Chapter Six
“Matt! Matt!” Telia whispered in the dark, she found him with her hands, then turned on her cell phone screen and gently shook his shoulder. He was still breathing but unconscious, and appeared to be mostly unhurt. She opened the closet and found it stocked with supplies and lots of batteries and two battery powered lanterns. Both ends of the tunnel had collapsed completely so only about 10 feet remained clear of dirt and debris. She could hear a muted rumbling of trucks and vehicles, and in a panic she decided to shut off her cell phone and remove the battery. She checked Matt’s pockets for his phone and did the same with his. All she could do, now was wait and try to make them both more comfortable.
The closet had a folded up thick wool pad for the floor and a self-inflating air mattress, plus several blankets. She took a moment to admire Francis’ planning skills. As she unloaded the bedding to the floor, she discovered a loaded revolver underneath the blankets. She considered what Francis said about getting captured and shook her head to banish the thought. She left the gun in the closet on the shelf.
The hours passed and the rumbling of trucks continued sporadically. Telia lounged on the makeshift bed and looked up at the wood ceiling. She tried meditating and reaching out to Samantha and the other side, but nothing happened. She only saw the black of her eyelids. She sighed and remembered that Owen had once used a copper mirror. She sorted through all the items in the closet, but found nothing suitable.
A couple of extremely quiet days passed. Telia spent the time stretching, or pacing what was left of the tunnel, doing calisthenics, or tending to Matt, who just appeared to sleep, and only occasionally stir.
As she reckoned the third day passed, she decided to go to sleep, not because she was tired, but because there was nothing else she could do. She turned the lanterns down to a night light setting and curled up next to Matt. She managed to drift off.
Telia had a vivid dream. Samantha bathed herself in the mountain stream. Her hand was injured, and she’d aged noticeably. She was preoccupied and did not notice Telia. When Telia tried to speak to her, she woke up and said, “Samantha,” out loud into the dark tunnel.
She checked Matt. His breathing was regular and his pulse was normal, but he was still out. Twelve feet above her head, two bored soldiers made a circuit of the wreckage. The hard faced Lieutenant who was Colonel Pepper Richard’s man on the ground had transformed in the days after the raid. He’d once been an ambitious man, hell bent on a career in the military, but since they raided the Lodge he completely lost interest.
His name was Tim Lynch. He grew up in Charleston, West Virginia and had been a football star in high school. He joined the military and ended up in the Rangers, then moved to a top secret squad that only reported to the Colonel. His focus and drive made him one of the Colonel’s favorites, but in the past few days he became irritated with the current assignment. They were left behind to watch the debris.
He said sarcastically to the other two men with him, “It still is blown the fuck up!” It was a complete departure from his normal, all business hard-ass demeanor.
They were shocked and looked at eachother. Rodriguez cautiously ventured, “I bet it will still be blown up tomorrow.” He put his gun against a tree and took his helmet off. Tim also put his helmet on a branch and dropped his rifle on the ground.
Todd Patterson looked at the both of them and took his helmet off. He asked, “Do you guys want to make a snowman? I’ve had this crazy urge to make a fucking snowman. This place is beautiful and Christmas is coming up. There needs to be a fucking snowman right fucking now!”
Tim’s face lit up. “Fuck yeah!”
They found a good patch of clean snow, then started rolling it up. The snow was nice and wet and perfect for packing and the three of them managed to roll a four foot diameter ball. “Shit that’s heavy!” Todd strained against the wet snow.
Rodriguez said, “Alright, let’s do the next one.”
A few hours later they had an immense snowman. They put a helmet on his head, and made his face from rocks and pine cones, and made arms from pine boughs. Then they all stepped back and checked their work. Tim smiled. “Dudes, that’s nice.”
Todd said, “We used to do this all the time when I was a kid. Reminds me of home…” his voice trailed off.
They looked at each other. Finally Tim smiled and said, “Fuck this fucking job.”
Rodriguez said, “I’m thinking the same thing. Fuck this.”
Todd whooped, “I’m going home. Let’s get the fuck outta here.”
The three of them hiked down the drive to a black sedan with military plates. They hopped in the car and took off.
A few hours later a flat black Russian heavy lift helicopter with no markings landed in the field. A team of men set up a canopy over the location of the tunnel. They started drilling through the soft layer of soil above the tunnel with an auger. They slid a piece of large diameter corrugated plastic pipe down after the auger. They stopped when they heard the bit crunching against timbers. One of the men dropped down the tube head first and drilled a series of holes through the timbers. He yelled out, “Mister and Misses Wells? We’re Seth’s men. Are you in there?”
He heard a muffled response from Telia. “Yes. I’m here. Matt’s unconscious.”
He said, “Step as far away from this spot as you can.”
The other men reeled him back up the tube, then they began dropping a steel ball on the weakened tunnel roof. Each impact splintered the weakened beams, and on the third attempt the perforated section of the ceiling dropped into the tunnel. Telia looked up at them and waved.
In another half hour they were out of the tunnel. The men lowered bundles of explosives down the tube. They used the canopy to shield Matt and Telia from any prying eyes in the sky. They carried Matt on a blanket back to the chopper. When they were safely in the air, they remotely detonated the charge and the tunnel collapsed completely.
The man talked to her through a pair of headphones she wore to protect her ears from the noise of the blades. “We’re taking you to another safe house. We’ll land in about an hour, then you’ll go by car.”
She asked, “What happened to Francis? Is he alright?”
The man nodded, “He made it. He’s taking a break for Christmas. I imagine you’ll hear from him soon enough.”
She was so relieved. She gripped Matt’s hand and just tried to enjoy the scenery of the snowy mountains. She said, “It’s really beautiful from up here!”
The man’s face had been all business since she saw him, but he cracked a smile and looked out the window. “It really is!”
The Chardon Chronicles: Season Two --- The Winter Page 49
