Hunger (Gone 2)

But with food in her stomach the weariness of a day spent running at insane speeds over insane distances caught up with her.

“I’m just going to rest my…”

Duck sank, facedown, mouth full of dirt and rock.

He was choking, gagging. No way to breathe.

His head was pounding. Blood pounding in his ears. His chest heaved, sucking desperately on nothing.

It was over.

He was going to die.

Wild with panic, he thrashed. His arms plowed through packed dirt with no more effort than if he had been swimming in water.

He was no longer acting consciously, legs and arms kicking in a sort of death spasm as his brain winked out and his lungs screamed.

“Duck! Duck! You down there?”

A voice from a million miles away.

Duck tried to sit up, very quickly. He had managed to turn himself over. But his head slammed into dirt, and he took a shower of gravel in the face for his efforts. He tried to open his eyes, but dirt filled them. He spit dirt out of his mouth and found that he could breathe. His thrashing had made a space for him.

“Duck! Dude! Are you alive?”

Duck wasn’t sure he knew the answer. He cautiously moved his arms and legs and found that he could, within limits.

Sudden, overwhelming panic. He was buried alive!

He tried to scream, but the sound was choked off and now he was falling again, falling through the earth.

No. No. No.

He had to stop. Had to stop the anger.

It was the anger that had sent him plummeting toward the center of the earth.

Think of something not angry, not fearful, he ordered himself.

Something happy.

Buried alive!

Happy…happy…the swimming pool…the water…floating…

Duck stopped sinking.

That was good. Good! Happy. Floating. Happy, happy thoughts.

Cookies. He liked cookies. Cookies were great.

And…and…and Sarah Willetson that time she smiled at him. That was nice. That had given him a nice, warm feeling, like maybe someday girls would like him.

Also, how about watching TV, watching basketball on TV? That was a happy thought.

He was definitely no longer sinking.

No problem. Just be happy. Be happy to be buried alive.