Ray and Winston hurried to remove the large stones and broken beams that obstructed the singular entrance to the mine, certain their friends were inside and now trapped as a result of the catastrophic collapse. Working together the men managed to heft aside heavy rocks, push aside the cumbersome wooden beams and roll the largest of the stones to the side of the mine. The exterior of the entryway was clear but now the interior tunnel was barred with just as many rocks and fallen beams.

"This is going to take too long!" Ray huffed as he wiped sweat from his brow onto the hem of his white t-shirt. "If we don't make some real progress they could suffocate down there!"

"You may be right..." Winston took in a few deep breaths as he stared at the mess inside the entryway. Picking up a dropped piece of lumber he used it to poke a wide hole in between the rocks and create a small opening between the outside and the inside of the mine. "So let's focus on getting them an air pocket."

Ray nodded and began clawing at the stones around the small opening to widen it a little further. "Hey guys! Peter! Egon!" He shouted into the hole hoping his voice would carry but wouldn't cause any further collapses. "If you can hear us we're on our way!"

Egon moved as close to Peter as he could to not only to stay beside his good friend, but to monitor his current condition. It was difficult for Egon to accurately determine the severity of Peter's injuries in the darkness, and his limited mobility and lack of resources only hindered his efforts further. Keep one hand on Peter's pinned shoulder to try and supply some form of comfort to an otherwise aching joint.

"Peter, stay awake." Egon urged sternly. "If you were willing to confide such a traumatic event with me then I wish to return the favor. You said you trust me," Egon stated as he focused on keeping his voice level. "and I wish to demonstrate that I trust you as well."

"...you don't have to." Peter sounded tired but at least he was responding. "I know that there's... an unspoken bond... between us. Like... a brother."

Egon shook his head and took in a deep breath. "Peter, please don't speak like that. We're going to make it out of here."

"...yeah. Sure."

"Listen to me Peter," Egon nearly pleaded as he struggled to keep his emotions in check. "I promise you that in all the time we've known each other, in all the time we spent at school, as colleagues, as friends and as Ghostbusters, I have never once lied to you. I've never lied to you, Ray, Winston or Janine. So when I tell you that we're going to make it out of this mine I can assure you that I'm speaking with absolute confidence and not merely trying to provide false comfort."

"I believe the term... you're looking for... is... blowing smoke." Peter flashed his trademarked cheesy grin. "But I won't... tell you where!"

Egon couldn't help but smile a little. Only Peter Venkman could find a way to crack a joke while potentially facing death.

"You told me that your father was an unreliable conman. Someone who would take advantage of a person's good nature and faith merely to benefit himself in even the most minuscule manner." Egon could feel Peter's shoulder tense up at the mention of his father. Continuing his statement Egon mentally readied himself as he prepared himself to reveal a long kept personal secret and pain that he had tried to keep locked away inside the darkest depths of his own heart. "My own father wasn't much better."

Peter couldn't stop his brow from furrowing as Egon's words slowly sank in. "You too?"

"Yes." Egon sighed and his shoulders sagged as he finally admitted to the pain his father had unintentionally inflicted on him as a child. "Growing up my brother and I were held to very high standards. While Elon was brave enough to defy our father and chose to follow his own path, I was too afraid to upset our father and incur punishment."

"I..." Peter was trying to offer Egon the same sympathy that his friend and had previously provided, but he was struggling to find the right words. Eon rarely spoke of his identical twin brother, only acknowledging his sibling when legally necessary. "I know you and... Elon weren't close... is your father the... reason why?"

"Yes." Egon's tone was low but steady as he spoke. "Mother made life with father bearable but even she was afraid of disappointing him. Secretly she encouraged Elon to pursue his passion for art and for nature. She had done the same for me when I favored the science of physics over medicine. When we were sixteen Elon decided to pursue his career in art and as a result my father decided that he would bring insolence to the Spengler family name and disowned him as a son."

