He heard faint, relieved sobbing.
“It’s okay, princess. It’s going to be okay.” Damn, he hoped he was telling the truth. She had to be okay. There was no other option.
“I’m in a bit of the tunnel that’s still standing. There’s a collapse on either side of me,” Jena shouted.
Matt looked around him and knew exactly where she was. There were two large sinkholes with an island of grass between them. One of several islands in a sea of ravines and potholes. His heart raced. She’d been lucky. She could have easily been buried with one of the sinkholes instead of being pushed into a cavern.
“I think my ankle is broken and my ribs are cracked.”
He closed his eyes. “We’re going to get you out. I promise.”
“I’m scared, Matt.”
“I know, princess. It won’t be long. Just hold on tight.”
“Is that her?” Magenta and Harry came running up to stand beside him.
“I picked Magenta up,” Harry said. “She’ll know what’s down there.”
Magenta took in the alien landscape in front of her. “She’s at a junction. Those have extra reinforcement.” She pointed over the field. “See the pattern? Every grassy bit is a junction.”
Now she’d pointed it out, Matt could see the pattern. The junctions were grass islands in a sea of dirt.
“That’s good, right?” He didn’t want to sound desperate, but he couldn’t help it.
Magenta nodded. “Really good. If they haven’t collapsed by now, they probably won’t. She’s safe.” She bit her lip and cast a worried look at Harry.
“What?” Matt demanded. “What else?”
“She’s safe unless there’s another explosion.”
Matt’s stomach clenched. “Is there likely to be another explosion?”
“I don’t think so.” Magenta looked at Harry, and there was uncertainty in her eyes. “I found some explosives in the mine when I checked it for Abby. I cleared them out and called in some munitions experts to check the rest of it. They’re due out this week.” She looked devastated. “I didn’t think there was a need to rush. I’d cut off that whole section of the mine.”
“The second explosion.” Matt rubbed his face. “That was explosives in the mine?”
“Yeah,” Magenta said. “The good news is, if there are more explosives, they should have gone off with the first lot. Chain reaction sort of thing.”
“Okay.” Matt clenched his jaw. “Let’s assume everything that could explode already has. How do we get her out?”
Magenta looked around. “We need to dig through the most stable area, otherwise we’ll bring more dirt down on her. There.” Magenta pointed to the middle of the grass area. “Dig in the centre. Keep it small. You shouldn’t have to go down too far. You might even be lucky and hit an old air shaft, and speed things up. This area is covered in them.”
Matt looked at the gaping hole between him and the island of grass. “How the hell do we get a digger over there?”
“We can do it,” said a voice. It was Grunt.
Matt looked up to find Grunt, Joe and Lake standing there, looking like members of the A-Team.
“We did stuff like this all the time in the marines,” Joe said.
Matt looked at Lake, who nodded confidently. Matt took a shaky breath. “You got what you need?”
“I’ll get it,” Lake said.
The men set off at a run as Matt turned back to the pipe. “We’re coming to get you. Magenta is here and she knows where you are exactly. Lake, Grunt and Joe are getting the equipment we need to dig you out.”
Magenta tapped his shoulder. “Can I talk to her?”