Once Upon A Time ~ Book 1

Chapter 31 - Explosion

"Henry?" said Archie as he followed the track through the mines. "Ah!" he said as he stumbled over some rubble. "Henry? Henry?" he breathed heavily. "Henry?"
He saw a glimpse of Henrys flashlight ahead and ran towards him. "Henry? Henry?"
Henry was shining his flashlight between the rocks in the mine.
"You gotta slow down."
"There's something shiny down there." said Henry.
"Henry, this is seriously dangerous. We gotta get out of here."
"It could be something."
"Henry, look at me! Look at me!" he raised his voice.
Henry looked at Archie.
"I'm frightened for you and me."
"Because you think I'm crazy?"
"No! No. Because we are trapped underground in an abandoned mine, Henry, and there is no way out."
Henry's expression changed now, fear in his eyes.

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The people of Storybrook gathered around the abandoned mine. Archies dog barked aloud.
The builders and miners began to move rocks individually aside.
"Archie's smart." Marco reassured Emma, Regina and Graham. "He will keep the boy save until we get to them."
More rumbling came from the mine. The ground shook and people fell over and held on to each other for balance.
"Watch out!" cryed Marco.
"Stop! Stop!" cryed Regina.
"Clear the area!" cryed some one of the men. "Move! Move! Move!"
"You're making it worse." cryed Regina.
"I am trying to save him." said Emma walking towards her. "You know why he went in there in the first place, dont you? Because you made him feel like he needed something to prove."
"And why does he think he has anything to prove? Who's encouraging him?"
"Do not put this on me"
"Oh, please, lecture me until his oxygen has run out." tears came to her eyes and she turned away.
The dog continued barking and barking.

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Archie walked along the tracks in the mines, he could hear Pongo barking above. "Henry, do you hear that?" he said.
Henry followed. "It's Pongo!" he said happily and ran forward.
"Follow the noise." said Archie.

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Emma walked towards Regina again. "We have to stop this. Arguing won't accomplish anything."
"No it won't." he eyes wear red from crying.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Help me."
Emma nodded.

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"It's loudest over here." said Archie running to a dead end.
"What's this?" asked Henry.
Archie moved some scrape metal aside. "Looks like an old elevator."

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"We need to find some way to punch through the ground. We need something big." said Regina.
"Like what?" asked Emma.
"Explosives." said Marco.
Emma looked from Marco and back to Regina.

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"It's to get the mine workers in and out." said Archie as he walked into the old elevator. "It goes all the way to the top. That's why we could here Pongo." he looked up.
"Can we make it work?" asked Henry.
Archie stepped out of the elevator ad grabbed his umbrella. "Let's give it a shot."

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Everyone cleared the area around the mine.
"Okay, we're all clear." sais Emma to one of the miners.

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Archie pull the leaver of the elevator. "Come on!" he grunted. Henry helped him pull the leaver, but it only lifted a little.

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Regina hesitated. "Blow it." she said.
Everyone began to duck and shelter behind the cars and trucks around the area.
Archies dog Pongo whimpered helplessly.

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Archie and Henry still down belong heaved and pulled the leaver. They were gradually rising in the elevator.

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A miner clicked the button and the entrance to the mine exploded. The ground shook and the people stumbled above.

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The elevator shook and Archie and Henry let go of the leaver as they stumbled. Archie held Henry close to him as the elevator began to quickly fall back down.

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Above dust filled the air as everyone looked towards the entrance to the mine.
Emma stood up, ducked the yellow tape and ran towards it, through the dust.
Regina watched, worry in her eyes, as did everyone else. They crowded around the tape.
Emma ran back from the dust towards the crowd.
"Did it work?" asked Regina, nervously.
"It didn't open." she looked at Regina, fearful.
"Then what did it do?" asked Graham.

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Mary Margaret gathered her stuff in the hospital.
"Have a good day." she said to one of the patients, who sat near by.
"Hey." said David from the other end of the room, he began to walk towards her, smiling.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Home. I'm done for the day."
He nodded.
"Shouldn't you be resting?" she asked.
"Actually, Dr. Whale wants me to start physical therapy. I'm supposed to walk 30 minutes a day on a treadmill or outside with an escort. But they're kind of short on personnel because of that thing that happened at the mine."
"Oh!"
"So, maybe if there was a volunteer willing to help.........." he hinted.
She smiled and sighed.

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Mary Margaret and David stood by the lakes edge.
David sighed. "I'm trying to remember this place. It's like I woke up in some strange land."
They began to walk away from the lake and down the path, through the trees.
"Is anything coming back?"
He shook his head.
"What about when you're with her? You remembered your dog."
"Yeah, I lied."
"You did?"
"She's just so loving, I didn't want to disappoint her." he sighed again. "But none of it feels right. A dog named Ajax. Who would name a dog that?"
She chuckled.
"None of it makes sense. None of it........none of it feels real." he stopped.
"That sounds lonely." said Mary Margaret.
"Actually, one thing does feel real." he looked at Mary Margaret. "You."
"What?" she said confused.
"I know it's crazy, but I swear, you're the only thing in this whole place that.........feels right."
They stared into each other's eyes, David stepped forward.
"Kathryn." he said.
"Right."
"Kathryn." David began to walk past Mary Margaret, and when she turned she saw Kathryn standing near by.
"You're here." said David.
"I know it's outside of visiting hours but I needed to see you. I made some cranberry muffins. They used to be your favourite." she handed him a small basket.
David smiled and took the basket.
"I should leave you two." said Mary Margaret and she began to walk away.
"Wait, Mary Margaret." said David.
She turned around.
"See you tomorrow?"
She smiled and began to wal again.