Chapter Five
Break in the Line
The ice was harder to chip away the deeper she dug, but Valentina had nothing else to do, so she kept hammering away at it, the muscles in her arm growing hot and tight. When she couldn’t summon the strength for one more swing she switched arms, leaning on her shaky, spent arm and pounding at the ice with the fresh one. Fragments exploded up into the air, sparkling in the sunlight. The days were getting longer and longer but it didn’t do her any good. She was stuck.
Something metallic glinted up at her and she changed tools, setting aside the long metal bar she used for the heavy blows and picking up the screwdriver she used for more delicate work. It looked like just another empty food can, and she already had a mountain of those, but there was always the
