Path of the Dead Prequel: Wings of Silver

Under the illumination of many large miner's lamps and the mirror lamps we brought, the colors of people and objects were almost indistinguishable in the strong light, and they appeared pale. The deep and bottomless borehole was filled with criss-crossing teeth, and the surrounding concrete slag was constantly cracking under the vibration of the machine, and fell into the dark end one after another, and echoes were heard. It's like the door to hell is opening, it's chilling

"I really don’t understand, why do you have to mess around like this? What’s the point? What is the picture? The scene below is no longer what it was 40 years ago, and it would be very dangerous to proceed rashly."A fire department on-site steward stood in front of the crowd and was yelling at us angrily. He picked up a broken brick, smashed it on the ground for us to see, and said:"It's like this under the surface of the earth. After it breaks into pieces, it breaks into pieces again. Fragmented, the fire melted the steel structure supports, brought with it the surrounding sand, mud, and others, twisting everything. You can go down if you insist, but you must be accompanied by professional rescuers. All the women will stay on the ground. If another collapse occurs, material resources and energy will have to be spent on a second rescue. Who will be responsible for the consequences?"

Dixie became anxious when she heard that she and other working gangs had been excluded. If her camera was also banned, Channel 9 would be unable to communicate. When she was at her wits' end, Rosa, who was not dealing with her, stepped forward. Helping her, she said that she felt sorry for driving them away, and it would be very inhumane if she did not let the brave Sister Di complete the docking shooting. I don’t know her true intentions, whether she wanted to help her or to see her make a fool of herself. In short, she spoke like a lotus and was affectionate. In the end, the person in charge had no choice but to let go. In this way, the people who would really go down were decided, a total of four, me, Sister Di, Lao Dai and Soul Scythe. At six o'clock in the evening, all preparations were ready, even the rescue The car was also in place. Accompanied by two professionals, we walked towards the deep hole. We would once again relive the mining accident scene forty years ago and go straight into the bottomless hell of the Diming Station coal yard.

I scanned the surroundings. Circle, there are not many people arriving now. In addition to those who were here from the beginning, there are also people from nearby towns who have come to join in the fun. Eugene is also nearby, and the black child keeps shouting that he wants to climb into the pit, but his father yells The reporter was slapped with blood and made him cry loudly. The father and son didn't even bother to pay attention to the oil and gas station. They closed the door early and came to take a seat. There were all sorts of noises at the scene, including those who made sarcastic remarks, those who laughed, those who were serious, those who shook their heads and sighed. It was so chaotic that everyone’s ears were buzzing.

Two professional rescuers came down first, and then it was our turn. I followed Sister Di, and my body was suspended along the steel cable for only a few meters. I heard my cell phone calling. Just when I was about to call Krys to pick him up, I was stopped by Lao Dai. It is strictly forbidden to make loud noises in the fragile mining disaster area. The principle is just like standing at the mouth of a snow peak and yelling, which can easily cause an avalanche.

The green light beam of the headlight is full of falling dust and dust, and there are cotton-like impurities floating there, so that people can only see themselves and the people under their feet. Other than that, all the light seems to be sucked away by the darkness. It became hazy. Not long after, Sister Di's figure suddenly turned to the right and disappeared without a trace. I couldn't help but was shocked and hurried to fish it out, when a pair of strong hands grabbed my ankles. They were rescuers. He pulled me When we came to the stone wall, we signaled to put our feet on the iron frame of the fixed platform at the corner and released the hook.

After the third and fourth people climbed down to this corner, we began to spread out to prevent the platform from decaying. Unable to bear the force, they collapsed and soon came to the edge of the coal hole on the ground floor. Everyone's hooks were unhooked, released upwards and bumped together, making bursts of crisp whistles. In this way, the six people were successful. Enter the pit and step onto the ground.

