© 2022 Phylicia Joannis
I stared at the wooden cabinet, Marcos standing beside me. Clay bricks filled the shelves from end to end. I’d seen enough Die Hard movies to know what I was looking at. Explosives. And there were more of them. Marcos found three more cabinets filled top to bottom. It was more than enough to bring down the whole facility. Maybe even the block above it, I’d guess.
“That’s what he meant by blaming it on the sinkholes,” I rasped, feeling sick as I stared at the blinking light under the table.
“We gotta get out of here.” Marcos tugged on my hand, but a loud bang made us both freeze. The ground shook, and we stared at each other.
“What was that?” I whispered. Marcos shook his head, and we both waited a beat. After a long silence, he let go of my hand.
“Stay here, Miracle. I’m gonna go check it out.”
I shook my head and gripped his arm. “I’m coming with you.”
He started to protest, then nodded in agreement. We took slow, careful steps towards the door. As soon as Marcos swung it open, a wave of dust and smoke hit our faces. It smelled like a firecracker had gone off in the passageway. That bang had been loud, though. Too loud.
We both ran towards the access hatch that led to the subway level. A pile of rubble met us there at the base. Part of the hatch was on the ground, and the space where it had been was covered in debris.
Scarface had blown the entrance.
A familiar cold wrapped itself around me. Suddenly it was hard to breathe.
“We’re trapped.” Marcos tugged at his hair with his hands and gave me a wide-eyed stare. I shook my head in denial. No. Not again.
“I can’t stay down here,” I cried, pacing and wracking my brain. “We have to find a way out. There has to be another way.”
“That was the only entrance.” Marcos crumbled to the ground, head in his hands.
“No!” I pulled him up and shook him. “We can’t stay here. That guy’s gonna blow this whole place. We’ve gotta warn somebody, we’ve gotta–”
“Hey.” Marcos interrupted me and pulled me into an embrace. “It’s okay. I know you’re scared, Miracle. I’m scared, too.”
I wasn’t sure if it was his trembling I was feeling or mine, but it didn’t matter. We wouldn’t survive an explosion, and no one knew where we were, so no help was coming. But at least we were together. I looked up at Marcos, pulling away just enough to see the brown of his eyes. He wasn’t so bad. A little rough around the edges, but . . .
“Miracle?” He looked at me with a sad smile. “I’m sorry things turned out this way.”
“Me too.” I nodded. A tingle ran through me, and I squirmed, trying to push it down. Now wasn’t the time.
“Can I kiss you?” Marcos whispered. Another tingle ran through me. This one more intense. I couldn’t hold it down much longer. I cleared my throat and put some distance between us.
“I . . . have to pee.”
Marcos gave me a puzzled look, then his eyes grew wide.
My cheeks were on fire as I tried to explain. “It’s not you, Marcos. I really have to go.”
His eyes grew even wider, and I wanted to crawl under a rock. He just kept staring at me. But I really, really needed him to look away. Because I really couldn’t hold it much longer.
“Marcos, did you hear me?” He didn’t answer, so I took another step back. “I’m just gonna go over this way. Don’t look, okay?”
I turned to walk away, but Marcos grabbed my arm. “Miracle. I know a way out.”
My urge to pee suddenly dissipated. “You do? How?”
“I should have thought of it sooner, but it’s . . .”
His voice trailed and I frowned. “It’s what?”
He lowered his head and sighed. When he looked up again, he seemed embarrassed. Apologetic, even. “It’s gonna be messy.”
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