“Nope. I was for a little while, but it seemed like it might take a lot of hours. So I switched to that cave-in over there, which is where the hollow space ended. I’ve only been at it a few minutes, and I think it’ll only take a few minutes more to break through.”
“Break through? How do you know there’s space on the other side?”
“Ancient Indian secret. Trust me, a few more minutes and you’ll be amazed.”
Dane pushed himself onto his knees, the neck pain now merely annoying instead of debilitating. He felt some bruises on his legs and back, but aside from that he seemed to have avoided major injury. “I’ll give you a hand.”
Bones met his stare for a second before nodding. “Well you’ve obviously got a hard head, but I’d recommend grabbing a sharp stone and digging with that instead.”
Working together, they cleared a space in short order. Bones was right, and it continued as a tunnel on the other side. It seemed like something natural as opposed to the structure that the Sons had just collapsed on them. The rock and dirt was uneven, with the top dipping as low as two feet and rising as high as five as they went.
“It’s amazing that this tunnel has stayed intact, Bones.”
Bones picked up a baseball-sized stone and rapped it in a few places on the ceiling, wall and floor. Instead of the thud of dirt, most of the strikes elicited the echo of stone on stone. “This was hollowed out by water. Probably a while ago given how dry this dirt is. But basically this is a tunnel through rock.”
“I’ll bet whoever built that cellar knew about this tunnel first. Which means—”
“There may be another exit.”
Bones finished Dane’s sentence. “Which is good, because with the amount of time it would take to get out through the collapsed cellar, I might wind up having to go all Donner Party on you.”
Dane considered a comeback, but decided to save his breath. The movement was slow going due to the changes in tunnel height, but their training had prepared them well for this sort of exercise. They switched places a couple of times, until Dane in the lead stopped and put his hand back behind him.
“Hold up. Something’s not right.”
“You mean the smell?”
Dane hadn’t quite nailed it down until Bones said it. “Yeah. Some kind of animal.”
“Probably rats. The lights should scare them.”
“I dunno, that doesn’t smell like rats. It seems… bigger.”
“Man, how can something smell bigger? It’s my turn to lead anyway. If I see any elephants, you’ll be the second to know.”
A few seconds later, two things happened: First, Dane spotted a tunnel branching off to the right, heading down at a steep angle.
The second thing was Bones’ face appearing next to his, accompanied by a hand over Dane’s mouth. Bones put a finger next to his lips and waited for Dane to nod in agreement. Then he moved his light with what seemed to Dane ridiculous care. When the light settled in the direction they had been heading, Dane understood.
Nestled in a hollow lay three slumbering bears.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Remind me never to question your sniffer again. You’re a regular hound dog,” Bones whispered.
Dane ignored him, and slowly moved toward the branching tunnel. He could sense Bones moving soundlessly behind him. When he was about a foot from the tunnel, a throaty rumble punctuated the air. He summoned every ounce of willpower he possessed and did not shine his light back in that direction.
Once onto the slope of the tunnel, Dane slid without any need to propel himself forward. The ride lasted only a few seconds before terminating with a painful crash into a large rock. He bounced sideways onto dirt and shined his light forward. He saw a few more feet of tunnel, muddier than what they’d been in so far. Beyond that was a mass of brown vines.
He heard Bones land behind him. At least he assumed it was Bones, not one of the bears. “You okay?”
“Never better. I think they’re awake, though.”
The rumble came again, only this time it was followed by a full roar.
“What gave it away?”
Dane moved to the vines. He definitely saw light coming through, but they were very dense. He stuck a gloved hand into the mass and was able to penetrate almost to his shoulder, but he didn’t feel an end to it.
“Stand back!”
Dane jumped aside as Bones launched himself from a three point stance towards the vines. The low apex of the tunnel forced him to stay crouched, but he still made impact with tremendous force.
Most of that force was repelled instantly. Bones crashed to the ground with one arm still stuck in the vines. Dane expected him to writhe in pain, but he looked up and his eyes shone with something not far from madness.
When Bones pulled his hand out, more light came in. Dane grabbed the vines with both hands and was able to tear some out. He could now see the shadows of trees outside, fading in the dusk. They had a way out if only they could make the hole a little bigger.
Bones backed up and Dane stepped aside again. The repeat charge finally broke through, and Bones disappeared through the hole, whooping as he did. Dane followed, hearing the sound of something crashing to the ground behind him. Even if he hadn’t known the bears were coming, the roar that accompanied the landing would have given it away.
Outside, Bones was on his feet and backpedaling across snow-covered and rocky ground, once again holding the AR-15. Dane scrambled to his knees, but slipped on a slick rock. He rolled over and saw a bear emerge only a few feet away. The bear rose to its hind legs and opened its mouth.
“Stay down Maddock.”
The next sound Dane heard after the warning from Bones was a double gunshot. Chunks of stone flew near the bear’s feet, and the bear swatted at the ground with a paw. A moment later, Bones fired once more and the bear abruptly turned and bounded back through the vines.
Dane got to his feet and looked at Bones. “Tell me that didn’t just happen.”
“Okay. We didn’t just turn tail and run away from an angry mama bear and her two cubs.”
“Those were cubs?” Dane marveled.
“Half the size of the bear that came out, so that’s what I figure. Good thing a few shots scared her away.”
Dane shook his head. “You realize that word of this can never reach our unit?”
“Word of what?”
“Exactly.”
Dane moved his AR-15 from his shoulder to his hands. “Think the Sons of the Republic were still around to hear your shots?”
“I almost hope they were. We’re probably only a couple hundred yards from there.”
They kept their lights off, allowing their eyes to adapt to the darkness as they moved. Dusk wasn’t complete, and they moved slowly without any problem.
Dane spotted the line of trees, which they had been following when Bones fell in. They found the spot, but still saw no sign of their adversaries.
“Think we should turn on the light?”
“No.”
Dane was surprised at the uncharacteristically terse answer. “Do you have a plan?”
“I’m considering shooting that guy over there.”
Dane scanned until he saw a light bouncing in the distance. “Maybe we should question him first.”
“Probably. Let’s get close.”
The crunch of ice and snow made stealth more difficult, but soon enough they were only a few feet away from a figure shining a light down what Dane saw were the stairs from the far entrance to the cellar. He turned on his light and summoned his best impression of a television detective.