A Race Against the Mine

A group of young children sat around an elderly man in his parlor and pleaded, "Please tell us a story, Großvater Jakub." The elder shook his head for a moment and gave a small nodded. He looked out into the distance and gave a smile.

"As you wish, but this is a ravaging tale of a long-ago battle. September of 1863 if I remember. The Ottoman Empire invaded Austria and was headed here. When the Holy League caught word of this, both the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth sent troops, but they did not arrive for quite some time. Now, don't interrupt me, you hear? Yes, that means you too Jan."

Because of a battle raging outside, the city walls shook and threatened to give way and crumble, allowing the Turkish Janissaries to enter and pillage the city of Vienna. A baker cowered in his store, flinching at every gunshot. A mother desperately consoled her children. A Viennese soldier on the wall fired at a Turk soldier and hid behind the wall to reload. Another Viennese soldier crawled through the dirt hurriedly. He was searching for a bomb the Turks had placed the day prior. His comrade mumbled under his breath, "Mein Gott, this siege is Hell. Hey, Jakub, how long have they been attacking?"

"Two months now? I just know these guys won't give up," the other soldier, Jakub replied. He shrugged away from his teammate and continued swinging his pickaxe at the dirt. "Just stay vigilant will you, David? I don't want a Janissary to drop down our hole and shoot us before we even know they're down here," Jakub griped.

David shrugged and faced the way they had come, lifting his musket. "I don't see the point though- No one is foolish enough to go down here with a lit bomb waiting to explode," he mumbled, "No one foolish enough besides us." Jakub let loose a light, nervous laugh. They worked in silence for a time. Clank. Groan. Clank. Groan.

"This is futile anyway. The Turks have us beat. Those reinforcements the Empire sent aren't enough to save us, and the Commonwealth ain't nowhere to be seen. They're just going to keep digging tunnels, planting more bombs, and killing us all. We are fighting a doomed fight. If we surrender, they might spare us. I have a family to think about," David ranted.

"David, are you suggesting fleeing in the face of the enemy? If someone higher up would find out about that, the Turks would be the least of your worries. Dude, shut up and stay vigilant. The sooner we get done with this tunnel, the sooner we can get out of this death trap. I don't like being in here any more than you, so just shut up and focus on not getting us exploded," Jakub snapped back, swinging his pick. When he pulled back the tool, he saw a small hole. "Shit, David, I think we found it! Give me a hand, we need to defuse this bomb. NOW!" he cried. David cast aside his musket and rushed forward to help dig with his hands. The hole became bigger and bigger until they heard some grunting, chatter, and hustling from the other side of the hole. Jakub held his breath to prevent himself from panicking. Very slowly, he quietly said, "David. I think there are some people on the other side of the hole. Get your gun, but be quiet. I don't know if they know we are here. I'm going to stop digging for a second. The moment I do, stick your gun in the hole and shoot the motherless cur on the other end."

David slowly took a few slow steps back to where the musket had been discarded. He then hurried back to the hole. Jakub ducked out of the way, and David plunged the barrel into the hole and pulled the trigger. The tunnel was encased in a moment of silence before the other end of the tunnel was filled with the angry shouting of Turkish soldiers. Both Jakub and David hugged the wall, Jakub raising his pickaxe and David desperately reloading as fast as he could. A smooth metal tube extended from the hole. A moment later, a fireball spurted from the tube. David yelped and hurried even faster on loading his gun again. "David! David, are you hit?" Jakub cried.

"Yeah. he grazed me though, thank God. Clear out, I'm loaded, I'll make sure he isn't as lucky," David spat and tumbled forward. He pushed the gun through the hole and took aim. On the other side of the hole, a desperate-looking boy of around seventeen frantically worked with his own musket. He looked up from his weapon and his eyes widened to twice their size. BANG! And then a soft groaning.