“No, it’s an office building.”
She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. They were stuck here until she could move. She needed to just buck up and tell Link they could move out, but she knew her leg wasn’t good enough for them to go far or to get there fast.
An explosion sounded close. Her eyes flashed open, and she glanced around, then met Link's gaze. She didn't like the panic on his face. They were in a shit position, and the way out was limited by her injury. He should leave her behind.
Chapter 5
Explosions werethe last thing he wanted to hear at a time like this. Maybe it was unrelated, or it could be his buddies. Either way, he had to find out.
"Stay. I just need to look." Link hopped up and headed to the door. He raced to the room with the window and slid the curtain over about a half inch, glancing out to the street and the market.
Chaos ruled. Women, hands clasped with children, dashed away. Men shut down stalls, trying to hide their wares before fleeing the rubble. A few people, both men and women, stood staring, dumbfounded looks on their faces.
It appeared the explosion was about two hundred meters away. Dust filled the air, and smoke wove its fingers around the market, searching for lungs to clog.
“Fucking hell.” This was the last thing this city needed. He knew their showing up hadn’t caused the bombs. This place was a hair trigger with a ticking time bomb to go with it. Those in power were emotional as teenagers looking for last-minute dates for prom.
“How bad is it?” Ansley asked.
She hadn’t stayed. He didn’t blame her. He would be curious as a crow if he’d been told to stay by someone he didn’t serve with on a regular basis. She didn’t know him.
“The market is chaos.”
“Shit. We need to get out of here.”
Link turned to assess her. She was standing, but not putting as much weight on her injured leg. They would be targets. His military gear would stand out, and so would her limp.
“We’d be sitting ducks if we went out there.”
She looked down at herself. “Do you think we’re safe staying here?”
“Maybe, maybe not. We could go back down into the underground and take another tunnel.”
“A tunnel would be good.”
“I worry they’ll follow us in the tunnels, or I was worried. They haven’t yet, but if they figure out we’re down there and start a fire, we’re dead.”
"True. But going out there will paint us with huge targets. Besides, no one followed us into those tunnels. We would have heard them, and they would have caught up. It's not like we're moving fast. Plus, I passed out. If they knew we went down there, they would be on us."
Link nodded slowly. “Okay. Let me go out into the market and grab some food. There’s a stall not far away. I’ll get vegetables and fruits, then we can head to the tunnels.”
Ansley chewed on her lower lip, looking like her mind was spinning. After a few seconds, she nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll head to the stairs and get ready to go.”
“Be careful.”
“I will be. Same to you.”
He headed out, moving fast to the stall. The man who'd been working the stall was gone, just like most of the othershopkeepers. He grabbed a bag and filled it with tomatoes, grapes, a few handfuls of nuts, dates, and four oranges.
The food would be enough to get them through a couple of days. If they were stuck here longer, he’d go out and get more.
Gunfire sounded nearby, and he knew his time here was up. He headed back into the building, but before he went in, he grabbed chalk from his pocket and smudged a mark about waist height on the building before he ran inside and found Ansley.
"We should go."
She slowly pulled the door open, checking for sounds. She gave a sharp nod, indicating the area was clear. “Sure, let’s go.”
They headed down the stairs and decided to go away from the compound where he’d rescued her. It might have been a mistake, but it seemed like all hell had broken loose up above, and they needed to get away from here. His buddies would find them, then they could get the heck out of here.
