Page 54 of Freedom Mine
She nearly tumbled headfirst into the tunnel eight to ten feet off the ground. The pile of rock below posed more of a threat than a flat surface. She had no way to lower herself.
“Kayo!” she yelled, leaning over the edge. If he replied, she’d have her answer and could crawl back out of the adit.
No answer. A cold shiver climbed up her spine. “KAYO!” she tried again, a half cry, half yell this time as the panic started to take hold.
Dropping down headfirst no longer seemed as scary, not compared to the haunting images of Kayo lying dead. She shook her head, willing herself to get those damned images out of her mind. She would not give up on him!
Three metal hooks rested in the wall above the adit. With a fair amount of squirming, she rotated onto her back and removed her belt. At that point, it was easy to fasten the end of the belt and loop it onto two of the three hooks. She gave it a solid yank and they held.
Holding onto the belt with both hands, she wiggled and pushed her feet against the adit floor, ‘walking’ her way out of the adit.
When her torso and feet finally cleared the small exit, and she was hanging a few feet above the floor, she let go of the belt. She landed on her feet though she nearly twisted her ankle on the rocks.
Getting back up to the adit would be a challenge if she couldn’t find enough rocks or solid material to build a platform. She would deal with that later.
She followed the tunnel along the route Jace had shown her, the darkness added a sense of foreboding to her search. The quiet of the mine was even more unsettling, especially each time she called Kayo’s name.
She’d been in worse situations, though she’d always willed her mind to go elsewhere, to ignore what happened to her flesh and to think of pleasant times until the horrors ended.
This time she needed to drive all other thoughts away and register the sights and sounds around her, no matter how ominous. Find Kayo and then find a way out. That became her mantra as she edged her way along roughly cut tunnel walls, over rocks, and through air thick with dirt and humidity.
When she spotted the glow of a light stick through a small opening at the top of a mound of rocks, the sense of foreboding lifted. She called out Kayo’s name again.
Silence.
Alli climbed the rocks to the top, scraping her legs through the pants along the way. A few rocks slid under the force of her movement, and the ceiling shuddered. She forced herself to go slowly, trying to keep the rocks from shifting as she crawled her way through. When she reached the top, she gasped.
The soft yellow glow of a light stick lit the small cavern-like room that wasn’t even half as wide as her attic bedroom. Beyond the mountain of rock and toward the back lay Kayo, motionless. A slab of rock the size of a baby harkifa pinned his leg, and blood soaked his scalp.
“Please, Kayo. Answer me!”
Alli eased her way through the opening and down the other side, forcing herself to move slowly, to avoid causing a rock slide and burying Kayo. Once free of the pile of rocks, she scrambled to Kayo’s side on her hands and knees. His face was bloody and pale, and his skin clammy to the touch, but he was breathing!
“I’m here, Kayo. It’s me. Alli.” She caressed his cheek, trying to rouse him. “It’s Blue, Kayo. Can you hear me?”
“Not Blue. Alli,” he said, his words mumbled as he started to wake. “My Alli.”
She never thought she’d hear anything so sweet as her name on his lips.
“Your Alli?” She pushed back the nagging reminder that he still owned her. Now was not the time to worry about that, not while they were underground with rock all around them, threatening to bury them both alive. The way he’d said her name though, as if he cared about her and didn’t own her, filled her heart with light and hope.
“Your Alli,” she said, as she smoothed his sweat-soaked hair off his forehead.
She withdrew the rubber water pouch Jace had tied to her chest, one that had molded to her and shifted as needed to avoid puncture by rocks as she crawled through the adit. As she slowly trickled water into Kayo’s mouth, he smacked his parched lips and lifted his head from the ground to drink. He managed to swallow a few sips before falling back to the ground, spent.
Brown eyes stared without seeming to see her as Kayo took in his surroundings. His eyes widened, focused on the low ceiling. Damn, she was hoping he wouldn’t notice that, though it was hard not to. As she knelt beside him, her head barely cleared the ceiling.
“You’re okay, Kayo. We’ll get out of here soon.”
He closed his eyes.
“Kayo!”
His eyes opened with a start and then widened. “Hells, Alli. Tell me I’m dreaming and you’re not here about to get buried with me?”
“Wish I could.” Her voice was too cheery for the moment, but she couldn’t help it. He was alive and alert and she knew in her heart they’d make it out of there.
The muscles in his face tensed as he surveyed the confined space, settling on the ceiling only a few feet above him. He wouldn’t stop staring at the ceiling.
