Chapter 18-2
839 Words
Taylor sighed. Saber refused to put her down. She wasn’t going to complain, at least not yet. At the moment, her body was still quivering from reaction. None of the men really talked. Cain and Ace led the way down the corridors to where the grate in the floor was located. Razor, then Hunter, went down first, followed by Sword and Thunder. After a few minutes, they came back and motioned for Trig to hand them Lonnie. Saber reluctantly set her on her feet before he dropped down through the hole. She watched him, worried when she saw his mouth tighten in pain.
Sitting down, she twisted and tried to drop down on her own, but he caught her around the waist and lowered her to the ground. She started to ask him if he was okay, but the look of warning in his eyes stopped her. Instead, she gripped his hand and stood to the side so that Dagger, Trig, Cain, and Ace could follow them.
She staggered when another blast shook the mountain. Saber wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her. With a nod to Razor to let him know that they were ready, the small group moved down the tunnel.
“The man with the purple eyes said to keep left at all times and it would lead to the base of the mountain. He told us to go east, that there was a rebel group in the mountains that would help us,” Taylor whispered.
Saber squeezed her waist before slipping his hand down to grasp hers. She saw him finger the knife at his side. A small smile tugged at her lips. He was probably going to be doing that a lot for a while to make sure she hadn’t taken it.
It took them a couple of hours to make their way through the maze of tunnels. The tunnel divided three times before they finally saw a small shaft of light coming from the end. Early morning light lit the circular entrance.
“Our skids should be just over the rise,” Sword said, striding forward. “We came in through the upper level drainage. We didn’t know there were two.”
Thunder paused behind Sword, scanning the area. Taylor leaned back against the side wall next to Lonnie. She glanced down. The little boy was almost asleep. Bending, she sat down and pulled him into her arms. She didn’t blame him. The last few weeks, sleep had been a luxury.
“We’ll go get the skids,” Thunder said. “We can use them to take you around to the others. Once we have them all, we can double up.”
“Hunter and I can go for ours,” Razor said with a shake of his head. “It isn’t that far. Thunder, I want you and Sword to head out. There is a mining facility not far to the west. We need to know what kind of production is being done. This is more serious than we thought. Be careful. Get back to base as soon as you find out the information,” he ordered before he turned to Trig. “Trig, you take Ace and Cain to get yours, Dagger, and Saber’s skids. We’ll meet back here. Dagger, you stay and help guard Taylor and the boy.”
Dagger nodded, checking the charge on his rifle. “I’ll scout the area. I haven’t felt any tremors lately, maybe the fighter transports have finished,” he said, gripping the weapon in his hand.
“Wait,” Taylor muttered, gently laying Lonnie’s head down. “Let me check your arm first. Do any of you have your emergency pack with you?”
A low curse escaped Saber and he rose to his feet. “Dagger’s not the only one who needs medical attention,” he said, propping his rifle against the wall and reaching into the pack at his waist. “He can take care of himself.”
Dagger’s eyes glittered with amusement. “Ah, Saber, your concern is touching,” he chuckled.
“Remind me to kick your ass when we get out of this,” Saber muttered, turning his back to Dagger and gently raising Taylor’s arm. “Let me take a look at that cut.”
Taylor rolled her eyes at Saber. The scratch on her arm was nothing compared to the nice long slit on Dagger’s. She could see the fresh blood still seeping through the piece of torn shirt he had wrapped around it.
“His cut is worse than mine,” she protested in a quiet voice.
“I don’t think arguing with me at the moment is a good idea,” Saber said, spraying the disinfectant with a numbing agent in it along the cut before running a thin laser to seal it. “I can’t believe you did that. Do you have any idea how dangerous that little stunt was?”
“Don’t forget her escape from the tower,” Dagger pointed out as he replaced his own first aid kit.
Taylor shot Dagger a heated look. “Aren’t you supposed to be scouting the area or something?” she snapped out in aggravation.
Dagger grinned and picked up his rifle. “As Jordan would say, I can feel the love,” he replied with a soft chuckle. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
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