by Lexi Post
He didn’t like that idea for more than one reason. First, it meant the pitch blackness would continue and second that she’d probably done the exact same thing once before. “That could be dangerous. We have rails and debris to navigate.”
“We don’t have to move quickly. It’s not like we’re on a timetable.”
Her confidence bothered him. “There’s a good chance we will be free of this place before our batteries run out.”
“Maybe, but do you want to risk it?”
Shit. She was right. “Fine, but let me go first.”
“Why? I’ve already been down this part of the tunnel twice.”
It went against his grain for her to lead, mainly because that would be the most dangerous position. He tried to come up with a reason not to let her, but couldn’t think of anything she wouldn’t see right through.
“Ready Dog?” She grasped his shoulder in the dark and walked around him.
Not happy with the situation, he had no choice but to follow, her footsteps letting him know where she was. “I think Dog needs a new name.”
“I told you, he’s not my dog.”
He shortened his stride, her voice closer than he’d anticipated. “That doesn’t mean you can’t give him a temporary name.”
“Like what?”
He let his hand trail across the solid rock, occasionally disturbing loose granules as he stepped carefully. “How about Chance after the ranch.”
“No. That could be confusing. Orphan?”
“That’s just depressing.”
She snorted. “What do you want, something like Precious, Snuggie, or Tinkerbell?”
He chuckled. “Definitely not. If he’s a boy, it should be a male name. I noticed he has spots on him. What color are they?”
“They’re more like splotches, like on a cow. They’re brown, but not tan, more a reddish brown.”
“What about Copper.”
Her footsteps halted. “No, they’re browner than that.”
“I mean you could call him Copper like the mineral this mine was built to find. It’s close to brown, plus he ran into an old copper mine.”
She started forward again. “Copper? Hmmm. Hey Dog, do you like the name Copper?”
He squelched his own snort. Just then he heard her boot hit something hard.
“Ow. Damn rails.”
He froze. “Want me to take the lead?”
“No, I’m fine. Just misjudged the spacing of the rail tie. We don’t have that far to go.”
And she knew this how? He had to admit she seemed a lot more confident in the inky blackness than he did.
Chapter Eight
Keep it together O’Hare. This firefighting cowboy already thinks you’re off your rocker. No need to prove it by avoiding a snake that isn’t there and tripping over imaginary rock formations. Keep the rock on your left and your steps measured. The only thing down here is rabbits.
His voice came out of the darkness. “I think we should stay to the left this time. See what’s beyond where you found Copper.”
Sounded like he’d decided on Dog’s name. She actually agreed it was a good name. One she’d give the dog if she was keeping it. She’d tell Whisper that was the dog’s name. The woman could always check with the animal to see if he liked it. At least, she thought Whisper could. Who knew for sure?
“Do you agree?”
Agree? Oh yeah. “Sure. One dark tunnel or the other, it’s all the same to me.” And that was the problem. It felt too much like the cave when there was no light. The only exception was the rail.
In Afghanistan there were miles of underground caves, some of which actually were said to have rails similar to this, but there’d never been any legit intelligence of that, at least not at her outpost. Maybe if she’d been on base like she was on her first deployment, she would have known more, but that first time she was too busy trying to train Afghans in US warfare to learn about any important intel.
The rock beneath her fingertips felt different, too. It wasn’t nearly as porous as in the cave she’d been trapped in. Very few pieces flaked off and then suddenly many would. That’s when she had a hard time focusing. Then it was too much like the cave. Even the ground burying her alive was like her first night in the cave. Except back then, she had no one to pull her out and she’d panicked. Even thinking about it had her heartbeat racing.
Deep breaths. She needed to take deep breaths because she could. Because Garrett had got her out of there and held her like she was important not to lose. It was probably just adrenaline from the sudden avalanche in the dark. Still, it felt good to be valued for a change.
“We should be about there.” Garrett’s voice coming from behind her almost earned him a swift kick to the gut, but she stopped herself in time, her action only getting as far as turning around. “Have you been counting steps?” She’d planned to but her thoughts wouldn’t stay focused.
“Yes. I’ll turn on the light and see if I’m right.”
She looked away, so the light wouldn’t blind her. She learned that trick quickly after the first time she turned on her cellphone light in the cave.
Reflected light filled the area, proving that Garrett had an excellent sense of measurement. A few more steps and they’d be entering the left tunnel of the fork.
He stepped around her. “We should pick up the pace while using the light.”
Now he was the expert? She gritted her teeth to stop from voicing her thought. The man was helpful, and he wasn’t bad company. She should be grateful he’d come looking for her, or she’d be in the mine alone with her thoughts…going crazy. “Then lead the way.”
He strode forward a few paces into the tunnel then switched to the other side of the rails. “What’s this?”
She looked at the wall and grinned. “That’s my towel. I forgot I left it down here. I brought it in here with me in case D—Copper was hurt. On my way out, I left it here to make sure I was heading in the right direction.” No need to let him know she’d felt completely turned around thanks to her past memories.
