TWENTY-SEVEN
THE COOL, DARK RIDE DOWN THROUGH THE
elevator shaft ended in a squeal of hydraulic brakes
and then silence, as the engines shut down and
trapped them somewhere in the seemingly endless
tunnel.
"Claire? What..."
Claire held a finger to her lips, hushing Sherry
and heard what sounded like an alarm from somewhere
outside, a repeating, muffled bleat of honking
noise. There seemed to be talking, too, but Claire
could only make out the faintest mumble.
"Come on, sweetie, I think the ride's over. Let's see
where we ended up, okay? And stay close."
They moved out of the transport room and onto the
platform, the distant sounds not so distant anymore
and there was light, coming from somewhere
behind the lift. Claire took Sherry's hand as they
walked quickly around, not wanting to worry the girl
but feeling pretty sure that it was an alarm they were
hearing. There was definitely someone speaking over
the rhythmic squeals, too, and Claire wanted to know
what they were saying.
The lift had stopped only a few feet down from
some kind of a service tunnel, the light she'd seen
coming from a caged bulb that hung down from the
tunnel's ceiling. There wasn't a door, but there was a
decent-sized crawl space at the end of the short
passage; it would have to do.
It's either that or climb back to the surface, probably
only a mile or so up. . .
Not a chance. Claire boosted Sherry up and then
climbed after her, moving to the front and then
crouch-walking to the dark hole. The bleating sound
got louder the closer she got to the crawl space, the
mumble transforming into a woman's voice. She
strained to hear the words, hoping that she'd catch
"elevator malfunction" and "temporary", but she
still couldn't make it out. They'd have to abandon the
lift and hope that they were leaving it for something
better.
Claire swiveled around, sighing. "Looks like crawl
time for me and thee, kiddo. I'll go first, and then..."
SLAM!
Sherry shrieked as something landed on the roof of
the transport behind them, crashing through the top
in a thundering clap of rending metal. Claire grabbed
her, pulling her close, her breath caught in her
throat...
... and a hand, two hands appeared through the
hole in the roof. Two thick arms, clad in shadow...
... and the gleaming white of Mr. X's enormous
skull rose up from the destroyed lift, like a dead moon
on a starless night.
Claire turned and pushed Sherry toward the darkness
of the crawl space, her heart hammering, her
body suddenly slick with sweat.
"Go! Go, I'm right behind you!"
Sherry disappeared into the curving black, darting
out of sight like a frightened mouse, and Claire didn't
look back, was too scared shitless to look back as she
followed Sherry into the hole, their relentless stalker
surely climbing through the shattered elevator to
continue his determined and unfathomable hunt.
Ada had heard pieces of Annette's screaming rant
from the shadows of the catwalk hub, where the three
metal spans joined. She'd forced herself not to rush to
Leon's aid, promising herself that if she heard shots,
she'd reconsider...
... but then the laboratory facility had been violently
shaken, and the bland voice of the recording
started its loop.
Shit!
Ada staggered to her feet, furious at the woman
scientist, a part of her aching for Leon, knowing what
this meant. Annette had triggered the fail-safe, which
meant they probably had less than ten minutes to get
the hell out of Dodge...
... and Leon doesn't know the way.
No, not important. If she was going to collect the
sample, which Annette surely had on her, she needed
to do it now. Leon wasn't her problem, he'd never
been her problem, and she couldn't quit now, not
after the hell she'd been through to get Trent's precious
virus.
Ada took a single step away from the main fuse
panel that connected the three catwalks and heard
the pounding footsteps coming toward her, footsteps
too heavy to be Annette's. She slid back into the
shadows and around to the span that led west, pressing
herself against the hub's frame.
A second later, Leon went running past, probably
back to where he thought she'd be waiting for him.
Ada took a deep breath, blowing it out as she swept
Leon from her mind, and hurried across the southern
bridge to find Annette.
Ada was gone.
"...has been activated. This auto-destruct
sequence..."
"Shut up, shut up..." Leon hissed, standing helplessly
in the middle of the room, his stomach knotted,
his hands balled into fists.
When she'd heard the alarm, she must have panicked
and run. She was probably stumbling through
the giant facility, lost and dazed, maybe looking for
him as that infernally calm voice repeated, as the
sirens blared and rang.
The transport lift!
Leon turned and ran back through the door and
saw that it was gone, a large empty hole a few feet
deep where it had been. He'd been too intent on
getting to Ada, he hadn't even noticed that it wasn't
there anymore...
... we have to find that tunnel, we have to! Without
the lift, we're trapped here!
With a silent howl of frustration, Leon turned and
ran back toward the catwalks, praying that he would
find her before it was too late.
The crawl space ended abruptly, stopping over at
least a seven-foot drop to an empty tunnel. Her ears
ringing, her mouth dry as dust, Sherry grabbed the
edges of the square hole, closed her eyes, and jumped.
She swung out over the hall and let go as soon as she
was straight up and down, landing crooked and falling
as her right leg crumpled. It hurt, but she hardly felt
it, scrambling on hands and knees to get out of the
way, staring up at the hole...
... and there was Claire, her head coming out, her
wide, worried eyes taking in that she was okay, that
the hall was empty and safe ... except that there
were bells ringing and a woman on an intercom was
talking, and Mr. X was coming.
Claire stretched her arm down as far as she could
with the gun. "Sherry, I need you to hold this, I can't
turn around."
Sherry stood and reached up, grabbing the barrel,
amazed at how heavy the gun was as Claire let go.
"Don't point it at anything," Claire breathed, and
then she actually dove out of the hole, curling her
body and landing on her shoulder, her head tucked in
tight. She did a half-somersault and then her legs
banged into the concrete wall.
Before Sherry could even ask if she was all right,
Claire was on her feet, taking the gun and pointing to
the door at the end of the hall.
"Run!" she said, and started to run herself, one
hand pushing on Sherry's back as they sprinted for
the door, as the intercom voice told them to get out,
told them that a self-destruct sequence had been
activated...
... and behind them, a sound of crashing metal tore
through the blaring noise of the sirens, and Sherry ran
faster, terrified.
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