoughts. At first, she thought she must have succumbed to the pain without realising it, but when the sound came again she remembered – Nikki!
"Nikki?" she asked, her voice as scratchy as her throat. You have to move, said the little voice. Get up!
Kate sighed sleepily, and propped herself onto her elbows. She was blind. The feeling scared her, but she reassured herself that it would be too dark to see anyway. She pushed herself up a little higher, and – bang. Her head struck something solid, and a spike of pain ran into her brain, and sent little nerve ricochets down her spine, all the way to her toes. She rolled over, lifted a hand.
A roof. Why wasn't she being crushed? The groan came again. Kate felt around, her hand hitting various solid obstacles, and flinching away from broken bottles. You're in a pub... you're behind the bar.
She pieced it together. The falling rafters had used the bar and the wall as supports, creating a tent-like hole. The rafters had then blocked the rest of the falling shrapnel, keeping her and Nikki relatively sheltered. Trapped, but alive – for now.
Her hands found Nikki, a soft blob amidst the wood and bricks. She quickly ran her hands blindly down Nikki's body, to check she wasn't being crushed by anything. Nothing.
"Nikki?" she repeated, her hands brushing past her friend's nose. The contact was somehow calming. "Nikki, wake up now."
With a final low gasp of pain, Nikki's eyes flickered, and opened, but she could see nothing but blackness. Knowing that her first reaction would be panic at the stiffness in the air and the darkness, Kate kept talking.
"Nikki, it's Kate. It's okay, we're both okay. Just wake up, slowly... careful..."
"Where are we?" Nikki asked after a moment. Her mind was racing to remember. "Oh God..."
"It's okay, Nik, we're okay. We've got a little tent here, it's keeping us safe."
"The whole thing collapsed, didn't it?" Nikki mumbled, trying to sit up, and hitting the 'ceiling'. "We're... oh God... we're, Kate, we're buried alive. Not just a tent, we're buried alive!"
"Shh, calm down, we'll be okay. They'll be digging us out, like you see on TV. With dogs and lots and lots of people..."
"I don't think you're understanding how serious this is," Nikki squeaked, fumbling around, her fingernails catching on multiple pits. "We're buried alive, we're gonna suffocate, we're going to be crushed, and they'll never get to us in time!"
"I know it's serious, but Nikki, the important thing is not to panic!"
"Not to panic? Who's panicking?" Nikki parroted, her voice rising in pitch, but fortunately not in volume. For some reason, they were both talking in whispers, as if fearing that their hole would be disturbed by loud voices.
"We've been in bad situations before. We got out of them, right? Right?" Kate asked, her hands cupping Nikki's face, trying to get her to focus. If she lost it, she was liable to flail around and possibly knock aside the flimsy protection above them. "Like the hostage situation in austere? That was bad."
"Not as bad as this," Nikki muttered, and Kate was grateful that at least she was staying still. "I mean, what's the CO going to do? Pump the building – what's left of it – with tear gas?"
"He'll think of something," Kate replied, hoping it was true.
"He could be dead. They could all be dead," Nikki continued, and she started shivering again.
"No, Mike's outside. He was outside..." As she said it, Kate realised what it was that had kept her steady thus far. She knew Mike was safe.
"He was the only one," Nikki said, her voice closing. "The rest were all inside... oh Josh... what if he didn't make it out? What if he's dead? He could be dead!"
"No, no, Nikki!" Kate hissed, her fingers tightening around Nikki's shoulders, forcing her to be still. "It was a bomb. Right? It was next to us, so if we survived, of course they did."
"The entire building collapsed! The roof caved in..."
"They would have gotten out. Trust me, Nik, they made their way out." Nikki's wide eyes stared into the darkness, and she wished she could see. "I promise, Nikki, it's going to be alright. We're going to be fine."
"We're going to die!"
"No, don't think that. They'll be doing everything they can to get us out."
"What if this doesn't hold up? It could collapse at any moment! It could fall, and crush us, and even if we're not dead then we will be by the time they dig us out –"
"Nav, stop it!" Kate ordered, hoping the use of her rank would stop her rant. It helped a little.
"If we keep still, we'll be fine. We're not going to die."
"Something blew up, right next to us... why? How?"
"Doesn't matter. Not now. Just keep still..."
"It hurts."
"What does?"
"Everything... my... oh shit, my leg!"
Alarmed, Kate lifted herself up slightly, not able to sit up in the confined space, and managed to rotate herself around, her hands carefully, gently, probing Nikki's legs. The left one was fine... suddenly she felt a thick wetness under her finger. Blood.
Nikki sucked in a breath. The injury had done what words couldn't, and she collected herself, asking her body to tell her what was wrong.
"There's..." she paused. "I think there's something in it. Shrapnel, probably."
Her voice had calmed. Kate tried to feel for anything poking out of the skin – the gouge was deep, very deep, but it seemed to be clean.
"It's not too bad," she said, though she couldn't be sure. "Just a scratch. You'll be right."
"Say that again and I'll start counting," Nikki warned.
"What?"
"That we'll be all right."
"I mean it."
"Who are you trying to convince?"
Kate paused. Her mind failed to come up with a good reply, so she shrugged instead, forgetting that Nikki couldn't see it, and stayed silent.
"So how long..."
"I don't know."
"It could be days. You know, they talk on TV about people buried alive in rubble, how they find them... alive... days later."
"It's not going to take that long."
"How would we know if it did?"
"We'd get hungry. And thirsty. We'd be able to judge time..."
"Go back to saying it'll be all right. You're depressing me, now."
"It'll be all right."
"Five."
"Five what?"
"You've said it five times. I added on the previous ones."
"I think I said it more than that..."
"Who side are you on?"
"We're not taking sides. We're just... chilling."
"Long wait for the day I see you 'chilling'."