“Good idea. We can pick it up on our way back. If we need to change your bandage, it will come in handy.” He started to move forward.
“I don’t know. Copper licked my face when I found him, and I wiped it off on that towel.”
He looked back at her. “Then no, we can’t use it for that.”
“But we can use it for toilet paper. I’ll use my knife to rip it up.”
“We may not be down here that long.”
She kept forgetting that they could actually be rescued in a few days. “True. I’ll just rip up half…for now.”
Garrett nodded then resumed his direction, moving assuredly down the path the rail ties made, stepping on every other one.
Her stride wasn’t the same at this pace, and she had to adjust every few ties, but it was still the easiest way to traverse the ground. The tunnel itself had very little room on either side, especially if she wanted to walk standing upright. They passed by Copper’s rabbit hole, the dog not even noticing the boards blocking the spot. He was as intent on what was ahead as Garrett.
She, on the other hand, was starting to sweat. Her whole body reacting to the knowledge that an entire mountain sat above her, and they headed deeper into it. One well-placed grenade, a single mortar, an errant air strike, and she’d be buried under it, unable to breathe, unable to move.
“I see something up ahead.” His voice startled her. He spoke over his shoulder, his curiosity obviously peaked.
She blinked, keeping her gaze on the ties until she came right up behind him then looked ahead. “It’s another juncture.” That didn’t excite her as much as it did him.
“Yes, but over here it looks like a resting place or maybe they switched carts out here, like some kind of transfer area.” He moved to a hollowed-out section that looked like her old cave, though not as tall, but definitely wide. It was a large semi-circle with the rail going by it. It was filled with debris, specifically ra
il ties.
“These could work if we make our tunnel small.” She picked a rail tie up off the four-foot pile. It fell apart in her hands. “Or maybe not.”
Garrett stood next to her. “They probably dumped the rotten wood here. Let’s see what else there is.”
She followed him since he had the light. There was a very old coffee pot, half a pick ax head, a couple metal wheels from ore cars, what looked like suspenders, and an old lantern. Too bad they couldn’t use that, but with no fuel, it was worthless to them.
“Hey, this would help.” Garrett held up what looked like the head of a shovel, though there was no handle. He handed it to her.
What she wouldn’t have done for one of these when she’d been in her cave. She probably could have escaped in far fewer days and with at least half her fingernails intact.
He pointed to the metal in her hand. If we can find another of those, we could work together, making faster progress.”
She stayed where she was as Garrett proceeded to make a thorough inspection of the items in the area, pushing things aside as he went. Copper followed him, sticking his nose into every nook and cranny he could find. Two rusted pullies fell off a pile of old wood and the dog jumped back. She pointed at them. “What did they need those for?”
Garrett stopped and looked back. “There must be a shaft or two down here. That’s when they dig straight down to another level. They would hoist men and buckets up and down. Or it could simply be such a steep incline that they needed a rope to navigate it.”
She shivered at the thought of crawling deeper into the mine.
He pointed to the floor next to the pulleys. “Some of these carbide cans are in better shape than the one we found earlier, but they’re too small for digging.”
“But they would be good for scooping.” Compared to bare hands, anything was better in her mind.
“Scooping?”
She needed to remember he had never been buried before. “Yes. We’re going to need a bathroom. The small room we found earlier would work well. It’s a separate area away from the entrance where we should sleep. We can use the cans to scoop dirt to cover over our waste, keeping the smell down.”
He studied her for moment. “Good idea. Here.” He handed her two cans with no holes in them.
She had to admit, he did seem to value her input. In the Army she always had to be assertive to have her opinion heard. Garrett could make this soldier go soft. She set the cans next to the shovel head on the ground at her feet. Then dusted the dirt from the cans off her hands by brushing them on her jeans. “Too bad they didn’t leave any gloves down here.”
Garrett faced her, a dirty old hat in his hand. “This is thick leather. The winters out here must have been a lot cooler than they are today.” He dropped it back on a three-legged stool that didn’t look strong enough to hold the weight. “Ah, now this might work.”
She waited as he pulled something from behind what looked like a pile of decayed straw.
He held the object up in triumph. “It’s a metal pan for panning for gold. I wonder if this was originally the gold mining tunnel or if someone had used it for eating their lunch. Either way, it will work to scoop dirt.”
“Good, now we can go back and get started again.” She was ready to return to the entrance. She’d rather contend with the darkness and know she was at the mouth of the cave than contend with the pressure of the mountain in the light. There was nothing of any use here. Whatever the cave had been used for before, it was long gone. From the marks on the ground, it may have stored ammunition and guns for the Taliban forces. It felt more than empty. The vaulted ceiling looked as if it could come down at any moment, like the one had in the other tunnel.
What if she’d run to the far left instead of the far right? She would have been caught in that dead end. Would that have been better or worse than being buried alive? Her gut told her she was better off, but it was hard to count herself lucky. Was a quick painful death better than a slow painful one?
“There’s just a few more feet to this area. I might find something better.”
