Right. She knew that. The cave outside Chora, which had at first been an escape, had become her tomb when the bastards had blown the entrance to bury her inside. The destruction at the wide opening had been complete, the debris yards deep. This was a simple cave-in.
But itwasthe same. She was buried alive, again. The calm she’d recognized only minutes earlier evaporated as her gaze swept the sidewalls, instinctually searching for the small hole she’d squeezed through as the Taliban scoured the cave.It had to be here. She must be close. She’d only run for a hundred yards or so. Or did it just feel like that? She listened for sounds of pursuit, but the only sound was her own footsteps and those in front of her.
She halted, but the footsteps continued, taking her light with them. Quickly, she ran forward again, desperate to find the hole. Excited arguing sounded in her ears, back toward the entrance. Maybe they would shoot each other. It had happened before.
Suddenly, a flash of light reflected off the cave walls, and she dove to the ground, covering her dog, protecting it.
Dog? She blinked as the animal licked at her face.
“Are you okay?”
The male voice above her sounded concerned. That wasn’t the voice she’d heard behind her. Releasing the dog, she rolled over to get her face out of the dirt. Quickly, she shaded her eyes from the bright light. “Who?”
A man crouched down next to her. “It’s me, Garrett. Are you hurt? Did you trip?”
Garrett.
Arizona.
Mine.
Shit.
“Yes, I tripped. Help me up.” She lifted her arm.
He stood and helped her stand. “Did you twist an ankle or anything?”
She brushed off her jeans then walked in a small circle to make it more believable. “Nope. I’m good.” She looked around. “Where’s Dog?”
Garrett scanned the area with his phone to find Dog sitting just ahead of them as if he waited for them to go deeper into the darkness. “Come here, boy. I don’t think we need to go further.”
“You don’t?” She crouched down to encourage Dog since he didn’t seem inclined to move. When he trotted over to her, she felt an odd sense of pleasure. That was silly.
“No, I don’t think so. Take a look at what I found.”
She scooped up Dog and moved to where Garrett stood in front of what looked like a small room carved out of the side of the wall.
“It’s an old ore cart. The wood is worthless, but the metal pieces might help with digging.” As Garrett moved the light over the rusted, decaying wooden cart on wheels, a reflection of the light flashed.
She dropped to a crouch out of habit. Shit. She lowered her head as if inspecting the workings beneath the cart. What the hell had caused the flash? All the metal on the cart was rusted over. “I’m not sure we can get this apart.” She rose again.
He looked at her oddly. “I was thinking of these side pieces.” He focused the light on metal bars that made a V on the side of the cart. “If we can get the rivets out, they might work.”
She continued to scan the cart, looking for what caused the flashing. “That would take too much energy. We need to conserve that for digging. Are there any spare parts in here?” She squeezed between the cart and the side walls of the little room. There were old carbide cans, what looked like the sole of a shoe, and a couple small timbers. Now those might come in handy.
When the cart suddenly moved and the light lessened, she plastered herself against the wall, holding Dog close.
Garrett stepped back in. “That should help.”
She relaxed and watched the ground as the light moved over the room going past then coming back to rest on a pile of what looked like metal bars.
“Now these could work.”
“What are they?” She stepped closer to examine the bar in his hand.
“Rail spikes. They used them to anchor the track for the mine cars. It’s not a shovel, but it’s better than using our hands.”
Before using her hands again, she’d sit and wait for death. That was if she didn’t totally lose her mind by then.
