NOT IMPOSSIBLE CHP. 7

7 

I N T O   T H E   T U N N E L S 

We traveled farther than I thought we could go. Deep, deep, into the small confined black space. It was quiet, but I could hear muffled footsteps above us.

“Daniel…you shut the lid, right? They have no idea we’re down here…”

I froze. “Um…no?”

Trinity flinched so hard, her back hit the hall. 

“Quiet!” I shushed her. “They can probably hear us!”

“Daniel, we’re going to die! They’re gonna find us! You didn’t even shut the lid!”

I groaned in frustration. The space was too small to turn around, so I just had to speak to her facing the endless black trail. 

“Trinity, listen, we are not gonna die. You’ve seen thriller movies, right? The good guys face a lot of dangerous obstacles in the beginning, but in the end, they always get to safety.”

“But that’s a movie, Danny. This is real life!”

It was deathly quiet. And then—

“Trinity?”
“What?”

I straightened up just a little tiny bit, and to my surprise—I didn’t hit the ceiling right above me. I straightened more. Then I sat up. “Trinity, there’s an opening, look!” I shone my flashlight, but I could see was the little streak that cut through the darkness. Slowly, we made our way farther through the tunnel, until I took her hand and we stood up. 

“What is this place?” She whispered.

“It’s…it’s just these tunnels.”
“But now it’s a whole room.”

Darkness. And a hiss.

“Daniel?” Trinity grasped my arm and gasped. “Wh-wha-what was that? Is-is it a sn-snake?”

I tried my little flashlight. Nothing. 

“Um…what would you say if I told you, the flashlight’s dead?”

A scream.

“We’re trapped in the dark? Daniel—” Trinity slipped and fell on something slippery and landed in the sloshy mud with a hard thud.

“You okay?” I asked reaching my hand down in the blackness to find her hand.

Trinity sat deathly still and shaking, whispered, “Daniel, there’s something on me.”

I tried to keep calm, for her sake. I could hear the slithering of a snake.

“Trinity. I don’t know what kind of snake that is, but if you keep calm, it won’t bite you.”

Trinity swallowed and closed her eyes, or at least I think she did. After a minute, she lightly flinched as the snake slid away down another hole somewhere.

I sighed with relief and helped her up. She wiped off her skirt and wiped her face with her hands. “We’re never going to get out of here alive. Two wanted criminals.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes and tell her to be quiet. 

Patience, Daniel. She’s just scared.

“Hey, Trin? Can I call you that?”

Trinity sniffled. “Call me whatever you want. It’s not going to change anything.”

“You must be pretty brave to go through all this with someone you barely know. You could’ve just kicked me out and told me to look out for myself.”

“No one would do that.”

“You’re wrong, though. A lot of people would shut the door in my face and go back to their life. But not you.”

I could feel her smile, though I couldn’t see anything.

“Let’s keep moving.”

…

We hiked on, hands extended out in front of us for miles it seemed. I was beginning to think there was no end to this underground world. And we would die down here.

“Daniel? Where are you?” Trinity’s hand released from mine for a moment and she stumbled and fell to the ground.

“It’s alright, I’m right here. It’s gonna be okay, we’re going to make it out of here alive.”

Trinity found my hand once more and released a long breath of air. “Can’t we rest? I’m so tired.”

I decided this was probably for the best. We needed our strength if we were to escape from the troopers later on. 

We sat down and all I could hear was the soft trickling of water somewhere. Just a few drips sliding down the edge of a wall.

My breathing started to get heavier.

“Daniel? You alright?”

I breathed again. “Um…yeah.” I remembered what my doctor had told me, If you ever feel you may have an attack, just take deep breaths and try your very hardest not to panic. Panicking can effect your Asthma way worse, if you’re not careful.

I reached in my pocket needlessly. I was looking for my inhaler, though I knew it wasn’t with me.

I laid my back up against the wet dirty wall and sighed. 

“Please…” I whispered.

Trinity sat beside me. “What is it?”

“Nothing, I just…”

“It’s definitely something. You sound terribly bad.”

I didn’t know what to say. “You know I have Asthma. And well, now it’s kind of catching up to me. So I have to stay real calm or I could have an Asthma attack. The farther we go, the harder it’s getting to breathe.”

“Oh, Daniel. Here I was, complaining the whole time over me, when I had no idea you were suffering from serious breathing problems. I’m sorry, I'm so annoying...”

“No, it’s fine. It distracted me. I didn’t really notice it until now.”

…

I couldn’t tell if it was night or day, as we had been in there for a whole day, I think. But I was so tired, all I could think about was sleep.

And sleep, I did.