Commodity

“Not on us, it won’t.” Eckhart’s voice is so calm and sure, I can’t help but believe him. “Just keep moving.”

Eckhart speaks into his radio, but there’s no answer.

“Are we too far away to reach them?” I ask.

“The

re must be something in the tunnel that’s blocking the signal.”

“Maybe we should go back.”

“Not until the explosions stop,” he says. “You’re safer here.”

As soon as the words are out of his mouth, the tunnel starts to shake all around us. The lights flicker and then go out, but Eckhart produces a flashlight from God-knows-where and shines it ahead of us.

“Run!” Eckhart grabs my hand and pulls me alongside him as he hastens farther down the tunnel. The ground is sloped, and I can barely walk in these shoes, let alone run. I stumble, and Eckhart holds tightly to my hand, but I still fall to my knees.

“Kick them off!” he orders. “Get rid of the fucking shoes!”

I look around at the ground where the light shines, trying to figure out how I’d be able to step anywhere without cutting my feet.

“There are rocks down here!”

Another loud crash from further up the tunnel is followed by a low, escalating hum. As we look in the direction of the train, part of the tunnel begins to collapse. Chunks of cement and metal begin to fall from the ceiling.

The hum increases, and I hunch my shoulders to block the sound as I try to keep up with the man in front of me. It doesn’t help. The noise grows louder and louder until my head pounds, and I can’t think. My skin vibrates. For a moment, it feels as if I’m being lifted off the ground by the sound itself.

The sound cuts off abruptly, and my knees suddenly buckle under me. As my hand slips from Eckhart’s, I fall against the rocks near the track. He has to stop and come back for me.

“What was that?” I cry out.

He ignores my question as he yells, “Come on!” and pulls me back to my feet.

I hear a sharp pop from above my head. I start to glance upward, but Eckhart grabs me around the waist and hauls me off to the side. The movement isn’t fast enough, and a large chunk of concrete hits my leg, tearing through the panty hose and the skin beneath.

I scream as searing pain runs up and down my leg. I can’t see how bad it is in the dark, but I can feel blood running down my ankle. Eckhart grabs me by the waist and holds me sideways as he pulls off my shoes. He sets me back down again and yells.

“Run, dammit!”

“I can’t! My leg!”

He flicks the light to my calf but moves the light away again before I can really see it.

“Shit!”

Chunks of concrete fall behind us as he suddenly grabs me around the waist and throws me over his shoulder. I can barely breathe with his shoulder pressed into my diaphragm. There’s dust in my lungs, and the pain in my leg is nearly unbearable. Another piece from the ceiling plummets right behind us, shattering and sending shards into my arms as they dangle at Eckhart’s back.

I jiggle and bounce as Eckhart runs, dodging falling chunks of the tunnel. He skips over the tracks to the other side, and my chin bangs painfully against his back. I try to grip the back of his jacket, but it doesn’t help. All I can do is close my eyes and press my lips together to keep from screaming.

Thankfully, we only go a little farther before Eckhart slows and then stops. The tunnel behind us is silent now as he lowers me to the ground and shines the light from his flashlight back toward the way we came. There’s dust obscuring the view, but I can’t hear any additional sounds of collapse.

“Did it stop?” I ask.

“Shh.” He cocks his head to one side and listens intently.

There’s nothing to be heard but our own panting breaths. We stand there motionless, me on one leg, using him for support for what feels like forever before Eckhart silently takes my hand and helps me limp farther away from where we came. I follow, occasionally glancing back into the darkness, but I hear nothing. After several more minutes of walking, the tunnel begins to slope upward, and Eckhart stops.

“Sit,” he says, using his flashlight to indicate the indentation in the concrete next to the track. “I need to look at your leg.”