He didn’t respond right away and when he did it was so quiet, she almost missed it. “No.”
Knowing how he felt about getting burned on the job, she dropped it. “Is the station around here a good one?”
As she expected, he launched into a description of the men he’d served with. Most of his stories were funny as it seemed they liked to play pranks on each other. But some were poignant about the people they’d saved.
Suddenly, he stopped working, and more importantly he’d stopped talking.
She leaned forward into the tunnel he’d created. “Everything okay up there?”
“Shh.”
She froze. Did he hear something? Was it people outside? A hawk? Water? She wanted it to be people. She’d never heard what it would be like to have people rescue her. The anticipation and hope were almost too much.
“We’re here! In here!” Garrett’s yell sounded loud in the silence.
She clapped her hands over her ears. When she pulled them away, gravel eas trickling down the wall. “Did you hear someone?” Her heartbeat raced at the possibility. Would they actually have help getting out? Would she be rescued this time?
“I think so. We need to be louder. Here, take the phone and find me a spike. I’ll tap it against the shovel head.”
Quickly, she lit the area and scrambled down to snatch up a spike from where it leaned against the wall. When she crawled back up behind him, she patted his tight butt. “Here.”
He took it from her and started banging the shovel head with it. He struck five times and stopped.
This time she definitely heard a voice, though it still sounded far away.
“Did you hear that?” He looked back at her.
“I did.” Now that rescue could actually happen, she was afraid to hope. Afraid they’d move on. “Strike it again.”
He did and this time they heard a distinct shout, closer now. Garrett yelled again. “In here!”
This time the voice was clearer and a low rumbling could be heard.
Garrett crawled backward out of the tunnel and the two of them moved off the pile of dirt and waited, their eyes focused on the tunnel.
“Garrett, Riley, we’re coming for you. Where are you?”
That was Cole! She grabbed the spike from his hand and banged on the shovel with all her might. “We’re here!” Fear that Cole would give up collided with her excitement.
“Wait.” Garrett covered her hand with his own.
The silence scared her. They were going to leave. It was too hard to find them. Her hands became clammy and she pulled hers away from Garrett’s. Pressure on her left leg distracted her. Glancing down, she found Copper looking up at her, his one eyebrow higher than the other as if to say, what the hell is going on?
She scooped him up, happy to have him to hold.
“Make some noise. We need an exact location.”
Before she could say anything, Garrett had grabbed the spike from her and crawled back into the tunnel. “We’re here!” He banged five more times on the shovel.
“Got you. Stand back.”
Once again, he shimmied out of their tunnel. He grasped her arm and pulled her back toward their camp and answered her unspoken question at his move. “They have some kind of machine.”
The rumbling sounded louder the longer they waited. After a few minutes it stopped and with it her heart. They’d given up! Her eyes started to water. This couldn’t be happening. Despair almost dropped her to the ground.
“Hey, what’s wrong? You should be happy.” He moved his hand toward her face, but Copper licked it. He chuckled.
How could he be happy? “They’ve given up.” She tried not to break down, but the last word came out in a squeak.
