Chapter 19
"This isn't a cave," Dean commented as he looked at the abandoned, rusted, broken pieces of equipment lying around the entrance. "It's a mine of some kind."
"Probably gold or silver," Sam offered. "There were mines scattered around this side of the state, but I think most have been shut down."
Fred pranced back and forth at the entrance and yipped as he sniffed the air and whined to the brothers. He knew at least one of the teenagers had gone into the mine.
"Dean, Sam, do you read me?" John's voice crackled in their ears.
"Yeah Dad; we can hear you," Dean replied.
"We found two of the teenagers and sent them back to the camp with Charlie. Any luck on the other two?"
"We found an old mine and the way Fred is acting, I'm sure they went into it."
"We're heading your way. What's your coordinates?"
"Hold on, Sammy where are we?"
"The coordinates are 41.665 degrees north, 103.732 degrees west," Sam told John.
"Got it. We'll be there as quickly as we can."
"Did you feel those trembles earlier?" Dean asked.
"Yes, let's hope we don't get any more of them. You" boys be careful in that mine."
"Alright." Dean looked at the mine entrance and slipped his pack from his shoulders to get out a headlamp and put it on. "C'mon Sammy, I bet they got lost in the mine."
"I'm right behind you," Sam replied digging his own headlamp out and slipping it over his head.
The brothers turned their lights on and shouldered their packs before entering the mine. They let Fred take the lead, guiding them down the main tunnel until it branched off in three different directions. After a moment, Fred chose the tunnel on the left and led them deeper into the mine. Sam was using chalk to mark their path so they could find their way out.
When they came to another intersection, Fred started one way but stopped and started another way and paused again.
"What is it Fred?" Sam asked watching Fred go back and forth.
"I think they got separated maybe around here," Dean offered looking perplexed. "How or why, I don't know."
"I'll go this way, you head that way," Sam told him. "Be sure to mark your path."
"Be careful. Some of these tunnels don't look that stable."
"You do the same."
Dean disappeared into one tunnel and Sam headed to the other one. Dean moved quickly down the dark tunnel letting his light sweep back and forth following the twists and turns until it ended in a cavern that looked like it had been partly mined. Fred ran ahead of Dean toward the back of the space and barked loudly, the sound echoing all around them. Dean heard noises and went to investigate, finding a teenage boy crouched in the corner trying to shield himself away from Fred.
"Fred, down," Dean commanded as he stepped to the boy.
"Hey, you wanna get out of here?" he asked him.
"Y-Yes," he answered in a trembling voice.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Don't mind Fred, he won't hurt you."
The teenager stood and stumbled toward Dean as Fred pranced around him. Dean helped steady the boy and headed back the way he had come. He felt the ground shake again under his feet and moved them quicker as small rocks and debris fell around them. This didn't feel like an earthquake, but the source of the danger was beneath them. If there were tunnels below them and they were collapsing, that would destabilize the entire mine, Dean thought. They needed to get out of this death trap.
spn
Sam walked cautiously down the dark tunnel, letting his light shine on the floor where he found footprints in the dirt. He came to a branch and checked to see where the footprints went before taking the tunnel on the right. He marked the intersection with the chalk before continuing down it. Sam stumbled into the wall as he felt the ground shift under his feet. He covered his face as dust cascaded from the ceiling. He steadied himself and continued down the tunnel taking another branch that seemed to bend back on the other tunnels. He hadn't gone far when soft singing caught his attention.
"Hello," Sam called as he hurried toward the sound.
"Hello," a male voice called back. "I'm lost."
"I know, I've been looking for you. Are you hurt?"
"No, my light died, and I didn't know what to do."
Sam turned his light towarde the voice and found the teenager sitting on the ground in a crack just big enough for him.
"Let's get you out of here." Sam held out his hand to help him up. He got them heading back down the tunnel when things got worse as the ground seemed to shift under their feet. Rocks and debris started pelting them from the ceiling striking them on their heads and shoulders. Sam went down when a large chuck from above collided with his head. He felt something warm and wet running down the side of his face.
"Are you okay?" the teenager cried out trying to help Sam up from the ground.
"Keep going," Sam gasped as he wiped his eye so he could see. He got to his feet and tried to move faster before everything came down on them or collapsed under them. He could hear the groaning and shifting of the ground beneath their feet and knew that wasn't good.
"Sammy!" a familiar voice echoed down the tunnel. "Sammy can you hear me?"
"Go," Sam groaned jerking the light off his head and pushing it into the boy's hands. "I'll be right behind you."
"I can't leave you," the boy whined.
"Go on, that's my brother, he'll come and help me," Sam insisted as he slid down the wall to the floor when his vision blurred and the pounding in his head seemed to get worse.
