Leeloo and Yu close this strange procession of people who are fighting not only for their own lives, but also for the lives of those who have become close to them.
«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: two hours zero-zero minutes.»
That’s who all human feelings are definitely alien to.
Despite all efforts, our team is progressing unacceptably slowly. Fatigue, thirst and despair do their job. When we finally stand in front of a cramped manhole, which looks like copied from a real horror movie, a voice announces:
«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: one hour and thirty minutes.»
This grotto is not much different from the previous ones – convex rocky walls, sounds of drops and inhospitable piercing cold. And yet there is a difference: it ends with the release to freedom. Or a way to nowhere.
It seems to me, that the sound of water is heard in the distance. Fear runs cold in my veins.
«I’ll go ahead,» Runner commands. He is sweating a lot and can hardly keep on his feet. His hands are trembling. «As soon as I get to whatever it is, I’ll immediately give a signal. You are all waiting here, got it?»
«No time for that,» Joleo objects sharply. «We follow you right after».
«What if the hole gets too narrow? I won’t be able to go back and we’ll all be stuck in this damn tomb!»
«Nooo!» Yu falls into uncontrollable sobs again. I try to put my arms around her shoulders, but she struggles.
«In this case», Alex intervenes, «we are still drowned. So what’s the difference where?»
Runner just waves it off and climbs into the tunnel without further protest. Alex, BeBe, Joleo, Planck and Martha follow him at two minutes intervals.
Surprisingly, Angel, without any persuasion, climbs after Blonda. The emotional shake-up obviously did him good.
Only me, Leeloo and Yu remain in the grotto. Yu is sitting on the floor, huddled into a ball and muttering, without ceasing, under her breath «no… no… no.»
«Yu», I try to sound soft, but convincing, «you can’t give up now, one step away from being released. After having come all this nightmarish journey!»
«You don’t understand,» she raises her face, wet with tears, «This isn’t just fear, but a disease that I cannot overcome. Breathing is out of rhythm, and the brain refuses to work. Terror paralyzes the entire body. I am like a fly in a sticky web – any movement only tightens the threads of fear, blocking the access of oxygen and common sense».
«It’s poetic, Yu, but let me tell you that staying here means certain death».
«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: one hour, zero-zero minutes.»
Now not any doubt remains: we hear the sound of water, which gradually fills the grottoes, and is getting closer and closer to us.
«Don’t leave me,» Yu grabs my hand in panic, «You promised. You remember?»
«I won’t. But don’t leave me either», I frantically try to imagine what Alex would say in this situation, «don’t let me down! I don’t want to drown here… because of you, Yu!»
For some reason, from my lips it sounds like an awkward accusation, and not at all as a stimulus to active action. The art of persuasion, apparently, is not my strong point.
Leeloo softly touches my hand and whispers:
«Tell her that she is not alone, that you are also afraid. Tell her the truth».
The girl nods to me encouragingly and finally disappears into the tunnel.
«Yu, listen,» I say carefully, «I’ve never been so scared in my life. If it weren’t for all of you, I wouldn’t budge, I swear! Instead, I would sit and obediently await my fate. Only thanks to your strength of mind, I find the courage to move on. I just want you to know that».
Yu looks at me in surprise:
«I thought you were one of the few who managed to maintain composure. I admired your courage. Today you are a hero, just like Runner, Alex and Joleo.»
«No! I’m weak. Help me survive this final stretch of the road».
«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: fifty minutes.»
Now the metallic echo counts down every ten minutes.
I hold out my hand to her. Yu takes it, gets up, squeezes her eyes shut and dives into a narrow hole. I have no choice but to follow her. At the same time, only one thought is spinning in my head about what a big mistake I am making. She has only to start panic, and we will be forever stuck in this hole. I had to go first!
The tunnel seems incredibly long, it becomes more and more difficult to crawl: the walls narrow and, judging by the sensations, we are moving upward. Behind, the sound of approaching water is heard more and more clearly. Almost all the time I cheer Yu up, try to find the right words, and this is no less exhaustingly than the movement through the tunnel.
At some point, the walls become so narrow that you have to lie on your stomach. It is no longer possible to crawl on all fours. And then what I most feared happens: Yu begins to choke. To all my attempts, from soft persuasion and reasonable arguments to rude curses and threats, she doesn’t react at all. Instead, the girl repeats all the time like a mantra: «I can no longer, I can no longer, I can no longer.»
I myself am close to a panic attack. Judging by the splash and roar of the water, it is no further than three or four grottoes from here. Voices can be heard up ahead screaming our names. The echo is quite booming, which means that we haven’t yet approached the final goal and have to crawl at least a few tens of meters. We urgently need to come up with something, otherwise we will drown. Oh, if only I didn’t give Yu a promise not to leave her alone, if only I climbed first, if only I didn’t fill out this form on the website…
«Until the flooding of the cave system remains: forty minutes.»
«Quiet, quiet, shh» I soothe myself in my thoughts. And then an idea comes to my mind, completely absurd and inappropriate, but there is no choice left. I remember my dear mother and how she used to help me in moments of fear, anxiety or just sadness. Just one fairy tale.
«Yu, listen! I’ll tell you a story. You close your eyes and crawl forward. Don’t think about anything, just listen tp me!» Without waiting for an answer, I begin:
«Once upon a time there was a brave Bunny. He wasn’t afraid of anyone, not at all. He even kicked a Bear once. The Bear rubbed the bruised place, twisted at his temple and said «some kind of nutcase», then turned around and left. Maybe he didn’t want to mess with an crazy Bunny, or he turned out to be an overly kind and non-conflict bear. The Bunny was very brave. And extremely ill-mannered. Once he ran up to the Wolf and said indifferently: «Do you know what I like most for dinner? Wolf Steak! Medium rare».
«Go to the doctor, psycho!» the Wolf snapped, but just in case he went into
