Chapter 7 - The Collapse
Lillian didn't step back. The fear that had pursued her across an entire continent seemed to burn away, replaced by a deep, immovable strength born from the love she had found in Willow Creek.
“Shoot me, then,” Lillian said, her voice dropping to a calm, dead pitch. “Shoot me and take the book. But you’ll never get down this mountain. Thomas and Sheriff Ross know where we are. The entire town knows what you are. You can’t murder your way out of the truth, Julian.”
Vance’s finger tightened on the trigger. His eyes were wild, unhinged by greed and desperation. “I have millions invested in Denver, girl! I won’t let a schoolteacher and a country blacksmith destroy everything I built!”
Before Vance could squeeze the trigger, a roar like thunder echoed down the tunnel.
It wasn't a gunshot. It was Thomas.
Thomas burst out of the darkness behind Silas like an enraged grizzly bear. He didn't use a gun. He swung a heavy wooden mine timber with all his immense strength, striking Silas across the chest and sending the gunman crashing into the cavern wall.
“Lillian! Get down!” Thomas roared.
Vance spun around in horror, firing his revolver blindly into the shadows. The gunshot was deafening in the enclosed space. The muzzle flash illuminated the tunnel in a strobe light of fire and smoke.
The bullet missed Thomas, shattering against the rock ceiling above.
The acoustic shockwave of the heavy revolver shot was the final blow for the rotting, snow-burdened timber supports. A sickening CRACK reverberated through the tunnel. The heavy oak beam above Vance’s head snapped in two.
“Look out!” Lillian screamed.
A avalanche of rock, frozen earth, and heavy timber came crashing down from the ceiling.
Thomas lunged forward, throwing his massive body over Lillian, shielding her with his torso as tons of debris descended around them.
The roar was deafening, filling the space with blinding dust and suffocating darkness. The air was knocked from Lillian’s lungs as Thomas’s body pressed her down against the mud. She felt the heavy impact of falling stone against his back, heard his muffled groan of agony, and then... absolute silence.
The lantern had shattered. Darkness enveloped them—a darkness so complete it felt physical.
“Thomas?” Lillian squeaked, her chest compressed beneath his weight. “Thomas! Please answer me!”
For three terrifying seconds, there was no sound except the shifting of loose gravel.
Then, a deep, ragged breath sounded above her.
“I’m... I’m here,” Thomas coughed, his voice raspy and choked with dust. “Are you... are you hurt, Lillian?”
“I’m fine! I’m unhurt!” she cried out, her hands reaching up in the dark to touch his face. Her fingers came away wet with blood from a gash on his forehead, but he was alive. “Oh God, Thomas, you saved me!”
“Can you move?” he asked, straining as he slowly pushed a heavy timber off his back.
Lillian wriggled out from beneath him. She pulled a small box of matches from her pocket and lit one.
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The flare illuminated a nightmare scene. The tunnel behind them was completely blocked by a massive wall of fallen rock and collapsed timber. Julian Vance and Silas were gone, buried completely beneath the cave-in.
They were trapped deep inside the earth.