The boy paused for only a moment before turning to jog down the tunnel toward the voice. He finally saw a light ahead of him and called out.
"Where's Sammy?" Dean asked when he saw the teenager was alone.
"Back there," the boy pointed back into the darkness.
"Jeff," the other teenager finally spoke. "Where did you go?"
"I got turned around and my light went out," the boy responded grabbing him in a hug.
"Listen to me you two," Dean stated firmly. "Fred will guide you out of here. I'm going back for Sammy."
"He got hurt by falling rocks," the boy offered.
"Fred, take them out of here. Go," Dean commanded to the dog. "Go on, follow him." He watched the boys disappear and turned to head down the tunnel in search of his brother. He could feel the wall tremble under his hand before the whole place began to shake again in an aftershock. Dean took off running as rocks fell around him and the floor started giving way. He made a dive and rolled as the ceiling fell behind him. He lay on the ground with his face covered until the noise of the falling rocks stopped. After a few minutes, the dust settled, and Dean raised his head to shine his light behind him to see the tunnel was blocked. Seeing he wasn't going back that way, Dean got up coughing and wiping the dust from his face and continued down the tunnel.
"Sammy, can you hear me?" Dean called out as he searched for his brother. He rounded a curve and searched with his light seeing something on the ground ahead of him. "Sammy," Dean whispered hurrying toward the mound. He dropped to the ground beside his brother and let the light play over his body. There was blood coating one side of his face, and he was covered with dust and debris. "Sammy can you hear me?" Dean asked feeling for a pulse and sighed with relief when he felt it beating strong under his fingers.
"Mmmm…" Sam groaned painfully as he tried to turn his head and see what was happening.
More of the ceiling crumbled on top of them as Dean got Sam on his feet and stumbled away from the falling rocks. He didn't stop until they were far enough away from the collapse to be safe.
"Okay Sammy let's get you looked at," Dean told him as he eased him to the ground and leaned him against a large boulder. He got his pack off and pulled out a high-powered flashlight to use. He positioned it where he could see Sam so he could see where the blood was coming from. "Man, one of those rocks hit you pretty good," Dean told him as he pushed Sam's hair out of the way. He pulled out the first aid kit and a bottle of water. "Here bro, drink some of this."
"Teenagers…" Sam asked as he tried to get up.
"Whoa dude, they're okay. Fred took them out. Sit still so I can clean this head wound and bandage you up. It's not that bad, thank goodness, but you know how head wounds bleed. Are you hurt anywhere else?"
"Don't think so…" Sam grimaced when Dean wiped the blood from his temple. "Arm and shoulder hurt a little…". He could feel Dean's gentle fingers prob around the gash for a moment before wiping it with an alcohol wipe making Sam jerked away from him and say a few choice words.
"Hold still," Dean ordered as he found the butterfly bandages and closed the gash. He smeared cream over it and covered it with a pad for protection and wrapped gauze around his head to keep it in place. "Okay, all done. Let me look at your shoulder and arm." Dean helped Sam take his jacket off his left arm and unbuttoned his shirt to check them. He saw bruising already showing and several swollen places, but nothing looked broken. "Doesn't look bad," he told Sam as he pulled his shirt back in place and draped his jacket over his shoulder. "Here, take a couple of pain pills to ease the pain." Dean shook two pills out and gave them to Sam.
"Okay," Sam said accepting the pills and slipping them into his mouth. He washed them down with the water before continuing. "Okay, let's get out of here," Sam mumbled as he fought the headache that was building.
"Yeah, about that…" Dean started.
"What's wrong?"
"That last quake sort of collapsed the tunnel."
"We're stuck in here?" Sam's weak voice asked.
"I think there's more tunnels under us that are unstable and causing the ones we're in to collapse."
"That doesn't sound good. If they try to dig us out, it might destabilize this place more."
"Maybe not. We can see if there's another tunnel that connects back to the main one or there might be another exit. You know these mines always have more than one way out for emergencies. We just need to find it. That said, you stay here and let me scout around and see if I can find anything."
"I'll be fine," Sam fussed as he started to get up but thought better when everything went sideways.
"You do as I say bro," Dean insisted giving Sam his headlight and keeping the high-powered light. "I won't be gone long. I just need to check ahead."
Sam snorted but did as Dean told him since he didn't want to risk getting hurt by stumbling around and falling. He let the light shine the way Dean headed and watched him until he was lost in the darkness. Sam was trying not to panic since he learned of their predicament. He hoped Dean was right and he could find them another way out of this mine.
A/N: Thanks for coming along for the ride. I do like reviews/comments. NC
