“Keep looking!”
Matt thought it would be easier to find this hidden clue, considering he’d found several other helpful things already. However, they’d searched the mine over and over only finding a couple more flares and a stack of old paperwork and a pickax. The pickax was awesome, Matt admitted, and would probably come in handy. But nothing else really rang out as a clue to help them escape.
The bundles of paper they found consisted of old photographs of the minors previous, some boring work documents and letters, and newspapers. They could sift through it all day if they had that kind of time, but apparently, the mine was going to flood.
Matt checked the hole every few seconds to see how high the water was rising.
“Last time the hint was on pieces of paper, so it’s gotta be in this pile somewhere,” Jacob was looking at the photographs for the thousandth time.
Not only was water coming for them, but Jane was near immobile from her spider bite. Her skin was naturally pretty fair, but now she looked deathly pale. They made a spot for her to lean up against the wall while they searched. She was sweating, her arm was noticeably swollen, and she occasionally grabbed her stomach and looked like she was going to pass out.
“How’s it?” Matt said awkwardly. What do you say to a dying person?
Jane gave an unconvincing thumbs up.
“Wait…” Dwight spoke suddenly. He had one of the newspapers in hand.
“Find it?” Jacob asked.
“I’m not sure, but I have a hunch this hint is going to be just as vague as the last one. Look here…”
Matt sighed loudly, wanting this nonsense to end. The last hint they received was more or less completely useless. But Dwight seemed adamant about this one.
“This is an article about what happened down here. Possibly,” Dwight said, “I’m just taking a guess here since it seems like a coincidence.”
“Go on,” Jacob urged.
“A mine flooded and a handful of minors died. Most of them were able to escape floating on mine carts until they were rescued…About a handful drowned. And here! It’s the layout of the mine!”
Jacob grabbed the newspaper hastily. It wasn’t a very detailed map, but it was a map none the less! “Great we can definitely find an exit from here! Now where are we exactly…”
The mine was designed with four layers. Considering there were ladders above them and only the ground beneath them, it was safe to guess they were on the fourth and bottom floor. Jacob looked up.
“If this map can take us to an exit then it's a good enough hint for me,” Matt exclaimed.
Jacob nodded, “If there are mine carts on every floor we can stick Jane in them and push her. We might make it faster that way.”
“Sounds better than sticking around,” Matt agreed, “Let’s go!”
Matt was bummed Jacob got to carry the pickax but had to take care of the girl again. If he didn't know better he’d think she was already dead. She was cold to the touch. He helped her to her feet, but he knew the ladders would be problematic.
“Is there a handicapped route we can wheel her up?” Matt asked Jacob who still had the map.
“Actually…” Jacob said thoughtfully, “There’s a decline tunnel on the second floor. It’s still two ladders up, but it’ll take us straight out of here.”
“Up for it?” Matt asked Jane.
Another thumbs up.
They couldn't go up the ladder to the tunnel they just blew up, so Jacob picked another directing from his map. Dwight and Jacob climbed first to help Jane when she climbed. Matt could feel the weakness her arms and legs were experiencing. Even her vision was bad. She swayed and closed her eyes for the most part.
“Lift her up as much as you can and we’ll pull her up with us,” Jacob said.
The ladder was sturdy enough, but still pretty tall so it wasn't an easy venture. Jane tried with all her might to hold herself on the ladder, but she was too weak. Matt ended up giving her more of a piggy-back ride instead.
He had one hand on the ladder and one on Jane’s arm trying to hold her securely onto his back. It was probably a good thing he was fearing for his life; with all the adrenaline it wasn't hurting as bad.
Finally making it up one floor, they realized the water had started to fill up the pit and was spilling over. Depending on how long the tunnels were they would run out of time soon. Jacob followed his map looking up and back down constantly.
“If we’re facing this correctly we’ll want to take the ladders west of us… We should be able to find the decline tunnel up one more floor.”
Before, the mine had been pretty silent. That is before the mutant spiders arrived, the explosions, and now the rushing water. But a peculiar sound caught Matt’s attention.
It was the light splashing of water. Of course, that was to be expected, he thought. But it had a rhythm. A familiar rhythm at that. One, two, one, two, one, two.
Matt was bothered. He took care not to drop Jane as he peered down at the water. Not seeing anything interesting he proceeded to follow Jacob and Dwight. An iron bridge stretched out across so that they could from one side of the mine to the other. Matt supported himself by leaning on the iron railings as he walked. It was hard carrying anyone for this long.
Dangit! Matt looked back down feeling irritated now. This time, something definitely caught his eye. There were splashes that physically made no sense. One splash, a second plash, and they were right next to each other. However, there was nothing there to conjure the splash. The rhythm and sound reminded Matt of… stepping? As if someone was trudging through the water. He continued to watch and the splashing moved in sync with each other.
“What the…” Matt’s eyes narrowed.
“Matt,” Jacob insisted, “Come on.”
Disgruntled, Matt listened and pressed on. That sound really hit a spot in his gut and it was making him anxious. Something wasn't right, and not just that the mine was trying to drown them.
Matt got a prickly sensation on the back of his neck. Ugh, Matt was starting to feel sick to his stomach. Probably just the adrenaline wearing off…
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