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“You’re doing it now.”
“How?”
He sighed and locked eyes with her. “By being evasive and controlling.”
She was silent at his words. The sound of the sizzling meat the only noise in the tunnel. His mouth watered at the smell. Maybe this meal wasn’t going to be as bad as he thought. The company, on the other hand, could be a problem.
She was staring daggers at him, but he refused to turn away as he held her gaze. “I’m not controlling, I’m... just trying to keep you alive.”
“Well, try to relax a little. We’re safe here, and the team will return in a few days, then we can all go ho—”
Before he could finish, she was on her feet, pacing again, her breathing labored. “You may not remember how the earth ended up this way, but I do. The storms, the floods, the chaos... It still happens.”
When the meat was cooked, he removed it from the fire and then stood. That’s when he saw the tears glistening in her eyes. She’d been through a lot today and was probably still feeling the powdered pain reliever; otherwise, she might’ve been able to hide this show of emotions. As he took a step toward her, he reached for her.
But she jerked away. “Don’t.”
Her back faced him now, but he wasn’t letting her off the hook. “Is that what your dream was about? The day everything...”
She sniffled and her hands moved to her face. To wipe away the tears?Her wall was crumbling for the second time. Could it be, after the flood of emotion earlier, she wasn’t able to suppress all that she felt, bottle it back up, and hide it all away?
He took hold of her arm and turned her. The tears were there, pooling in her eyes as she said, “I didn’t want to kill him, Krieger. I-I hate—”
His arms encircled her. How he wished he could take her pain away. “I know.”
She clutched his shoulders as she took deep breaths, trying to calm the panic coursing through her veins.
Smoothing her hair down, he said, “I know, Angel. Come on, eat something. It will make you feel better.”
He helped her settle on her pallet, then turned his attention to the food. He took it off the spit and began tearing the meat apart. As he handed her a portion, she met his eyes.
It was just a look, but it felt like more. A sign she was coming to truly trust him? Maybe, but only time would tell. She’d spent years building this wall, and it would not be taken down in one day.
They ate in silence as the night and rain fell upon them. The frog wasn’t as bad as he’d thought, much better than the black bean soup he’d had the night before.
After they finished off the last of the amphibian, he placed the bowls outside the tunnel to collect the rain and then made his way back to his pallet.
Eva was already turned away from him, covered with her fur pelt. She was a contradiction, a puzzle he was determined to figure out. What was really bothering her?
He stoked the fire, then threw another handful of tinder on from the pile Sarah had collected earlier.He watched the flames for what seemed like hours. Sleep, no matter how hard he wanted it, would not come. With the threat of danger lurking just outside, how could he sleep?
As the fire receded, the coals burned hot and cast the tunnel into almost complete darkness. The pitter-patter of the rain resonated in the tunnel, which should have been calming. Eva must have thought so. Her rest was soundless and peaceful.
He lay back and watched her as she slept. Without warning, a deep shudder swept through the ground, and a rumble from below shook the earth for the briefest of seconds.He sat up from his pallet, waiting and listening. What the hell was that?
Again, the ground pulsed beneath him, but this time, it lasted longer.Quickly, he leaned over to where Eva lay resting and shook her awake. If they had to move, he wanted to be ready.
“What is it?” she asked, groggy from her deep sleep.
The earth roared in answer to her question, and the concrete pipe shook with vengeance.She sprang up from the floor, the hot coals casting a glow on her face and revealing her widened eyes.
He’d been right to wake her, something was wrong. But what?
The roar was closing in, growing louder with every passing second.He reached for their gear, stuffed it in his pack, and slung it over his back. Then he grabbed her bag. No way was she carrying that thing, not after what she’d been through.
“Let’s move,” he said as he laid his free hand on the small of her back.
The roar was almost deafening now as it echoed in the tunnel. It was something.
