Lindsay Buroker - Hunted

“I’ll think of something.” Kali pulled toolsout of her pack. “Can you guard the entrance?”

“Yes, but, ah…” Cedar cleared histhroat.

Kali glanced up. “What?”

“On account of people shooting at me, I hadto choose between your pack and mine.”

“So…no fresh smallclothes until we get backto town?” She tapped a pickaxe leaning against the wall. Maybe shecould dismantle it and-

“No fresh ammo ,” Cedar said. “I have abox on me, but I won’t be able to hold an advancing army off forlong if they’re enthusiastic with their siege.” He leaned herWinchester against the wall. “I don’t suppose you have any?”

Kali fished in her pack, groping around thebottom, and pulled out a fistful of cartridges. “Sorry, I’d usuallyhave a full box, but I had to make room for my pliers. And mywrench set. And-”

“Never mind.” Cedar grabbed the cartridgesand shoved them in his pocket. His gaze fell upon the potatoes.“Too bad those can’t be used for ammo. They’re probably frozenharder than cannon balls.”

“Technically, I suppose you could make somesort of spud launcher.”

His eyes brightened. “You could? Now?”

“No, not now. I don’t have time to do that and get us out of here.”

“Oh.” Disappointment tugged down the cornersof his mouth.

“Just do the best you can with the rifles,huh?” Kali grabbed her wrench and tore into the piping on theceiling to rip a segment free.

Sand and rock dribbled into the hole thatmarked the entrance to the mine. Cedar whirled, raising his rifleand firing before Kali spotted anyone.

A yelp came from above.

“Yup, they’re down there,” a man called.

Kali grabbed one of the pickaxes and kickedthe iron end off, figuring she could turn it sideways to use as thebit in a hammer drill. The tool she had in mind would be clunky atbest, but it only needed to work long enough to dig a way to thesurface, preferably from the end of a tunnel far from the entrance,so the gunmen waiting outside would not hear her.

The drill would need a lot of power, and shedid not have the time to build a steam version. She pulled out oneof the vials in her sock and eyed the glowing flakes.

Cedar fired again. “I better go up front andsee if I can discourage them from getting so close. Sooner or laterone of them will think to try and smoke us out. Kali?”

She lifted her eyes from her growing pile oftools and salvaged equipment. “Huh?”

He hesitated. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.I’ll keep them away as long as you need.”

Jaw set with determination, he strode towardthe entrance. Kali worked. Much to do, little time.

Shots fired while she twisted metal andhammered her casing into shape. Cedar shot at anyone who camewithin his field of vision, but she knew he could not poke his headout of the hole, lest someone shoot it off. The gunmen could creepdangerously close, as evinced by more than one bullet ricochetinginto the tunnel. One bounced off the rock-hard floor, hit a wall,and skidded all the way back to her chamber. Any one of thosebullets could hit Cedar. Or her.

“Work,” she told herself. “Focus.”

While thumps, groans, and gunfire continuedat the mine entrance, her fingers flew. The drill itself was easy,but the motor took a steady hand and a lot of squinting, given thepoor light. More than once, she fumbled a small screw, and itbounced onto the uneven floor to hide in a crevasse. At least shehad all the parts she needed.

A clash of steel announced the end of Cedar’sbullet supply.

Kali lunged to her feet, remembering he hadtaken her cartridges but not her rifle. She grabbed it and dartedto the front of the mine. She almost stumbled over an inert body onthe way. A bullet had taken one of Sebastian’s men in the eye. Shegulped and stepped over him.

Cedar stood a few feet from the hole, hisback toward her, his sword poised and ready. Blood spattered hisshirt. Not his, she hoped.

“Cedar,” Kali said, not wanting to startlehim, not when he held that sharp blade. “Here’s my rifle.”

Before he even turned around, she was leaningit next to him. She had to get back to the drill so they could finda way out of there.

Thunk!

A tin can bounced off the wall and landed onthe ground. Fire spat and hissed at the end of a fuse.

Cedar lunged, snatching it and hurling it outof the mine in one motion. Inches above the entrance, it explodedwith a flash and a bang that thundered in Kali’s ears. The walls ofthe mine shuddered, and dirt and rock rained down. Black powdersmoke hazed the air, and its pungent smell flooded the tunnel.

Before Kali could scramble back from theentrance area, Cedar grabbed her rifle. With smoke blanketing theentrance, he used the opportunity to stand straight, his head andshoulders above the hole in the ground. The rifle cracked severaltimes.

Outside, screams of pain erupted.

Kali closed her eyes and reminded herselfthese men had intended to hand her over to gangsters-or worse. Shehad no idea how Cedar could see his targets through the smoke-theymust not have moved after the explosion-but she was glad for hisaccuracy.

“Pace yourself,” she said. “I need five moreminutes.” She ran back to her workspace.

Gunfire answered her, and she glanced back intime to see Cedar duck low. Dirt knocked loose by the bulletsspattered his head and face, but he gave her a somber nod and wavedfor her to go.

Kali dropped to the floor before her drill.The construction was complete. It just needed a power source.

She slipped a flake of flash gold out of hervial. Despite the need to hurry, she took the time to cap thecontainer and tuck it back into her sock. If the goons outsidefound that vial, it would end up in the hands of some criminal.It’d be hard to deny the existence of flash gold after that, andshe would have even more people hunting her.

The flake pulsed as she tucked it into a slotshe had etched for it next to the motor.

Streaks of lightning coursed up themetal-reinforced wooden shaft, merging and sparking above the drillhead. The air crackled around the tool, and energy hummed up Kali’sarms.

“You could be less obvious about yourpresence,” she told the gold chip.

It throbbed in response, and one could almostbelieve it sentient. Not for the first time, she lamented that shehad not inherited either of her parents’ gifts for sensing andmanipulating otherworldly elements. She could instill commands intothe gold, something her father’s research said most people couldlearn to do, but she could never make more of the substance.

Kali pressed her thumb against the flake andclosed her eyes to concentrate. With such a small piece of gold, itdid not take long. It could not accept a complicated imprint, butit would do what she needed.

“Spin and hammer,” she whispered to it,imaging the actions she wanted the drill to perform.

The pickaxe point twitched, then rotated.Though slow at first, the revolutions soon picked up speed. Ithitched with each revolution, thanks to the haste she had used onthe chuck, and the perfectionist in her growled at the hiccup, butshe reminded herself the tool need not last for long. It wasworking. That was all that mattered.

Kali touched the drill bit to the closestwall. The hitch grew more noticeable, but stone sheered off asreverberations coursed through her body. Tiny shards pelted her,reminding her of the shrapnel from her smoke nuts.

She dug out her snow goggles, grabbed thelantern, shouldered her pack, and ducked into the three-wayintersection. Cedar knelt beneath the entrance, like some knightfrom centuries past, his sword point pressed to the ground beforehim, his hands atop the hilt, ready. It had grown quiet outside.The men must have paused to concoct some plot-or build anothergrenade.