Covenant

44

Rafael slipped through the door of the building and closed it behind him. An archaic iron lock protruded from the door. On an impulse he turned the key, locking the door from the inside, and slipped it into his pocket before taking in his surroundings.

Musty odors of dust and desiccated soil stained the air; chunks of dislodged masonry and shattered bricks littered the floor. Letting his eyes adjust before daring to move, he saw the faint outlines of a crumbling stairwell leading up and away to his left, and a narrow corridor ahead of him that led into the gloomy depths of the building.

He was about to venture forward into the corridor when he noticed a single door to his left, just before the stairwell. It stood ajar, and he crept toward it, reaching for his knife before swinging the door open.

A large gib frame stood in the center of the room. Atop the frame was a barrel-sized coil of thick rope, from the end of which dangled a heavy iron hook. To Rafael’s right, an unused diesel generator crouched above patches of fuel staining the dusty floorboards.

Rafael edged forward, and in the dim light he saw a large rectangular hole hewn from the living earth, an impenetrable blackness that plunged to unknown depths beneath the city. On the far side of the hole, a rope ladder was tied to two stakes driven deep into the earth, the ladder vanishing down into the darkness.

Rafael squatted at the edge of the tunnel entrance and listened intently.

No sound emanated from within, although he could feel the hot air from the underground tunnels wafting toward him as though the ancient soil was breathing. He knew that there would be other entrances and exits from this tunnel, providing some meager ventilation to those hiding or incarcerated within.

He closed his eyes, orienting himself within the building to the street outside, picturing the layout of the nearby streets. He recalled the single glowing streetlight perhaps a hundred yards to his left. Power was intermittent in Gaza and electricity cables were often run directly down the tunnels by insurgents, using either the grid or generators to supply light to the depths. This tunnel would most likely pass close by the streetlight, an easy point at which to tap into the electricity supply. From there, he suspected that a row of buildings on the opposite side of the street provided a likely termination point, an escape route for Hamas fighters fleeing an Israeli assault.

Rafael pocketed his blade and moved around to the ladder, carefully testing its strength before lowering himself into the darkness.