Page 86 (1/2)

With the water used up to i work left Juan’s tongue a sticky swollen one to sleep in his ged stones, and his muscles ached from the cramped position At his side, Linc worked with the efficiency of an indefatigablefazed hith weren’t inexhaustible

Bit by bit, they burrowed their way into the rubble,to ensure their actions didn’t bring down ed positions every thirty minutes First Juan attacked the debris and passed stones back to Linc’s waiting hands, and then Linc would take point, loosening boulders and handing them back to the Chairman Because Linc was so broad in the shoulders and chest, the passageway had to be expanded to almost twice Juan’s size

Juan was back at the rock face and reached for a handhold on a particularly large stone, but, no matter how he tried, he couldn’t loosen it from the rest It seemed to have been locked into place He shifted soe, and pulled with everything he had The rock didn’t so le

Above the lu was rife with cracks and fissures, as unstable as the area the Responsivists brought doith their grenade Miners called suc

h a ceiling a bunch of hanging grapes, and Juan knew that a chunk could dislodge without warning He’d never felt the chilling effects of claustrophobia before, but he could feel the icy fingers of panic trying to worm their way into his mind

“What’s the problem?” Linc panted behind him

Juan had to work his tongue around his h to speak “There’s a stone here I can’t move”

“Let me at it”

They laboriously swapped places, with Linc ainst the rock and his back against Cabrillo’s outstretched legs and brought his strength to bear In the gy-press a thousand pounds The boulder weighed half that, but it edged tightly, and Linc was in the beginning stages of dehydration Cabrillo could feel the intense strain in every fiber and tendon of Linc’s body as he pushed Linc let out a growl, and the rock slid up and out of its socket of loose stones and packed dirt like a rotten tooth

“Now, that’s what I’ about,” he whooped

“Nicely done, big man”

Linc was able to wriggle forward, and as Juan followed hi headroohest point of the debris pile and weretheir way down the back side Soon, he and Linc could crawl over the re stones on their hands and knees and then they could stand upright, so they walked down the last of the rubble and onto the cave floor When Juan pointed the light back at the pile, the gap near the top seemed impossibly small

He and Linc rested for a few ht off to conserve its batteries

“Smell that?” Juan asked

“If you’re talking about athe same hallucination”