The Risks

May: Chapter 53

It didn't take us long to search the first floor being that there were only a few office spaces and supply rooms down the short hallway. The doors at the end were chained shut, and I eyed an emergency axe secured to the wall, sealed behind glass, but after a quick discussion with the others, we ruled out that option. It would be too loud, and we didn't know what was behind those doors.

"There are always the lower levels," Spencer suggested.

Slowly, and maybe a bit reluctantly, we moved toward the only other door on this level, but when we stood in the doorway of the stairwell, looking down into the silent darkness, we all hesitated.

"I don't think we're going to find anything down there," I said quietly.

"It's best if we check the whole building," Spencer disagreed, his eyes following the beam of his flashlight. "Leave no stone unturned, right?"

I looked to Parker, trying to get an idea of what he was thinking. There was something off about Spencer –more off than usual. I didn't like the hollowness in his voice, the flightiness in his demeanor.

But Parker let out an acquiescing sigh and nodded. I knew he didn't want to miss anything. It was better to check and come up empty handed that look over something pivotal.

The four of us followed Spencer into the stairwell, and the further we descended, the lower a weight dropped into my guts. Something wasn't right here. It was too damp, too dark. No one would have been living in this building with no electricity. This was just another dead end, and yet, we kept walking down those stairs until we reached the belly of the beast.

Pitch black and musty. The only sound was the sloshing of our shoes in the water that covered the floor like a shallow, ink black sea. The only light was that of our flashlights, like a lighthouse beam.

It made me feel exposed, even with four other people surrounding me.

Every step into this murky basement felt like time we were losing, like the second hand a clock ticking down.

But to what exactly?

I just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was lurking down here, that there were eyes in the dark watching us -quiet breaths against the back of our necks.

It wasn't until we reached a wide, closed gate that we paused.

"Let's turn around," Xavier suggested softly, and I didn't miss the hint of fear in his voice.

In fact, I felt it too –the encroaching claustrophobia. It didn't matter how wide this room was, it still felt too small. The metal bars of this gate felt too much like those of a prison cell.

"We should keep going," Spencer urged.

"Look," Parker whispered, gesturing through the bars of the gate. We followed his gaze to see a sign that read EXIT with an arrow beneath it, pointing further into the darkness. "Looks like there's a way out that way."

Lance nodded, stepping forward. "I say we push through to the exit. That way we can all sleep well at night knowing we didn't miss anything."

I scanned the walls, looking for a lever or something to get the gate to open, but all I saw were two chains on either end of the gate on the other side of the bars. And as I looked closer, I noticed one of the chains was broken. No way we were using that levy system to open it. There was, however, a gap above the gate wide enough for a body to fit.

"We can go over," I said, pointing my flashlight upward. "We can reach it if someone hoists us."

"What about the last person?" Lance asked.