The two professionals are Gonzalez from Silver City and Lewis from Dunn. They have been in the industry for more than ten years and have rich experience. Both of them are They are Hispanics who have served as firefighters and Marines respectively. (In the following chapters, Gonzalez is called Agon and Lewis is called Lao Liu to show the difference.) The reinforced platform we stepped on is, compared to The mark of thirteen meters on the drawing has slipped by two meters, which indicates that the foundation has been completely destroyed and it may collapse at any time due to external forces. When we return to the ground smoothly, we must be particularly careful about the balance of forces at several corners.

The position where we are standing now , it was probably an opening used to transport coal, so it is still relatively stable. However, after the big explosion, a huge amount of sand and rocks blocked the entire inclined approach channel. People had to dig on it for many days but still could not dig it out. In the end, they had to give up and find another shortcut. From this angle, you can still see some of the iron buildings, such as the warehouse for distributing labor protection supplies, the storage room for collecting tools, etc. There are iron handrails and steps to go down.

Lao Liu was checking pictures on his mobile phone at the moment. When he saw five pairs of eyes staring at him in the darkness, he waved his hands and whispered, this is the middle section of the floor plan. The entrance should be in the deeper collection yard. Workers put the coal into the car. , sent to that location, and then towed up. Therefore, we will see more than two tracks, and we have to continue moving forward to get there.

Old Campbell on the ground also verified Old Liu's words through the intercom, and said that when we passed an upward slope, we would see a group of broken houses, which were the inspection entrance for calculating the shipment quantity, and the financial room. At that time, miners were paid one day for their work, so the accounting was located behind the ramp. Once we find it, we can see the crane wheel and the mining elevator going down. However, those old products were damaged forty years ago. At that time, they just used the mixed steel frame as a supporting point to swing down.

Not far away, we actually saw an empty space with neatly arranged trolleys. Next to it was a broken house that was almost crushed. The fang-like keel barbs came down and penetrated the entire office. It was burnt black by the fire. ink. Agang dug up a few pieces of broken glass in the mud, with words such as FinanceOffice clearly stamped on them. The location of the so-called financial station was found.

"Do you want to go in and take a look? The drawings produced by Fentian Heavy Industries are not as detailed as those picked up by netizens, so mistakes are inevitable."Lao Dai looked into the room and saw that there was a section at the end of the house that was not engulfed by the fire. He leaned close to A Gang's ear and asked:"Since they work on a piece basis, there will definitely be a list and number of miners who will go down on May 3. Find those who Don’t you know how many more people are missing?"

Old Campbell on the walkie-talkie thought they could give it a try. In the past, because the ground fire was still raging, they just rushed through the first-level inspection and did not pay attention to the small corners. Now that they are back at the scene, they simply searched. It's better to be more thorough.

I said hello, took out the parrot ruler and tinkered in front of the door, removing the rusty lock with three strokes, five strokes, and two strokes. Old Liu arched his body, pressed close to the ground, and got in like a loach. Sickle pointed at himself and said that he was afraid that Lao Liu would be trapped. He was the shortest among them all and was even slimmer than Sister Di. He followed A Gang away without waiting for a reply. All he heard was squeaking. There were murmurs everywhere, and a few minutes later, green headlights appeared at the end of the house, and the two of them arrived at their location.

I waited for the remaining few people to gather next to A Gang and watch the small video screen, which was the picture recorded by the camera, through the ground After the computer receives it, it transmits it back to us. The predicament of the 1950s is not comparable to modern times. Three-dimensional surveillance is truly achieved, and all aspects can be found. Only the porch of this dilapidated house was damaged, and there was a wooden wooden door in the second half. The table and cabinet were retained. Soul Scythe took out a short knife, pried open the rotten lock, and began to stir, then gave a thumbs up to the camera to indicate that he had discovered something.

Five minutes later, the two climbed out of the shabby house and returned. Before arriving at the dirt road, Eubisio gave Agon his backpack and asked him to take a trip to return these relics to the ground. Then he asked Lao Liu to put the found plaque on the mine cart and motioned for us to take a look.

