He slaps his hand on the desk and I startle like a baby rabbit. “No mistakes.”
“A few inches off is all it takes to miss a vein,” I add in a whisper.
“You will go.”
“Today?” It’s midafternoon and I don’t want to leave Reed alone. He hasn’t had water or food and he’s hurt.
“Yes.”
I can’t think of a good reason not to go. “I need food and water—”
“You can have water now. Your friend will get food and water when you return.”
“It might take more than one visit.”
“Your friend gets medical help when you find emeralds. You work fast, yes?”
I nod. But I’m not stupid. Reed won’t get help and I won’t get to leave. “I’ll do my best.”
* * *
By the timeI return to the camp, it’s night and the rain has settled in. The camp it lit only by what spills out of the other building. The guards push me through the door of the building Reed and I are being kept in. I think it used to be a storage room as there are no windows.
And no light.
And no sign of the food and water I was promised.
Even though I was given water at the mine, my stomach is a tight knot of hunger. I shuffle over the floor, not wanting to trip on anything, to where I can see a Reed shaped lump. He’d better not be dead. If he is, I don’t know what I’ll do. I refuse to let panic take a hold. I need to be calm so I can remember everything I saw.
All I can think of is that we’re both going to die.
Staying means death, and escaping is no better.
I’m halfway across to Reed when the door opens again. Torch light shines in, blinding me.
“Food. Water. Piss.” Three buckets are dropped inside the door, then the light is gone, and I can’t see anything.
I stay still, waiting for my eyes to adjust.
“Bring the buckets closer,” Reed murmurs, proving that he is alive and erasing one of my worries.
I turn back to the door—light creeps in around the edges. And as my eyes adjust, even the light sneaking through the gaps in the wood helps to illuminate the interior.
The first bucket I pick up is filled with water. I carry that over to him, then go back for the other two.
“Leave the toilet by the door,” he orders in that dry whisper.
I obey without argument. I trust him to get us out of this, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him alive. Not only for my own survival, but because I don’t want the weight of his death on my conscience.
He doesn’t deserve to die for protecting me.
I sit next to him. “How are you feeling?”
“You disturbed my sleep by getting home so late. Where were you?”
“They took me to their mine, which I’m almost certain is on one of the company’s licenses, so being operated illegally. They’ve lost the vein.” Or never had it to start with.
He grunts as though I’m confirming something he already knows.
