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I come with you?”
    “Because I can move faster on my own.  Your leg is going to feel pretty painful when you put weight on it, and I’m fairly certain you’re safe here for now.”
    “What if someone comes?”
    “Scream,” he says.  “The tunnel echoes and I’ll hear you.  I can be back here quickly.”
    “What if there are more explosions?”
    “Then I’ll come back.”
    He stands, and the light flickers around the tracks and the rocks.  He dusts off his backside with one hand.
    “I’ve got to take the light with me,” he says.  “I won’t be gone long though.  Just yell if you need me.”
    “What if…what if you don’t come back?”
    Eckhart looks down at me before crouching and looking me in the face.
    “No matter what has happened up there,” he says, “you are in my protection.  I don’t take my job lightly.  I will not let anything happen to you.  You, Hannah Savinski, are my one and only concern until I can get you to the Pentagon.”
    He keeps staring into my eyes until I nod at him, accepting his words.
    “Now stay put,” he orders.  “I’ll be back soon.”
    He jogs into the tunnel and around a corner, and I’m left in complete darkness with nothing but my thoughts.
    Five months ago, I was just a grunt in the IT department of a company with a lot of government contracts.  I worked nine-to-five, came home to a diabetic cat in a quiet apartment on the north side of Chicago, did my laundry, and watched Netflix.  A single email regarding account data with some funky-looking numbers on it changed my life.
    “Hannah, could you please check the discrepancy in this report?  Jillian’s out of town, and I know she usually does these things, but we’ve got people waiting on this.  Mr. Hudson has already gone over everything, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.”
    “Sure!  No problem!”
    “Maybe I should have just ignored it,” I whisper to myself as memories return to me.  If I had done just that, none of what followed would have happened.
    And sixteen young girls would have been sold into sexual slavery.
    I close my eyes tightly, tasting bile in my throat as other memories surface.
    “You really think you can just turn us in, you stupid little girl?  Don’t you know who I am?  Don’t you know what kind of power I have?  Well, I’m going to show you!”
    I bite my lip to bring myself back to the present, but that doesn’t set me at ease.  Pulling my legs to my chest and wrapping my arms around them makes my leg throb, but it provides a little comfort anyway.  I lean my chin on my knee and try to gather my thoughts.
    What the hell happened?  It wasn’t an earthquake—I am sure of that.  Every explanation that pops into my head sounds like the plot from a late-night movie on the sci-fi channel.  I keep thinking about all the apocalypse-themed television shows that have been so popular over the last few years.
    Maybe Doctor Who will show up and set it all right.
    I tighten my grip around my knees as a light appears up the tunnel.  True to his word, Eckhart returns, walking at a quick pace next to the track.
    “What did you see?”
    “The tunnel has completely collapsed.  Whatever hit above it was big.  We’ll have to go the other way and hope the passage is clear.  We’ll take it slow so your leg doesn’t get too sore.  If it gets to be too much, I can carry you.”
    “What happened to my shoes?”
    “They fell off when I was carrying you, and they’re buried under a ton of rubble now.  Luckily, you aren’t.”
    A shiver runs down my spine at the thought.
    Eckhart has me lead as we walk beside the tracks, and we take a slow pace as I limp along.  He keeps the light ahead of us, aiming it downward occasionally as we dodge debris.  The next station isn’t far away, and Eckhart boosts me up onto the platform before hauling himself up.  There is no one on the platform at all and no sounds to be heard from above.
    “It looks like there’s less damage