"Stacy!" Riley repeated. He began digging at the rocks.
"Riley!" Stacy yelled back. She coughed from the dust in the air before continuing. "Riley, we're fine!"
The rocks had landed a few feet from Stacy and Ian, completely missing both of them.
"We'll get you out!" Riley said panicked. He began digging again.
"No! You three go ahead! One of these tunnels has to lead to the treasure! We'll meet up back here when one of us has found it!" Stacy said.
There was a pause on the other side of the rocks.
"Trust me! It's here! We can find it and come back to dig through later!" Stacy urged them.
A sigh from the other side. "Alright." Ben said. "We'll come back."
"There must be a way out of here anyway!" Stacy added reassuringly.
Footsteps were heard leading away from the rock wall and Stacy and Ian turned to face each other.
"You saved my life." Stacy said.
"I had to protect you and the baby." He shrugged it off.
She sighed, but nodded understandingly. She had to remember that it was her that didn't want to raise the baby with him and she shouldn't care that he cared more about the baby than her.
They found their flashlights and shined them down the tunnel.
"Let's see where this leads." Stacy said.
They began walking down the tunnel with an awkward silence between them. Finally Ian decided to break it.
"So what's going to happen with this baby? Are you telling Riley? Will we raise it together?" He added the last question hopefully. He had always secretly wanted a family with her.
They walked further in silence as Stacy thought about it.
"I . . . haven't really given it much thought." They lapsed into silence again. "I guess it all matters how this treasure hunt ends. How I'm feeling about you and Riley."
Ian grabbed her arm, stopping her from walking any further. He kissed her deeply, then released her.
"I want to raise a family with you." Ian said as he looked into her eyes.
"Ian. It's not all about you. I'm dating Riley right now. I have to think about him." Stacy replied, only slightly fazed by the kiss.
She continued walking down the tunnel, her flashlight shining into the darkness. Ian stood there, slightly heartbroken. He exhaled deeply and followed her.
Riley ran down the tunnel, the light of his flashlight bouncing with him. Ben and Abigail chasing after him.
"Riley! Slow down!" Ben yelled after him.
"The faster we find the treasure, the faster we can save Stacy!" Riley yelled back, not slowing down.
Abigail scoffed and Ben shook his head and they kept their pace. Soon the tunnel got wider and it took everyone a minute to figure out they stood in a room. They shone their flashlights around quickly. The lights landed on piles and piles of money. They had found it.
"There's so much!" Riley exclaimed, looking madly around the room.
"They really did hide everything." Abigail noted, picking up a stack of bills.
They continued to wander and examine the treasure, all of it money, before Riley looked up determinedly.
"Now we have to save Stacy." He said, rushing to get back down the tunnel. Ben stopped him.
"Maybe we should find our own way out before we find one for Stacy and Ian." Ben reasoned with him. "Make sure that there is a way out."
Riley sighed. There was no point arguing with Ben. "Alright."
Stacy and Ian had continued to walk down the tunnel before Ian paused.
"This tunnel was meant for robbers. This tunnel was supposed to fool and kill robbers or police." Ian stated, his eyebrows furrowed. "This tunnel shouldn't be this long. It's served its purpose."
Stacy had stopped just ahead of Ian, looking back at him. "And? They made it convincing, or they forgot to stop digging."
"You saw the way this tunnel was built, by hand. And a group of criminals wouldn't waste time digging a tunnel no one's going to see." Ian spun around, back the way they came from. "We need to go back. Now."
Stacy huffed. "Are you serious? You're just being paranoid."
"I've been a thief much longer than you have. I know how criminals work, and you should know how Bonnie and Clyde thought!" Ian pleaded.
Stacy shone her light down the tunnel ahead of them.
"Nothing. There's nothing down there. No bombs or anything. I think we're good." Stacy said. She began walking again.
"Stop! Stacy! Please! You're pregnant! Don't do anything stupid!" Ian begged.
Stacy kept walking and turned to face Ian again. "See? Fine."
She turned down the tunnel again and resumed walking. She disappeared in the darkness soon and Ian panicked.
"Stacy!" He ran after her, shining his flashlight frantically. "Don't move!"
"Calm down, Ian. You're going to have a heart attack." Stacy's voice floated to him.
Ian found Stacy again, his flashlight shining on her back.
"At least be careful, just in case."
"Why should I do that if you're going to do it for me?" Stacy said. She stopped, reaching the end of the tunnel.
Ian stood next to her and they both shone their flashlights on the wall. It was covered in explosives, wires crisscrossing everywhere.
"So you might've been right about that something wrong thing." Stacy said softly, as if her voice would trigger them to go off.
They stood there in scared silence for a few seconds.
"Where's the detonator?" Ian asked, moving his flashlight over the wall.
He followed the wires, going up and down the wall until he found the main wire. He followed that one down the wall and onto the floor. It buried into the ground at that point, right in front of Stacy and Ian's feet.
"Found their plan b in case that first explosion didn't work." Stacy said, frightened. She swallowed hard.
Ian stared at the ground for a while, not addressing Stacy's statement.
"Run." Ian said, his voice dry. "You have to run."
"Are you kidding? It's pressure-activated. I wouldn't be surprised if it was on a timer at this point." Stacy spat.
"Then we both run as fast as we can. On the count of three. One . . . Two . . . Three!" Ian counted. He grabbed Stacy and pushed her back down the tunnel as he followed behind her. They ran across the ground at a surprisingly quick pace. The explosion sounded behind them.
Boom!
Riley turned his head quickly.
"Stacy." He muttered and took off down the tunnel.
"Riley!" Ben ran after him, Abigail not far behind him.
Stacy laid on the ground with Ian covering her. The explosion had thrown them both to the ground. Once the dust began to settle, Stacy began to cough. She pushed herself up, throwing Ian off of her. She slowly kneeled on the ground, looking around. Their flashlights were a few feet away, but their light was enough for Stacy to faintly see Ian in the darkness.
"Thanks again for saving my life." Stacy told Ian. "Though it was probably more for the baby than me."
She got no response, not even a groan or a cough. She poked Ian.
"Ian?"
Stacy needs to stop setting off bombs. Seriously, it's getting to be a problem. Anyway, review and tell me who you want Stacy to end up with! I'm not really certain who I'll have her end up with at this point, so your review might make that decision for me.
