Mines

Chapter One

     Clack. Clash. Clang.
     "Shit, shit, shit, shit." Herc kept whispering under his breath. I don't blame him, yesterday he got really bad blisters on his hands, he swore that they were the size of watermelons. Not that we've seen watermelons, we haven't seen real food in ages. The stale bread they gave out could hardly be classified as food, although at the end of the day, after working in the mines for twelve hours you'd take anything that'd sustain you from death. But, death might be acceptable for the majority here since this feels like it's never. Going. To. End.
     "Has anyone ever found a diamond?" I asked when I first came here, but no one answered. What I've learned is it's best to keep your mouth shut and concentrate on your work. Still, they find ways to condemn people anyways. Last week someone got charged for accidentally bumping into one of the guards. Nobody knew his name which made it more saddening to see his broken body on the ground.
     "Lunch!" called a hoarse voice from across the excavation. I gratefully lifted down by pickaxe and slumped against the wall, panting hard, sweat pouring down my face.
     "C'mon." Laf says tugging on my arm, and I follow him, getting into the line for handing the guard my pickaxe. Out of the thousands that will pile up by the end of the day, I doubt I'll ever see the same pickaxe again. Twenty people crowd onto an elevator at a time, although it's only supposed to fit five. We're all so tired, sweaty, and hungry none of us complain. But I think I'd have a thing or two to say if the elevator suddenly breaks down. Finally, sunlight breaks across my face as we enter the quarry and the huge pit that a million could fit into. They say our ancestors dug the entire pit for us and we're lucky since we don't have to dig as much as they did. But the only lucky one here is the "Captain" whose probably up in his base eating chocolate, looking down at his slaves. Because that's all we really are, slaves. The two of us sit on a smoothed out rock, eating the moldy bread a guard handed us as we passed him. Herc comes and sits next to us five minutes later. He's got worn out bandages around his hands and blood already stained them in several places.
     "Shit. This hurts so much." he winces.
     "Have you gone and seen the nurse?" I ask, wiping bread crumbs from around my mouth.
     "Yeah right," he snorts. "The nurse is a joke. 'Perseverance and loyalty to your masters will heal you right up.'" he mimics in a high squeaking voice.
     "Silencieux." Laf whispers, looking around at the gathering workers. None of which are watching us but he's right. You never know who might be listening.
     "Right right, my bad. My point is going to see the nurse isn't going to help my case." Herc responds.
     "He'll give you the rest of the day off. That's worth it." I say.
     "For something like blisters? They're as common as stone around here. I wouldn't get the day off if I was dying." He contradicts.
     "No, we'd throw a party if you were dead. Free at last!" Laf giggles.
     "Ha ha, very funny." Herc grumbled. If it weren't for Hercules and Lafayette, I'd probably starve myself a long time ago. Talking to them is one of the only things that gets me through the day.
     "Hey John, look up." Laf nudges me, looking somewhere towards the sky. I don't see what he means right away, but then it hits me. The base that the Captain owns is swarming with activity. That can only mean one thing.
     "Poor guy." Laf whispers. Yes, whenever you see activity around the Captain's camp it means there's a new slave coming to work in the mines.

     "Laurens!" a voice shouts at me and I swear I almost drop my pickaxe.
     "Yes sir!" I call back at him.
     "Come here!" he orders. I slump down, dragging my pickaxe against the floor, and as I pass Herc and Laf give me frightened looks. Getting called out during working is never good, never. I'm most definitely in trouble for something I didn't do and my life is going to be taken by the end of the week.
     "Sir." I say gloomily.
    "Chin up Laurens," he commands and I raise my head. He looks out of place here in the mines. His clean crisp uniform next to all of our dirty and tattered clothes. He wordlessly holds out a white gloved hand and I give him my pickaxe. He points towards the elevator and follows me as I step on. As we clatter and clank our way to the top I think of all the possible things I may have done to upset the Captain, but nothing comes to mind. Maybe he heard you talking trash about the nurse. I think. No mistreatment of any of the staff is allowed here, not even low ranking officials like the head nurse. My train of thought stops as we reach the top. I'm about to get off when the guard pulls me back. "No. We're going higher." he says. Higher. I've never been higher then here. Damn, I must be in serious trouble. Once we reach even higher, the guard leads me out of the elevator, and I look down at the pit below, hundreds of feet is the sharp rocky ground which screams death. Here's the thing, even if you manage to reach the elevator, which is the only way of transportation up and down the quarry, you'd have no place to go. Beyond here is a stretch of desert as far as the eye can see. At least here they have decent enough food and water. "This way." The guard says, pulling my shoulder and leading me to the fortress where my  doom awaits.