This is According to a shift schedule for No. 3, the mine disaster occurred at 2:40 p.m., and a chain explosion occurred at approximately 3:15 p.m. There were a total of 45 people working underground that day, including handymen, loaders, and accountants. Twenty people escaped and 19 bones were found. In other words, there are still six dead people buried deep underground. With this detailed list, with the capabilities of cable channels and CNN, it will take less than a day. The verification can be completed. Through the intercom, I heard thunderous applause from the ground. This shows that the people watching at the scene affirmed our meticulous spirit.

"Wait a minute, don't be anxious. According to my observation," when Old Liu was about to inform the steward of the tent about the specific number, Soul Sickle pressed his hand and said solemnly:"It's not six, it should be seven.."

Everyone was about to ask him where he got the data. Eubisio took out a cigarette case from his trouser pocket, which contained a short Chesterfield filter and an Evans flat kerosene lighter. This kind of cigarette is what Old Money Demon The brand I bought when I was stunned, even now, is in the bags of several people including me. Lao Dai took the cigarette case from the soul sickle and pulled out the inner core of the lighter to look at it. He saw the mark inside the metal shell. 24K, I instantly understood the meaning of Soul Scythe. Lao Liu was a rough man and didn’t understand the glances the two men were exchanging. When he saw A Gang coming back from the drilling place, he asked if he could leave or not. They were all crowded here. What's the point?

Sister Di and I were walking at the end of the crowd. She turned sideways and whispered to me. The fragrance immediately came through and made me excited. She said that the discovery made by the short man just now was very important, which showed that on the day of the accident, , there was once a person from outside the mine who came to the accounting room and could not leave. If a mining accident occurs, it will not be able to harm the first order immediately, and this person will still have enough time to escape. It does not matter if the cigarette box is pulled down, but this Only the lighter was made of pure gold. I couldn't understand it if I was left there. It was just a matter of probing.

"So, is this the extra person?"I thought for a moment and said:"If you have to put it like this, there is another possibility. This person has been here, but he was busy with other things and he couldn't wait to come back. The mining accident happened at that time."

"Of course, they are just making assumptions. But one thing is very unusual. Open flames are prohibited under the mine, and everyone must abide by the rules. But this man smoked carelessly without restraint. He must be a well-connected person and very rich. Something as small as a lighter is made of pure gold. This old antique would fetch at least five thousand dollars today."

While we were talking, a group of us climbed up to the hanging wheel and found the elevator shaft described by the old man Campbell. Its original car body plummeted to the bottom of the valley and was submerged in the deepest part. Now only the composite steel frame is left. On the steel plate, You can still see the round holes drilled by rescuers in the past, which were used to set up steel ropes for fishing. The manager of the headquarters connected the intercom and repeatedly told people not to go down all at once, because they had to be pulled one by one, because the appearance of the machine was already damaged. It was highly oxidized, and some of the angle steel was melted, making it extremely unstable.

Therefore, we still let Liu down first, and then slid in according to his own weight. In this way, we climbed to the ground with difficulty and laid the second In front of a deep hole. From here, you go down to a depth of more than 20 meters. The smell is extremely unpleasant. There are more and more cotton-like substances in the turbid air. When you grab it with your hands, it is dry and loose. Then it turned into powder-like debris. I really don’t know what it is. However, the roadbed has been completely destroyed, and we can’t climb to the deep hole. We have to find gaps among the boulders and barely fall down to the second level.

Because of the collapse here , causing the south to be high and the north to be low, and most of the area was blocked by mud and rocks. People had to turn sideways or bend down to barely pass. Seeing this hellish situation, the ground control station immediately called us to remind us to proceed with caution. You can go up after almost touching a circle. Don't continue to risk your life. Because the footage recorded by the camera shows that the formation has been completely destroyed. Any slight movement will cause a secondary collapse. If you don't calculate it carefully, it is estimated that the entire area will collapse. The hillside will collapse as a result.

