If we make it out of here, McClane told Riley with only the slightest tremor betraying his apprehension, we’re so watching that damn movie.

“All the movies you want,” Riley promised, heart pounding fearfully.

Misha chuckled faintly. “I’ll bring the popcorn.”

“You’re dumbasses, both of you,” Andrej informed them. “No, wait: all three of you. See if we’re gonna offer to sacrifice ourselves for you again.”

The tunnel entrance above was lighting up, powerful flashlights pushing back the dark. The dogs had gone quiet, but they could all hear their eager panting now. Misha moved to stand in front of Riley as he’d done a lifetime ago on the stairs when they’d faced his family. As then, Riley stepped out from behind him to stand by his side, because—

We’re not the damsel, McClane declared.

Damn right.

RILEY probably shouldn’t have been surprised by the sheer number of soldiers who came pouring out of the tunnel. After all, McClane had rated a minimum of three fully crewed and armed helicopters even the first time round at the diner. Still, there were an awful lot of heavily armed people filling up the small cavern very quickly. It was pretty intimidating and it might’ve ended in a firefight right then and there if the two-man advance guard hadn’t stepped over the edge and fallen down the slope much as Andrej had. The dogs didn’t fall. The dogs were smarter than that.

One of the soldiers managed to stop his own descent and Riley caught the other one before he could tumble into the gorge, but by that time the

ridge above them was already lined with more troops in full battle gear, all of them aiming down at the exhausted quartet at the bottom of the cave.

“Hostage?” Andrej muttered hopefully with an appraising look at the coughing soldier clinging to Riley’s arm.

“Are you suicidal?” Kolya asked seriously, and reached out slowly and carefully to push down Andrej’s gun hand until the weapon was pointed at the floor. “Nobody sneeze now,” he added under his breath. It sounded like a prayer.

Misha was trying to sneak between Riley and the threat again. Riley snagged his belt with two fingers and unceremoniously tugged him back. In his head, McClane yelled at him for putting strain on only recently patched injuries with all that grabbing and pulling and saving people, and started to fix the damage frantically. It felt like the little fucker was jabbing him with a million needles. Riley sucked in a sharp breath and let go of the soldier, who scrambled away immediately, groping for his sidearm.

If he falls in now, we’re letting him, McClane bitched, a thin veneer of sarcasm over a whole lot of panic. He might’ve been willing to die for his freedom, but he really, really didn’t want to die. At all. Whoa. Shit. Big guy, twelve o’clock.