Ike Hamill - The Vivisectionist

“Wait, third left?” asked Jack he was consulting his drawing of the map.

“Yeah — let me see,” said Stephen. He turned to face the same direction as Jack and they both looked.

“I don’t think this line here is supposed to be a hall,” said Jack, pointing at the first left off the passage they stood in front of. “This line was a different color, and I’m not sure it really intersects.”

“Shit, you’re kidding,” said Stephen. He started to head down the passage to the right.

“Stop, let me do this,” Jack had wriggled off his pack to get out the duck tape. He peeled off a strip and then divided it in two and tore on of those pieces in half. He laid out an arrow on the floor that pointed in the direction they came.

“Okay,” said Jack.

They continued down the hall, nearly crawling under the short ceiling. Jack was starting to feel uncomfortable in this confinement, but ignored it and moved quickly to find his friend. They passed one left turn and Jack stopped at the second.

“I think this is the tunnel we want to take,” said Jack.

“And Ben would have taken the next one,” said Stephen.

“Yup,” said Jack, looking at his map again. “But he wouldn’t have even gotten there according to this.” he said.

“There’s a trap on this hall?” Stephen had begun crawling down towards the third left, but this news brought him to a halt.

“Yeah, check it out,” said Jack. The map showed an “X,” Jack’s version of the Jolly Roger, past the second real left.

“BEN?” Jack yelled.

They waited again to see if there would be a response, but heard nothing.

“Hey Ben!” yelled Stephen.

After a few moments, Stephen asked “So what do we do now? He probably tripped a booby trap or something. What if we get caught too?”

“He wasn’t expecting it, but we are,” said Jack. “Let’s just take it really slow and try to figure it out.”

“Okay,” said Stephen.

On their hands and knees, they crawled nervously down the tight tunnel. Stephen took the lead and leaned down frequently to study the passage from a different angle. When they reached the third left turn without incident, Stephen turned around.

“Shouldn’t we have hit something by now?” Stephen asked.

“According to this we should have,” said Jack. “There should be another one down there also.” Jack pointed his light down the third left.

“I wish Ben hadn’t gone on without that tape.”

“Shit, we should have been marking these intersections?” said Jack.

“Why? We just went straight,” Stephen argued.

“Yeah, but if we get turned around, we’re not going to know what straight was,” said Jack.

“Let’s go back then,” said Stephen. “Last thing we need is for all of us to get lost. We’ll mark them and then look harder for some sign of Ben.”

“Okay,” said Jack. “Oh wait — if he’s trapped behind something, we might be able to still see his light. We should turn off our lights and see.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

When they switched off their lights Jack immediately noticed how loud his heart was beating. He could hear his own breathing, and if he focused, Stephen’s breathing as well. Suddenly they heard a familiar sound, distant and muffled.

“Ben’s watch!” exclaimed Stephen. They both fumbled with their lights and they came on simultaneously.

“Back this way,” said Jack. Shuffling back the way they came, they had to stop frequently to listen for the watch alarm. Jack stopped when they crouched between the second and third left. “It’s getting quieter.” he said.

Stephen pressed his ear to the floor. “I think it’s coming from under here,” Stephen backed up and Jack came forward a bit. Jack put his ear to the floor and confirmed Stephen’s findings. “Hey Ben!” Stephen pounded on the floor with his palm.

“Ben!” Jack added. They pounded for a few seconds and then waited. They could still hear a watch alarm going off, but nothing else. Pounding harder this time, their screams were almost becoming panicked. “Ben! Hey Bey!” they shouted.

Stephen stopped and Jack paused as well.

Muffled they both heard “Ungh,” from below the floor.

“Can you hear us?” Stephen yelled. There was no reply.

Jack felt around for any seam or crack in the floor. He pressed firmly on the floor, walls, and ceiling, looking for the trigger. Stephen followed Jack’s lead and soon they both pressed on every surface.

“There’s got to be some…” Jack was cut off by a groan from below. It was louder than before.

“Ben?” Stephen called. “Are. You. There?” he said slowly.

They heard a muffled reply from below. Jack pressed his ear to the floor. “What?” said Jack. This time he could make out the reply.

“I’m in a hole,” they heard Ben say from below.

“How did you get down there?” yelled Jack.

“I don’t know,” they heard Ben say. “It smells funny down here.”

Stephen looked up at Jack — “We gotta find out how to get down there,” he whispered to Jack.

“No shit,” said Jack.

“What about the map?”

“It doesn’t have that much detail — I don’t think we’re going to learn anything useful,” replied Jack.

“Fuck me,” exclaimed Stephen.

“He must have been crawling along and then done something to open up the floor,” said Jack

“Yeah, unless he’s right, and there’s someone else here,” said Stephen.

“Well, there’s nothing we could do if that’s true, so let’s assume it isn’t,” said Jack.

“What are you guys doing?” Ben asked from below. “Get me out of here.”

“Hold on,” yelled Jack. “We’re working on it.”

“Call your parents!” Ben said.

“I said hold on, Ben. We’re almost to you,” Jack lied.

Stephen looked at him reproachfully and Jack shrugged his shoulders.

“Let’s just try a couple of things,” Jack whispered. “Take this,” he handed Stephen his backpack. Jack started with flipping over onto his back and pressing against the ceiling with his feet. He thought he could feel the floor give a little where Ben sounded loudest.

“We should just break the floor,” said Stephen. “That’s all the fire department would do.”

“With what?” asked Jack.

“Don’t we have a hammer or something?”

“I don’t, no,” said Jack.

“Hey Ben, you got a light down there,” said Stephen.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t work,” Ben replied.

“Shit,” said Stephen. “What if you need to shine a light on just the right thing or something?”

“I don’t know,” said Jack. “Doesn’t sound like a reliable trap. You want it to get someone every time.”

“Yeah, unless someone’s already in there,” said Stephen.

“Hey! Maybe that’s it,” Jack was excited. “Maybe because he’s already down there, we can’t get it to open up!” Jack raised his voice again — “Hey Ben, how far apart are your walls? Can you lift up off the floor for a second?”

“I don’t know,” they heard Ben say. “Yeah, but I can’t hold here long.”

Jack backed up and waved for Stephen to do the same. Jack then tried to walk the way he had seen Ben move earlier — hunched way over with his right hand on the ground.

“I can’t hold this much longer,” Ben said from below.

The floor started to move right where Ben's voice sounded loudest. Jack braced his legs on the walls, and then leaned into his hand.

The floor fell away as a trapdoor opened. Jack began to tumble into the hole. From the other side, Stephen’s hand shot out and grabbed Jack, arresting his fall. Jack regained his balance and braced himself against the far side.