"We are. Just going to wait here, not move, not destroy our little tent... and then they'll find us. That's it."
"How much air is in here?" Nikki asked.
"Do you really want to know?" Kate replied wryly.
"I mean... is there a way for more air to get in?"
"Maybe. It's probably getting through the cracks... I doubt we're sealed tight."
Their voices had started to fill the space. Though neither wanted to admit it, the silence was disturbing. There was no imagining what they might hear, so they kept talking, hoping to drive away the dark thoughts.
"Do you think Josh is alright?" Nikki asked.
"Yeah. The crew were all near the door, weren't they? He'll be fine."
"Six."
"He has to be fine – the two of you are going to get married, have kids, grow old together..."
"Sure we will. Seven."
"You started counting from a random number. It doesn't work."
"It's fine," Nikki snapped back. She was making a little joke out of it, to help her keep her sanity.
"One," Kate murmured. And for the next minute, they laughed. It started out as a small giggle, and upon remembering their situation and the utter extraneousness of their reaction, they laughed harder. The joke may have turned into a mad, hysterical cackle, had not the structure around them groaned under the building pressure at that moment.
The quietened immediately.
"It's okay... just shifted a bit," Kate commented, lifting a hand to feel the roof.
"Seven."
"You already said seven. That's eight."
"So who's counting now?"
"Well... if you're going to do it, you better do it properly. Which would probably imply starting over, because you already stuffed it up."
Nikki didn't reply, just looked at the blackness around her.
"Feels like we're stargazing. Just... lying on our backs, staring at the sky."
"Yes... and it's all dark." A pause. "Stars would be good right now."
"How long do you think it's been?"
"No idea. We were both unconscious for a while... maybe an hour? Two?"
"Or more like ten minutes..."
"It's definitely been longer than that."
"Don't you have a watch on?"
"No. You?"
"It's our night off!"
"Exactly. Why would I have my watch on?"
"I've never seen you without it."
"Well, I have."
Once again, the conversation faded. They were trying to keep each random topic alive for as long as possible, even though by the end it sounded stupid.
"You really think me and Josh will grow old together? If we both get out of this?"
"Sure. Why not?"
"It's just... I don't know if I love him. I mean, I care about him. I don't know what I would do if I lost him... I don't think I could live without him, now. But..."
"Trust me. Love is very hard to pinpoint, and by the time you realise it's there you'll already have acted on it. Just don't leave it too late."
"Nine."
"What was that?"
"You said to trust you. That counts."
"I've said that several times. Should be twelve or something."
"I say nine. Sounded like you were speaking from experience then."
"Maybe I was."
"Have you ever been in love?"
"I think so. I didn't know it... and I lost him."
"Jim?" Nikki asked softly. Kate's jaw tightened. If only she knew.
"No. Years ago, before Jim. But he was... maybe."
"Ever been married?"
"No. You?"
"Not yet..." Nikki mused, her lips curving up slightly at the thought. Then her face fell. "I hope he's okay."
"Of course he'll be oka – you cheated."
"Ten."
"Lol."
"Did you just say 'lol'?"
"No."
"Yes you did... Where the hell did you pick that up?"
"Language, Nav!"
"I can't say hell?"
"Not here..."
Kate's words killed the mood, and Nikki shivered. She was suddenly drawn into a memory, of herself as a young girl, standing on Town Hall station, in Sydney. Her mother was clutching her hand, and she waited impatiently for the train to arrive. It was an underground station, and the rumble of the tunnel announced the Tangara's arrival.
The sound... she realised. The sound of the train approaching, through the tunnel... was the same as the sound the walls had made as they fell.
"My leg hurts."
"How bad?"
"I don't know. I can't really feel it. I think it's stopped bleeding."
"Any faintness? Dizziness?"
"Can't tell. I think so, but that's probably..."
"Yeah. Yeah..."
She trailed off, certain words remaining unspoken. Nikki was tempted to say 'eleven', just for the sake of it.
"How much is on top of us, do you think?" she asked instead. Kate shuddered.
"Let's not..."
"No... I want to work out how long it would take for them to dig us out."
"Who's 'them'?"
"I dunno... whoever is trying to save us. Well?"
"No idea. A lot, probably."
"And there's air... how?"
"It's not like a fridge... there's air."
"Oh. Okay."
Their voices faded away, the last of the echoes dying, and they couldn't think of anything to say. To continue with their mindless chatter no longer held any appeal.
***
She felt the strain in her muscles first, and then the pain in her leg and head, followed finally by the realisation that the air she was breathing was stuffy, too stuffy to breathe properly. She opened her eyes.
Nothing. She closed them, opened them again, one hand sleepily trying to test their state, and felt another jab of pain, this time from her face.
"Ow..." she muttered, shifting sideways. Was her bed always this hard? "Why is it dark?" she thought aloud.
"Because there's no light," a voice replied, and Nikki jumped, one foot hitting something. There was a creak, and a moment of tense silence, as the wood settled. With the impact, her mind had caught up with her consciousness, reminding her of the nightmare she was yet to wake from.
"Sorry. Sorry, I must have... fallen asleep," she mumbled. One of Kate's hands found their way to her shoulder, rubbing softly.
"I did, too, for a while. It's the silence."
"Near silence," Nikki corrected. If they listened carefully, they could hear various creaks and groans, and the occasional pop sound. They didn't even want to know what was causing the latter.
"Keep talking," Kate instructed. "This is freaking me out."
"How long has it been now?"
"Probably not long. It makes sense. They have to move a lot of rubble... a lot of stuff between them and us... there's probably other people they're trying to find..."
"You said they would have gotten out..."
"They probably got out. But maybe... one or two didn't. People we don't know."
"And that makes it alright? We shouldn't care who dies, so long as it's not us or our friends?"
