Emily sat on her bed and watched as Stanley put his apron on.
"Will that apron be enough?" she said. "Do you need mine as well?"
"I'll be fine, darling," said Stanley. "Mr. Roberts probably has some protective gear ready."
"No, it just doesn't feel right." Emily walked over to the kitchen and picked her apron from the wooden peg. It had red floral patterns and bows. "Wear this under yours. It'll be better than nothing."
Stanley smiled. "I'll wear it over mine," he said. "The flowers will brighten the mood for everyone in those cramped tunnels."
Emily returned a thin smile. She went behind Stanley and fastened the apron.
"I'm not very keen on this whole project," she said. "It's too dangerous for you in there."
"I've done it before and there will be others," said Stanley. He walked over to the door and opened it. "Do not worry."
"You know I will," she said. "Just be careful."
Stanley nodded at her and walked through the street. There was more of a bustle that day as many others walked in the same direction. They all whispered and carried excited faces.
"Will you be participating in the dig today, Mr. Barrett?" said a young woman.
Stanley turned to her. "Why yes," he said. "I’ll actually be leading the dig."
He reached the town square where a massive crowd had gathered. They were kept behind fences as the able bodied council members stood around two large, metal containers. Stanley walked to them.
"Mr. Barrett," said Mr. Roberts. "It’s good to see you."
"Hello," Stanley said. "Are these the supplies?" He pointed to the containers.
"Yes," Mr. Roberts said. "We found them in the storage chamber. Apparently our ancestors had planned for us to dig out. They kept a whole cache of drills in pristine condition."
"Are they better than our standard diggers?" said Stanley.
"These are much more powerful," said Mr. Roberts. "We’d be able to drill out in no time. But the amount of dirt that slides down may overwhelm us. So we’ve hired extra personnel who will help us siphon the dirt to the side as they fall."
"How many people are needed to dig?"
"The tunnels will be too small, so only two per drill," said Mr. Roberts. "There will be a total of eight separate tunnels in case some of them are unable to continue."
Victor approached and said, "They’ve paired me with you." He chuckled. "Nice apron."
"Thanks," said Stanley.
Victor said, "Come on. Let’s unload the tools."
The crowd of people huddled and watched as the council members opened the containers. Mr. Roberts stood over one and Victor stood over the other.
"I’ll be handing out protective gear," said Mr. Roberts. "Equip them as soon as you are handed one."
"After you’re done, come and take a drill from me," said Victor.
Stanley was given the first set of gear and he stepped aside. He fitted his chest--guard over his aprons. Then he secured the gauntlets, boots and helmet. He went over to the next container.
"Here, take this one," said Victor. He withdrew a large drill with two handles and a long metal tip. "Keep it turned off and don’t touch the tip. It’s pretty sharp."
Stanley set the drill on the floor and went over to Mr. Albertson, who was struggling to fasten his gear.
"Let me help you with that," said Stanley. He grabbed the gauntlet and secured it on Mr. Albertson’s arms. "You should stand back and manage the workflow."
"Don’t play soft with me," said Mr. Albertson. "I’m not going to stand around, pretending I have an important task, no. I’m going to get my hands dirty today."
Stanley returned to his drill and held it. He observed the buttons and figured out the functions which were simple: hold it by the handles and press the button to start. He ran his finger along the tip of the drill and recoiled when it pricked him.
"It’s dangerous, I told you," said Victor. He handed the last drill to Ailey. "I would use it, but I know you have more experience. Let’s go."
Stanley and Victor walked through the broken wall. The others trailed behind. When they reached the lake, Victor said, "Is there a way around?"
"No," said Stanley. "You walk through it. Don’t worry, it’s not too deep. It only goes up to your knees."
Stanley knelt down, removed his boots and folded his pants. "I suggest you all do the same," he said.
Victor placed the drill down and removed his boots. He folded his pants up to his knees. "I don’t suppose you could carry my boots for me," he said, "since I’ll be carrying the drill."
Stanley grabbed both his own and Victor’s boots.
Victor started forward into the water. Stanley followed him in. The others were reluctant to do so, first dipping only their toes in, but when Mr. Albertson walked straight in, they followed.
Stanley reached the other end of the lake and wiped his legs dry. The others did the same.
