Roger rushed forward and scooped it up. He found the volume control and turned it down, until the din was barely audible. Still, it was terrible. He was hearing people screaming for their lives. He was hearing the desperation of people who were facing certain death. One particular scream was louder than the rest. Roger was tempted to shut off the radio completely, but he couldn’t do it. There was a chance, however small, that the people on the other end of the connection might still help them escape. He wasn’t willing to give up on that chance. The scream echoed and swelled even though he turned the volume down even more. Florida’s head jerked to the side and Roger finally realized why the voice was getting louder. It wasn’t coming from the radio—it was coming down the mine shaft. “Put it out,” Florida whispered. “Put the flare out before it finds us.” Roger moved forward. He didn’t know how to extinguish the flare, but he was pretty sure he didn’t want to anyway.
