Chapter 24
As the shovels pierced the earth repeatedly time seemed to be moving slowly. As hard as they worked they only seemed to get slower. They could feel their hands throbbing as blisters formed. A cold wind blew chilling them all to the bone. Everything seemed to be muted. All that they could hear was the beating of the hearts and the fading of a friend's. All there was to do was dig. The cold dirty metal of the shovel slammed into a hard object beneath the black dirt. Time stood still as the sound echoed through their ears inspiring hope. Seconds passed only recognized as days, the long wooden box was fully revealed. A metal latch glistened as the moon reflected from above the three men.
Benton ran his hand over the latch and pulled it up only to find it locked. He grabbed his shovel and slammed it down; sparks resonated from the collision. Several strikes later the latch broke and all that was left was to reveal their fear.
The shovel was pressed in the seal and pushed down to open the lid of the coffin. Benton and Mark grabbed the sides of the lid and pulled it up with all of the strength that they could muster. They looked down in horror at the still figure of their friend. Sirens blared from behind them. Benton and mark quickly checked for any signs of hope.
"Weak pulse of about 40" Mark spoke breathlessly "Absent breath sounds on the right, he's alive Peter, but we have to get him to the hospital now."
Peter probed Carter's side and his hands were engulfed with blood. "He has a laceration on his right side it looks pretty deep" Benton looked around at his friend. He looked at Carter's bloody hands then at the lid leaning against the wall of dirt; he saw all of the blood covering it.
Paramedics came up to them and looked down at the doctors. "Hey guys, we have a back board up here so we can lift him out of there" he paused for a moment "Is he…?" Benton looked up and silently berated the man. "Umm… here" he said passing them the board. They gently but quickly maneuvered Carter onto the board and pulled him from the grave. As he was lifted out to the awaiting paramedics Benton and Mark looked at the white fabric stained with Carter's blood. The officers helped them from the grave.
More officers appeared and began evaluating the scene. Mark and Benton ran to the ambulance and were about to get in when a voice chimed in. "I'm sorry but only one of you can ride in back, one of you can sit up front though" Mark motioned for Benton to stay in the cab with Carter. He moved around to the front and ordered the driver to go to county. The driver argued that Mercy was closer, but succumbed knowing he was fighting a losing battle.
Note- Sorry for the wait again… hope you enjoyed…planning on an update by either wed or thur. I hope that everyone had a great thanksgiving. Please review…all feedback is appreciated.