Amanda Carter in the L.A.Z., life after zombies Read Free Page B

switch the beam on.
    “Crap!” she exclaimed as she shone the light down into the hole in front of her, careful not to step too close to the side for fear of further collapse.
    The earth issued another one of its moans. The sound reverberated through the tunnel system. One of these days, this tunnel too, like its sister below, would collapse. It wasn’t a question of if but when that would happen. She hoped it would wait long enough for her to get out.
    To her surprise, there was nothing down below, not so much as lingering dust residue, that would have indicated that something had fallen to the floor of that shaft. She shook her head and then rubbed her eyes, realizing that she had been dreaming.
    “It was just a dream,” she whispered to herself, suddenly noticing how very alone she was. “That was understandable,” she told herself. Being half a mile into a dark mine shaft alone could give anyone the willies.
    The earth groaned again, and this time she could feel its vibration through her boots and into the soles of her feet. Gotta go , she thought, quickly grabbing the plank of wood that she would need to bridge the gap and suddenly feeling foolish for having sought sanctuary here. These are dangerous times, what with zombies wanting to eat me and the earth wanting to swallow me alive and all , she thought.
    Amanda was just about ready to drop the plank in place to bridge the gap, when the earth shook again—this time so violently that it threw her momentarily off of her feet and into the side of the tunnel wall. The plank slipped from her hands, and gravity took it, sending it down. The wood thumped as it touched down below in the soft dirt, and she felt that she really understood the phrase: up a creek without a paddle.
    She issued a pitiful moan herself, as the new state of her reality was registering. Some small pebbles, dirt, and rocks were beginning to fall as if it had started to rain. There wouldn’t be much time for her to cover all that distance out of here before the tunnel collapsed, if she had any time left at all.
    Amanda defaulted to what she knew; she followed her instincts. Without wasting another second, she ran a little ways farther into the shaft, not caring to know what was there first because there wasn’t time. She then spun around, hoping that she had given herself enough of a running-start to be able to clear the gap. She ran forward, arms pumping, pack bouncing against her back, heart pounding.
    It was difficult to see in front of her because the light from the flashlight was bouncing—floor, ahead, ceiling, ahead, and back to floor. With each split second that it illuminated the way ahead, she tried to catalog it in her memory. Timing when to jump the gap would be crucial, but she had no time to consider worrying about it. The tunnel began to shudder, and this time, it didn’t stop shuddering. She came to the gap and leaped. For a moment, she was flying through the air, wondering if she would clear the gap or if gravity would snatch her below, like it had the piece of wood. But then her boots touched down, already running.
    Debris from the ceiling was falling in earnest now, showering her with dirt. One of her footfalls came down on a rock, and she nearly twisted her ankle but still she ran. Adrenaline was coursing through her, making her body feel invincible. The earth quaked again, sending her plowing into the right side of the tunnel. Thick debris fell, and now it was a deluge and not just a downpour. She still could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. She worried that perhaps the entrance had already collapsed.
    Her lungs were filling with the thick dust-filled air, burning, as she continued to push them to work at full capacity, running despite the jostling she was taking. The beam from the flashlight was no longer strong enough to illuminate the way ahead; twice she bumped off the sides, becoming disoriented. Panic was threatening to take over, and she shoved the feeling