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in a whoop of delight. 'Go on, Doughnut - throw the other one!'
Mel was really getting the feel of this now. She pulled the nozzle of the
second can off with her teeth, like she'd seen them do with hand
grenades in old war movies, and with a broad smile she lobbed it after
the first. There was a second huge explosion, which knocked the two
women backwards. 'Yeah! Go for it, Doughnut!' shrieked Ace, flat on
her back. She rolled onto her side and looked down the passage.
Amidst a cloud of dust, the crewmen and women were lying buried
beneath a mound of ice boulders. Smiling, Ace turned to Mel. 'That was
well brill!'
Mel was looking down the passage. 'I don't think we're safe yet.' Ace
turned to look.
Back down the passage, the crewmen and women were
beginning to stir beneath the rubble. Ace couldn't believe it. 'They can't
be. Not after two cans of nitro. Throw the rest, Mel! Throw everything!'
"There's none left! That's all there was.'
'Come on, then - let's shift!'
They scrambled to their feet and ran.
The ice was slippery beneath their feet, and they kept crashing to the
ground, picking themselves up again, and hurling themselves forward
once more. Always they heard the steady crunch of feet following
behind, never dropping any further into the distance. Mel turned briefly
to see where their pursuers were. As she did so, her feet flew away
from under her, and her head smashed against the side wall. She didn't
feel any pain. She just saw everything disappear into black - and then
nothing...
Ace quickly realised that Mel was no longer running alongside her. She
stopped and looked back, and saw Mel lying inert on the ground.
'Doughnut!' She ran back to Mel and dropped down beside her. Blood
was running down the side of Mel's head, but she was still breathing.
'Come on! Wake up!' Ace shook Mel. 'Come onV The monotonous
crunch of heavy footsteps grew closer in the darkness further up the
passage.
Ace looked round in desperation. There were no side passages to hide
down - just forwards and backwards. The heavy foosteps crunched
closer.
Ace looked frantically up the side walls. About two metres up one of
the walls was a deep horizontal crack. Ace didn't know whether it was
deep enough to hide in, but there was no alternative. She dragged Mel
to the foot of the wall, and tried to haul her to her feet. Mel was petite,
but she was still heavy to manhandle. Ace pushed her up the wall, and
then kneeled down to get underneath her. She pushed upwards, and
slowly Mel's floppy body slid towards the opening. The heavy footsteps
grew nearer.
Mel's shoulders over the edge and into the crack. Then she heaved
upward and shoved the rest of Mel's body over the edge. Mel herself
was out of sight now, but Ace was still visible. Frantically, she looked
round for a way of climbing up to the crack herself.
The Doctor's brolly!
She grabbed it out of her shoulder bag, and reached upwards with the
handle to a protruding spike of ice. She hooked the handle over the
spike and tested her weight on it. It held firm. The murderous crewmen
and women were just about visible in the gloom. Ace heaved on the
brolly and swung her legs upwards. She kicked her feet into the crack,
and threw herself over the edge into darkness. She could see the
crewmen and women now. She hurriedly grabbed the brolly and pulled
her shoulder bag in with her, then crawled down alongside Mel.
The crewmen and women trudged down the Ice Passage - Ace could
see them as she peered over the edge. Closer they lurched. Ace held
her breath. They'd reached the point where Mel had fallen, and the
first one looked down at the fresh blood on the ground. They were only
three metres away from her.
'Doctor...' Mel moaned. The first crewman looked round, uncertain.
Mel began to move.
Ace put her arm tight round Mel's body. She tried to rock Mel silently -
rock her back to sleep.
The crewmen and women shuffled in the passage below. Ace could see
the tops of their heads. She held Mel tight in the darkness. Her cheek
was pressed against Mel's. She could feel her gentle breathing.
Finally, the crewmen and women lurched on down the passage. Ace
watched them as they moved away into the darkness. She listened to
their footsteps die away. It seemed to take for ever. When she looked
back at Mel's face, Mel had her eyes open.
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