She dropped to the ground at the sound. They found her. How did they get through the cave-in? Her breath caught. Was there another entrance? Could she watch them covertly and discover its existence? No, she’d checked. There was nothing, not even in the ceiling. Then how did they get in?
“Riley, get up.”
The command had her jumping to her feet. “Yes, s…” She swallowed her word. Fuck, she’d lost it again.
Garrett studied her as if he could discover what she was thinking. He didn’t want to know. No one did. Other soldiers had experienced much worse.
“Let’s head back. Why don’t you give me the shovel head and you can take the carbide cans?”
A reprieve, but she doubted he’d let it go. Scanning the ground at her feet, she lifted the steel tool and nodded.
Garrett passed by her and led the way back in the direction of the entrance.
She wanted to tell him to turn off the light that they could feel their way back, but that would slow them down, and she wanted out from beneath the mountain more than she wanted light later.
When they arrived at the place she’d hung her towel, Garrett simply lifted it off the rock edge it hung from and continued on. They finally reached the spot where she’d left the water bottle. He halted and hooked the towel on another outcropping of stone.
She walked by him, but he grabbed her arm.
“Time to tell me about your last experience being buried under ground.”
She jerked her arm free, unease filling her soul. “Don’t you think our time is better spent digging out of this place?”
“No. I need to know what you went through.”
And admit she’d been stupid, failed as a soldier, and now couldn’t hold it together? Not likely. “Why. Once we’re out of here, it won’t matter anyway.”
Dropping the pan, he put both hands on her shoulders. His grip was firm but not tight. “It matters now. I’ve seen a lot of trauma and no one has acted like you have. I need to know what you went through so I can be prepared. We’re a team in here, and as a team we have to depend on each other. That means trusting each other with our very lives.”
“A unit.” She didn’t want to be part of a unit. A unit meant friendship and responsibility and loss. She’d sworn off units.
“Yes, we’re a unit.”
She stepped back away from his touch. “No. This is temporary. You said so yourself. We’ll be rescued.” They would be rescued. People would know they were missing because they were part of a unit. She shook her head. No, she had to leave. She didn’t want to be part of a unit, to have any connections.
Garrett wouldn’t be put off. “Riley, look at me.”
She forced her gaze to his. She couldn’t tell the color of his eyes in the diffused grey light. What were they again? Blue? Grey?
“You need to tell me everything. It might give me an idea on how to get us out of here.”
She snorted. “Not likely.”
He continued to stare at her. It was the commanding look of a person in charge and it was hard to resist.
“What the hell position did you have in this Hot Shot force. Were you the commander or something?” She didn’t hide the resentment in her voice. Obeying a command had been so drilled into her that she had a hard time ignoring his tone.
His lips quirked up. “Not exactly, but close enough.”
“Just my luck.” She stepped away again, but this time she walked toward the cave-in and glanced up at the rotten beams. “Right. I’ll tell you the whole ugly story, but first we need to brace what’s here. We can talk while we work.”
“Now who sounds like a commander?”
She scowled. As a leader, she’d failed miserably. “I’m no commander.”
“That may be, but you’re right.” He walked past her and scraped his fingers across the wood above his head. Slivers fell to the ground. “We didn’t find enough timbers
to brace a small tunnel, but there were enough to build a brace under this.”
“Exactly.” She examined the timber against the wall. “This is the last brace in the gravel before it turns to hard stone. Then we can pull back the cave-in dirt, covering the rails until we break through.” Hope sang through her blood. They could do this. And how many times had you thought that before and were wrong? She ignored her inner voice. This was different. This was a mine and she had help.
She looked at Garrett who gave her a grin. “We have a new plan.”
She nodded. “We do.” As confidence filled her, she ignored the doubt that tried to creep in. They had a plan and this time they’d be successful.
~~*~~
Garrett sat down next to Riley against the cave wall that had become what he thought of as the staging area. He’d thought he was in shape after all the physical therapy he’d gone through, but obviously he wasn’t near his old strength. Maybe Cole’s idea of a weight gym in his station wasn’t such a bad idea.
Then again, if he’d done as much work on his new old house as he’d intended in the spring, he’d be in better shape. But he’d felt restless ever since returning to the area. It was as if he had no idea what to do with the rest of his life. His goal had always been to be a Hot Shot. Once he’d achieved that, he’d thought he’d retire as one, but fate wasn’t as kind to him as she’d been to his father.
“I’m wiped.”
Riley’s voice coming out of the blackness made him chuckle. “Glad I’m not the only one.” Actually, he was relieved that he’d been able to keep up with her. She had obviously not lost any of her strength from being in the Army. She’d worked alongside him as they pulled the earth away from the pile and back into the mine, telling him about her work training Afghan soldiers overseas. She still hadn’t told him about her last underground experience, but since she’d stayed with him in the present, he didn’t push it, but he would need to know.
They’d made good progress with their new tools, but there was no sign of busting through…yet.
“It’s a good tired. It will make it easier to sleep.”