"It doesn't make it alright. It just means... we need to look after ourselves. There's nothing we can do for them."
Nikki swallowed. "They'll be thinking the same thing about us."
"Of course. It's human nature."
"Let's not get philosophical. You'll be onto the meaning of life, soon..."
"That's a bad thing?"
"Only because we'll never work it out and die with a whole bunch of stupid questions."
"We're not going to die."
"What are we up to now?"
"It's positive reinforcement."
"Ah. All that 'the Secret' crap."
"No. Simple psychological dif –"
"Not psychology, Kate, please."
Silence for a moment.
"I've got a song stuck in my head," Nikki whined.
"So have I. What's yours?"
"Killer Queen."
"Humph. Better than mine." She didn't elaborate, and Nikki didn't press it.
"Wish we could sit up," she said instead. She felt Kate shift beside her.
"Just be glad we've got this space."
"Yeah. Though... if we're going to die in here, I wish it had happened earlier. Waiting sucks."
"We're... whatever."
"Positive reinforcement not working?"
"Is it worth asking how long it's been?"
"No. Because that's my line," Nikki reprimanded. "And we don't know how long we've been unconscious, and asleep, or how long it would take them anyway." She paused. "What if they're not looking?"
"They have to be looking."
"No, what if they think we're all dead? That there's no point..."
"People get trapped in this sort of stuff all the time... and they always dig them out."
"No – you only hear about the ones they dig out. If they didn't find anything, they wouldn't advertise the fact..."
"Calm down."
"I'm calm. Just... thinking."
"Out loud."
"You said you wanted me to keep talking. Fill in the silence."
Kate sighed. Her back ached, and her neck was tightening under the strain.
"Hope we don't get cramps."
"It's not exactly a strenuous task. Lie here. Wait for... wait."
"This is where I should probably start up the positive reinforcement stuff again."
"So why don't you?"
"I just... don't feel like it. It's so hard to be positive when I feel..."
"You feel like you've only got a few hours left to live," Nikki finished for her. Kate didn't reply, Nikki's statement spot on.
"You have a turn, then. Say something... positive."
"Let's play a game. 'What I like about you'," Nikki suggested. Even in the darkness, she could sense the look Kate was giving her, and shrugged. "I got a new song stuck in my head. Anyway... I say something positive about you... and then it's your turn..."
"What if I've got nothing positive to say about you?"
"Shut up. Okay... you're reactions are very quick."
"Of course they are," Kate replied, and Nikki tried to guess whether she was being sarcastic. "Fine. Umm... you don't snore."
"Why thankyou... You're capable of being professional and friendly at the same time."
"Really?" Kate asked in surprise. She could only too well remember a time on Hammersley – albeit a different Hammersley – when she hadn't been able to work out the difference between an insult and a joke.
"You've improved a bit lately," Nikki said with a smile.
"Oh. Okay. So... you... this is hard."
"Why? You've got nothing nice to say about me?"
"No... I just don't know how to break it down. You're one of those all-round nice girls. No-one could not like you..."
"I've met people who haven't..."
"Then I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like them."
The game seemingly over, they fell quiet for a minute. Nikki suddenly giggled slightly.
"Do you think they can hear us?" she asked. Kate frowned.
"Who?"
"Them. The rescuers. Whoever. Maybe they're on their way down... listening to us blab..."
"If they could hear us, we could hear them. And I think they'd say something, seeing as we've exhausted our supply of positive reinforcement."
Nikki's giggle suddenly broke into a deep laugh. She bit her lip slightly to control herself, at the same time noting a pain in her tongue that she couldn't identify.
"You just... I had this image, of a bunch of people in hard hats with torches... listening to us chat. And they'd be all... "Should we get them out now?" ~ "Nah... they haven't said anything interesting about me yet..." Stupid, I know..."
Kate gave a weak smile. "Pretty funny, yeah. I think they'd be calling out, though... They've probably got machines... we'd hear them before they even knew we were here."
"Yeah... stop making it sound like it's something that could happen. I'm all for positive reinforcement right now."
"Okay... that thing I said? Switch that to future tense."
Nikki smiled. Dying wasn't so bad.
***
She fell asleep again. Or maybe she passed out. She was exhausted. Next time she opened her eyes to blackness, she didn't forget where she was. The air had changed yet again. It was thick, and with every breath, she felt like she was suffocating.
"Kate?" she asked, her voice seeming to dissipate as soon as it left her mouth. She tried to move, but every limb felt leaden.
It's too late! she thought, her heart rate picking up speed. It's too late, there's no air... you're about to die, Nikki, you're about to die... And you can't stop it. Slow... steady... sleepy.
"No, no, Kate! Can you hear me?" she called, but the thick air wasn't carrying her voice, and she could barely hear herself. She fumbled above her, her nails once again hitting the rafters above her, the only thing keeping her safe from several tonnes of concrete and wood and other bodies...
She couldn't help herself. She wanted out, now! She pushed at them, expecting at any moment to hear Kate telling her to calm down, to wait patiently for rescue. The voice never came.
"Kate? X? You there?" she asked. She couldn't see. She flung her hands around her, searching for the warmth of another body. The hole seemed to have shrunk, and her fingers touched cold, almost frosty, surfaces.
Kate was gone. She was alone. Alone, and out of air.
She screamed, and this time she heard it, the sound echoing shrilly in her ears, almost deafening her, and her hands clutched at the rafters, pulling at them until they yielded. A trickle of dust came down, landing on her open eyes, and she blinked in pain.
There was a cracking sound, and the trickle of dust turned to an avalanche, and her shelter was suddenly filled with debris, a rain of it falling down to crush her, landing on her chest and face and legs, her hands pinned to her stomach. She opened her mouth to scream again, but it was instantly filled with dirt and other things she didn't want to name.
