Sierra

Chapter 3

Sierra dove against the wall, smacking her shoulder against the concrete as the bullet hit the pipe beside her. Steam filled the corridor at the same time the lights went out, plunging them in darkness again. She grabbed her hood and yanked it up, blocking the steam that poured out beside her.

Any adjustment her eyes had to the darkness was gone and she groped for the far wall. Humidity and heat filled the tunnel as she felt her way down the corridor. The air cooled as she found her way away from the pipe and then the edge of the corridor came into her hand. She grabbed it and ducked around the turn.

She grabbed for the bag under her coat as she ran and dug through it until she produced a flashlight. Her mind raced with how to lose him, but the policebot was too close. It already had a lock on her and even in the darkness, she knew it could keep on her with the heat vision. The tunnel split left and right and she glanced down them, but kept straight, maintaining a steady jog as she searched the area, and her brain, for a solution. The boiler chamber! 300 feet and then a right, down two floors and to the boiler chamber. She could lose it in the there, where it would be too hot to keep her heat trail.

Another gunshot hit the wall beside her, showering her with chunks of concrete from the wall. Sierra yelped and dove forward, hitting the ground on her knees and then scrambling for the closest turn in the maintenance tunnel. It was a left, but she took it, diving behind its protective corner. She hit the light off, hoping it made her harder to see for the moment.

Her back pressed against the wall and she heaved out a heavy breath, panting from running and her heart racing. She dragged a hand across her forward, wiping away steam and sweat. She glanced down the corridor, trying to see how far ahead her turn would be. Another bullet whizzed by her head and she ducked back again.

She could hear it's footsteps marching against the tunnel, getting closer. She couldn't make it to the boiler room. Her eyes glanced left and right. To the left, the tunnel disappeared around another turn. Either way, she had nothing more to go on and scrambled to her feet. She abandoned her jogging pace and dashed for the turn, yanking herself around it and then continuing as fast as she could. The turns would keep her out of its range, but she knew it could still tell which way she went by her heat trail. Her only chance was to get far enough ahead and lose it in the tunnels.

She flipped her flashlight on again and shinned its pale yellow light on the concrete walls and pipes that traveled the length with her. The tunnel began to widen and she knew she was headed into the main section. Soon her tunnel ended in a T, with a wider path ahead who's ceiling disappeared into a metal catwalk and pipes that snaked up grey walls.

Sierra moved her light up as she slowed to a lopping jog, looking for an exit in the crisscrossing catwalks above her. There was no time to climb ladders. It could just straight shoot up at her, so even if they lead out, they were useless.

Her light moved down again and shined across the jarred open door of a service elevator. She moved towards it and her light glanced off the walls of an elevator shaft. The door was open just enough she thought she could squeeze through, but probably not big enough for the police bot. Just inside she could see the emergency ladder on the left wall, close enough to reach from the door.

She hurriedly stuffed the light into her coat pocket and reached inside, grabbing for the ladder. The doors just kept her far enough away from it and she wiggled through, pushing the top half of her body through the space. A scuffle behind her made her look back, peeking her head past the door, and watched as a figure in the darkness ran into the tunnel. It slid to a stop and then looked up, the natural direction she would have tried to escape. It didn't see her.

Her fingers reached the ladder and she yanked herself towards it, just squeezing through the space between the jammed doors. As she pulled herself through, the flashlight in her coat pocket hit the door with a loud clang, announcing her presence. It swung back and Sierra felt it slip out. She grabbed for the torch, almost losing her grip on the ladder, but it spiraled down the shaft, lighting the walls intermittently as it dropped. It spiraled 40 of 50 feet before stopping abruptly with a loud bang. The top of the elevator or the bottom of the shaft, she wasn't sure.

"Shit," Sierra cursed as she grabbed the ladder with both hands and slid her feet onto the rungs. She wrapped the ends of her coat sleeves around her hands and grabbed the outside of the ladder, then moved the soles of her boots to the outside as well. The door beside her rattled and she glanced over just in time to see the policebot's blank face staring back at her before she dropped.

Another bullet hit the area she had just been, echoing down the shaft as she slid down the ladder at a barely controlled slide. Luckily her torch had stayed on and lit the landing as she half landed-half crashed into the top of the elevator. Her hands lost their grip and she landed on her back, slamming into the elevator pulley with her shoulder blade.

Sierra gasped and pain radiated across her back, traveling down her left arm and making it tingle and go numb. A pounding echoed down the shaft after her. The policebot was getting the doors open and she rolled over to her knees and grab for the light. The screech of metal crunching filled the shaft as she stood and shined her light around the walls, looking for an exit.

The next floor was above her and its doors gone, but too far to reach. Her beam moved down and she dropped to her knees, grabbing the emergency hatch and wrenching it open. She dropped inside and slammed the hatch shut with her, shutting out the screech of metal rending above her.

Her light flooded the elevator, reflecting off the silver walls. She spun, looking for an exit. The doors to the elevator were jammed open, but the grey wall of the elevator shaft met her light. Just at the bottom of the door, the next floor's opening peaked out. She squatted down and shinned her light through, but only the opening was only a few inches high, too small to squeeze through. Sierra turned again, knowing there wasn't another exit but desperately searching for it anyways. Another spin and her mind switched to weapons to defend herself.

Her hand reached under her coat again patted at her pockets, desperate for anything. Then she dug into her bag and with a flick of her wrist, snapped out a switch knife. She turned again, scoping the small area to look for anything else she could use to her advantage. If she could knock its gun out on arrival, she could potentially get the upper hand. The hand holding her flashlight went sweaty and she tightening her grip. The distant metal scraping suddenly silenced and she knew it had made it into the shaft.

She leaned against the wall, knowing she had a few seconds to try and rest while it made its way down the ladder. Her heartbeat filled her ears and she breathed steadily, in and out, in and ou-

BANG!

A dent appeared in the ceiling and the elevator lurched down, throwing her off her feet. She hit the floor on her knees and her flashlight spun out of her grip and across the floor. Apparently, the policebot hadn't bothered to use the ladder like she had...

Above her, a loud snap sounded and she looked up, just as her stomach and the elevator dropped.