I turn on the flashlight app and we head toward the light.
But the moonlight isn’t coming in through windows or doors. Well, that’s not entirely true. Some light is shining in through the windows, which are big gaping holes in the wall across from us. Most, though, is coming from the utter lack of a roof on this side of the building. Moonlight pours down, illuminating a large room filled with piles of debris.
Deo curses as he surveys the room. “Looks like the place was bombed.”
“No. More like a fire that started on an upper floor.” I nod toward the back where the plaster has burned away, exposing the brick behind it.
A lot of the junk seems to have come from the collapsed level above us, but there’s an empty bottle of peach schnapps and some cigarette butts that suggest teenagers may have been exploring. The room smells slightly of mold and smoke, but overall, the air is fresh. Trees, a hint of water, like maybe it’s rained recently. It’s a nice change after two days of breathing recycled air.
There’s a noise in front of us, like something shifting in the pile of junk. Deo whips Lucas’s gun up and points it toward the sound. Until now, I hadn’t even realized that he was still carrying it.
After a few seconds, he lowers the pistol. “Probably just an animal.”
I tap the phone to launch the flashlight again, then shine it in front of us. Nothing moves, and if there are any eyes staring back at us, they’re well hidden by the rubble.
Shining the light around, I search for a path through the junk. I can’t get closer to the windows, but from here, I’d guess that the ground drops off sharply on this side of the building. It looks like we’re fairly high up. There’s a road or maybe a bridge off in the distance, and every few seconds another car drives by.
I don’t see any way out except for the way we came in.
As I turn in that direction, a light shines back at us. Deo and I both gasp, though my gasp is very nearly a scream. It’s only a dim reflection, though, and as we get closer, I realize my light’s bouncing off a blackboard.
Turn back!
BEWARE
Right beneath the chalkboard, there’s another empty bottle, along with an open square foil wrapper.
“Hmph,” Deo says, shaking his head. “Looks like someone had a little ghost-hunting party in here. Because nothing gets your sexy on like a crumbling building.”
We turn back into the hallway and work our way past the still-open elevator, me holding out the phone flashlight, and Deo holding out the gun. The alarm grows louder as we approach. At the other end of the hallway, looking left and right, we again have pitch-black in one direction competing with a faint glow in the other.
“Could be another caved-in roof . . . ,” Deo says, but we head that way regardless. It’s still the more logical alternative to going farther into the building, and the continued blaring of the alarm tells me we don’t have much time.
Once again, we end up in a section that’s too cluttered to navigate. Here, the ceiling hasn’t collapsed entirely. You can still see a partial floor above, and some sections of roof above that. But the place must have been abandoned years ago. A branch from one of the tall trees outside has grown into the room. It looks like a skeletal arm, reaching toward what’s left of the wall.
The idea of going back toward the elevator yet again, with the alarm still sounding, sets off a panicked flutter in my chest. But then I see Deo, his bare back in front of me in the moonlight. That triggers a memory. Trees, sky . . . running.
I’d completely forgotten about the vision.
“It’s okay,” I say, as much to myself as to Deo. “We’re going to get out of here. I saw it in one of Jaden’s flashes.”
There’s something else at the very edge of my memory that seems a little less encouraging, but I can’t grasp it. And we don’t have all day for me to stand here trying.
We go back toward the darker end of the second hallway. It opens into a foyer, and if not for the flashlight, I think there’s a good chance we’d have missed the staircase.
“Well, that explains a lot. We’re on the second floor.” I shine the light at our feet, and we hurry down the curved stairway toward the door below. The stairs are covered with chunks of rock and other hazards. There’s a metal railing, but it seems to be rusted out in a few spots and I’m not sure I trust it. These stairs would be perilous enough in daylight, moving at a normal pace.
“What kind of idiot builds an elevator that only opens on the second floor of the building?” Deo grumbles, when we pause about midway to navigate around a large pile of debris.
“I don’t know. Maybe someone once had an office up there? And maybe not everyone who worked in the building knew there was a facility belowground?”
“Wonder how long ago it was torched?”