“We’re doing this together.”
Anna sighs, half-concerned, half-relieved. “I thought you might say that.”
Chapter Thirteen
The women steal out into the open, their eyes flicking rapidly in every direction. They reach the entrance to the bunker, where the original chunk of stone that blocked their return to the base has been joined by two dozen other smaller hunks of stone shrapnel. Through small gaps in the blocks, Anna determines that half the tunnel has caved in beyond the exterior blockage. Through the muddle of brown and gray rocks, a muffled sound arises: thunk, thunk, thunk.
“They’re there,” she says excitedly. “They’re trying to break through.” A rush of hope flows into her, giving her just the spark of energy she needs. “C’mon, let’s do our part from this side. Start with the small pieces, work our way up to the big ones.”
For a half hour they struggle and strain against the weight of the “small pieces,” which are anywhere from twenty to eighty pounds, some so heavy it takes both of them just to roll them off the pile. Every second Anna expects to hear the chatter of sun dweller gunfire, but it never comes. Removing the next to last of the small stones, she wipes a dirty hand across her dirty forehead, trying to keep the sweat out of her eyes. Maia’s face is equally filthy. “There,” she says, prying off the final manageable chunk and watching it crash from the pile.
Breathing heavily, Anna says, “Now for the big ones. We’ll need to find something to use as a lever.”
Together they search for something—anything—that might give them a chance at success. Anna leads them onto the pile that was once a church, moving slowly to avoid alerting any spying eyes to their presence. Atop the pile, Anna scans the surrounding area, immediately spotting three sets of red uniforms blotted against the drab landscape. The arrogance and stupidity of the sun dwellers as evidenced by their uniforms, she thinks.
“Stay down,” she warns Maia. Together they flatten themselves against the pile until each of the groups move out of sight.
They take turns searching for a lever while the other one keeps watch. Anna’s taking her second turn searching when she sees it. A long, metal pole, decorated with an exquisite brass handle at one end, with beautiful ornamental designs of the Sun, Moon, and Star Realm insignias painted on the side. At the other end is a cap with a bronze cross. The pole was likely used for some ancient ritual involving the salvation of those attending the church. Now it will be used for a similar purpose, she thinks, only this time it will involve the salvation of all of us.
She pulls it from under a boulder, cringing as the steel shrieks along the sharp edge of the stone. “Take this,” she says, feeding the handled end to Maia.
“This is perfect,” Maia says, taking it. With Anna holding the cross-end and Maia the handle, they climb down the pile, returning to the secondary bunker entrance.
They test out the lever on several medium-sized rocks, jamming the cross-end beneath them and using their collective strength to force the loads up and off the pile. With each small victory, Anna’s energy wanes and the steel rod bends more and more. After the sixth rock is removed, she says, “We need to try to remove that big one before us or the pole breaks.”
In agreement, Maia shoves the cross under the largest block of all, the one that originally trapped them on the outside. Taking their positions, Anna on the outside, Maia on the inside, they lean on the steel cylinder, trying to force their entire weight down on the end of the lever.
Nothing.
Gritting her teeth, Anna continues pushing, determined not to let a hunk of rock get the better of her. Finally, it starts to give way, but then—
CRACK! She cries out as the rod gives way beneath her, catapulting her headfirst. She crashes on her shoulder and neck, pain lancing through her back and into her legs. Something falls on her, and she gasps as the air leaves her chest.
“Oomf!” Maia grunts, coming to rest on top of her. “General! Are you okay?” she asks, rolling to the side.
For a minute Anna can’t breathe as she bites at the air, fruitlessly trying to capture it. Then finally: whoosh! She gets a full breath down her throat and her lungs inflate. Panting, she says, “I’m okay, you just knocked the wind out of me, and—”
She cringes as she tries to stand, feeling pain roar through her body.
“General, let me help you,” Maia says, grabbing her under the arms. “What hurts?”
Anna thinks for a second, blinking away stars and tears. “Everything at the moment,” she says, wishing it was a joke.
“Okay. You rest, I’ll try again.”
“Forget about it. I might be older than you, but I’m just as tough. Give me a sec. I’ll help.”
While Anna prepares herself for a whole new world of pain, Maia retrieves the pole. “The cross snapped off, that’s what caused the problem,” Maia explains, showing Anna the mangled end of the rod.
“Good. Then it shouldn’t happen again.” That’s when she hears it: a shudder of the earth, a slight tremor caused by something below the surface.
“It’s them!” Maia says elatedly. “They’re trying to blast their way out.”
Anna cranes her neck and hears voices now, still muffled but closer than the sound of the pickaxes she heard earlier. “Let’s help them out,” she says, arching her sore back to stretch it out, feeling her muscles groan in protest.
Maia plunges the naked tip of the rod back under the massive tombstone block, and then reassumes her position on the inside of the lever. Anna joins her, says, “One, two, three,” and then they jump up, using gravity and body weight and raw strength to shove the metal downwards. Plumes of pain roll up through her back and neck, causing a spontaneous headache that throbs in the back of her skull. Her arms ache from the last hour of exertion and stress and killing. But still she presses on. As before, nothing happens at first. Thirty seconds pass and she feels her veins popping out as she holds her breath, trying to push a little harder.
It happens.
The block starts to move, and this time it’s not in preparation to snap the end of the rod off; rather, it moves up under the pressure driven from the back end of the lever all the way to the front. It’s just a slight bob upward, but the movement is enough to allow Maia to shove the pole further under, giving them even greater leverage. Anna keeps pushing, pushing, pushing, harder than she ever has except maybe during childbirth.
An inch of movement turns into half a foot and then a foot—and then the block is teetering on its edge, pushed from behind by the lever and pulled from the front by gravity. With a final shove, Anna and Maia break the tie, sending the block tumbling from the entrance, down a small incline, where it lands with a satisfying and dangerous Thud!
Anna’s smile is reflected on Maia’s face, neither of them needing words to express their shared sense of accomplishment and hope.
As they stare down at their fallen foe, there’s a rush of feet as dozens of sun dweller soldiers pour from behind houses and buildings, a flooding river of red.
Anna closes her eyes and prepares to draw her weapon; she won’t be taken alive.
Her last regret: that Maia will probably die along with her.
Chapter Fourteen
From behind the stone block, they fire their weapons again and again, dropping a dozen sun dwellers before the click click click of their weapons informs them that they’re out of ammo, out of luck, and out of time.
Looking at Maia, Anna says, “You’ve done good, kid. I’m proud of you.”
Maia looks back at her, her eyes filled with tears of sadness and maybe a hint of pride. She says, “It was an honor to serve with you, general.”