Chapter 443
[ 507 words ]
Chapter 443:
This time, she didn’t rely on brute force. She tried to be methodical, probing the edges of the concrete slab, searching for a weak point, a fulcrum. But it was useless. The slab was a solid, immovable tombstone.
During one attempt, the tip of the rebar dislodged a small chunk of concrete. It triggered a chain reaction. The structure above them groaned, and a shower of dust and small rocks rained down. Sterling instinctively threw his good arm up, a futile gesture to shield her head, even though he couldn’t move his body.
The sudden danger froze Caroline in place. A sharp piece of debris scraped down her arm, leaving a stinging, bloody line.
The sight of her own blood, the realization that her efforts were only making things worse, finally broke her. The rebar slipped from her grasp. She sank to the floor, pulled her knees to her chest, and sobbed without a sound, her body shaking with silent, racking grief.
“See?” Sterling said softly. “Told you it was dangerous.” There was no blame in his voice, only a deep, weary tenderness.
He tried to distract her, telling a rambling, unfunny story about a business deal he’d messed up in his twenties. The words just hung in the dead air.
Caroline eventually stopped crying. She reached into her pack and pulled out the last protein bar. She broke it in half, the snap loud in the silence.
She gave him the larger piece.
𝗗𝗈𝗐𝗻𝗅о𝖺𝘥 𝗣𝖣𝘍𝘴 𝖿r𝘦𝖾 𝘰ո 𝗴a𝗅𝗇оv𝗲ls.c𝗈𝗆
She ate her own small portion slowly, mechanically. The quiet sound of them chewing was the only proof that they were still alive, a small, desperate ritual against the encroaching darkness.
The hours bled together. The cold, the hunger, and the constant, grinding stress were taking their toll. Caroline’s body had reached its limit.
Her eyelids felt like they were weighted with lead. Her head drooped, and her body listed sideways, slumping toward him.
Sterling watched her, a new, sharp fear cutting through his own pain. He knew the danger of sleep in these conditions. Hypothermia. Shock. If she fell asleep now, she might not wake up.
“Caroline,” he said, his voice loud. “Hey. Wake up. Talk to me.”
She mumbled something incoherent, her body going limp.
He was losing her. Despair, cold and absolute, began to wash over him.
And then he heard it.
Faint. Distant. But unmistakable. A rhythmic tapping sound, coming from somewhere far above the ruins.
Sterling held his breath, straining to listen. The tapping continued, a steady, deliberate pattern. It wasn’t a random noise from the shifting rubble. It was a signal. It was real.
Rescue. They were close. A surge of fierce, desperate joy flooded his system.
“Caroline! Wake up! They’re here!” he shouted, shaking her shoulder as hard as he could. She didn’t respond, just a low moan from deep in her chest.
He had to signal back. He had to let them know they were here.
His eyes scanned their small prison. He needed something that would make noise, something that could cut through tons of concrete. His gaze landed on two jagged pieces of sheet metal lying near his arm.
.
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