‘What shall we try?’
Already Ben’s eye was drawn to the battery sign at the top right of the screen, flashing low.
‘We’ve only got a few goes at this. What shall we try?’ Ben’s voice was tight, the impossibility of their task starting to register.
‘I don’t know. 1, 2, 3, 4.’
Ben’s look was withering.
‘Well I don’t fucking know,’ Peter responded angrily. ‘What year were you born?’
It was desperate but as good as anything else. Ben tried Peter’s birth year, then his own. He was attempting a third combination when the phone died in their hands.
‘Shit.’
The word echoed around the vault.
‘What now?’
The pair stood quiet, staring forlornly at the locked hatch above them. Light seeped in through the cracks, illuminating the gun nestling quietly on the floor between them.
‘Nothing. There’s nothing…’
Ben’s words petered out as he turned and retreated into the dark. Slumping down in the coal, he was suddenly overwhelmed with despair. Why was this happening to them? What had they done?
He shot a glance across at Peter, who was pacing up and down, muttering to himself. Ben had never liked Peter, but he didn’t want to kill the guy, for God’s sake! Perhaps the gun wasn’t real? He got up to check, but the look Peter shot him made him sit straight back down.
Ben sat there in his own private hell. He had never been very good with enclosed spaces. He always liked to know where his escape route was in any given situation. But now he was trapped and worse than that trapped underground. Buried alive. Already his hands were beginning to shake. He felt lightheaded and sweaty, lights danced in front of his eyes. He hadn’t had a panic attack for years, but he could feel one coming on now. The world was closing in on him.
‘I’ve got to get out.’ Ben was stumbling to his feet. Peter turned, surprised and unnerved. ‘Please, Peter, I’ve got to get out. HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!’
He shouted and screamed to try and ward off the attack, but felt faint and had to stop. Surely someone would find them and rescue them? They had to. The alternative was unthinkable.