There was a twinging pain in her cheek, and she opened her eyes to see – blackness. She was lying on her back still, her chest heaving for breath.
"Nikki, wake up!" Kate snapped. Kate had slapped her cheek to bring her out of the nightmare.
"Oh God..." she said, her voice dry and cracking. "It was just... a dream. I had a dream... I know how we're going to die... it's all going to cave in and we're going to suffocate if it doesn't but it will and we'll be crushed!"
"Nikki, no, we're going to be all... right... stop... it..."
Kate was trying to calm her, but Nikki was overcome with dread, knowing they had only hours left before the timber above them gave way and they were crushed... this time for real. She kicked out, desperate for more space... the air was growing hot and stuffy.
It was a sign, she thought, The dream was a sign. You already knew what was going to happen, you just couldn't face it, so there it is... in black and black.
"I want... to get... out... of here!" Nikki shrieked, her hands reached up to claw at the roof. Kate swatted her hands down, and then pinned down her legs with one of her own.
"Stop it! Nikki, no, stop it! You're going to break something... you're going to get us killed!"
"Why does it matter? You're just prolonging it, we'll be dead anyway... they'll never find us, there's too much above us!"
In physical terms, Kate was stronger, and she used that now to keep Nikki still. Nikki's sobs subsided slightly, and a few minutes later, there was just the sound of Kate's heavy breathing, and Nikki's quick, panicked gasps. There was also the smell – of sweat, and tears, and certain other things they didn't want to name, including a lingering smoky smell.
"I'm okay," Nikki said eventually, swallowing. She sucked in a decent lungful of oxygen, realising that the air was hot, but still breathable. "I'm okay now... just... the dream freaked me out."
"More like a nightmare," Kate said, rolling sideways, her own breathing under control once more. The time for positive reinforcement was over – they both knew it was a lie. Anything could happen. At any second, with no warning, their 'tent' could cave in and they'd either be crushed or would suffocate. As if to underline this statement, there was a vague rumble from nearby, and they both held their breath for a minute, waiting until it had passed and no further rumbles occurred before slowly exhaling.
"That was... probably the rescuers. One of those cranes, shifting some bricks," Kate said. Nikki grunted in agreement. Neither mentioned the painful tingling in their bones caused by the vibration.
"Is there air in here?" Nikki asked. Kate licked her lips, but her tongue was dry, and the movement only ripped at the cracked skin.
"Yeah," she replied, her voice catching on the roughness in her throat. She was thirsty. She desperately wanted water.
"Good... My leg hurts."
"Is it bleeding?"
"I don't... maybe. The alcohol..."
"What about it?"
"We were drinking before it happened. Alcohol thins the blood, stops it from clotting... it could keep bleeding."
Nikki explained the situation remarkably calmly. As if the idea of bleeding to death wasn't as bad as asphyxiation or concrete burking. In a way, that wasn't surprising – it was a much more rational end. Blood was real, and it's sudden departure from the body indicated bad things were happening. But air wasn't so tangible – it was invisible, untouchable, but if it disappeared, bad things definitely happened.
***
"If... if I don't make it out of here, and you do..." Nikki began, and Kate clicked her tongue.
"Don't say that."
"I know... but just, humour me, would you?"
"Fine. Tell me your last will and testament."
"No... just... I dunno."
"Well, I'm glad you got that off your chest."
"Be serious, Kate." Nikki took a deep breath. "If something happens to me, tell Josh... ET... something. Tell him I was thinking about him."
"That's it?" Kate asked in surprise. "I think the positive reinforcement is working..."
"Well... maybe. But... oh God, tell him I'm sorry that I made us wait, that I'm sorry I gave him a hard time, and that I was being immature, and that I really cared about him and wanted for us to be together. And that if I'm not there, he should move on."
"Well. That's a bit better," Kate said wryly. "But I'm pretty sure you can tell him yourself."
For a moment, there was silence. Nikki waited, breath bated, knowing what was coming, knowing Kate would fight it for as long as she could. Pressing wouldn't help, and sure enough, patience paid off.
"Well, you know... if something happens to me. Tell Mike... oh damn... just – no, don't; yes... tell him I forgive him."
"For what?" Nikki asked curiously. Kate scowled invisibly.
"He'll understand."
"So you forgive him... that it?"
"I don't."
"Forgive him?"
"No. And I doubt I ever will."
"But tell him you do."
"Yep."
"What did he do?"
Realising that the whole story would at least use up an hour or so, Kate took a deep breath, and began to talk.
***
For a while, Kate had been silent, and Nikki was trying to work out if she was asleep. Maybe. She couldn't really find out without asking, and if she did and Kate was asleep, then it might wake her up... and the more time they were unconscious, the less they had to spend living through this waking nightmare.
So she lay back, closed her eyes, and tried to pass out. She pushed away the negative thoughts that were swirling on the surface, and tried to lose herself.
A few minutes, she realised she was still conscious. It was like insomnia – a restless energy, but she couldn't go anywhere. Neither could she get up and move around. The word trapped flew at her, but she slapped it away, closing her eyes again.
There was no difference between having them opened or closed. It was disturbing, to say the least, and she wondered if it was only the darkness – or if something had struck her; if her head was damaged and even if they escaped the bomb zone, her vision would still be limited to this cold, inky, blackness.
She realised she had fallen into the trap of dark thoughts, and pulled herself free with a distinct effort.
It was too easy, though, to think about the amount of detritus between her and freedom. It wasn't just a ceiling, not just a layer of woods and dust – it was at least a metre, possibly three or four, of solid, heavy junk. If they moved, it could collapse. If someone on the surface was trying to get in, it might collapse. If something somewhere else moved, it could set of a chain reaction that caused their roof to cave in.
Or, it could randomly collapse at any given moment.
