Connecting Tunnel
The passage between Silos 18 and 17 is obstructed by a cave-in; workers pause their attempt to reopen it for Juliette's warning.
Story so far
Juliette proposed an arcing tunnel between the generator rooms of Silos 18 and 17. She reported rapid progress through soft soil, at roughly three hundred feet a day. The cut opened below the generator-room floor, and Peter Billings reported the breakthrough shortly before she completed her return from outside. The route was difficult even then: support columns and rubble narrowed the footing, and cracking, shifting rock drew warnings from workers.
The tunnel was fitted with blast charges against contamination. It became a route for removing pipe and equipment from the other silo, then filled with arrivals after a mob overran Mechanical's gates. During the disaster, Juliette designated it as the children's escape route. Most of the bored space remained clogged with tailings; falling debris and partial cave-ins forced evacuees over rubble, and dust from Shirly's blast reached the digger. A man transmitting by radio now reports rubble in the tunnel and says his group is trapped.
Workers have since removed tailings from the cave-in in an effort to reopen the passage. Their excavation stops while they listen to Juliette's warning.
Appearance
A rough, supported passage with rubble crowded along both sides; tailings and cave-ins leave a narrow, precarious route.
Role
A connection between the two silos that became an obstructed evacuation route.
Relationships
Sources — 19 recorded facts, by chapter
- Juliette’s proposed tunnel follows an arc between the generator rooms of Silos 18 and 17.
- Juliette reports that the excavation toward the other silo is advancing three hundred feet per day.
- Juliette says the diggers have encountered soft soil and are progressing quickly.
- The tunnel cut by the digger opens below the generator-room floor.
- Peter reports that the dig reached the other side roughly half an hour before Juliette finished returning.
- The connecting tunnel has rough ground and support columns that Courtnee warns the group to avoid.
- Rubble crowds both sides of the tunnel, leaving a precarious central path.
- A loud crack and shifting rock behind the evacuees prompt workers to shout warnings.
- The tunnel has been fitted with blast charges as a precaution against contamination.
- Jimmy reports that people use the tunnel to carry pipe and equipment out of his silo.
- Shirly reports that another two or three dozen people are entering the tunnel after a mob overruns the gates.
- Juliette designates the tunnel as the evacuation route for the children.
- Most of the bored tunnel remains filled with excavation debris, leaving a narrow passage.
- Evacuees who climb the rubble piles cause dirt and rocks to fall onto people below.
- Partial cave-ins force evacuees to crawl over rubble in the tunnel.
- Dust from Shirly’s blast travels through the tunnel into the digger.
- A man on the radio reports rubble in the tunnel and says his group is trapped.
- Workers have removed tailings from the cave-in while trying to reopen the tunnel.
- The excavation stops while the workers listen to Juliette’s warning.