My fist met his gut before he could even react, and I felt only slightly bad at the power that I had put behind it. He doubled over, wheezing in pain, and I kicked out, sending him flying to the ground. I kicked once more before leaping over him and running out of the room.
The past few days, Tommy had given us the best details he could on the best escape route out of the compound. He couldn’t provide us with maps, so we repeated the route over and over, until I could say it without even thinking. As soon as I ran out of the room, my mind went blank, full of anxiety and the fear of being out of the room without an escort. I blinked once, twice and then shook myself awake. I ran down the hallway and made a left. I heard footsteps and stopped, pressing myself to the wall. I dared a peek around the corner and saw no less than five or six security guards peeking into my room. Dr. Cylon was just a beat behind them, looking calm.
I heard her gasp as she entered the room, and Tommy’s frantic voice carried down the hallway. “She attacked me before I could get the cuffs on her, Doctor, and she ran out in the hallway. She’s heading toward the fifth floor, where the boy is.”
I froze, playing over the words in my mind. Tommy had planned to make an excuse, a fake plan on where I was heading in order to give me a better head start. This was not in the plan, to mention Ash and I wondered for a moment if that was really where he was. I glanced down the hallway, where the empty stairwell waited for me. Liam and Tommy’s warnings about rescuing Ash were screaming in my head, but I ignored them. I had to try. I had to, didn’t I?
A shot rang out, vibrating in my ears, cutting off Tommy’s explanation, and I flinched. The world was spinning, and my hands clutched the wall for support. I listened hard, waiting for Tommy’s voice, but it never came.
Instead Razi spoke up, her voice echoing from my room to where I stood in the hallway. “Thank you, Mr. Riviera. That will be all,” she said, and I felt the food I had just consumed rise in my throat. “Find her.”
I shook my head and started running toward the stairwell, hearing the heavy footsteps behind me. I pulled out the card tucked into my bra and slid it through the pad at the door. It blinked green, and I yanked it open. I glanced around, looking for some indication of what floor I was on and saw a large number seven printed on the wall. I knew we were underground and I had to go up a couple flights to level five. My legs burned as I ran up the stairs.
I came to a halt at level five and hesitated. I knew I should keep going, stick to the plan, but every rational part of me was shutting down in favor of searching for Ash. Would it really be worth leaving the compound if I left Ash behind?
The answer came to me clearly. No, it wouldn’t be worth it. I opened the door to level five and slipped into the quiet, dark hallway. I crept along the hallway, hating the slow pace I had to set. I ducked, doing my best to stay out of line of the cameras that lined the hallway.
Footsteps sounded from the hallway directly in front of me, and I froze. There was the familiar sound of harsh voices, and I looked around frantically. There was a door across the hallway from me. I crossed it, slid the card in the slot and closed the door quietly behind me.
I was in a room that looked like a storage closet, only slightly larger. There were several boxes of medical supplies and a whole wall of canned food. A small window was cut in the door to the room, and I peeked out carefully.
There were three men standing just outside the door, holding guns and looking around. They were opening the doors of the other rooms in the hallway. My heart was slamming hard in my chest, echoing in my ears. I was surprised they couldn’t hear it. They were creeping closer and closer to the door that I was hiding behind, and I knew it would only be a moment before they discovered my hiding place. I looked around desperately for a way out.
A small vent was hidden in the corner room, nearly concealed by the cans of food that were stacked to the ceiling. I spotted a step stool and carried it over to the vent. When I reached the third step, I looked at the shelves in front of me. They were sturdy, made of a strong aluminum, maybe even steel. I wasn’t sure if they could take my weight but there was no time like the present to find out.
I glanced over my shoulder. The men still hadn’t come to this door. I couldn’t see them, which bought me a little time, but they were coming closer. I started moving cans aside, clearing space on the shelves for me to climb. When I had just enough room. I placed my hands firmly on the shelf directly in front of me and pulled myself up, climbing up the distorted ladder. I reached the top and lifted myself up to perch on the top shelf. There wasn’t a ton of room between the shelf and the ceiling and I found myself crouched over.