From the Ashes: Stories from The Fallen World by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blood Moon Press
Published: 2019-07-30T06:00:00+00:00

* * *

The cloying smell of turned earth and sawdust filled Monday’s sinuses. With them came a thumping-scratching sound that roused him from unconsciousness into a world of perfect dark. He tried to move, but found himself confined by walls on every side. In a panic, he tried to sit up, but his already aching head collided with a wooden barrier, sending a fresh bolt of pain through his skull and down his spine. Groaning, he flopped back into the dark, his freshet of energy sapped.

“Monday?” Laney’s muffled voice originated somewhere outside the confines of his tiny cell.

“I’m here,” Monday croaked. “I can’t see. I can’t move!”

“Stay still. We’ll get the lid open.”

Lid?

Monday pressed a hand against the barrier above him—rough wood, splintery but solid. Try as he might, it refused to budge. His arms shook with fatigue from the effort. Whatever sort of box CEO Hansen and the others had put him in, they must have nailed the top shut. He shuddered, for he could feel the walls closing in on him, threatening to crush him under the weight of the Earth, itself.

Monday squeezed his eyes shut, taking comfort in the feel of blocking the world from his inner self. Despite his pounding heart, he forced himself to take slow, measured breaths.

He doubted the Prosperity town council had the means to bury him a thousand feet underground, no matter what horrid images his panicked brain might conjure up. The sound of Laney’s voice proved that much. Yes, he might be in a coffin, an idea that sent chills through his bones, but if so, it was one made of wood and, therefore, fragile. He needed to remain calm, conserve his air, and wait for rescue.

Something screeched in the dark. It caused Monday to jerk in surprise, until he realized he knew that sound—the whine of nails being pried loose from wooden planks. It came again and again, until his maddened brain thought it might go on forever. When at last it ceased, there came a groan of wood and the blessed scent of fresh air.

Monday squinted against a blazing light that threatened to sear his eyes.

“Sorry.” Laney withdrew the lantern in her hand from Monday’s sight so that he stared up at a blanket of stars in the heavens and her alluring outline towering above him. Driscoll’s thin silhouette loomed next to hers, a hammer in his hand.

“What happened?” Monday tried to firm his voice but couldn’t raise it above a hoarse whisper.

Laney crouched next to him, setting aside a long-handled shovel. “The CEO thought he had killed you. Your heart stopped, but that happens sometimes when the blood takes hold. Managers always come back.”

Monday struggled up to a sitting position. His limbs might as well have been made of moss for all their strength. He tried to stand, but couldn’t.

“Don’t.” Laney pressed him back into the coffin. “You’re bound to be weak. Here, eat this.” She handed him a strip of beef jerky.

The scent of it made Monday’s

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