Alright everybody, here's another chapter. I'll try to have at least two more out before the weekend. I'm leaving for Taiwan Saturday (I know, I know, after what happened last year I should ban all things Chinese…), so wish me luck as I test fate again…
chyp: I thank you.
The blazing sun burned overhead as noon drew closer. Despite it being winter, this place seemed more like summer as the sun shone brightly, beating down on the workers mercilessly all day long. Finally noon came, and sirens signaled the end of the morning shift. The witches were once again divided into their respective quarters and directed there, making sure that no person from one group came into contact with any person from another group.
Morning break went the same as any other. All the witches lay in their beds, gulping down water and hardly talking to each other. Matthew sat in his bed, sweating profusely. He looked around for the Millers. They sat in their beds, Charity holding George in her lap and giving him her share of water. Derrick looked off into the distance, not staring at anyone in particular. Matthew looked around at Wesley, who looked at him for a second before rolling his eyes and going back to his business. Matthew sighed again, knowing that this plan of his just had to work or else he would have one angry brother on his conscience for the rest of his life.
Once again, the sirens blared, ending the morning break. Slowly and devoid of energy, the witches trudged out of the quarters to return to the caves once more. Matthew walked very slowly, making sure that he was one of the last ones out of the cave. Joe followed suit and paced slowly around the room, waiting until he and Matthew remained. When they were sure that everyone else was gone, they promptly left the quarters.
"Step two," Matthew said, "is where I'm gonna need your acting skills. When the afternoon shift is almost over, the two of us are gonna bring the house down, or rather the cave."
"I don't understand," Joe said as they walked to the caves.
"Just follow my lead," Matthew said. "And don't tell Wesley."
After hours of working in the caves, the sun was nearing the end of its course and beginning to set. Inside one of the caves, Matthew and Joe worked diligently, picking away at a stone wall in eager pursuit of the Gem. Being inside the caves for so long, neither one had any idea of the time, but they assumed that sunset wasn't too far away. Matthew stepped back and surveyed his work. He did just as he planned. He picked his section of the cave in such a way that any small mishap would cause it to tumble down in an avalanche of rocks. He had concentrated on a small area of the wall, digging deeper and deeper until a large space separated the mass of stone above and below it. Gravity would then take its toll on it and the overwhelming pressure would conquer the stone.
"We need to be the last ones out of here," Matthew whispered to Joe.
"But this is dangerous," Joe said. "We could all be killed."
"That's the idea," Matthew said.
Luckily, the sirens wailed once more. As the workers filed out of the cave, Matthew threw his pickaxe into the wall, creating the final blow. A rumbling echoed through the cave as a few pebbles rained down. Soon after, the rocks began to grow gradually larger until a terrifying boom swept through the cave. Boulder-sized rocks tumbled to the ground, narrowly missing Matthew and Joe, who kept barely dodging them. At the last possible minute, the flung themselves out of the cave as the inside crumbled.
Matthew lay on the ground, breathing irregularly. Joe sat at his side, examining him closely. The noise of the collapse caught the attention of several other captive witches, including many of the demon guards, who all came running to Matthew and Joe. Wesley was among the first, not knowing what to think. At the sight of his brother laying on the ground, he began to expect the worst.
"What the hell happened?" he shouted loudly to Joe.
"There was a cave-in," Joe explained as the rest of the crowd came in closer. The guards pushed them back roughly and got in closer to Matthew and Joe, who continued his story. "We were in too deep and I barely made it out alive. My friend here, well he wasn't so lucky. A large rock tripped him on his way out and some more fell onto his chest. Thankfully we were close enough to the opening by then for me to pull him out, otherwise he might not have made it."
"Is he alive?" one of the guards spat. "What's his ID?"
"OIMC4SW2," another guard said, leaning in closer to read Matthew's identification tag. "Hmm, what should we do with him?"
"Help him!" Wesley yelled at the guard. "Joe, can you help him?"
"Well I was a doctor before I came here," Joe said, pressing down on various parts of Matthew's chest. "Matt, I need you to stay with me. I need for you to tell me when it hurts."
He applied pressure to Matthew's chest, just above his heart. Matthew didn't respond. He moved over to the other side, to which Matthew didn't respond. He moved down lower to Matthew's stomach. Upon touching it, Matthew let out a loud yell that reverberated across the area. Matthew gritted his teeth as Joe prodded around that area.
"From the feel," Joe said, "he may have internal bleeding. I felt some damaged tissue, but thankfully no broken bones. However, if there's internal bleeding, he'll need to be looked at ASAP."
"Oh my God," Wesley said, covering his mouth with his hand. "This is all my fault."
"N-No," Matthew coughed, straining to look at Wesley. "I-It's mine. G-Give Jim-Jimmy my love."
He closed his eyes and lapsed into unconsciousness. Joe quickly checked his pulse; he still had one, although it was faint.
"We'll take it from here," a guard said, moving Joe out of the way. "We'll take him to the 'special' wing of the medical quarters. The rest of you, get out of here."
Wesley's face wore a distinct expression that needed no words. He somberly walked over to Joe, who tried his best to look as depressed and defeated as he could muster. Wesley looked at him with wavering eyes, eyes that wanted to ask so many questions but didn't know where to begin. Inside his head, Joe secretly hoped that Matthew knew what he was doing. Keeping this charade up definitely would not be easy for long, Joe thought, especially upon seeing Wesley's saddened expression.
"I know how you're feeling," Joe said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Trust me when I say that things will get better. They said themselves that they're taking him to a special part of the medical quarters. He'll be back in no time."
"I can't believe that," Wesley replied, "unless I have real proof of it. There's something about these demons that doesn't feel right. I just don't know what to think of it."
"Get back to your quarters, you two!" a demon shouted at them from a distance, brandishing his remote. "Or should we do this the hard way?"
"We're going," Wesley said, rolling his eyes and stalking back to his quarters with Joe while muttering curse words under his breath.
