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“Quiet,” Sam said. He motioned toward the rocks that separated them from the outside. Last thing he needed was for the gunmen to realize how very little stood between them. At least if they came down the air shaft, he could pick them off.
A moment later, they heard the sound of running outside as the men converged on the cave entrance. “Da oben!” someone shouted again, then something more that Sam couldn’t understand.
“Up there!” Remi translated. “They’re calling for someone to bring a rope.”
Sam took the flashlight from his pack, hoping to find a place of defense when he heard the unexpected scrape of rocks at the cavern entrance.
“Sam . . .”
He was alarmed to see the light bleeding through the rocks, reflecting off the barrel of a gun. “Hurry!”
They scrambled over the other side as the sharp crack of gunfire peppered the cavern.
Sam grabbed Remi’s hand, and they raced down the tunnel, Sergei and Gustaw at their heels. At one point, the echo of gunfire was so fast and so loud, Sam had to look to reassure himself that the Guard hadn’t made entry. For now, the tunnel behind them was clear.
As they followed the tracks around the curve, Sam glanced back, trying to listen. The gunshots had stopped, replaced by shouting. “Can you hear what they’re saying?”
No one could. They hurried down the tunnel, stopping at the point it divided into two. Sam looked both ways, then turned to Gustaw. “I vote left. What do you think?”
“There’s more of a chance of an outlet toward the castle. Why else would the Nazis have gone to the trouble of tunneling down below it?”
“It’s not even finished,” Sergei pointed out.
And it wasn’t. Sam glanced down the long stretch of reinforced tunnel to the right. Who knew what the Nazis were contemplating when they built it? A deeper place to bury the Gold Train? Or something else entirely?
It didn’t matter. What did was finding a way out. Whether it led to the castle or a dead end, he wasn’t sure. “To the left,” he confirmed, hoping anyone chasing them would think they’d gone down the finished tunnel.
They continued at a run, the sound of their pursuers echoing toward them. They were growing closer. Soon, the smooth floor gave way to loose rock and uneven terrain, slowing their progress. At one point, Sam felt the movement of air across his face, along with the familiar smell of must and mold. He hoped that meant they were nearing another tunnel entrance, but the scent quickly disappeared. As the shouts and footsteps of the Wolf Guard grew louder, Sam drew his gun, covering them from the back.
Remi stopped at the turn. “Sam.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The tunnel. It ends here.”
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Sam rounded the corner, the beam of his flashlight bouncing off a thick wall of rock and rubble that filled the tunnel. Someone had blown up that entrance as well.
“What now?” Remi asked.
“Back the way we came.”
“But—”
“I think there may be a way out.” He led them to where he felt the air moving and smelled the musty odor of dead leaves. A deep crevice angled off to the right. “Here. Smell that?”
Remi stepped closer, breathing deeply. “Yes.”
“What is
it?” Sergei asked.
Sam reached into the crevice, pulling out a handful of debris. “Remember the smell of leaves where we came in? That’s what this is.”
“Another air shaft?”
“Possibly.”