Think of something else! she commanded herself. Find some new song lyrics or a memory, or something, something happy!
She thought of her family. How they'd feel if something happened to her (something like dying in an explosion), but the tangent started going in the wrong direction, and she stopped.
She wouldn't let herself think of Josh. He could be dead. Or alive. Either way, thoughts of him wouldn't end positively.
She felt a numbness growing in her legs, from lack of movement, and wiggled her toes anxiously. She could almost swear there was something...
Down there.
"Kate?" she whispered. "You awake?"
There was no reply. She shifted her leg, and something else moved. Was it Kate? Was she dreaming, wiggling her toes?
She listened carefully. She could still hear the faint groans of the building, and those popping sounds... she knew what they were now. Beer bottles, wine glasses, anything with alcohol... exploding. Any fires on the surface would have been extinguished, but they could still be going underneath. Nikki shivered, glad their tent was free of flames.
She was distracted by a much closer noise... something moving. Near her feet.
"Kate..." she said, louder this time.
"Hmm...?" came the reply, as Kate blinked into the darkness. "Are we dead?"
"There's something in here with us!" Nikki hissed.
"You sure?" Kate asked, trying to prop herself up, but hitting her head. She rubbed it a little, looking around, a pointless exertion.
"Yeah... shhh... listen."
Kate kept her ears pricked. She was about to say something, disturbed by the eerie noises from other parts of the site, when a scrabbling sound came faintly to her ears. A moment later, the sounds stopped, but then she felt something brush past her leg.
Spider? she wondered. Some wolf spider, disturbed by the explosion? Or a horde of cockroaches... God, nothing kills those bugs...
"It's alive..." Nikki breathed. "Oh, I just wish I could see..."
"We need light," Kate muttered, her hands fumbling around her pockets.
"We've needed light for a while now," Nikki pointed out.
And then there it was. A soft, radiant glow, it's feather-like touch falling onto Nikki's face. Her eyes burned at the exposure. She turned away, looking down towards her feet.
A mouse sat, petrified by the sudden glare, it's whiskers twitching slightly, it's silky brown fur just touching Kate's leg. Kate struck out at it, and it scampered off into the darkness.
"See? If it can get in here, so can air."
"Kate?"
"What?"
"You have your phone."
"Umm..."
"Your phone has a torch. You've had that this whole time..."
"I forgot."
"You forgot. And not only does it have a torch, it has a bloody clock."
"Do we want to look at it?"
"What the hell? Of course we do!"
For the first time, they could see each other, post the effects of the explosion. Kate's face was stained with dust and sweat, Nikki's was dark with dirt and smoke particles, with tear tracks down her cheeks.
"You look awful," they each said, at the same time. And laughed.
"Now, why wouldn't we want to know the time?" Nikki asked.
"Oh, just... what if it's only been an hour? Knowing that we have to go over and over this..."
"And what if it hasn't? Lemme see!"
Nikki grabbed the phone, still emitting a soft LED glow. At the top right was a row of numbers.
0534.
"It's half past five. In the morning," Nikki said, surprised. "What time did this happen?"
"Was about... six? Seven?"
"You know what happens now? Your battery runs out, and our light goes bye-bye," Nikki predicted. Kate snorted.
"That's it. We're buying a copy of 'the Secret' when we get out of here. And I'll have you know, it's fully charged. Good for another day or two..."
"Think it could take them that long?"
"Maybe. Maybe we should try tunnelling our way out? We have light, we won't be working in the dark."
As if on cue, they looked around, for the first time actually seeing their 'tent'. In the dark, it had been a concept – a combination of guesswork and shapes constructed from touching, material obtained from smell and texture. Now it was real – a hollow. To their right was a stack of wood and chunks of concrete. To their left was what had been a wall, separating the main bar from the family section of the pub, now an unorganised collection of plaster and brick. What had been the serving table was now acting as a support for what had been the roof. A plastic leaf was stuck between two bricks.
A neat little prison.
"If we can get through that... without dislodging them..."
"Too much risk," Kate decided. "Disturb anything, the whole thing will... yeah."
Suddenly, Nikki's hand snaked forward, clutching Kate's wrist with an iron grip.
"Kate!" she said in dismay, unable to stop the first few giggles from escaping her. "We are the two stupidest people on the planet!"
"I'm hoping this is going somewhere..."
"You're phone... it's a phone. Meaning it can make calls. To other phones. Belonging to other people... people who are... out... side..."
Her mind racing with the possibilities, Nikki didn't notice Kate prying free her arm.
"Hate to burst your bubble... but you think there's any reception down here?"
"There's got to be something... there'll be enough. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, happy thoughts..."
They sat for a moment, and then with shaking fingers, Kate started to dial. She tentatively held the phone to her ear. A moment later, she lowered it, disappointed.
"Nope. Your call could not be connected... the number you are trying to dial..."
"Let me see." Nikki delicately took the mobile, watching as the reception bar spiked upwards for a moment. She watched as, a second later, it fell. They couldn't make a call – it would drop out before anyone answered.
"What if you send a text?" Nikki asked. "If the reception holds long enough... could get a signal out."
"It might work... let them know we're alive..."
"Can't hurt to try!" Nikki exclaimed, flinching as her voice bounced off the walls. Kate was delicately entering a message.
"Can't hurt to try..." Nikki repeated, quietly this time.
***
Dawn light was slowly filtering down. Mike had struggled through the night, not tirelessly, but refusing to stop. Volunteers had arrived from everywhere, all giving their all. Finding Buffer alive, and afterwards another two live victims, had bolstered everyone's spirits, but there hadn't been anything more positive since midnight.
"Take five, mate," Heath said to him. The two had been side by side for most of the night. "It'll be morning soon. You can't help if you're falling at our feet."
"No... I have to find them..."