"Our teams need to prepare their digging routes," said Mr. Roberts. "Set eight corridors along the wall and have teams at the base, ready to start pushing the dirt away." He looked at slab of dirt at the base of Stanley’s tunnel. "I see that you’ve accumulated some dirt from your previous endeavor, Mr. Barrett."
"Yes, and if it’s all right, I’d like to continue digging through the tunnel I started on," Stanley said.
Mr. Roberts turned on the light on his helmet and looked up the tunnel. "Yours is far too steep," he said. "It may just collapse."
Victor looked inside the tunnel and said, "If it doesn’t collapse, we’re going to slide right out."
"We can make ledges to secure our feet on," said Stanley. "And I suppose we can slide out if needed. Heck, I used to do that sometimes on by sliding on my bag. I'm sure our gear would lessen the friction. We’ll just need a few men to create a ramp of dirt so we don’t stop too suddenly."
"It's a grand risk that it will only get more troublesome as you climb up," said Mr. Roberts.
"Why risk the trouble later on when we could just start a new one and go easily?" said Victor.
"We’ll be able to reach the surface much faster if we dig at a steeper slope," said Stanley. "And if that is a possibility, I am willing to take the chance."
"It seems you really want to break out of here," said Mr. Roberts. He turned to Victor. "Are you willing to dig in there?"
Victor stared at the tunnel and took a deep breath. "I guess it’s the logical thing," he said. He picked up his drill and walked over to the tunnel.
"Very good. But know that you can always stop," said Mr. Roberts. "The other men will be digging tunnels of their own."
"Of course," said Stanley. "I’ll begin right away." He walked over to Victor and said, "Hand me the drill. I have experience, I’ll climb first. I suggest that you climb at your own pace, and take time to adjust. Don’t risk yourself getting an injury."
"Yeah," Victor mumbled. He turned on his helmet light.
Stanley took the drill and went in first. He stepped on ledges to step upward. "Keep your feet wedged in something," he said. "If you take a flat step, you’ll slip."
Victor placed his foot on the ledge and grasped on a rock and climbed.
Stanley progressed quickly, his steps moving well to each ledge. When he bumped his head, he patted the end of the tunnel and looked down. He said, "Take your time. I’ll begin by myself."
Stanley stuck the handle of his drill into a ledge and placed a large rock on top of it. He reached into his apron pocket and withdrew his chisel and mallet. He turned his light on and shone it upon a vein of rubies. "There you are," he said. "I knew you were there." He took his chisel and picked around the edges of the vein. With care, he picked a small one out. Another vein seemed to stem deeper in. He took his chisel and picked at it.
Victor approached with cautious steps. "I don’t hear that drill going," he said.
"Yeah, I’m clearing some of this before we begin," said Stanley. He chiseled faster.
"Clearing what?"
"Som
e harder rocks."
Victor squeezed a glance in between Stanley.
"Those are rubies, right?" said Victor.
Stanley didn’t respond, he continued chiseling.
"You mean to tell me that you came up this way to get rubies for your wife?" said Victor.
Stanley remained silent.
"Damn the rubies!" Victor said. "We’re digging in this little hole because of you. You need to act right."
Victor yanked the drill from the ledge. "I’m going to be drilling," he said. "You stay behind and push the dirt down."
"No wait," began Stanley. "Let me just get these out." But Stanley was interrupted by the sound of the drill whizzing and whirring. Stanley swerved away as Victor aimed and pushed the drill upward. The metal tip tore at the rubies, dirt, and rocks, flinging them all over and quickly amassing mounds of them around Victor’s legs.
"Do your job and push them down," said Victor. The pile of dirt had climbed to his ankles.
"Fine, damn you," Stanley said. He pushed the dirt through Victor’s legs and they tumbled down. The falling dirt was relentless and pushed Stanley’s arm against Victor’s left leg, causing him to jerk and disrupt his aim. With both hands, Stanley held Victor’s foot up.
"You fool!" cried Victor.
"Act quickly, find a ledge," said Stanley. "I cannot hold you up for long, my own feet are slipping."
Victor’s arms dirtied as he held his violently spinning drill in place. He wriggled his left index finger free, and reached for the button, but his shaking leg made his arm tremble and the drill veered slowly to the left and he quickly repositioned his grip.
