Hit List Read Online Free Page B

HK raised. His expression revealed no surprise, as though it was completely normal to see a dirt-covered teenage girl in a camouflage suit climbing a rope with her
bare hands in a mine that was supposed to be empty. Ash might have been offended if she weren’t so terrified.
    “Wait,” she said.
    Harvey’s finger tightened on the trigger.
    “You fire that, we both die,” Ash said.
    Harvey said nothing.
    “You want to know what that alarm was for?” Ash said. “It was gas. The miners hit a vein of methane. Colourless, odourless, explosive. That’s why they were
evacuating.”
    Harvey said nothing.
    “It’s filled this whole cavern. The smallest spark could set it off. Why do you think they shut off the generator?”
    Harvey said nothing.
    “You pull that trigger, the propellant in the cartridge could ignite it. The explosion would vaporize us, and probably cause a cave-in.”
    Harvey said nothing.
    Is he buying this? Ash wondered. I’m sure I look frightened enough for it to be true.
    Harvey lowered the gun. Then he walked over to the mine cart, which was still filled with rocks. He picked one up. Hefted it.
    Oh no, Ash thought. Get climbing! Now!
    She started scrambling up the rope, faster than before, faster than she would have believed was possible. She heard Harvey grunt down below, and the rock whipped past her ear, so close she
thought she felt the dust cascading off it. It sailed into the darkness and disappeared.
    He’d missed. But Ash knew he had plenty more ammo.
    She kept climbing. Fifteen metres up. Sixteen. Seventeen. Her arms felt like they were cooking from the inside out, like her bones were filled with molten lead.
    A rock clipped her foot, and she gasped, nearly losing her grip on the rope. But she didn’t. Nineteen metres – only three or four to go. She could see the sky through the hole
above.
    Come on, she told herself. You can do it!
    Wham! A rock struck her square in the back, knocking the breath out of her lungs. Her fingers loosened, just a little, just an irresistible reflex, but it was enough. Before she knew it,
she was falling, and when she tried to grab the rope again it whizzed through her palms so fast it burned her skin.
    The ground rocketed up towards her. She raised her arms to protect her face, and then—
    —with a snap , the rope tightened, digging her belt into her waist. The carabiner was attached to the front, so she was flipped over to face the ceiling so quickly it made her dizzy.
Her head and feet jerked backwards, like someone was trying to tie her hair to her ankles.
    She grabbed the rope and tried to stand. As soon as her feet were on the ground she saw Harvey, standing by the mine cart. He grabbed two more rocks, and then kicked the cart away. It rattled
down the tracks towards the south end of the cavern, so Ash couldn’t get to it without first getting past Harvey.
    Harvey held the rocks like he intended to clobber Ash with them rather than throw them. But he didn’t move. His posture said, Surrender, or I’ll hit you.
    She didn’t surrender. Wondering why he never talked, she bent and lifted the pickaxe she’d used to dig up the box.
    Pickaxe versus rocks. Almost a fair fight. Except that his colleagues would be back soon. And Ash didn’t know if her “Don’t shoot or you’ll explode” routine would
work on them all.
    “Get out of my way,” she said, trying to sound as tough as possible.
    Harvey looked at the pickaxe. Then he put down the rocks.
    Ash expelled the breath she’d been holding.
    Harvey picked up the jackhammer.
    “The generator’s off,” Ash said. She heard her voice waver a little. “So that’s pretty much just a really heavy knife.”
    Harvey pulled the trigger. The steel spike shuddered back and forth, ringing against both ends of its rail, the noise deafening. He smiled and tapped the side where it said Hitachi
Battery-Powered Breaker 33KG .
    Damn it, Ash thought.
    She dived aside as Harvey lunged forward, the spike