I managed to get to the other end of the low ceiling and the puddle of melted ice before the grenades blew. The noise was thunderous in the tunnel, and I climbed partway up the side out of some vague notion of avoiding the shockwave that would blast back.
But the tunnel quaked so badly that I tumbled down, barely managing to get my feet under me. Snaps and cracks and a booming crash battered my eardrums. Shards of ice broke away from the ceiling and hammered my helmet.
“Stupid, stupid,” I groaned, even though I hadn’t had a choice.
The ice fall dwindled, but head-sized chunks littered the ground all around me, and larger pieces had fallen from the ceiling I’d carefully melted back. That allowed me to see through to the blockage. It hadn’t been fully demolished, but there was a gap now a
