Voices behind them. Getting closer. More lights. Oh fuck, they’re going to catch us. No no no!
“Inside!” Shane hissed, jerking Rafa to the left and maneuvering him into a black chasm in the side of the hill. Rafa stumbled into the cave, brushing the top of his head against the stone ceiling. “Get back as far as you can,” Shane ordered. “Carefully.” He pulled a clip from his back pocket and loaded it into the machine gun. “Stay down. Get on your belly.”
Rafa did as he was told, reaching his arms out into the blackness, stepping tentatively. He pressed himself against the side wall and dropped down to his knees and then his stomach. Shane was a dark shape silhouetted against the mouth of the cave and the slightly brighter forest beyond it. As Shane stretched out on his belly too, it was like looking at different shades of black, and Rafa rubbed his eyes.
Then light and sound exploded as Shane gunned down whoever was outside. In the stark silence that followed, Rafa’s ears rung. Another voice called, and Shane turned to Rafa. “Okay?” he whispered.
Rafa nodded, breathing heavily through his mouth.
So they waited. And waited. He dug his blunt nails into his palms, concentrating on breathing in and out. It’s okay. Shane’s here. He’s alive. He won’t let them hurt me. He won’t.
When the others came, the noise felt as though it shattered Rafa’s eardrums, the thunder of the shots rattling his spine as he clamped his hands over his ears. Rocks tumbled down from the mouth of the cave, and in the sudden silence after Shane stopped firing, the patter of rocks filled the air. Shane scrambled back, reaching for Rafa. “Move!”
But it was too late.
With a rumble, a barrage of rocks filled the mouth of the cave, and the blackness was complete. Just like in the box—but this time Shane was there, his hands on Rafa, covering him with his body as they coughed on dust and dirt. Rafa thought of that first day on the sidewalk, and Shane on top of him. It was the same now—Shane’s breath hot on his skin.
But it was so dark.
As the dust settled, Rafa lifted his fingers to his eyes to make sure they were open. “Shane?” Why wasn’t he saying anything? Oh God—
“Are you hurt?” Shane shifted off Rafa, his hands roaming over him, poking and prodding.
“I don’t think so. You?”
“I’m good.” Shane paused. “Relatively speaking.”
“Did you get them all?”
“I think so. Hard to say for sure. If any are left, they’re going to be heading for the hills. The troops will be coming. They jammed our signals, but the G-ride blew big. They had some kind of grenade. Good for us, because we may be in the middle of nowhere, but that’ll be a beacon for the choppers.”
Light flared, and Rafa sat up, blinking in the sudden glare of Shane’s phone. Shane shook his head, glancing around. “Still no signal.”
“Don’t you have a satellite phone or something?”
“Yep. They still managed to jam it. Must be some new tech. But the service can still track my location.” Tapping the screen, he turned on the flashlight app, shining it around the cave.
The space extended for about ten feet toward the back, where it narrowed steadily to a space they’d have to slither through on their bellies.
Rafa’s heart kicked up. “How are we getting out?”
“Too many variables if we tried to go deeper. Unlikely there’s a way out back there.” Shane kneeled and examined the new pile of rubble in the mouth of the cave, flashing the light up to the roof. “The whole thing might collapse if we try to dig out.”
“So where does that leave us?”
“We wait. They’ll find us.” He passed the phone to Rafa. “Shine it there.” On his hands and knees, Shane moved stray rocks away from a spot against the wall. “Come sit here. Unless you need to lie down?”
“No. I’m okay.” Rafa crawled over and settled himself. He and Shane were both soaked to the skin and dirty, Shane’s jacket gone. Shane sat beside him and took the phone.
As they plunged back into darkness, Rafa sucked in a breath. “Can’t we have the light?”
“Might need it later. Best to save the battery for now.” Shane found Rafa’s hand and threaded their fingers together. “I’m here with you. I won’t let anything happen.”
Rafa gripped his hand. “I know. Thank you.”
“Well, anything else that is. I’m sorry. I don’t know how it happened.”
“Don’t be sorry. It wasn’t your fault. I thought…God. I swear, they shot you in the head. I thought you were dead.” He swallowed down the growing lump in this throat.
“A few millimeters and I would have been. Think it’s stopped bleeding now.”
“Thank God. If you’d…there are so many things I never…” Rafa tingled all over. He kissed me. It’s not just me. He kissed me. “Shane…”