"Mike, we're doing all we can."
"At any moment, they could find another body. And I'll look up, waiting for them to say whether they're alive or dead. And if it's the latter... I don't know if I want it to be one of mine or not."
"I know. I've done this sort of thing before. Never gets any easier. Just..."
Whatever Heath had been going to say was interrupted by a soft jingle. Mike frowned, and pulled him phone out of his pocket. He flipped it open, and almost stopped breathing at what was written on the screen.
New message ~ XO McGregor
"It's Kate," he whispered. What was going on? What was...
"Read it!" Heath urged, and Mike pressed a shaking finger against the centre button. Several lines of text sprang up.
Several other crew members, realising something was up, drifted over, glancing curiously at his phone. After reading it several times to himself, Mike finally told them what it said.
"It's from Kate. Says: Me and Nikki alive. Air seems okay. Under lots of bricks. Just realised I had phone. Please reply. –Kate."
There was silence for a moment. ET was staring at him like he had suddenly told them he was getting a tattoo saying "Spider rulz" on his chest. Then a weary cheer, and the volunteers and rescue team instantly set back to work, knowing that there was at least two more living people trapped inside.
***
The message failed to send. Kate tried again. And again. On the fourth try, there was a satisfied jingle... Message sent.
"It's out. It's gone... oh God. Please, please Mike, reply..."
They spent the next few minutes waiting desperately for a message alert. Their eyes never left the phone, their one connection to the outside world.
And there it was. A brief tune, and Kate was already fumbling over the buttons. She read out the message, her voice trembling.
"Working on getting you out. Are either of you injured? Rest of crew fine. Don't panic."
Beside her, Nikki slumped with relief, her eyes closing slowly as she breathed out.
"How's your leg?" Kate asked.
"I don't want to know," Nikki replied with a groan.
"Here..." Kate held the phone open, letting the soft light – almost blinding after their many hours of pitch blackness – and looked at Nikki's leg. She stifled a gasp.
"Nik, that does not... look... good. At all," she said softly.
"Is it still bleeding?"
"I don't think so... a bit. But... that must hurt. Why didn't you say anything?"
There was an uncomfortable silence, then Nikki whispered, "I can't feel it. I didn't realise." She couldn't look at it herself because of the angle, and Kate could barely see it.
"How much can you not feel it? Can you move your toes?"
"Yes, mobility is fine. But my leg is slightly numb."
"Since when?"
"Since it happened, I guess..."
"That's... not good."
"Nine."
"Nine what?"
"I'm still counting. But that was like... you said it wasn't good. So I took one off."
"Nikki, be serious. What do I tell Mike?"
"Tell him that for a while, everything was all right and seemed to be getting better, considering the number of times you were saying it... and now things might be getting worse."
"He'll think I'm crazy. That makes absolutely no sense."
"Is it supposed to?"
"Yes, but... Nikki?"
"Yeah?"
Kate shifted, moving the light onto Nikki's face, pressing a hand against her forehead.
"Oh crap. You've got a fever."
"No I don't... your hands are cold, that's all."
"Are you dizzy?"
"No!"
"Any nausea?"
"You don't even know what that means... you're just quoting stuff you've heard on TV and from Swain."
Kate was already replying to Mike's questions.
I'm fine. Nav's leg (!?) Fever (?) Near where we were earlier. Finished panicking hours ago.
She watched the reception bar wobble up and down. 5%. 20%. 0%. 50% – she quickly pressed send. She watched as the bar dropped down. 45%... 40%... 35%... A few seconds later, it was back to only 5%. She held her breath – the screen suddenly flashed, Message Sent, and the reception dropped to zero.
It stayed there for a while. When it momentarily popped up again, Mike's message came through.
"He says they're own their way," Kate told Nikki. "But it might take a while. We need to keep cool, apparently."
"Aren't we already chilling? What is it about temperature references and movement?"
"I think it's because temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy of the particles within an object, so if it's hot it has a lot of move – you don't really care."
"I don't even know what you're on about."
"Fine. I'll going to send another text. Anything I should add?"
"Nikki says hi. And I'm thirsty."
***
Knowing that every message would slow them down, Kate eventually put the phone away. It was six o'clock – about twelve hours since the pub had turned into a miniature Chernobyl.
"Now it's dark," Nikki complained.
"Your point being? There's so much to look at..."
"It's just... nicer. With the light."
"It'll waste my battery. We may still be here a while."
Nikki sighed.
"How did this happen?"
"Something blew up."
"What?"
"Does it matter?"
"Guess not."
The air was hot, but still breathable.
"Are you scared?" Nikki asked suddenly. Kate hesitated.
"Yes," she replied eventually. It was obviously a hard thing to admit, considering the effort she put into hiding all her emotions each day.
"What of?"
"Now who's getting psychological?"
"Who's avoiding my question?"
Kate sighed.
"Which do you think is scarier? Death, or dying?"
"There's a difference?" Kate asked sardonically.
"Of course. So... do you believe in Heaven?"
"Is now the best time to talk about this?"
"You want to reschedule?"
"Hah. It's just..."
"We could be dead in a few days. Or hours. Hell, seconds if this thing suddenly gives up. And we're both scared and alone, so what's it going to hurt?"
Kate didn't reply immediately. "I don't believe in Heaven," she said eventually. "I just... can't... visualise it. Maybe reincarnation. Or... nothing."
"I want to believe in it. Helps, a little."
"You want to pray?"
"I already did," Nikki replied softly. "Funny. Most people don't pray for real until they want something or think they're about to die."
"That's psychology. Human nature."
"True... you know the term psychic horror?"
"The sensation of knowing you're about to die?"
"Yeah. That."
"What about it?"
"Nothing..."
"I think I felt it. Earlier."
"Me too."
