I couldn't believe what I had signed up for. It was unbelievable, as I stared at the photo that had been sent to us at the station. He looked like a sweet kid, he must be so scared. I remember I had been when I was lost in a snowstorm.
I shoved the picture into my skin tight undergarments. I picked up my bag and extra gear. Every finger had a job as I carried it to the helicopter waiting outside. I wish I could say I was prepared, but there was no way to know what was coming.
We were the closest station to the accident area. A colleague and I were the only ones of the fifteen person station located on the border between Canada and Minnesota to volunteer to help search for the kid.
We were going to be dropped off at one end of the mountain. On a map there was a singular tunnel leading out. We would climb down, wiring the way there for an easier way back when we found the kid. There was no doubt in my mind that we would find him. It would just be a matter if he was in the condition to make the climb.
There would be a helicopter somewhere near the opening waiting for a hot flare to come and pick us up. It was going to get a little complicated once we reached the tunnels, the maps were old, and we had no idea where the cave-ins had occurred.
As we neared the mountain I pulled my parka over the heavy hardshell equipment. We had a specific drop and pick up zone. We were told that if we didn't find him before dusk we were to come out of the mines immediately. They had said the mines were dangerous, but even more so at night.
We descended from the sky, and the mountains rose ominously with the dawn. Out of the earth like giants. A shadow falling down to us. I saw a blue parka disappear into the whirlwind outside the doors. I jumped into the whirlwind as well. Clasping onto the only thing that was familiar to me.
"Trenton, we have to move!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as his grey eyes came into focus.