"He..." Peter was shocked by the revelation. "Your father disowned... your brother?"

"Elon left our home and moved in with a friend across town. I rarely saw him after that, only during school hours." Egon cleared his throat nervously. "Elon tried to encourage me to rebel, but I was too afraid to join him. At least until I met you at college and you told me to switch my major from medicine to physics. That's when our relationship, as weak as it already was, had been destroyed entirely." He felt his hands clenching into fists as he spoke and he forced himself to relax. "I don't regret focusing my studies onto a subject that I truly enjoyed, but I do wish I had been able to reason with my father and make him understand that by following my own dreams, that Elon following his dreams, meant no disrespect to him or to the family."

"Growing up did he-" Peter choked on a dry cough and felt Egon's hand press down harder against his shoulder. "Did he take... out his anger... on you?"

"Father?" Egon saw Peter slightly nod his head. "Only in a passive aggressive manner. My father never struck me, Elon or our mother, but his ability to withhold all emotion and put up a cold wall of superiority was enough to keep me grounded. It seemed no matter how well I performed in school it wasn't good enough for my father. Mother was proud and always made Elon and myself feel loved, but father refused to acknowledge any form of emotion. I apparently inherited his cold exterior."

"No..." Peter disagreed. "you're not cold. You're reserved... big difference!"

"I'd like to believe that."

"Then... do it." Peter argued boldly. "You're not... your father. You care about... other people. You don't... push anyone to... do something they... don't want to... do."

"I pushed you in here, didn't I?" Egon's eyes closed and he bowed his head in shame. "I'm so sorry."

"No!" Peter coughed harshly as he fought to speak. The dusty air ached his lungs and the pressure on his chest wasn't helping. Unable to speak any further he let out a pitiful gasping sound as he slowly lost consciousness.

"Peter? Peter!" Egon moved his hand up to Peter's neck again and felt the man's pulse slowing, as well as his head dropping down as his body went limp. Egon put his hand under Peter's chin and lifted his head back up slightly. "Peter, please wake up!"

Winston used all of his strength to push aside a massive beam with his shoulder. As the beam slowly, but surely was shoved aside several rocks were wedged loose and rolled out of the way allowing the hole to widen to a much large size.

"I can see inside," Winston peered inside the dark tunnel and leaned back. "barely."

"Can you see them?" Ray asked as he clumsily balanced on the rocks next to Winston.

"No."

"Can you slip inside?"

"Yeah, I think so." Crouching down Winston ducked under the beam over the entryway to the mine and tentatively found his footing on the unstable rocks inside the tunnel. "I can't see too far ahead, can you get a light out of the car?'

"Yeah, I'm on it!" Ray raced back to Ecto-1 and pulled open the rear compartment door where all of their equipment was stored.

"Peter? Egon?" Winston spoke loudly without actually shouting. "If you can hear us we're going to find you, just hold on a little longer."

Egon forced himself to kneel on his injured leg in order to place himself directly in front of Peter. The large beam that pinned Peter's shoulder was angled downward and wedged from one side of the tunnel to the other, Peter of course being pinned down against the wall as a result. A second large beam had fallen over Peter but it didn't crush him, rather it just formed a barricade that would make moving the first beam all the more challenging.

"Wake up. Peter." Egon patted the side of Peter's face a few times to rouse his friend. "You must wake up. If you stay asleep then-"

A moan from the depths of the mine made Egon freeze midsentence. The high pitched screech of his the PKE meter, the invaluable tool he dropped during the collapse, had detected a paranormal presence skulking about the mine.

"Peter," Egon slowly turned his head and focused on the source of the sound concealed behind a wall of fallen debris. Both ends of the tunnel were blocked by large rocks, timber and loosened earth. For anyone to still be moving about in the depths of the tunnels was an impossible feat, at least it would be for a mortal creature. "we're not alone..."

...to be continued...