***
Another hour passed, and another. They both slept a little more, never for more than ten minutes at a time. With every passing second, their throats became dryer, and another need became more and more persistent.
"I need to pee," Nikki said eventually.
"Me too," Kate replied. "You remember those stories... about people who get trapped like this, and survive by drinking their own pee?"
"I don't think I'm that thirsty."
"Yet."
"Eight. Another negative."
"How long are you going to keep doing that?"
"I'm bored."
"I have an idea..."
Kate pulled out her phone, and a second later the beautiful LED glow returned. Nikki almost groaned in relief at it.
"You have the internet on that?"
"Reception?"
"Oh, right. But do you?"
"Yes. But I never use it. I do have Snake, though."
"One player," Nikki complained. Kate smiled. It was a glorious thing, to be able to see – even if the view wasn't spectacular, and the light was weak. Human society is completely reliant on vision, and becoming even more so each year.
"We can take turns. Go for the highest score."
"What time is it?"
"Nearly nine. Wow. It's bright daylight outside..."
"I could go some of that myself. Daylight."
"You'll see it again."
"Oooh, back to nine!"
"You go first. I've never actually played this before."
"You're kidding! You've never played Snake before?"
"No..."
For the next half an hour, they swapped the phone around, occasionally muttering something like, "Forgot to watch the tail...", or "I so had that..."
Nikki was mostly able to ignore the warm wetness that spread around her pants at about nine-fifteen, but her cheeks burned momentarily. She hoped Kate didn't notice.
"I think that's enough..." Kate said eventually. "I don't ever want to see another electronic cherry in my life!"
"Why don't you ask Mike for a sitrep?"
"They've probably all stopped for morning tea."
"I could use some tea..."
"Yeah... you're throat taste like dirt, too?"
"Uh-huh. Probably because of, you know, all the dirt that was flying around while I had my mouth open."
"Yeah... I'll mention that to Mike. Give him a hurry up. Because I really don't want to be down here for days..."
"That would be... well. Let's not say that."
"It won't send," Kate muttered a minute later. "I've tried five times... keep losing the signal before it's gone."
"Try again," Nikki instructed. Kate sighed, and pressed Send once more.
"C'mon... do this for me... Yes!"
"See? Never give up, right?"
"I know... this is just frustrating. I know it can be done, but when I keep failing... I wonder whether it's worth it."
It was several minutes before Mike's reply came through.
Right above you. Still digging. Hold on a bit longer.
"Now there's original advice."
"He's probably worried," Nikki said, yawning. Kate ground her teeth and refused to follow suit.
There was silence. Kate folded up her phone and put it back in her pocket.
"Bring-bring," Nikki said suddenly.
"What?"
"It's a phone. Bring-bring. Bring-bring."
"And you're... Hello?"
"Oh hi, Kate, it's Nikki. How are you?"
"Slightly confused. Yourself?"
"Not too good... bit of trouble after work. We're sorting it out."
"Ah... I know the feeling. We've been having our own problems this end."
"Aww... well, it's good to talk to you. I'm stuck with some airhead who keeps repeating that everything's going to be okay."
"Really? If only I were so lucky. Everything's all doom and gloom around here."
"I think there's been a power outage. The lights aren't working."
"Yeah, it must be pretty widespread, it's the same over here."
"Now... any goss?"
"Not really... I've just been texting Mike a bit. First he won't shut up, now he won't talk to me."
"Hmm... well, maybe this will cheer you up... Josh and I are going to get together!"
"That's great! I think you two are made for each other."
"Yeah... useless idiot isn't around at the moment. I could use his help, too... he might be able to get the lights working again."
"Men; never around when you need them, always there when you want some peace and quiet."
"Very true. Damn, I think the air conditioner's broken, too... it's getting pretty stuffy in here."
"You can't open a window?"
"Not without letting in all sorts of bugs..."
"You're crazy, you know that?"
"What? I'm sorry, you're breaking up."
Nikki started to make crinkling noises with the side of her mouth. Kate held back a sad chuckle.
Instead, she suddenly said, "Beeep, beeep, beeep..."
They both dissolved into laughter, the sort of laughter two people can share when they are spitting in the face of imminent death. When she regained herself, Kate couldn't stop one more smart-alec remark.
"I told you the reception was terrible in here."
***
"Is it possible to be really hot and really cold at the same time?" Nikki asked faintly.
"Why? You feel like that?"
"Yeah... can't explain it."
"I think I know. The air is getting really hot, but you're cold."
"Why doesn't it just warm me up then?"
"It will. Takes time."
"How do you know?"
"Sometimes if I have the shower really hot, I'll get out and feel like I'm boiling... but the air is cold. Usually makes me sick."
"Hot shower..." Nikki pondered dreamily.
"Any shower..." Kate returned.
Something above them creaked.
"What was that?"
The sound came again, louder, lasted longer. Kate pulled out her phone, aiming the light at the rafters above them.
They were bending. Only very slightly, but there was a definite curve to them.
"Please tell me that's Mike..." Nikki whispered, her voice catching.
"Mike?" Kate called, wondering if he'd be able to hear her above ground. Maybe, if he was close.
At the sound of her voice, the wood groaned, and they watched in horror as cracks began to appear. Kate quickly sent a message, unable to hide the feeling that it would be her last.
Not Good.
The shorter the text, the less time it would take to send, and it worked the first time she pressed send.
Then she was blinded by falling dust, her eyes tightening against the onslaught. Nikki made a small choking sound beside her, and instinctively, they reached out and locked hands.
"It'll hold," Kate muttered. "It'll hold, it didn't last this bloody long to give out now..."
Unseen, the cracks began to deepen. It may have been her imagination, but she could have sworn she heard a voice. His voice.
A stone dropped, landing on their clasped hands. As if it was made of fire, not rock, Kate snatched her hand away, curling up into a ball.
