As the rumbling started to die, the siren started to blare. “FUCK!” I ran for the stairs. I needed to get changed, fast!
I was out the door in less than two minutes and bolting up Olympia Road toward the mine. Clearly the worst thing that could possibly have happened had occurred at the site. My lungs and back were burning from the excursion and strain I was putting them through to get there as fast as possible, not letting up.
Men from other shifts were also flying out of their homes, dressed and ready to go. The rule of thumb was to expect the unexpected and think the worst. That way the only way to be caught off guard was if the outcome wasn’t as bad, and we weren’t needed.
But it was looking bleak the closer we got. The homes and buildings looked more and more damaged, windows blown out completely, some shifted off their foundations.
When I got there, the one side of the Dry Room that faces the mine’s tunnel mouth had partially collapsed and all the windows were blown out of both that building and the office.
I looked toward the mine tunnel, and I was left speechless, frozen in shock, tears making their way to the surface and spilling over from the rush of fear that was flooding my system. The tunnel was coughing out a mix of black smoke and coal dust, like it had taken too big a draw on a cigar. Except it’s never ending.
The whole mountain side where High Street used to be in the distance on the other side of the tunnel– was gone. Like it never existed. Right up to where the church steps used to meet the sidewalk and street. It was a miracle the church was still standing, with stairs now leading to nowhere.
Out of my peripheral vision I sensed someone approaching. I turned and it was Tom. I wiped the emotions off my face with my hand, not wanting to show them even though my eyes were probably already tinged pink from my salty tears. “Jim, you shouldn’t be here.”
“Like hell!” I gave him an astonishing expression like, where else would I be.
“You are still hurt. I can’t have you help. It’s already bad enough! Go home,” ending the demand in a tone that would normally leave no room for negotiation.
But not today.
I needed to know something, anything about the situation. My nerves couldn’t take being sent away knowing the love of my life, his father and my best friend were down there. “Do we even know what happened? Can you at least tell me that? Do we have communication with the emergency line?”
Tom groaned, “Jim–”
“Please, Tom. I can’t just sit by and wait when my– Charlie is down there. Without knowing something.”
“Fine. I’m talking quick, so catch it now. I don’t have time for questions. No, we don’t have communication. My office was broken into sometime in the night. Not only did they ransack the place and the Dry Room, but they also cut the phone line. We didn’t notice until after shift had started.
“The power is out, so I have a team in the tunnel trying to get the lift back up and running so we can get men topside. We don’t know what happened other than there was an explosion. Probably from dynamite that was taken from my office, that had been secured away. The lock was busted. We don’t know who the culprit is. The police have been here all morning,” he swiped his hand to the tunnel and the site that was now forever changed.
I gulped my nervousness down. This was bad. There was no way there were no casualties. This was a rescue and a recovery mission. “You can’t have me go down there, fine. I understand. Keep me here to help above ground,” we stared each other down. “You are going to need all the help you can get, Tom.” I was winning this round, God help me.
Tom’s nostrils flared with air. “Fine. Do not, and I mean under any circumstances go near that tunnel. Do you understand me?”
“Yes.” He pointed in the direction behind me, so I turned around and saw a flock of people coming our way. “Oh fuck.”
“Take care of that. Keep people out of here that shouldn’t be here. Let in the workers, police and the number of ambulances that I am sure will be showing up soon.” I looked back at him and nodded. As I started to walk to the end of the lane to head everyone off, Tom called and made me look back, “Jim. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”
I exhaled and nodded my thanks soundlessly. It’s taking me everything I had not to run into the tunnel and to hold my emotions together.
Throughout the task of holding everyone back, being yelled at, pushed and questioned, my own worry just kept building. More and more townspeople arrived, some that didn’t even have family members that worked here, like Betty.
She appeared out of thin air saying she was at the library when it happened, thankfully safe behind the desk. She told me shelves fell all over the place, books scattered every direction imaginable, and every window inside and out shattered, which made sense with the library being on the edge of the mountain, like the church, and close in proximity.
Betty went to my place first, but I didn’t answer and the door wasn’t shut all the way, so she went inside. Finding I wasn’t there, she came back here. Using her god gifted talent, Betty helped me with the crowd after I filled her in on what I know from Tom. Her voice carried farther and more harshly than mine, not caring to hold her tongue like she normally would at the library.
The local mountain doctors showed up with their medical bags, ready to help. Either it was God’s sign he sent angels to help or sent them to welcome those to his kingdom in Heaven. More police did show, along with three ambulances, but I had this bad feeling we were going to need more than that to transport people, when an idea struck. “HEY! EVERYONE! LISTEN!”
“Do you have an update?”
“Are our husbands and sons safe?”
“When will they be rescued?”
“QUIET!!!!” One thing’s for sure, Betty didn't need a bullhorn.
“I need your help to prepare! Can everyone hear me?” There was a murmur of responses. “I don’t know how many more ambulances will arrive or how many we will need. We don’t know the conditions of anything right now. But if you or someone you know have a car or any motor vehicle that can be driven into the city, go and get it… Now! Line up along E Sycamore Street facing toward where we are now,” I pointed to the right, in the direction I want them to regroup. “If we need to transport people ourselves, we can be ready to pull up one at a time to load and go.”
