The first sensation was thirst. Her mouth felt dry as she slowly moved her tongue over her lips, then smacked her lips together and exhaled lightly. She felt groggy and lethargic as she moved her left arm out from under her head and felt the skin of her right bicep scrape along the wood and dirt. Taking in a deep breath, she smelled dirt and wood, new wood, like the plywood she’d smelled two weeks ago up at her folks’ cabin when they were building a gazebo. Was she still asleep and dreaming? The smell wasn’t right. Why would she smell that? Where the heck was she?
She opened her eyes to pitch blackness. She blinked her eyes and strained to focus, but no light seeped in through window shades or under a door.
Carrie Flanagan lifted her head up and banged the right side hard, just above her ear, against something above her.
“Ow!” she exclaimed as she brought her head back down. The feeling of pain was quickly overtaken by panic. She flipped off her left side and onto her back, and her right hand felt another body.
“Jesus!” she yelped as she jumped back, hitting her head and back against the hard wood.
The other body didn’t move.
“Hello,” Carrie whispered but there was no movement. She reached over with her right arm, looking for the other body, when her hand hit something round and metallic. She grabbed it. It was a flashlight. Carrie turned it on.
“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!”
Carrie ran her hands along the top of the box and the left side.
“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!”
Shannon Hisle slowly awoke. Carrie reached for her arm.
“Shannon, wake up! Wake up!”
When Shannon’s eyes fully opened, her screams matched those of Carrie’s a few seconds earlier.
“Carrie! Carrie! Oh my God, where are we! What have they done to us? What have they done to us?”
Both girls frantically felt around the box with their hands and feet, pushed at the top, and kicked at the end of the wood box.
After a few minutes of frantic pushing, kicking, and screaming, the girls settled some. Both women were breathing hard, sweating, still wildly looking around, disbelieving where they were.
Where they were was a wood box. It was maybe two feet high, four feet across and six feet long.
And it was solid. They weren’t going anywhere.
They were buried alive.
The girls lay on their sides facing one another.
“What have they done to us? What are we going to do?” Shannon asked weakly, sniffling, tears streaming down her face.
“I don’t know,” Carrie answered, using the back of her left hand to wipe away her own tears.
It was time to take stock.
Carrie used the flashlight to search the box.
“What are you looking for?” Shannon asked.
“Air, how are we getting air?” Carrie replied. She found what looked to be the answer. “It’s behind me, two holes with vents over them.” She turned her back on Shannon and flashed the light on the nearest vent. “We’re getting air, so I guess that’s good news.”
Shannon put her mouth to the opening.
“Help, can anyone hear me?”
Carrie put her ear to the grate to see if she could hear any response. She repeatedly yelled and then listened for a couple of minutes. There was no response.
She scanned the top of the box and upon inspection understood at least one reason why they couldn’t push the top off.
“Look at that.”
“What?”
“The screws. Or at least those little silver tips sticking through the wood. The top of this thing is screwed on. No wonder we couldn’t budge it.”
She used the flashlight and scanned the box again. Down by Shannon’s feet, in the corner, there was a small black object. Carrie reached with her left leg, caught the object with her toe and dragged it back so that she could reach it with her hands.
It was a Dictaphone.
Carrie slid the button up. There was a whirring, then a crackling sound, followed by the voice she heard when lying on the bed.
“ Hello girls. First, if you haven’t done so already, you will want to turn on the flashlight. But economize its use; you may be in the box for a while.”
Carrie reached to the flashlight to shut it off.
“Leave the light on for now,” Shannon said. “I like being able to see.”
“Okay,” Carrie answered and then started the Dictaphone again.
“ A little information about your new home,” the voice said. “It is five feet underground. You are in a reinforced plywood box from which you have no hope of escaping, so it would be unwise for you to waste your time and energy doing so. Also, you are in an isolated spot, so yelling is pointless.”
Carrie stopped the tape.
“I guess you can save your breath,” Shannon said. “They’ve probably got us buried in the middle of nowhere.”
Carrie nodded and started the Dictaphone again.
“ So how long have you been down there, you’re wondering? We gave you a sedative. It knocked you out for what I expect would be eighteen hours, give or take. By the time you’re hearing this tape it will be mid-afternoon on July third.”
Carrie showed Shannon her watch, confirming that it was 2:10.
“ How long will you be in your current abode, you ask? If all goes according to plan, you will be out of that box by tomorrow evening, maybe even in time to see some fireworks. I do apologize for your current accommodations. While I’m sure they are most uncomfortable and frightening for you, they were nevertheless necessary to provide proper motivation for your fathers. This is also why there is no food or water inside. If your fathers follow our instructions to the letter, you’ll be back with them soon enough. If not?” the voice paused.
“ Let’s just say that there will be no getting out.”