Page 55 of Seeking Evil

She turned to face Dawn, her hand descending on her shoulder. “We might be trapped, but I’m not going to give up so easily. I’m not dying here, Dawn and neither are you. Let’s go.”

With her arm looped through Dawn’s arm once more, Sierra led them back to the pile of rubble using the flashlight to guide their steps.

“What now?” Dawn asked once they reached the first pile of rocks.

“I’m going to see if I can move the rocks out of the way.”

“That’ll take hours, Sierra. We’ll run out of oxygen by then.”

She resisted the urge to snap at Dawn, who was frightened and injured. And like Sierra, she’d gone through something terrifying. But, right now, the woman wasn’t helping.

“Wait here.” She helped Dawn lower herself to the ground and handed her the flashlight. “Point the light this way.”

Sierra crawled her way over to the exit piled high with rocks. Where did she start? One false move and the stack of rocks might bury her alive.

She found a rock big enough to stand on and tried to lift the top rock from its precarious resting place.

The effort shifted the rock pile, and she stepped backward quickly as the rock fell from its perch and landed where Sierra had been standing.

That was so close. The desire to give up grew. Zeke’s face flashed through her mind. “I love you, Zeke. I’m not going to let some sicko write the ending to our story.”

Sierra returned to the rockpile and found her perch rock unharmed. She stood on it again and felt where the rock had been. There were more. How many layers of rocks blocked the exit?

Lord, I can’t do this alone. I need help getting this wall down. Please don’t let the flashlight go dead. We need it.

“Let me help.”

Sierra jerked around at the sound of Dawn’s voice and almost lost her footing on the rock.

“What about your wrist?”

“I have two. Tell me what you need me to do.”

Sierra smiled. “Well, we have a problem. There are several layers of rocks blocking the exit. I guess first of all we need to remove the closet stack of rocks.”

“Well, okay then.” Dawn set the flashlight on a rock and found a stable rock to stand on. Using her one good arm, she started moving rocks away.

“Girl, you deserve a medal,” Sierra told her as they got into a rhythm and the effort went faster than Sierra believed it would. She looked upward.Thank You, Lord.

Once the first pile of rocks was removed, yet another stack of rocks every bit as daunting as the first threatened to break Sierra.

“Let’s take a break.” Dawn sank down to the stone she’d stood on.

Sierra dropped beside her, exhausted. How many more layers were there waiting for them?

Say hello to Maggie for me.

Henry was smart. He’d want to make sure if things went south, his escape route would be destroyed. This wasn’t going to be easy.

“Do you think anyone heard the explosions?” Dawn asked.

“It’s possible someone nearby might have heard them and called the police.”

“Maybe we should just wait for the cops to come and rescue us.”

Say hello to Maggie for me.

Henry seemed certain they’d be dead soon . . . She lowered her kerchief and sniffed the air. Nothing.

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