Reader\'s Digest Australia & New Zealand - June 2018

June• 2018 | 127

READER’S DIGEST

awake,andtheycheckinwitheach

otherevery20minutesorso,short

sentencestoconservetheirenergy.

“Youstillwithme?”Andrew asks.

“Yup. You still good?”

“Yup.”

The wind continues to shriek.

Everyonceinawhile,oneofthem

turns on his headlamp to scan the

waterlevelinthecrawlandpassage.

Around 5am, bleary-eyed, they no-

ticethatitseemstobereceding.

“Let’swaitforabitandsee,”An-

drew says.

heminutestickby.Willthewater

godown?Afteranhour,ithasgone

down to the point that they can keep

theirheadsaboveitandtryanes-

cape.Stifffromsittinginoneposi-

tion for about 12 hours, they unfold

theirbodiesbitbybit,surprisedat

howwellthey’veweatheredtheor-

deal.hen,Jasontriestoliftalegand

screamsfromthepain.Amusclein

his groin is badly strained – but it

can’tstophim.

Ihavetogetout.Ihavetotry.

GoinguponallfoursthroughBas-

tard’s Crawl, each time Jason moves

aleg,hecriesoutinpain.

Andrew says: “You can do this.”

UP TOP,therainhasfinallysub-

sided. It is 6am and the sky is still

darkasthreecaverescuers,includ-

ingCharleneandJohn,prepareto

go in again. More cavers – a back-up

rescuecrew–havearrived.

Meanwhile, Andrew and Jason

BACK IN THE CAVE,Andrew and
Jasonsit,eachwrappedinhisown
thoughts and the thermal blanket.
Conserving the batteries in their
headlamps, they sit in the dark,
which makes them forget what a
tightspacetheyarein.Withblackall
around,it’seasytoimaginetheyare
somewhere else. At home with their
kids.Orinatheatre.
Jason,hisdampsweaterpulled
upoverhisfacetogivehimsome
warmth,drawsonhistheatrical
training, forcing his breathing to
slow down. And in the dark, as clear
as day, he sees his son standing at the
side of his bed in his pyjamas with
the red collar and aeroplane pattern.
What will life be like for his family
without him? How much life insur-
ance coverage does he have?
Breathe!Please,Mum,Dad,God,
whoeverisoutthere,helpguideme
through this. Help me live.
Andrew silently recites a mantra
thathashelpedhimthroughscary
timesbefore.It’sbasedonapassage
fromDune,the1965scienceiction
novelbyFrankHerbert,anditgoes
like this:Fear is the mind killer.When
thefearisgone,Iwillwin.
here is no sign of rescuers. Did the
other three even make it out? Maybe
they’relyingontheothersideofBas-
tard’sCrawl,blockedbywaterand
injured. Or dead.
hehourspass.Beyondcold,they
don’tdaretomoveforfearofslipping.
They doze off, then jerk themselves