Eleven, Twelve ... Dig and delve (Rebekka Franck Book 6) by Willow Rose

Malene didn’t trust any of these people. She had wanted to be able to light her way if she ever got stuck in one of those tunnels by herself. If she had to run.
    Malene felt the phone in her pocket, while looking at the pathetic bunch of people lying and sitting in the limestone cave. There was no way any of them were going to survive. Michael West was right about that. He was the smart one for leaving.
    Malene sat for a few minutes more, debating with herself, before she decided to get up and follow him.
     
     
     

32
    W E FOUND MORE STUFF. Good things. Besides the cans of tuna, we found a box of Danish Butter cookies, a few were still whole, the rest mostly crumbs, but still edible. I found a candle that I put in the pocket of my jacket. I found a box of oats and some wrapped crackers. Best of all, I found three bottles of water. That was going to keep us going for a little while longer. Thirst was the biggest threat to our survival at this point.
    “Let’s grab as much we can carry and get it back to the cave,” David said.
    I felt a sadness and slight desperation as we left the cave and started going back. Somehow, it felt really scary to have to walk back down there again. I had liked the feeling of going somewhere…of getting away from that cave. I was imagining that we got closer to the top as we walked through the tunnels, and kept hoping for a way to the surface with every turn we took, every time we reached the end of a tunnel. Now we had to go back. David felt the same way, I could tell. He walked slowly, yet he was determined.
    “Now I only hope we can find the right tunnels,” he said.
    The pressure felt heavy. Here we had food enough for the people to be able to at least make it through the rest of the day and night. How horrible it would be if we got lost…if they starved to death while we tried to find the right way back.
    I wondered if David was thinking the same thing. I felt bad for being selfish and wanting to continue to find a way out, and decided to keep it to myself.
    David stopped in a cave. I lit the entrances to the tunnels, and we found the one with only one mark, and then continued. Suddenly, the earth rumbled and dirt fell down from the ceiling.
    “Get back, hurry,” I said, and pulled him out of the tunnel, right before it crashed in front of us.
    He landed on top of me, and then rolled away. “That was close,” he said. “Thanks.”
    “No problem.” I tried to get up, but I had hurt my head in the fall and I felt dizzy. David saw it.
    “Are you alright?” he asked.
    “I will be,” I said. “Just give me a second.”
    David sighed. “Now what do we do?” he asked. “The tunnel back is blocked.
    I sat up; the dizziness was almost gone. My head was still hurting like crazy. David lit the other entrances with the cellphone. “We could try this one,” he said. “We haven’t been through it before, but with a little luck, it’ll lead to the same cave.”
    “It’s a long shot,” I said.
    “I know,” he said, and sat down next to me. I felt tears pricking my eyes. “Let’s take a little break first. Maybe we could eat something?”
    I looked at the food. I had taken off my jacket and gathered it all inside of it, shaping a vagabond-bundle.
    “It was supposed to be for the people that are trapped down there,” I said. “I don’t know if it’s right for us to eat from it.”
    “I haven’t eaten since yesterday. I need something to keep me going,” David said. “Or I’ll never make it down there.”
    “It just feels wrong,” I said. I felt the hunger as well, but probably not as bad as he did, since I had a big breakfast at Lone’s house before I left. I reached in and handed him some crackers. He ate them greedily. I grabbed a couple as well. The guilt was eating at me, but so was the hunger.
    “You want one of these awful wrapped cakes?” I asked.
    He grabbed one and ate it. I tried it as well. It wasn’t as bad as it looked. Then I opened a can of