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Jimmy sprinted to the back of the cavern, lifted Yinsen effortlessly, and dropped him straight into the quenching pool, then flipped a heavy worktable and shoved it into place as cover.
In Jimmy's hands, the massive table felt like a toy.
"Boom. Boom."
A chain of explosions followed, then a crushing wave of pressure slammed inward, Jimmy pressed Yinsen fully underwater just in time as the shockwave hit.
"Pff."
Jimmy spat out a mouthful of blood, the tight pressure in his chest finally easing, then came the heat.
"Cough. Cough."
When the heat passed, Yinsen emerged from the pool, oil slicks and metal residue clinging to him in a ridiculous mess.
Jimmy, on the other hand, was already healing, the injuries from moments earlier closing rapidly.
"Yinsen, you good?"
Yinsen waved a hand, catching his breath.
After a moment, he looked up. "What exactly happened?"
"That egomaniac set off the shells outside," Jimmy replied, shaking his head, "the entire weapons cache turned into a fireworks show, if this cave were any weaker, we would both be buried right now."
He glanced toward the tunnel. "You holding up? Let us move. If the cave collapses any further, getting out will be a nightmare."
As Jimmy headed out, he scooped up anything useful along the way: a shovel, a dagger, a heavy combat knife, two rifles, and several magazines.
"Hey, Jimmy," Yinsen said, frowning, "those magazines do not match that rifle, you cannot use them."
"Oh," Jimmy paused, "which one does?"
"That one uses a different caliber," Yinsen replied, "you should switch guns, ammo is limited."
Jimmy shrugged. "I will take both, they are not heavy."
Yinsen stared at him.
Classic firepower anxiety.
Yinsen settled for a pistol, then gathered food and clean water from the side room, the two of them switched on flashlights and moved toward the exit.
---
Fortunately, the cave entrance had only partially collapsed.
For anyone else, it would have been serious trouble.
For Jimmy, it was nothing.
Through the cracks, he waited until the fire outside finally died down, then kicked the blocking rocks aside.
Stone shattered and flew.
Compared to what he had seen before, armored vehicles crushed and peeled open like cans, a few tons of rock meant nothing.
Jimmy stepped out first, climbed to higher ground, scanned the area, saw no movement, fired a few test shots, and nothing responded.
Far off, about two kilometers away across the pale desert, he spotted faint reflections and dark shapes scattered in the sand.
Tony Stark.
"Come on out, Yinsen," Jimmy called, "looks clear, let us regroup with Tony, I will check for any vehicles that survived."
Yinsen emerged, squinting at the blazing sun, then at the still burning wreckage.
They climbed over the nearby slope and reached the open desert.
No vehicles remained.
Walking it was.
Yinsen handed Jimmy a torn piece of cloth. "Wrap this around your head, heatstroke is no joke."
Jimmy looked at it, then at Yinsen.
Even mummies probably worried about heatstroke more than he did.
Still, seeing the soaked cloth in Yinsen's hand, Jimmy took it and wrapped it anyway.
"Let us move," Jimmy said, pointing ahead, "Tony should be that way, scattered scrap everywhere."
Yinsen sighed. "You two are unbelievable."
They had just met, yet it felt like years, bickering nonstop, worrying about each other when it mattered.
Jimmy grew impatient with Yinsen's pace, twisted several pieces of cloth into a rope, tied it to a flying scrap of a broken car door, then took off running.
Yinsen was dragged along behind him, yelling all the way, as Jimmy charged toward the distant figure of Tony Stark.
"Hey, big guy, seeing you still alive genuinely makes me happy," Tony said with a grin, "mostly because I just saved money on a burial plot."
He turned to the older man. "Yinsen, you alright?"
Yinsen shook his head slightly, the earlier high-speed trip having clearly left him a bit rattled.
"Hey, patient," Jimmy added, "want to ride on top, the elderly, injured, and fragile are allowed, even if all we have left is a car door."
"I am not a patient," Tony snapped back, "I took down at least thirty of them by myself."
"And your metal shell fell apart," Jimmy replied calmly, "and you detonated every shell on site, leaving us without a single vehicle, now we are walking."
"That was an accident," Tony protested, "and I eliminated all hostiles."
"Yes," Jimmy nodded, "and almost eliminated me and Yinsen along with them."
"But you are both fine, right?"
"So," Jimmy replied casually.
"So what," Tony blinked.
"You do not want to apologize for the accident."
"Oh, fine," Tony sighed, "sorry, Yinsen, sorry, big guy."
"Yinsen accepts your apology," Jimmy said, "I do not."
"What?"
"Because I am petty," Jimmy replied, "and I do not accept apologies without compensation."
"Hey, scrap collector, that is crossing a line," Tony said, "you already got an apology, keep this up and you will lose a billionaire friend."
"That is fine," Jimmy said lightly, "I am friends with Yinsen, Yinsen is friends with you, Yinsen's friend is a billionaire, me not being your friend does not stop me from spending your money."
Tony stared at him.
"I feel like I just got looped into something."
---
After walking for dozens of kilometers, Tony finally gave up and sat down on the car door sled. Compared to Jimmy's stamina, the difference was embarrassing.
At first, he claimed it was just a short break, then he simply refused to get back up.
When night fell, Jimmy woke the two sun-baked men lying on the metal slab, Yinsen had brought a large container of water; without it, the situation would have been miserable.
Hunger was manageable.
Thirst was not.
Jimmy gathered some dry brush, lit a small fire, then returned holding a rattlesnake as thick as a mug, its head cleanly removed.
Without a word, he set it over the fire using a stick.
"Hey, hey, hey," Tony said immediately, "what is that, are you insane, provoking that thing in the desert, there is no antivenom out here."
"Relax," Jimmy replied, "it died peacefully, quick and clean, no suffering."
He added, "And I did not provoke it; this was a gift from the desert."
"You believe in desert gods now," Tony asked, genuinely surprised.
"I believe in all gods," Jimmy said, "as long as they protect me."
Tony chose not to comment.
Yinsen walked over, planted the car door upright, and buried its base in sand on the windward side to block the breeze.
He glanced at the snake roasting over the fire. "We still have food, no need to take risks."
Jimmy did not argue.
The fire crackled quietly in the desert night.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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