“In my bag,” Jack waved at his backpack.
Stephen was pawing through Jack’s pack when they heard a thump from down the narrow passage.
“Did you hear that?” asked Stephen.
“Yeah,” said Jack as he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled “BEN?”
They froze, Jack by the map and Stephen kneeling at Jack’s pack. They listened intently, but didn’t hear any more sounds.
“C’mon,” said Jack, jumping up and nearly hitting his head on the low ceiling.
“Hold up—take this,” Stephen held out Jack’s pack.
They got to the first intersection and pointed their flashlights down the right turn.
“He kept going when I turned back,” said Stephen. He led Jack further down the hall. They reached the second right turn, the one they had planned to take, but there was still no sign of Ben.
“He would have gone this way,” said Stephen. “We said straight, second right, third left.”
“Wait, third left?” asked Jack he was consulting his drawing of the map.
“Yeah—let me see,” said Stephen. He turned to face the same direction as Jack and they both looked.
“I don’t think this line here is supposed to be a hall,” said Jack, pointing at the first left off the passage they stood in front of. “This line was a different color, and I’m not sure it really intersects.”
“Shit, you’re kidding,” said Stephen. He started to head down the passage to the right.
“Stop, let me do this,” Jack had wriggled off his pack to get out the duck tape. He peeled off a strip and then divided it in two and tore on of those pieces in half. He laid out an arrow on the floor that pointed in the direction they came.
“Okay,” said Jack.
They continued down the hall, nearly crawling under the short ceiling. Jack was starting to feel uncomfortable in this confinement, but ignored it and moved quickly to find his friend. They passed one left turn and Jack stopped at the second.
“I think this is the tunnel we want to take,” said Jack.
“And Ben would have taken the next one,” said Stephen.
“Yup,” said Jack, looking at his map again. “But he wouldn’t have even gotten there according to this.” he said.
“There’s a trap on this hall?” Stephen had begun crawling down towards the third left, but this news brought him to a halt.
“Yeah, check it out,” said Jack. The map showed an “X,” Jack’s version of the Jolly Roger, past the second real left.
“BEN?” Jack yelled.
They waited again to see if there would be a response, but heard nothing.
“Hey Ben!” yelled Stephen.
After a few moments, Stephen asked “So what do we do now? He probably tripped a booby trap or something. What if we get caught too?”
“He wasn’t expecting it, but we are,” said Jack. “Let’s just take it really slow and try to figure it out.”
“Okay,” said Stephen.
On their hands and knees, they crawled nervously down the tight tunnel. Stephen took the lead and leaned down frequently to study the passage from a different angle. When they reached the third left turn without incident, Stephen turned around.
“Shouldn’t we have hit something by now?” Stephen asked.
“According to this we should have,” said Jack. “There should be another one down there also.” Jack pointed his light down the third left.
“I wish Ben hadn’t gone on without that tape.”
“Shit, we should have been marking these intersections?” said Jack.
“Why? We just went straight,” Stephen argued.
“Yeah, but if we get turned around, we’re not going to know what straight was,” said Jack.
“Let’s go back then,” said Stephen. “Last thing we need is for all of us to get lost. We’ll mark them and then look harder for some sign of Ben.”
“Okay,” said Jack. “Oh wait—if he’s trapped behind something, we might be able to still see his light. We should turn off our lights and see.”
“Yeah, good idea.”
When they switched off their lights Jack immediately noticed how loud his heart was beating. He could hear his own breathing, and if he focused, Stephen’s breathing as well. Suddenly they heard a familiar sound, distant and muffled.
“Ben’s watch!” exclaimed Stephen. They both fumbled with their lights and they came on simultaneously.
“Back this way,” said Jack. Shuffling back the way they came, they had to stop frequently to listen for the watch alarm. Jack stopped when they crouched between the second and third left. “It’s getting quieter.” he said.
Stephen pressed his ear to the floor. “I think it’s coming from under here,” Stephen backed up and Jack came forward a bit. Jack put his ear to the floor and confirmed Stephen’s findings. “Hey Ben!” Stephen pounded on the floor with his palm.
“Ben!” Jack added. They pounded for a few seconds and then waited. They could still hear a watch alarm going off, but nothing else. Pounding harder this time, their screams were almost becoming panicked. “Ben! Hey Bey!” they shouted.
Stephen stopped and Jack paused as well.
Muffled they both heard “Ungh,” from below the floor.
“Can you hear us?” Stephen yelled. There was no reply.
Jack felt around for any seam or crack in the floor. He pressed firmly on the floor, walls, and ceiling, looking for the trigger. Stephen followed Jack’s lead and soon they both pressed on every surface.
“There’s got to be some…” Jack was cut off by a groan from below. It was louder than before.
“Ben?” Stephen called. “Are. You. There?” he said slowly.
They heard a muffled reply from below. Jack pressed his ear to the floor. “What?” said Jack. This time he could make out the reply.
“I’m in a hole,” they heard Ben say from below.
“How did you get down there?” yelled Jack.
“I don’t know,” they heard Ben say. “It smells funny down here.”
Stephen looked up at Jack—“We gotta find out how to get down there,” he whispered to Jack.
“No shit,” said Jack.
