Worse than losing my hearing. Worse than seeing Jenna’s body on the ground. Worse than that man grabbing me and slamming me into the locker.
Losing Indy is unthinkable.
Thankfully, he woke up in the trunk not long before we got here. And hearing the familiar timbre of his voice might very well have been the best sound I’ve ever heard.
“Where are you taking us?”
Indy’s voice echoes through the tunnel; its sudden sound startling in the relative silence.
“Shut up,” our captor snaps. “What did I say about talking?”
Indy glances over his shoulder, catching my eye before looking at the man directly behind me. The flashlight reflects off his face, casting his features into hard lines and dark shadows. Glints of angry fire light his gaze.
“We’re in a cave,” Indy retorts, “in the middle of nowhere. We’re the only three people in what? Miles? I hardly think my asking a question is going to attract attention.”
Our captor—we still don’t know his name, not like there was much time for introductions, what with the wholeheld at syringe-point in my kitchen and then driven for hours in the back of a vansituation—replies, “These mines have beenabandoned for years. Without maintenance, there’s no way of knowing what could bring them down. Talking too loudly, or?—”
I snort. Which is stupid. Iknow.
But, seriously.
Asking a simple question, in a normal tone of voice, no less, is going to bring the caves crashing down on us?
And if he was so worried about the safety of the abandoned mining tunnels, then why is he forcing us to go deeper inside them?
“Somethingfunny?” he snarls. Then he smacks me in the back of my head.
I yelp, more in surprise than anything else, and Indy barks, “Don’ttouchher!”
“Don’t bring the fucking walls down!” our captor snaps.
Indy comes to an abrupt stop and spins around. “Why the fuck did you drag us down here if you were so worried about being trapped?”
“Because that’s not how it’s supposed to work!”
My head swivels between them. My heart is racing.
For the last ten minutes, since this jerk dragged me and Indy from the van and forced us into the creepiest cave I’ve ever seen, we’ve been doing exactly as told.
Walking quietly. Calmly. Not trying to fight back.
As we’ve continued deeper into the tunnels, Indy keeps flicking quick glances over his shoulder, checking to see if I’m okay. And checking to see if that awful syringe is still positioned to sink into my skin, which, until the last minute or so, it has been.
But with this latest conversation, it seems like our captor’s attention is split.
Before, he was focused on keeping the syringe close to my neck; close enough that he could inject me in moments if he wanted to.
Now, he’s distracted by this back and forth with Indy. At least, I think he is.
I’m too scared to turn around to look, so I have to go by Indy’s reaction instead. And that’s not the easiest to read, given that we’re walking down an unlit tunnel with only one flashlight to light our way.
“How is it supposed to work, then?” Indy asks. He sounds carefully calm. But there’s a sharp edge to his voice. “Why don’t you tell me? What’s your plan?”
“It’s none of your fucking business,” the man snaps.
“I think itismy business. You threatened to kill my girlfriend. You drugged me. Tied her up. Hurt her—” A low rumble sounds in his chest. “And now you’re dragging us down into an abandoned mine.” Indy glances around. “Coal, my best guess. Where are we? West Virginia?”
“Shutup.”
