Then rain came, drumming hard on the earth, turning it to sludge, and I heard men grunting against the suck of the mud.

The lid bowed inward over my face, groaning under the shifting weight, and I understood a new terror — that if it cracked before they reached us, the mud would pour in.

Cold soil sprinkled onto my cheek through a splitting seam.

And then a metal screech tore through the dark, a crowbar found the rim, and the lid was wrenched up and back with a snap.

Freezing, rain-soaked air hit my face — so clean and sharp after that poisoned dark that it felt like breathing broken glass, and it was the most beautiful thing I have ever felt.