Intervention | NaNoWriMo 2018

Chapter 34

Lincoln and Marie held their breath as they sat motionless in the dark behind a flimsy wall panel held up by Lincoln's straining fingers. Just inches from where they sat, the soldiers examined the shelves and cabinets in the room, speaking in hushed voices among themselves. It wasn't until one of the men declared the place clear and left that Lincoln allowed himself to relax and exhaled forcefully.

As the door clicked shut and the maintenance closet once again was dark, Marie squirmed next to Lincoln. She was ready to move out of the cramped maintenance duct they had taken shelter in. Lincoln held up a hand and shook his head, barely visible in the darkness. They waited as the footsteps faded. A few minutes later, they heard the faint sound of voices. Moments later, the sound of heavy boots echoed across the floor as the soldiers marched back to the staircase, their search of the floor completed. It wasn't until the door to the stairs slammed shut that Lincoln dared move.

"Ok, can we get out of here now, wherever this is?" Marie said with a groan and stretched her legs out, one after the other.

"We're not getting out."

"What do you mean? We can't sit here. My legs are cramping up."

"Trust me, I know. We're going to get you home, I promise you that."

"How do we do that by sitting here in a duct in the wall?"

"Like I said when we hid in here, it's a maintenance duct. Few people even know they exist outside of the maintenance crews. Frankly, nobody cares as long as everything work."

"I don't see how that helps us, Lincoln. Not to mention, this place stinks."

"You'll see. Patience. Come, follow me." Lincoln squeezed past Marie and continued further into the darkness. Marie hesitated momentarily and looked over her shoulder at the wall panel that separated them from the maintenance room.

"Are you coming?" Lincoln said over his shoulder, sensing her hesitation.

"Coming," she said with a sigh and followed Lincoln on her hands and knees. "Is there at least a light in here?"

"Yes, but we don't need that. Besides, I don't want to give away our position in case the lights come on in places where it's visible to others. We can't take any chances. Just grab my ankle, and I'll guide you."

They continued on their hands and knees through the four feet high duct. After about fifteen yards, they encountered a T-section. Lincoln looked left and right in the darkness and then turned right.

"You know where we're going, right?" Marie said, her right hand on his right ankle.

"You'll see." Marie could have sworn he said it with a grin on his face.

They continued for another ten yards, then turned left at another T-section. They continued straight for another twenty yards before Lincoln stopped. Lincoln's hand fumbled across the wall in the darkness until he found what he was looking for. He pushed against the wall and a panel the height of the duct opened into a larger space. Mechanical sounds that previously had only been audible as background noise now overwhelmed both of their senses. Marie instinctively covered her ears with her hands. Lincoln said something to Marie that she couldn't hear and then stepped out of the duct.

Lincoln closed the door behind Marie and took in the surroundings. Memories of his childhood came flooding back as he gazed up into the narrow shaft that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see. It was maybe six feet wide. Pipes, cables and other utilities stretched up and down the space and valves scattered along the pipes emitted the occasional cloud of steam with loud hissing sounds.