Through the dust, he saw him.
Andre turned.
Even now, even with the ceiling beginning to cave in around him, he was smiling.
That stupid, reckless smile.
Like he was still in control.
Like he wasn't standing in the middle of a death trap.
Kai reached out instinctively.
"Andre!"
Then the collapse hit.
Stone crashed down between them.
A wall of rubble swallowed the space in an instant.
Andre's face vanished behind the falling debris.
Kai's breath caught in his throat.
"ANDRE!"
Eric yanked him harder.
"Move!"
Kai stumbled, nearly falling, but Eric kept dragging him forward.
Behind them, the tunnel began to tear itself apart.
Supports snapped.
The floor buckled.
The ceiling came down in violent bursts.
Kai kept looking back.
Kept trying to see through the dust.
Kept hoping Andre would appear.
But the rubble kept rising.
Higher.
Higher.
Until there was nothing left to see.
Only stone.
Only dust.
Only the sound of the tunnel dying behind them.
And then they ran...
...
..
.
---
Andre barely had time to breathe before another section of the tunnel collapsed behind him.
He ducked as a slab of stone slammed into the floor where his head had been a second earlier.
Fais stood across from him, dust rolling off his shoulders.
The bald bastard looked almost amused.
"They left you."
Andre wiped blood from his mouth and grinned anyway.
"Yeah?"
Fais tilted his head.
"They left you."
Andre glanced toward the collapsing tunnel where Kai and Eric had disappeared.
Then back at Fais.
"It doesn't matter."
Fais narrowed his eyes.
Andre rolled his shoulders, ignoring the pain shooting through his ribs.