“What about the map?”
“It doesn’t have that much detail—I don’t think we’re going to learn anything useful,” replied Jack.
“Fuck me,” exclaimed Stephen.
“He must have been crawling along and then done something to open up the floor,” said Jack
“Yeah, unless he’s right, and there’s someone else here,” said Stephen.
“Well, there’s nothing we could do if that’s true, so let’s assume it isn’t,” said Jack.
“What are you guys doing?” Ben asked from below. “Get me out of here.”
“Hold on,” yelled Jack. “We’re working on it.”
“Call your parents!” Ben said.
“I said hold on, Ben. We’re almost to you,” Jack lied.
Stephen looked at him reproachfully and Jack shrugged his shoulders.
“Let’s just try a couple of things,” Jack whispered. “Take this,” he handed Stephen his backpack. Jack started with flipping over onto his back and pressing against the ceiling with his feet. He thought he could feel the floor give a little where Ben sounded loudest.
“We should just break the floor,” said Stephen. “That’s all the fire department would do.”
“With what?” asked Jack.
“Don’t we have a hammer or something?”
“I don’t, no,” said Jack.
“Hey Ben, you got a light down there,” said Stephen.
“Yeah, but it doesn’t work,” Ben replied.
“Shit,” said Stephen. “What if you need to shine a light on just the right thing or something?”
“I don’t know,” said Jack. “Doesn’t sound like a reliable trap. You want it to get someone every time.”
“Yeah, unless someone’s already in there,” said Stephen.
“Hey! Maybe that’s it,” Jack was excited. “Maybe because he’s already down there, we can’t get it to open up!” Jack raised his voice again—“Hey Ben, how far apart are your walls? Can you lift up off the floor for a second?”
“I don’t know,” they heard Ben say. “Yeah, but I can’t hold here long.”
Jack backed up and waved for Stephen to do the same. Jack then tried to walk the way he had seen Ben move earlier—hunched way over with his right hand on the ground.
“I can’t hold this much longer,” Ben said from below.
The floor started to move right where Ben's voice sounded loudest. Jack braced his legs on the walls, and then leaned into his hand.
The floor fell away as a trapdoor opened. Jack began to tumble into the hole. From the other side, Stephen’s hand shot out and grabbed Jack, arresting his fall. Jack regained his balance and braced himself against the far side.
They couldn’t see Ben in the dark. Stephen let go of Jack’s hand and pointed his light into the hole just as Ben lost his grip on the walls and fell to the floor. With Ben’s weight pressing down at the bottom of the pit, the trapdoor began to rise back up into place, but Jack thrust his hand in the gap to stop it from closing.
The trapdoor shut hard on Jack’s hand and he cried out in pain. “Get off the floor!” he yelled to Ben below. Ben sprung back up, and Jack pull his hand out.
“Bag,” Jack said to Stephen, reaching toward his pack. When he had his pack propping open the door he looked down at Ben—“Okay” Jack said.
Ben lowered himself to the floor and the door closed on Jack’s pack but was unable to latch.
“Give me a hand, will you?” Jack reached his injured hand toward Stephen who took it in both of his. Stephen pulled Jack to the far side of the hole. They looked through the gap made by the backpack. Ben stood about ten feet below.
The pit was narrow enough—Ben could brace his back against one wall and his feet against the other to hold himself off the floor. Jack suggested that might be his way out.
“Can you climb up here by bracing against the wall?” Jack asked Ben.
“Maybe,” Ben said. “Catch” he said as he threw his backpack up to Stephen.
He put his back against one wall and pushed with bent legs against the opposite. Pressing behind himself, he could raise his back up several inches and then shuffle his feet up. When he got bolder with his arms, and pushed himself up about a foot, he really started to make progress.
“Get ready to grab me—I don’t know what I’m going to do at the top,” said Ben.
“Okay,” said Jack.
Jack and Stephen pressed the trapdoor out of the way completely now that Ben’s weight was off the floor. When Ben got high enough he had to step on the folded trapdoor to go higher.
“I should have started the other way,” said Ben.
“Yeah, but it would be harder to pull you out if you were sideways,” said Jack.
“Just get a little higher and we can grab you,” said Stephen. “Oh shit—you’re head is totally fucked up.”
“Yeah? It really kills,” said Ben.
Stephen shone his light on Ben’s head where his hair was matted down with blood. Ben slid his torso up as high as he could without planting feet on the trapdoor. “This is it,” Ben said. He raised his arms up to Stephen and Jack. They each grabbed a hand, and leaning over the edge of the hole, tried to grab Ben under his armpits.
“Okay, go slow,” said Jack.
With support, Ben was able to kick against the folded trapdoor and get even higher. His feet flailed somewhat when they got his head and shoulders above the floor level, but then Ben kicked off and popped out of the hole to fall in a heap with Jack and Stephen. The trapdoor closed behind him and snapped into place.
“Jesus, you okay?” asked Jack.
“I don’t know,” Ben gently patted at his head with his hand. “How does it look.”
“Bad,” said Stephen. “Were you like knocked out or something?”
“I think so,” said Ben. “I woke up in the dark and my alarm was going off. I was upside down, like resting on my head.”
“Wow, that sucks,” said Jack.