"Turn that stupid thing off," Stanley said.
"I can't hold it straight," Victor said.
Stanley pulled Victor’s foot to the wall and forced it into a ledge.
"You’re good now," Stanley said.
Victor deactivated the drill and looked down.
Stanley sat down and covered his face with his palm. His heavy breaths escaped through his fingers.
"That was close," Victor said.
Palm still over his face, Stanley said, "You think if you had waited to start drilling, that wouldn’t have happened?"
"I think you just had to push the dirt away in time."
"You know what, you're right. Arguing will get us nowhere," said Stanley. He lowered his palm and pointed to the drill. "Let’s prevent a clash and just work."
"Are you willing to do your job right this time?"
"Just start drilling."
Victor set his drill in place and proceeded to drill up. Endless amounts of dirt and rocks broke and fell. Stanley carefully pushed the dirt down the tunnel and he could not find a second to even stretch his arms. Only when Mr. Roberts called up the tunnel did they stop. His voice was faint, but incessant as he said, "Come down now."
Victor stopped and lowered his drill.
Stanley pushed the last mound of dirt down and called, "We will. Stay clear of the ramp." He turned to Victor. "Hand me the drill. I’ll take it down." Victor handed the drill over.
Stanley turned to lie on his back. He hugged the drill and pointed the tip of it down, away from his body.
Victor furrowed his eyebrows and said, "Are you going to slide down like that?"
"I’m experienced."
"You’re crazy, do you know that?"
Stanley chuckled and slid his foot out of the ledges and slid downward. His tough armor rubbed against the rocks, preventing him from sliding too quickly, and produced a coarse, grating noise. He kept his legs far apart as the drill worryingly shook and edged toward them. He slid out of the tunnel and down the ramp of dirt and continued until he stopped at the foot of the lake.
Mr. Roberts ran over. "That was quite the sight," he said as he helped Stanley up.
"I’m used to it now," Stanley said. "I’m glad you made that ramp. Otherwise, I would have had a deadly impact."
"I’m glad I did too," said Mr. Roberts. "Many of the others have already left. Leave your gear near your tunnel. Will Victor be coming down?"
"Yes. He's still getting accustomed to the slide. I'm sure he'll get down soon," said Stanley. He walked over to the tunnel and flashed his light inside. "Victor!" he called.
"What?" Victor said.
"Leave your gear down here."
"All right."
Stanley set the drill down and removed his gear. He placed every piece beside the drill and kneeled to fold his pants. He stood up and started through the lake.
"Aren’t you going to wait for Victor?" said Mr. Roberts.
"The guy can handle himself," Stanley said. He walked through the lake and continued barefooted, through the broken wall to the city. He passed town square where many had gathered to speak with the other men who had dug that day. But Stanley passed them, and made his way through the streets to his domicile. He knocked on his door and Emily answered.
"Oh Stanley," Emily said, looking him up and down. "You seem emptied."
"Just exhausted," Stanley said.
Emily led him inside. "Did you eat?" she said.
"No."
Emily handed Stanley a pill and a cup of water. "I thought you might have forgotten."
"I love you," he said. He took the pill and cup of water from her.
They leaned on the wall and simply stared each other in the eyes as they swallowed their pills. Without breaking eye contact, they drank the water, and they both smiled, but Stanley’s was weak.
"What’s wrong?" said Emily.
"I tried getting those rubies for you," Stanley said. "But that bastard Victor destroyed them." He ran his hand through his hair and stared down the street.
"Stanley," Emily said. "Stanley, look at me." She caressed his face with both hands. "Forget about the rubies. I don’t need anything like that. I need you as you are." She kissed his lips. "But first, take a shower."
Stanley smiled and hugged Emily. He stepped into the shower and remained in there for a long time. The hot water dug into his skin and trickled down his body, taking with them the dirt he had accumulated over the day, the dirt that had puffed and seeped through his clothes. He stepped out and dried himself and returned to his room.
Emily was awake in bed and he joined her. Throughout the night, they talked and laughed. Stanley told her what had happened in the tunnels and she told him about how worried Mrs. Roberts was about her husband. Stanley held her close as she fell asleep and he slept shortly after, as he lost himself to his dreams.
FIVE