Escape to Home

Déja Vu

~Nathan~

Fear flows through my bloodstream, and I suddenly feel a new burst of energy. I push myself off the ground and allow myself to be propelled by Chris, who is still pointing a gun at my back.

Chris repeats what he did last night once we reach the shack. I try to remember the password this time. Fred takes over and Chris leaves. I'm beyond relieved. We head down the awful stairway and into the smelting room. Max meets us once we exit the tunnel and takes me to the place we were working before.

A little more familiar with the mine, I feel less uncomfortable when the other kids glance at me. Max, silent as stone, tosses me the mining tools. He doesn't even smile this time when I unsuccessfully try to stop the dust cloud exploding into my face when I catch it.

Someone's grumpy... "We need to start working," Max monotonously states. I'm very curious now... and a little... concerned. Should I ask him something? What should I say?

"Um... Hi?" I ask, unsure. Wow... Awkward. Max just grunts. I try again. "You all good? Is there a reason you're ignoring me?"

"It's nothing. I'm fine," Max mutters.

I don't believe him. Something about his voice sounds off. "You don't sound fine," I observe.

Max stays quiet. He's neither denying nor confirming... Realizing that none of my attempts are working, I stop trying. I manage to break off a chunk of the mine wall with my pickaxe. Feeling very proud of myself, I turn to show Max, then only remember he's ignoring me. I sigh in displeasure and lug the chunk onto the tubes of water, as I've seen the other kids doing.

Now what? I stare around, wondering what to do. Max catches my eye and sighs, giving up the grumpy act. Guess that's not his thing. He motions towards a small, rotatable funnel and dumps some rocks in. A grinding sound is heard, then a swishing sound.

"Please can you get a net?" Max asks me, choosing his words carefully. Probably remembers the last time... I myself remember the discomfort from making Max do my work. I nod and Max smiles, grateful.

He points to shelves above the mining tools carved into the cave wall. I hadn't noticed them before. I head over and find neat piles of... bug netting? No... this stuff feels stronger than that. I shrug and grab one off the shelf, then bring it to Max.

He unravels the net and loops one of its straps over one pole stick that's protruding up on one side of the last tube's mouth. He then does the same for the other side. Kinda like a volleyball net.

The net was placed just in time. The stones, now smaller, tumble down the tubes, being cleansed in the process. The net catches the stones while the dirty water flows over and into the grate in the floor.

"Why didn't we do this before?" I ask Max.

"Weren't enough visible chunks of Auriminite this time. I could clearly see the chunks in yesterday's batch," answers Max.

"Oh," I respond.

I watch as the small rocks pile up behind the net. Max takes a handful and sorts out the familiar, blue-and-gold metal bits. He catches me watching and grins. "The grinder crushes the rocks, but not the metal. The metal only gets flattened. Pretty handy machine... Tyrone created it." Tyrone, hearing his name, waves at us. We wave back.

Max dumps the gold parts into a bucket at his feet. I place another boulder into the grinder. Silence stretches between us. Seeing that there's nothing else to do, I use the chance to ask Max once more. "Are you... mad at me?" I ask him, the words "mad at me" sounding foreign in my mouth. Max shakes his head.