Higher Love

Chapter Eleven

***

I've been all around the world,
done all there is to do
But you'll always be the home
I wanna come home to
You're a wild night
with a hell of a view
There ain't no place,
ain't no place like you
*Backstreet Boys - No Place*

***

Emily's POV

Something about 12 hours earlier

When I come to my senses again everything around me is dark. No, not dark, black, I can see totally nothing, not even my own hand. I feel a pain on my head, I guess some rock has hit me there, but the pain isn't that bad. And nothing on my body feels broken. That's good.
I try to get up to my knees, very slowly because I have no idea where I'm located in the cave and where all these rocks have fallen. I feel the ground around me. To my right I feel stone, maybe the rocks that crashed down. To my left is nothing then the ground. Right to me under the stones I can feel the leather of my bag.
Oh thank god.
I pull it, but it doesn't move. Great, it seems squeezed under the stone, only the handle is looking out. So no phone.
But my flashlight is maybe here somewhere. I had it in my hand when the rocks had fallen. I start feeling the ground again, slowly and try to hit every inch.
After minutes of crawling my hand finds something of metall.
Oh yes, the flashlight, hope it still works.
Switch on
YES
It still works
The light is blending me a litte, so I need a bit to be able to look around.
Oh f*ck
That doesn't look good.
Massive rocks blocking the way outside.
I go nearer to where the exit was and try to shout through the stones: "Hello?"
But my voice is just a whisper. My throat is dry and I have no idea how much dust I inhaled.
I either think all this stone is too thick that my voice is able to go through.
And maybe there is no one out there any more.
I don't know what happens to them, are they all ok? Are they all at the hospital? Did I push Bradley strong enough so he wasn't squeezed?
Oh god, I really don't wanna think about it.
Stay positiv, Emily! You can do that! And now think! How can I get out of here?
I start to inspect the walls, over and over again.
Nothing!
I make my way back to the room behind the cave. Even here I inspect the walls. There has to be another exit, just in case the people need to escape.
But I can't find anything.
I let myself slide to the ground, leaning against the wall.
F*CK
What did I think when I told the students to climb on here? It was so f*cking stupid! I grab a stone and throw it away in frustration.
Klong
I look up. What was that?
I point the flashlight in the direction I threw the stone.
I can see it. It lies on the ground.
I crawl to it, grab it and start to knock the ground with it. After a few knocks, there is this sound again.
Klong
Oh f*ck yeah, there is something under the dirt, something else then stone.
Aaargh and my stuff is buried.
I try to dig with my hands, but the dirt is so hard after all these years, I can barely manage to get something.
I try it with the stone. I smash it and smash it against the ground over and over again. Finally, it felt like hours and it was probably hours, I lay something bare.
My hands hurt and sweat is running down my body.
In the light I see something like a little scuttle..