Defending a Companion (A Transformers Armada FanFic)

Chapter 3: Run

          Evelyn screamed, stumbling back. Rocks crumbled and the giant robot's face came into view through the hole. His misshapen eye found her before looking over at Headlight.

     Terrified, she looked at the giant robot eyeing her friend and was shocked that moment to realize how much she cared about him. She wanted to protect him. The one thing she knew was that she wasn't letting either of them go down without a fight.

         "No!" Jumping forward, she grabbed hold of his arm. "Come on!" She shouted. With a yank, they were both stumbling down the tunnel, pelting away from the danger behind them.

     The giant robot shouted after them, and the ground shook as he tried to follow, but Evelyn wasn't listening anymore. She just ran, pulling the little robot after her.

     The ground shook, and with a crash, part of the tunnel collapsed behind them. Evelyn glanced back at it, heart pounding. It was horribly dangerous running deeper into the tunnel with all the shaking. They had no idea where it would go, and the ceiling could fall on both of them!

     But they couldn't very well run in the other direction.

     Soon, Headlight was running as fast as she was, and she didn't have to pull him. They ran together, stumbling around over shifting rocks and uneven ground.

     Suddenly the tunnel tightened into a crawl space, and Evelyn froze for a moment, looking over the small tunnel with a sinking stomach. Then, gritting her teeth, she charged forward, pulling the robot after her and diving down to begin the rushed crawl.

     It wasn't round and flat like you thought a tunnel would be. It was rough and zigzagged up and down. By the look, it almost looked like dozens of boulders had fallen into a crevice too small to hold them. The space between them and the floor would have formed the tunnel.

     She desperately hoped that wasn't the case. The thought of boulders sitting right above them terrified her.

     They hesitantly but hurriedly made their way around the ragged curves of the surrounding walls.

     Bursting through the wider corridor beyond, she gasped a sigh of relief and started to run again... and almost ran right into a wall. With a gasp, she stopped and glanced in both directions, but her heart sank as she realized the truth. They had run right into a dead end.

     She turned quickly, pressing her back against the wall and looking at Headlight right behind her. He stopped in place, looking at that wall, and his handlebars dropped, and he moaned sadly, turning to look back down the tunnel where the curses and crashes echoed toward them.

     Evelyn tried to think, but her heart was racing, and despair crept upon her. It was a dead end. But where else could they go? No other option came to mind, and she started to panic. Come on, think. Think! There must be something...

     Headlight twisted toward her and stared at her face for a long moment. She wanted to say something, but her mouth was dry, and she couldn't think of anything.

     As he looked at her, his back slowly straightened, and his eyes hardened. After a long pause, he stood up straight, strode toward the wall, and reached forward, grabbing a rock as large as his torso that was high on the wall and, with a bit of effort, heaved it off, and it crashed to the ground at his feet.

     Now, in the shine of his headlamps, she could see it didn't quite look like a wall as much as dozens of small boulders piled on top of each other as the tunnel had caved in... Maybe blocking an exit.

     She gasped, jumping up. "Do you think this is a way out?!" She cried. He didn't turn, grabbing another large stone and beeped once, upbeat.

     Evelyn looked the wall over. She didn't know how likely this would lead to a way out. But it was something to do rather than sitting around and waiting to be found. And even better, it gave them a bit of hope. It could lead to another tunnel they could escape through.