Free Eleven, Twelve ... Dig and delve (Rebekka Franck Book 6) by Willow Rose

children?” Ole Sigumfeldt asked.
    “My wife Blerina and my son Afrim Mustafa are missing,” Sali Berisha interrupted them.
    The officer shrugged. “I…I honestly don’t know what to tell you guys. There is no news about anyone yet. Not that I know of.”
    “Are you going to try and dig them out?” Martin asked, feeling the anger and frustration surface.
    The officer looked at them with a sigh. “Look, guys. I know you’re anxious to hear news. I know you want us to move fast, but this situation is extremely dangerous. The hole is still evolving. The soil under this area is eroding, rendering the entire neighborhood unsafe. So, at this time, we're still trying to determine the exact nature of what's going on down there. It could take some time. For this reason, we're being very deliberate, and I understand that being very deliberate is very painful for the relatives. You want us to go in fast. But the only thing that would be more tragic is to send people in and have more loss of life. So, that's the dilemma, and it's a very painful dilemma. We're doing everything we possibly can. Now, if you could start by giving me the names of the people you believe might have fallen into the hole, we’ll know who to contact when we have any ne…”
    There was a lot of yelling behind the officer, and he turned around to see. Pandemonium had broken out. The dirt sliding down when the firefighter had touched it had revealed something.
    “What is it?” Ole Sigumfeldt asked.
    “It looks like a car,” Sali said.
    They moved quickly. The rescuers had seen something. Soon, a crane was lowered down and grabbed the car, pulling it hard and getting it loose.
    “It’s my wife’s,” Ole Sigumfeldt exclaimed when it was freed. Big chunks of dirt fell off the Kia as it was carried towards safety.
    “It looks like there’s someone inside of it,” Martin said. Hands were hammering on the windows. He could hear screaming and see a small face.
    Ole Sigumfeldt whimpered. “Jacob? It’s my kid. I see my kid! It’s Jacob! There’s another one. I see Christian! Oh, my God, they’re alive.”
     
     

24
    W E WERE SLOWLY running out of air. We had gathered all the cellphones from the dead ones and kept them in a pile to use for light, one at a time, until they ran out of battery. After about an hour of waiting, I started panicking. I had been listening for sounds and signs that someone was trying to get down to us, but it was silent as a grave. All I heard now and then was a thud here and there, the sounds of the earth moving. It wasn’t done collapsing.
    We were buried alive, and if we didn’t do anything, we would be dead within a few hours. I was already getting tired and very lightheaded from the lack of oxygen.
    “We need to do something,” I whispered to David. “We need to find a way out before it’s too late.”
    David nodded. He sat with his eyes closed and head leaned back. He opened them and looked at me. “You’re right. But what?”
    “Should we maybe go back through the tunnel we came from?” I asked. “I mean, Thomas and Brian left that way and never came back.”
    “It’s too difficult with all these people. Most of them can’t stand on their feet, let alone walk through a narrow tunnel where you can’t stand upright. It’s not realistic. Plus, I don’t think they found a way out that way. They would have been back here to tell us if they did. They might be selfish, but they’re not cruel. My guess is that they’re sitting in the cave you and I ended up in at first and are waiting just like we are.”
    “What do you suggest?” I asked.
    David shrugged. “I don’t know.”
    “Dig,” I said. “We could try and dig some more. We managed to break this wall down, maybe there’s another one of these walls that will lead to other tunnels in the mine?”
    David looked exhausted. I could tell he was having a hard time breathing properly. “I…I’m not sure have the strength to dig anymore,” he