Blakely placed a hand on his shoulder, a half-amused smile on his lips. 'Careful, boy, that's potent enough to kill you.'
His face reddening, Jason shrugged off his hand, now even more determined to investigate the hole. Before anyone could stop him, he sucked in a lungful of air and clamped his eyes and lips closed. Then he dove forward into the smoky wind.
He found himself almost instantly buffeted back by the pressure, but he dug his toes in beneath him. Working one arm and shoulder through the hole, he wiggled around, seeking a way to crawl ahead.
If he could just turn his head and twist over this way… but rock blocked him at every turn. In a few seconds, he realized it was much too small for him to squeeze through. Disappointed, he pulled back and rolled to the side, letting out his held breath in a long sigh.
He saw Blakely waving his hand before his nose as the disturbed smoke billowed around him. 'A lot of good that did you. You almost gassed the two of us with your foolishness.'
'But I was just-'
'Enough of this tomfoolery. We just need to accept our predicament and find an alternate route. This tunnel is a dead end for us.'
Jason sniffed, trying to save face. 'But I did find out that the hole is only about two feet deep. After that it widens again. I think the tunnel is fine beyond this short section. If we can find a way through…'
'Well, unless you happen to be hiding a pickax under your shirt, I'm afraid that's not much help.'
Jason, finally defeated, hung his head.
Linda laid a consoling hand on his knee. 'Hey, at least you tried. And besides, there's no harm done. Heck, if I had been any smarter, I could've stolen a cube of Khalid's plastic explosive. We could have blasted our way out.' She lifted his chin with a finger. 'I'm very proud of you.'
Jason tried to suppress a smile but couldn't stop it. 'Thanks.'
She tousled his hair, then turned back to Blakely. 'I guess we've no choice but to search for an alternate route.'
Blakely mumbled something in response, but Jason had stopped listening. Instead, Linda's words repeated in his mind: Cubes? Explosives? He stood up. Could it be?
He crossed to where Linda huddled in conversation with Blakely and tugged on her sleeve. Linda glanced at him, and Blakely frowned down, his eyes narrowed with irritation at his intrusion.
'What is it, Jason?' she said, pushing back a strand of blond hair.
He shifted his feet. 'Um, Linda, that explosive you were talking about. I think I may have some of it.'
Blakely stepped forward. 'What? How?'
Linda placed a restraining hand on Blakely's arm. 'Jason, why do you think you have some explosive?'
Scuffing the toe of his sneaker on the rocky floor, not looking anyone in the face, Jason explained about the incident in the bathroom when Khalid's bag spilled into his cubicle. 'I have it in my gym bag,' he finished, pointing to the red Nike bag at his feet. 'I'll show you.'
He unzipped the bag and rummaged through it. He should have told someone. Now he was going to get into trouble. He shifted the contents of the pack around. It was difficult to search, full of gym clothes, an orange towel, a pack of playing cards that had fallen loose, and scattered loose change for the video-game machine. Where was it?
After a full minute, Blakely exclaimed in exasperation, 'Just dump it on the floor.' He tried to take the bag from Jason.
'Wait!' Jason pulled his Nintendo Game Boy from the bag. 'It'll break.' He shoved the Game Boy in his jacket pocket.
The doctor overturned the bag and shook it. All his stuff tumbled to the floor. The three of them searched through his loot.
Jason carefully tucked his spare pair of underwear out of sight, mortified that Linda might see his boxers. As he was hiding it under his towel, he spotted the familiar gray material.
Picking up the clay, he held it out to Linda. 'Here it is.'
With a whisper of a smile on her lips, she accepted the sculpted clay, eyeing his handiwork. 'Nice airplane.'
He shrugged. 'I thought it was some sort of hard Play-Doh.'
Blakely looked on with disbelief. 'Are you sure it's the explosive?'
Linda fished a piece of crinkled cellophane from his belongings. 'Yes, this is the same cellophane that wrapped the other cubes.'
Blakely took the airplane from her as if handling the most fragile piece of expensive art. 'Okay, we've got an explosive, but nothing to detonate it with. We need a blasting cap.'
'What's that?' Jason asked.
Blakely just frowned at him, but Linda explained, 'They're little explosives that set off the chunk of plastic explosive.'
'Like fireworks?'
'That would do the trick,' Blakely answered, 'but we're not going to find any fireworks stands down here.'
Fumbling through the side pouch of his bag, Jason pulled out the little red cherry bomb he'd hidden from prying eyes. 'Will this work?'
Linda stared at it. 'Do you think…? Will it work?'
Blakely nodded, grinning. 'I believe so.'
She returned his grin, then turned and hugged Jason. 'You're just full of surprises, little man.'
Jason blushed purple. 'Just don't tell my mom about the cherry bomb. She'd kill me.'
Khalid crouched by the fork in the tunnels, leaning first into one, then into the other. He sniffed, like a cur on a trail. The left-hand tunnel had a subtle sting to the air, causing a slight burning in the nose. Smoke. He proceeded left, holding his lighter before him. He had been careful to twist the controls to set the flame at its lowest setting, creating only a feeble flicker, conserving the butane in his lighter. If it should run out, he would be blinded, unable to complete his mission. He had to pamper his tiny flame.
In the stygian darkness, even this small flame was enough to light the way for several meters. He marched steadily ahead, not wasting time to rest. There was no way of judging how much farther Linda and her group might be. But there were clues he was heading in the right direction: footprints in mud, a wrapper from a ration bar, a spot where someone had stopped to urinate, the ammonia odor still pungent. He was close.
His mind wandered as he raced along the monotonous tunnels, allowing his trained body to continue its pursuit, stepping around pitfalls, leaping crevices, climbing over boulder-strewn obstructions, hell-bent on narrowing the gap.
Linda pushed Jason farther back around the tunnel's curve, praying that Blakely knew what the heck he was doing. It was quite possible the entire tunnel system could collapse on them. Still, she knew they had to take the risk. To go back only invited disaster.
'I wanna watch,' Jason said.
'No, honey. It's dangerous. Here, put in your ear-plugs.' She handed him two cotton balls from their first-aid kit. 'And when I tell you, cover your ears and open your mouth.'
'Why?'
'The explosion is going to be dangerously loud. It can damage your eardrums.'
Jason fidgeted. 'I still want to watch.'
Blakely suddenly appeared before them, slightly winded. 'All set. I've shaped the charge to blow away from us. Are you ready?'
Linda nodded. 'How good a shot are you?'
'Okay, but with this pressure… ' He shrugged.
'You only have the one shot.'
He raised the flare gun. 'I know.' The cherry bomb had been embedded in the plastic explosive, and the plan was to ignite it with the flare from a safe distance. He waved them back farther.
She nudged the boy behind her. 'Good luck.'
Blakely swiped his damp brow with the edge of his sleeve, then took a few steps down the tunnel to get a straight shot. She noticed his lips had a purple tinge to them. The stress and the foul air were worsening his heart
