The History Runner

8 - Accident

Damon halted in front of the grim faced Preserver, gasping as he cried, "Accident! Sir, please, the--"

"Slow down," the Preserver said. "What happened?"

"One of our power cells blew up," Damon said. "The coal mine collapsed."

The Preserver just looked suspicious. Damon took a gamble.

"There were officials in there!" The Preserver perked up, suddenly alert. "I don't know how many. Maybe--"

"Never mind," the Preserver said, looking distraught. If an important official died, practically anyone could be held responsible. He tapped the side of his helmet. "Captain, there's been a cave-in at one of our coal mines. Officials are trapped." A garbled, panicky voice replied indistinctly. The Preserver glanced up at Damon. "Which mine was it?"

"I don't know," Damon said. "But it's somewhere in the north. I can lead you there."

The Preserver cocked his head. "We haven't had any reports of a cave-ins, and I'm not detecting anything unusual," a voice from the other end of the line said quickly. The sound was so muted that Damon had to strain to hear her. "But there could be a reason for that, maybe insufficient equipment, or power failure. We'll send troops to back you up. They'll follow your signal."

"Lead me to the mine," the soldier said.

Damon crashed through the woods, carelessly making noise, trying to maintain the image of a hurried man. The Preserver followed, calling out threats as to what would happen if he was too slow. Occasionally, Damon would peer back and glimpse Rebekah following them at a distance.

Minutes passed, Damon trying but failing to judge the distance. Finally, he casually asked, "How far are we away from town? Past the sensor nets? The patrols?"

"Yeah, we're past them," the Preserver said. "We're about a mile northwest of--"

He cut off as Damon punched him in the face.

The Preserver staggered backwards, and Damon lunged, swiping at the man's helmet with his knife and destroying its radio. The soldier quickly took it off, just in time for Damon to deliver a blow the head. The Preserver swayed, then fell over.

Damon whistled for Rebekah. Once she joined him, and he was certain the Preserver was unconscious, he hurtled his way northward. They had probably already realized Damon's trickery, maybe even figured out who he was. If they had, he would have a full squad tailing him.

But none came.

Soon, he found himself enveloped by the forest again, the only sound that of his and Rebekah's footsteps.