Then he saw light. It happened all at once as the tunnel suddenly leveled out, and bright sunlight streamed through a hole in the ceiling. The momentary hope that flooded his mind was quickly extinguished, however, as cracks shot out from the ceiling, and more chunks of rock fell to the floor, followed by a deluge of sand.
Wolfgang could see clearly now. Beams of bright light shot through the ceiling on all sides as the roof collapsed, and he could see the surface of the desert fifteen feet overhead, but the gaps in the roof allowed a tidal wave of sand to crash in. Within seconds, the surge covered his feet and worked its way up his legs. Wolfgang thrashed free and fought upward, dragging Amelia behind him as rocks and sand poured in on every side, but he already knew the effort was useless. There was no way he could fight his way out while dragging another person—however small—on his back.
It’s me . . . or her.
Wolfgang fought his leg free again, coughing and ducking his head to avoid the spray of sand. It was like a shower in a fancy hotel, blasting in from all sides. No sooner did he jerk one leg free, did the desert tsunami bury it again, up to his knee now. It was becoming increasingly difficult to find stones to stand on, and even though massive chunks of the roof were now gone and there was little risk of being hit in the head by rocks, the gaps only left more room for sand to pour in.
“Climb on my shoulders!” Wolfgang shouted.
Amelia thrashed on his back, but to no avail. Her broken leg dangled next to him, quickly becoming buried by the sand.
“You have to climb on my shoulders!”
He couldn’t move his legs now, and there was no longer a point in trying. His best bet now was to lift Amelia onto his shoulders and maybe get her far enough from the floor to somehow avoid being buried.
Amelia tried to climb, but her body was weak, and Wolfgang couldn’t help much.
“Climb!” he said.
Amelia couldn’t move. She clawed with both hands, but her broken leg kept her from obtaining any usable leverage.
She’s going to die with me.
A whirring, buzzing noise came from someplace above them, and he looked up into the bright sun, blinking away the sand and searching the sky. The buzzing grew louder, coming in from his right . . . or maybe his left.
Lyle’s monstrosity of a drone rocketed out of the sky like a helicopter descending on a war zone. The big black machine blasted down on them with all eight rotors spinning, sending up another cloud of dust that was almost too intense to see through. The drone’s motors slowed a little, then it began to drop. Wolfgang noticed the strap that hung down from the middle of the drone. It was the same strap Megan had used to fly into Amelia’s apartment, and at the end, the repelling harness still swung like a life buoy.
Wolfgang reached up, his fingers scraping the bottom of the harness as the drone hovered ten feet overhead. He remembered Lyle talking about the weight of the battery and reserve lift and motor output—all things Wolfgang didn’t understand or really care about.
It can’t lift her . . . not with the battery. But it can help.
Wolfgang snagged the harness on his second attempt and pulled down, looping one side of it beneath Amelia’s left arm, then helping her to get her second arm through the other side. The sand was up to his waist now, pouring in a little slower than before, but still rising inches per minute, with no signs of stopping. Wolfgang was completely immobile from the stomach down, but Amelia still had a fighting chance.
He gave her hand a squeeze and shouted over the roar of the drone. “Climb out, Doctor! You’ve got to climb!”
Amelia gave him a brief nod, then Wolfgang flashed a thumbs-up at the drone’s belly-mounted camera. The drone surged to life and shot upward, its accession slowing almost to a stop when the strap became tight. Amelia grunted in pain but then began kicking her good leg and using her arms to claw her way up the side of the deluge of rocks and sand.
The drone strained overhead. Wolfgang thought he saw smoke rise from its motors, and he pushed upward on the bottom of her shoe. She groped upward at the shifting pile of sand and rocks, and then Dr. Amelia Pollins broke free and disappeared over the side of the collapsing tunnel. Wolfgang coughed and grabbed at the wall in a last desperate attempt to free himself. The sand had almost reached his armpits, and in another minute it would cover his face. He’d be buried alive.
What a strange way to die. At least I saved Amelia.
Wolfgang pawed sand out of his eyes, then took a deep breath.
I wish I’d gone upstairs to see Collins.
The sand rushed in on all sides, up to his shoulders, and Wolfgang looked up at the sun, hoping to catch sight of the blue sky far above. Then something rocketed through the air and smacked him in the face. The object landed directly in front of him, coiled up like a snake and trailing back over the edge of the tunnel.
“Grab on!” somebody shouted.
Wolfgang flailed out with both hands and caught the rope. He wound it around his right arm, and clamped his left hand around the tail end. Then he heard the familiar growl of Charlie Team’s Toyota 4Runner.
The motor roared, and Wolfgang’s body ached as the strain descended on him. He felt like he was being pulled apart, like an insect between the chunky fingers of a child. Then the suction of the sand around his legs gave way, and he rocketed upward, plowing headfirst through the sand and over the side of the tunnel.
