Episode 4

They descended slowly, discussing where they would stop on the way back up with the injured. She didn’t say much; she knew her job, and even so, she would have responsibilities, especially on the last five to ten meters, where she’d essentially be on her own. Up above, she had tried to memorize the cave’s cross-section, trying to gauge their depth. Her overalls were muddy by now; they had mostly slid down on their backsides or crawled on all fours. The cave didn’t seem particularly difficult terrain, though even a few meters of elevation change could require serious effort, especially on the way back up. The university students waiting for the rescue team above had explained that they came here for geology fieldwork because this cave was safe—there had never been a collapse here before. Then, a shout came from below.

„We’re here! Help!” — a strong male voice echoed through the chamber. Moving toward the sound, she soon saw the strange group scene over her colleagues’ shoulders. A sturdy young man in his twenties and a thin girl were kneeling beside a lanky young man whose waist had disappeared into the mud. The boy was leaning on his forearms, one leg bent at the knee to support himself, while his other leg was buried in the muddy debris. His face wasn’t visible; he had buried it in his hands.

„Imre, right? — asked Sándor, the team leader. The boy nodded, then looked up.

„Please, help! I can’t feel my leg.”

The team got to work on freeing him, asking the students what had happened. The three students explained that they had first aimed for the cave’s forty-meter-deep lower chamber, planning to reach the even lower chamber ten meters down after a break. The forty-meter chamber was actually right below them. Professor Ágoston had gone first. He had led many tours here, and there had never been any issues. Imre followed. Then, suddenly, the muddy debris shifted from the side. They heard the professor fall, his cries and groans, and they even talked to him for a while, but he no longer responded to questions. He might have fallen several meters and could be unconscious. Imre was hit by the debris on his side, his leg pinned to the rock at the thigh, and they couldn’t free him.

The rescue team worked carefully but steadily. They tried to prop up the narrow gap with rods and clear the debris upward. They weren’t sure where the professor was, and it wouldn’t have been good if a larger rock hit him. After lengthy work, the gap began to widen, and with a collective pull, they yanked Imre free. The boy screamed and groaned, his leg in terrible pain, as a forty-something paramedic began peeling off his boot to examine him.

„Gyöngyi, you’re up” — Sándor called to her. She glanced at the university student writhing in pain, then crawled through the gap, dragging her bag behind her. Her headlamp scanned the area below. She reached a several-meter-deep, wide, spacious karst chamber adorned with stalactites. It was a beautiful sight, and she might have lingered if she didn’t have a more important task. At the bottom of the chamber, she spotted a bearded figure in boots lying motionless.

„Professor Ágoston!” — she shouted, but then the layers above her seemed to tremble, and chunks of mud began falling on her helmet.

„Gyöngyi, watch out!” — she heard from above. The thick mud layer shifted, and she could do nothing but what the professor had done hours earlier. She jumped. She jumped into the void.