| A faint, rasping wheeze. He turned abruptly and shone his flashlight into the vast expanse before him. In the darkness he saw a series of distant shapes at the side of the road. They were definitely moving. Coming towards him. Frantically waving the light back and forth he counted eight or maybe a dozen of them shuffling closer and closer.He tried to shout but his lungs were empty. He could see them all now. It was a line of men, crawling slowly towards him on their hands and knees, eyes staring wide from dirt blackened faces, heads bent low like animals as they shuffled forward in his direction. They made no sound except a tortured low gasping. The driver turned and ran. The beam of his flashlight darted erratically across the roof of the tunnel as his arms swung frantically. When he reached the tunnel entrance, the road was bathed with the first light of sunrise. He collapsed by the side of the road, breathless. When questioned later about what had scared him so much, he explained what he had seen. It was the tunnel workers. They were still trapped down there and they always will be.
by Matthew J Woods (photography by Paul Akroyd)
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