"I can't believe we're doing this, Mulder," Scully said for the fourth or fifth time, crawling in a narrow tunnel —a real one, this time— pushing her backpack in front of her, a flashlight stuck in her mouth or, at times, leaving her lips for her right hand when she had to expel out loud the words circling in her mind.
"Yeah, I know… Me neither," Mulder replied, leading the way through underground darkness. "Alice made it and she was only a girl. You're a strong woman, Scully, you can make it."
"She was following a rabbit, not a fox."
"I can be your white rabbit, if that pleases you."
Scully wasn't that pleased and stopped moving forward, trying to analyze the hole they had sunk into.
The smell of earth and wetness was strong and thick in her nostrils and mouth, yet, fortunately enough, a good rate of oxygen was still flooding in her lungs. Rolling on her back, flashing the way they came from, she wasn't able to see the entrance of the narrower hole they were navigating through anymore —were they crawling like beasts for dozens of minutes, one hour, more? She should have checked her watch.
Rolling back on her belly, she flashed forward; between her bag and Mulder's body, there wasn't anything more to spot.
"Mulder," she asked, "can't you see any end to this insanity? Anything telling us we won't be stuck here forever?"
"No, I'm afraid… It doesn't get narrower, though. On the contrary. Just tell me if, or when, you want to turn back. Maybe it's about time."
"Well, don't know yet."
They had begun their underground journey entering a discreet crack in the rocks, leading to a kind of cavern that was followed by a rocky corridor where they could still walk —though, head bent for Mulder. At some point, the corridor gradually became a tight tunnel, or a hole, and that was when they entered craziness for good.
Scully scanned thoroughly the walls surrounding her, scratching the soil and clay with her nails.
"Mulder?" she finally called.
"Yeah?" he answered, from yards away; he hadn't heard her stop.
"I'm afraid we've stepped into more dangerous ground. There's no rocks anymore to support the walls. I just see earth and roots."
"Dangerous?"
"Yeah… Like we could be buried alive."
"I see, unfortunate… Look, I think I discern a faint light straight ahead. Turn off your light, Scully…" Then, after a couple of seconds, "Yeah.. It could be."
"Okay, Mulder. Twenty more minutes crawling forward, and if there's nothing we're crawling back as fast as we can."
"Deal."
Scully checked her watch, starting the countdown in her mind, then resumed her crazy hard toil, wondering how much her muscles would be sore in a few hours.
She started on a good pace, reinvigorated by Mulder's hope, when, only a few minutes later, hell fell upon them.
The noise was deafening, the ground dreadfully shaking, and, as feared, dirt, earth, and whatever, crumbled all over their bodies and faces.
It didn't last long but felt like an hour; an hour of desperation, unable to breathe in, unable to reach and touch the other one, unable to yell a word of love, just able to die alone a few yards away from each other.