One of the rafters snapped, and several larger rocks fell. Kate whimpered, pulled herself tighter in her foetal curl, her spine forming a long ridge along her back. She tried to breathe, but the air was filled with dust and as she inhaled her throat closed. If she had been able to move, she would have flailed madly as panic took over, ignoring the sudden lack of oxygen. But she felt paralysed.
Beside her, Nikki was trying to brace the roof with her hands. Her fingers were being slashed by falling glass, and she instinctively closed her eyes. A larger rock – in fact, a broken roof tile – hit her chest, and her hands went to pushing away everything that was landing on her. Something hit her in the forehead, and she yelped, and instantly her mouth filled with dust and smaller particles. She choked, struggling to breathe amid the avalanche.
Air goes bye-bye... and bad things happen... she thought. Her chest was rising, falling, but no air was getting to her lungs. She could taste blood, and the gritty, acrid flavour of the earth. Her pulse changed, and she felt it change, from a harsh, iambic staccato to an irregular jiggling beat. Her nails clawed helplessly at the mounting weight on her chest.
Then a cold fury entered her. I survived this long. I'm not going to give up now. She turned her head to the side, desperate for one more breath, just another lungful of oxygen – it would be enough. She knew it would be enough.
Nikki squinted her eyes open, caught one last look of darkness, and lost consciousness, her chest heaving a few more times before remaining still.
***
"We've got them, we've got them!" Heath cried. Mike stumbled forward, every single muscle burned out. The sniffer dog was clawing at the ground, in the general area they thought Kate and Nikki to be.
They set to work with renewed enthusiasm. Mike was heaving at bricks and splinter-filled wood, never noticing the cuts appearing on his body or the subtle pricks in his fingers, moving them along the line of helpers and away from their current search area.
They were nearly there, he could sense it. Then there was a cracking sound, which echoed around the site. A helicopter hovered about the scene, film crews were readjusting their lenses, and news reporters were quickly preparing for the ten o'clock report.
Everyone froze, knowing the structural integrity might not last much longer. Heath's voice suddenly rang out.
"Now, now! We need to get them out now!"
Mike dived forward, oblivious to the cameras that were trained on him. The world faded away, as he dragged away everything he could, desperate to find Kate and Nikki.
The images flashed across TV screen around the country. A bombing, in a public bar, on a peaceful Wednesday afternoon, was the most catastrophic thing to happen to the country in months, possibly years. Families woke in the morning to footage of the blown out building, shows cancelled as names and faces of the missing and deceased were broadcast to the public.
Live video streamed, showing Mike and ET, with Heath right behind them, digging down with shovels and bare hands. Across the bottom of screen the heading scrolled over and over.
crewmates..... .... Dedicated Navy captain searches among Cairns pub debris for missing crewmates...... .... Dedicated...
Cynthia from Ten News ruffled her hair a little, disorganised her clothes just a bit, before reappearing on screen.
"We're filming live from the scene, where eight people still remain lost in the rubble. Hopes of finding two more are building, as volunteers from everywhere search –"
Her voice was cut off, as the camera swung away from her, zooming in and focusing on Mike, who was reaching down. A second later, he stood, Kate in his arms. The Thursday morning sunshine surrounded them like a halo, and beside them ET was grabbing, fumbling, taking hold of Nikki, lifting her away from the prison.
Cynthia's voice played over the footage, already being viewed around the country.
"They have them, two women have just been pulled from the wreckage, and... yes, one of them is alive! No, yes, they are both alive! They're being carried to the waiting ambulance, one appears critically injured, I'm sorry, I can't get any closer..."
***
Mike hesitated as he stepped through the door. It had been nearly twenty four hours since his entire world had been blown, quite literally, to Hell. She saw him, and flashed a weak smile.
"They wouldn't let me in earlier," he explained.
"It's okay," she whispered, her voice broken by the layer of dust still inside her throat.
He walked slowly to the side of her bed, and took her hand.
"Kate..."
"How's Nav?" she asked. His nostrils flared, as he squeezed her hand.
"Nikki didn't make it," he whispered, his heart breaking as he saw Kate's expression change. "Kate, she'd lost a lot of blood, the last fall... it was too much..."
"No, she has to be okay. She is okay, you're..." Kate voice caught, and she coughed violently. The doctors had coldly informed her that it would be a while before she could breathe properly, as he throat and lungs had both been scratched and torn on the inside.
"She has to be okay, I need to see her..." Kate continued after the coughing settled. "She needs to be fine, so that she and ET can get married and have lots of kids... I told her it would be alright... ten times... I told her we would both –"
She struggled to sit up, but was interrupted by another hacking cough that sapped all her remaining energy. She fell back, one hand grabbing Mike's.
"Please, no, Nikki has to be okay... I promised her..." she whispered faintly, and with Mike kneeling by her side, his arms making their way around her, began to cry. Her dry sobs echoed around the room for a long time after, Mike never leaving her side.
***
"I heard what had happened... wanted to see if you're alright," he muttered, standing at the end of her hospital bed. Kate gave him a weary smile.
"I'm fine, Jim. But thanks."
"You don't look fine," he pointed out.
"They'll heal," she replied, her voice slightly stronger than last week. By 'they', she was referring to the burns along her arms, legs, and back, the countless cuts and scrapes – some shallow, some reasonably deep – and her two broken ribs, smashed when the tent collapsed.
"I'm sorry about your friend," Jim murmured, coming up beside her. She took his hand, her eyes misting slightly.
"She didn't deserve that. Any of it. And I –"
She shook her head, unable to express her thoughts properly. He rubbed her back.
"They never do," he said quietly.
Moments later, he was gone, leaving Kate alone once more.
She would later dream, sinking back into the quiet blackness that for some reason, she suddenly missed.