Page 63 of Brody
Ellis barely allowed an inch of air between our bodies. As we pressed forward into the darkness, we moved as one unit, so in sync that the echoes of our footsteps were indistinguishable from each other.
CHAPTER 12
Ellis
We seemed to walk forever.Down in the darkness of the tunnel, it felt like time wasn’t moving at all. Our phones didn’t work so far underground, and only Brody’s wristwatch let us track the passing hours.
Nothing in the tunnel changed. No matter how far we traveled, the tunnel just kept stretching forward in a straight, never-ending line. As evening rolled around, unseen above our heads, my strength began to wane. We had neither food nor water, and although we weren’t traveling quickly, the endless walking still took a toll on me.
I didn’t say a word about my exhaustion and was determined to keep going, even as I dragged my feet. We must have covered miles without an end in sight, and Brody didn’t look tired at all. The man probably could have carried on at the same steady pace all night, and I refused to drag him down.
I would just have to find a way to keep up.
Another hour passed, and night must have settled in properly by then. Each step felt a little harder than the last, and I clung to the back of Brody’s shirt like it was a lifeline.
The man never faltered. He’d hardly lowered his gun all day.
Didn’t his arms hurt?
I knew he was strong, but this seemed ridiculous.
I suddenly tripped over some loose stones on the floor and fell against Brody’s back. My weight would have flattened a weaker man, but Brody barely flinched. He stopped in the middle of the tunnel and lowered his gun for the first time that day to wrap an arm around me.
“Sorry. We should have taken a break sooner. You must be exhausted. Here. Sit down.”
He tried to lead me over to a spot where I could sit and lean against the wall, but I refused.
“No, its fine,” I insisted. “I can keep going.”
Grabbing onto my arm, Brody forcefully dragged me over to the wall. “Ellis. You’ve been walking all day without any breaks. You need to rest.”
“So have you.”
“Well, I should rest, too.”
To prove his point, Brody sat down on the side of the tunnel, leaned against the wall, and patted the floor beside him in invitation.
I would have kept arguing, but I really was tired. So, with a huff, I sat down beside him and automatically leaned against his shoulder.
We turned off our flashlights to preserve the batteries, relying only on Brody’s little keychain light to see. The weak little glow barely let me see his face, but even that was enough to show that Brody was still on guard. His eyes never stopped scanning the darkness around us, and his gun remained firmly in his hand and at the ready.
“I don’t know how you do it,” I mumbled as my eyelids drifted closed without my permission. “All I’ve been doing is following you, and I’m tired. How do you still have the energy to say alert?”
Beside me, Brody shifted for a moment before I felt his lips pressed against my forehead.
“Practice,” he said, his breath ruffling my bangs. “I spent years training for these kinds of situations. So don’t feel bad. Okay? Rest when you need to rest. I’ll be right here.”
I mumbled something that was meant to be a protest, but exhaustion slurred my words into a garbled mess. Before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep using his shoulder as a pillow.
When I woke up,it was so dark that I couldn’t immediately tell if my eyes were open or not. It seemed like no time at all had passed since I fell asleep, but the grogginess that clouded my brain and clung to the corners of my consciousness said that I’d probably slept for a while.
“Brody?” I said, barely managing to get my lips around that single word. Every part of my body ached, and moving even a single muscle took a ridiculous amount of effort.
That’s what I got for falling asleep sitting up at my age. I should have known better. Sleeping against a wall wasn’t even comfortable when I was twenty. At the age of forty-five, I’d probably be feeling the effects of the stone against my back for weeks.
“Ellis,” Brody’s deep voice greeted me from the dark. “I’m here.”
Something shifted under my head, reminding me that I was lying on his shoulder, and he turned his keychain light on so I could see him.
