was trying to reassure him.
Pinching his brows together angrily, he increased the pace of his hopping. Side passages and crossways flew past. He didn't try to memorize his route, only kept his eyes fixed on Ben's back, struggling to match his pace. As much as his hot blood drove him forward, past the pain, past his incapacitation, eventually his feverish pace dwindled back again to a pathetic crawl. Ben disappeared around a bend in the corridor. Panting now, sparks of lights danced across Michaelson's vision; pain shot in electric bolts from his ankle.
He stopped, leaning on the wall, his side now burning with a hot flame.
Ashley stepped to his shoulder, her voice a mixture of concern and anger. 'Quit pushing yourself. We're not in a race. Careful progress is what will get us out of here.'
'I'm slowing you up,' he said between pain-clenched teeth.
Ben's face suddenly appeared in front of him. Damn, that Aussie moved silently when he wanted to. Ben wore a concerned expression.
Michaelson glared at Ben. 'I'm fine.' He dared him to argue.
'That's good,' said Ben, his voice an urgent whisper, 'because I think we're being stalked.'
Ashley crossed next to Ben. 'What do you mean?'
'I keep hearing something scraping and shuffling in neighboring passages. Keeping pace with us.'
'Maybe they're just echoes of our own progress,' Ashley said, but her eyes darted behind her. 'I haven't heard anything.' She glanced at Michaelson. 'Have you?'
He shook his head, but he was no judge. All he could hear when he moved was his own wheezing pants and his heart pounding in his ears. Hell, he hadn't even heard Ben approach until he was on top of him.
Ben hissed his words. 'You've got to know what to listen for. I know noises that are natural for a cave. And these aren't normal.'
'So what do we do?' Ashley asked.
'We need to shake this tail, but it knows these passages better than we do. Our only hope is speed. Outrun it.'
Michaelson was very conscious that Ben didn't glance his way. Ashley didn't either, but an uncomfortable silence descended like a weight upon them. He knew what they were thinking. They needed to move quickly but wouldn't leave him behind.
Rolling his eyes, he started to speak when he heard it too. They all did. Six eyes turned in unison to their back trail. Something scraped rock behind them, out of sight, followed by the sound of a single pebble displaced and bouncing. Something was back there.
'Leave me,' he said. He pulled his pistol and pointed it. Not down the trail but at Ashley and Ben. 'Now.'
'Quit that shit,' Ben said. 'We're not in some damned Rambo movie. We know you're not gonna shoot us.'
'I won't allow my injuries to get us all killed.' He raised the barrel to his own temple, pressing the cold muzzle to his heated skin. 'Go or I'll shoot.'
'Michaelson…' Ashley's voice was tight with fear. 'We're a team.'
'Go. I'll cover the back trail for as long as possible.'
'No!' Ashley said. 'You're coming with us.'
'Go.' He cocked the pistol with his thumb. 'Now. Or in three seconds you'll have no one to cover your escape.'
He watched Ashley swallow hard and glance at Ben for help. If either rushed him, he would pull the trigger. He knew he needed to force them to leave him behind. A second pebble tripped somewhere behind them.
Ben turned to Ashley, the stubborn set of his shoulders slumped. 'He's right. We've got to think of the others. If we don't reach help, they'll all die too.'
Ashley's fists clenched, her knuckles white. 'I hate this.'
Ben rested a hand on her shoulder. He turned his eyes to Michaelson. 'I know you're keen on this suicide mission. Kamikaze and all that. But up five yards ahead is a small alcove with a tiny pool of water. It's large enough to hide three Marines in there. I suggest you hole up. It'll be a secure spot to keep out of sight and offers good coverage if you need to shoot.'
Michaelson nodded, suspicious. 'Go. I'll check it later.'
Ben pulled Ashley away. 'C'mon. Maybe we can lead the pursuers away from him.'
She allowed herself to be shifted away, but not before her eyes locked on the major's one final time, tears at the corners of her lids. 'Dennis, be careful. Don't do anything stupid.'
He waved her away with the muzzle of the gun. He watched her twist around and leave with Ben's arm around her. They disappeared around the bend without a glance behind. He listened as their footfalls faded down the tunnel until there was only silence. He listened carefully, ears straining, making sure they had definitely left, as well as trying to hear any telltale sound of the stalkers.
He heard nothing other than his own pulse throbbing at his temples. He continued to wait. Still after nearly an hour, nothing appeared or was even heard. Maybe Ben had been panicked over nothing, but he couldn't convince himself. Ben was too wise in cave lore to be fooled by an echo or natural noises.
He licked his dry lips, caked with dust and dried sweat. He swirled the canteen at his belt. Almost empty. He'd better take Ben's advice and check that alcove. Fill his canteen and hole up there.
Wincing, he stumbled as quietly as possible down the tunnel, searching for the side cave. The scrape of his boot on the rocky floor sounded explosively loud in the empty tunnel. Luckily, only steps past the turn in the passage, a small black aperture appeared in the right wall of the tunnel. He clicked on his lantern and flashed the opening with his light. It was dark in there, no glowing fungus, just emptiness. The roof was low. Too low to stand up in, but by crouching he could enter and move around. In the corner, a small trickle of water ran down the rear wall and accumulated in a puddle.
He tested it with a finger. A strong mineral tang but should be okay to drink. After finishing the dregs of his canteen, he positioned his canteen under the trickle to collect the fresh water.
Satisfied, he settled by the opening, hidden in shadow; the glow of the mold-encrusted passage allowed him to view both directions in secret. It was a secure post. He waited, his gun pointing forward.
Cowards, she thought, that's all we are-cowards. No matter how logical their decision to abandon Michaelson was, Ashley still felt like a dog running with its tail between its legs.
She followed Ben's back through the twisting maze. Almost five hours had elapsed, and during brief rest breaks to sip warm water from her canteen, she still heard the noises trailing them, sometimes from a long distance away, sometimes from just around a blind bend.
Ben stopped ahead of her, his brow drenched in sweat, and unscrewed the lid of his canteen. He raised it to his lips and took a short swig. Wiping the cuff of his sleeve across his mouth, he said, 'It doesn't make bloody sense.' He shook the canteen and frowned at it.
Hers was almost empty too. 'What do you mean?'
'By now we should have either lost this tail or been caught. This stalemate is bloody odd.'
'Maybe we've just been lucky.'
A tumble of loose rock down a tunnel to their right caused them both to jump.
Ben scrunched up his nose as if he smelled something foul. 'I don't trust luck any more than these caves.'
She capped her own canteen after sipping just enough to flush the rock dust from her mouth. 'Let's go.'
Ben set a faster pace, his shoulder muscles knotted with tension, his gun tight in his hand.
This constant waiting was getting to her also. What the hell was stalking them? And why wasn't it attacking? Her stomach churned with hot acid. She almost wished their pursuers would pounce. At least then she could fight… do something instead of running in fear.
For the next hour, they traversed numerous tunnels, some heading up, some heading down, some with smooth floors, some tumbled with boulders, some illuminated with fungus, some black as pitch.
Ben held his silver compass in his free hand. 'We're heading in the wrong direction. Away from the base.'
'What choice do we have?' Hunger and the twisting passages were making Ashley dizzy. She had been nibbling dry rations as they moved, but she needed a meal. She found herself dreaming of a cheeseburger with an extra-large order of fries. And, of course, a Coca-cola. This warmed spit in her canteen failed to even moisten her mouth.
She tripped over a rock, dulled reflexes causing her to stumble to her knees. She tried to push herself up, but then her legs protested, muscles tired and strained. She collapsed back down with a sigh.