Looking around, this underground mine is similar toQuite different from what I had imagined in my mind earlier. In the past, when we watched TV, when we talked about mines, they would generally be narrow walkways with reinforcing strips at both ends. The light bulbs were dragged in with one or more strands of wire, and they were only as wide as two people shoulder to shoulder. But that's not the case here. It's not so much a mine as it is an underground valley, traversed by several bottomless fissures. It's a completely natural and rough landform. Except for the handrail that can still be seen on the corner side, there is almost no sign of artificiality.

Sister Di staggered, her center of gravity was unsteady and she fell to the ground. She struggled to get up, looking at her dark gloves, her mouth opened wide, as if she was thrown stupid. Seeing this, everyone hurriedly stepped forward to help her. Unexpectedly, the woman waved her hands repeatedly and crawled away alone into a ruins without waiting for explanation. Lao Dai jumped to her feet anxiously, but did not dare to yell loudly. She asked me to drag her back immediately. I believe that the air pressure was too low, causing Sister Di to hallucinate, or claustrophobia broke out, and she suddenly fell into extreme confusion.

"This damn bitch, I already told you that I shouldn't have brought her down. A'gan nuzzled at me and said,"You are acquaintances. She may listen to you. Once you find her, take her out immediately. You two can leave the rest alone." The remaining two are very experienced and should not make any mistakes again. Stay safe and stay on the phone."

After the four of them finished speaking, they began to circle around in two directions. When I saw them crawling away, I concentrated my mind and bent down and ran into the ruins. At the same time, I pushed away distracting thoughts and tried to hook her up with the golden thread to find the location.. Unexpectedly, as soon as the electrocardiogram was removed, it was like a steel knife piercing the cerebral cortex, which was so painful that a Buddha was born. I lay down on the gravel and tried my best to hold back the discomfort that surged into my throat. , couldn’t get up for a long time

"Why is she running around?"With a steady breath, I recalled the scene just now. I felt that Sister Di's expression didn't look like she was surprised, but had a purpose. She must have seen something indescribable and strange and thought of something. I just lay like this for half a minute, and I I felt a hot breath coming up from my lower body. Before I could take a closer look, my ankles were twisted by a pair of claws. The opponent was extremely strong. I was dragged away by it like a cotton blanket with a long sound. Butt and back I was scratched by sharp knife-shaped gravel, and my arm hurt from the collision while dancing. My perspective was spinning. I put my hand into my trouser pocket, took out a short knife and held it tightly. After more than ten seconds, I was pulled into the gap by this force, The man fell down heavily and touched the ground nearby with his hands. It was a smooth road covered with gravel. When I hesitated for a moment, a black shadow jumped up. I was so frightened that I was covered with oily sweat. I stabbed it hard with a knife. A few inches away from the thing's body, I could see clearly that it was a green face illuminated by the headlights. I quickly retracted my body and lay on the ground, gasping for air.

Seeing that I was angry and anxious and wanted to shout, the thing rode on She came up, pressed me down with her body, and covered my mouth with her claws. Immediately, the scent of monster sweat filled my nostrils, and when I got so close, I realized that she was not a monster, but the missing Dixie..

"What are you doing?"I was about to question, but she silenced me and asked me to listen. There were tiny and chaotic noises all around this place. It was the sound of extremely small stones and dust, which also indicated that this place The geological structure is very unstable.

Being pressed by a beautiful woman like this, although it is very heavy, it feels really wonderful. I don’t know why she dragged me here, and I can’t help but feel a little distracted. I can’t help but hug her shoulders with my hands. Back. Sister Di changed her color instantly, slapped her slightly, and whispered,"Don't think wrong." Then she held my hand and crawled on her knees in one direction, twisting and turning around several sections of the remaining walls. She took me to a strange place.