Page 68 of Trapped

Chapter Thirteen

“Sorry about the cabin,” Cash muttered. “Maybe the DOD will pay for it.”

“What did you do?”

He answered in a harsh whisper that was barely audible above the roaring sound rising above them. “Sprinkled kerosene around the place Then I lit an oil lamp and smashed it into the corner.”

“Why?”

He kept his voice low. “To create a diversion. They don’t know we could get out through the floor. All they’ll see is the burning cabin. And they’ll think we’re inside.”

She looked back toward the opening and saw flames licking at the floorboards.

Outside Cash’s maneuver was having the desired effect.

“Fire. The damn place is on fire.”

“They’re in there,” another voice shouted. “I didn’t see them come out.”

She could hear someone pounding on the door.

“Open up. Open the damn door,” the same guy shouted, his voice rising with his fear.

“They’re busy trying to get inside. Come on,” Cash whispered.

Slithering along the ground, he reached the edge of the cabin, and looked out. Above them, flames were creeping up the wall. And now she could hardly hear anything else but the roaring of the fire. It felt like the whole structure was going to explode. And if it did, fire would come raining down on them.

At the front of the building, she could hear the men still trying to get in.

Someone cried out, and she wondered if they were in trouble, but she had to worry about herself now. The floor above her was hot to the touch, and she heard pops and cracks in the wood.

It sounded like the whole thing was going to come crashing down on them at any minute.

Cash slithered out, keeping to the ground for several yards, then standing up and bending over as he made for the woods.

She exited after him, imitating his bent-over stance and following the same route, running for the thick underbrush a hundred yards from the cabin.

Cash was way ahead of her, and as she hurried to catch up, she hit a patch of rocky ground and went sprawling. She lay there for a minute, catching her breath. When she started to rise, she saw a pair of feet and legs in front of her.

“Hold it right there.”

A sick feeling rose in her throat. But with no other option, she flopped back to the ground. When she found a large stone under her hand, she closed her fingers around it.

The man’s expression was menacing. “You’re the chick who got into the bunker. Who are you?”

She shrugged. “Nobody.”

“We’ll find that out later. What the hell happened back there? Where’s Baker?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s still in the cabin,” she answered. “All I wanted to do was get out.”

“Uh huh.”

“Can I sit up?”

“Yeah.”

She sat up cautiously, her hand still on the ground and still curled around the rock.

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