Áron Antal
I arrived at the construction site at 6 a.m. We (and by “we” I only mean Jack and Walt) were working on this mechanic station, where we were given the task to renew buildings with the crew. My uncle Jack said that he would appreciate my help because I had worked here before, and the crew was severely understaffed because most of them had got the flu.
—Today we will dig the ditch—said Jack before taking a huge bite out of his sandwich.
I just nodded and Walt lit a cigarette, as usual, while he started to walk towards the trencher.
As he walked, my uncle was staring at the old gas pipe peeking out of the wall of hangar 2, which was to be left alone, even though no equipment in the building will work with gas.
—What do you think, how deep does it run?— I asked Jack.
—Deep enough that we shouldn’t disturb it—he replied.
—Won’t there be any problems with it? Have you called the authorities about this?—I asked.
—Don’t worry about it. This is not some sort of puzzle or problem that you have to crack. This isn’t school. It will be fine. When we dug there you see, we didn’t see any sign of it, and then we dug deeper than we will now, this will turn out to be just a sewage pipe, for God’s sake.
When he replied, the trencher, although hesitantly, started up and began to approach us.
—We will be done with this by 11 a.m.—Jack said. We have to. See the clouds gathering? Hey Walt!
—What now!—said Walt with a freshly lit cigarette in his mouth.
—Start here, right at the edge of the building, and we will move towards the pit there, you see!
—Right—said Walt and enabled the stabilizer hydraulics on the trencher.
—Now go get the loader—said Walt to me. —We will put all the dirt we dig up in the grab bucket, and you will take it to the heap, okay?
—Okay—I said. I walked to the loader and climbed into it. The terrible smell of the smoke-soaked cabin invaded my nose. I started the engine and rolled next to the trencher. I put down the grab bucket next to the trencher, and got out of the cabin to see how the trencher was doing. The bucket bit into the ground, and took out a huge chunk of the ground. And from the ground, a pipe became visible.
—Stop the trencher you moron!—shouted my uncle to Walt.
—Why?—and while he was asking that, he pushed down the button of his lighter.
At that instance, a fireball started expanding from the open window of the trencher. It engulfed Walt, whose face just blankly stared at the end of his cigarette. The fireball continued to expand, like the Universe when it was born, in an astonishing yet devastating way. The screaming of the gas became quiet as the sound of the flames dominated the air.
—It wasn’t as deep as you thought it would be, Jack. It wasn’t nearly as deep as you thought it would be. If you would have just let me investigate a bit…— I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and put my arms in front of my head, thinking that it would protect me from the rapid gas explosion four meters away from me.