frozen within time

chapter three

Kristen shrieked. So did Alex. Then they hitched in their shocked gasps, holding their hands to their mouths,and listened with there eyes wide and glassy.

'YOU ARE ENTERING A SECURE ZONE,' warned a stern male voice. 'IF YOU ARE CONTAMINATED TURN BACK NOW.'
They gasped and clutched at each other. Who could be down here? Who was this man?

'YOU ARE ENTERING A SECURE ZONE,'. Repeated the man. 'IF YOU ARE CONTAMINATED, TURN BACK NOW.'

When he said it for the third time, Alex's hammering heart at last began to slow down.

'Its ok,' He whispered to Kristen. 'Its just a recording.' And he reached out and pushed open the door, embaressed that he'd been so scared. 'It it must have been triggered by the door unlocking. Come on!' Now he pushed open the door and light flooded out. Inside was a chamber, about the size of their living room, stacked with floor to ceiling shelving, which was filled with a kinds of boxes and tins and bottles and packets. As the stern man continued to warn them off, Kristen stared around in a daze. She saw OMO and VIM and brown & polson, and other names which didn't mean much to her, in old fashioned writing. the floor was covered in a green swirly carpet and there was an old fashioned leather sofa and two armchairs, grouped around a table----and between the sofa and armchair was the source of the voice. an old fashioned reel to reel tape recorder was turning, a small pale cloud rising from it.

Alex wandered across to the machine and pressed a clunky STOP button on the surface. at last the voice stopped, plunging them into an eerie silence, under which ran the soft hum of some kind of power generator, Alex guessed. He noticed that the air seemed a little fresher too--- perhaps it was some kind of air conditioner.

'Alex----look----it goes on,' whispered Kristen, standing transfixed in the middle of the room, pointing to another door in the oppersite wall. This one was an ordernery door, painted white, with an ordernery handle.

Kristen was already opening it and Alex hurried across to stop her going through.

'Wait!' He breathed 'me first----remember? I'm the eldest!' She let him go willingly enough and he realized she was as scared as he was.

The door opened normally, and beyond it lay another room. also lit by the Orange lamps set in the walls. There was more shelving ahead. Filled with more curious stuff, on one wall. A d two sets if metal bunk beds, complete with mattresses and dark grey folded up blankets, lined the s on either side if the door.
Another door led off to their left. They walked to it as if mesmerized and pushed it open. Now another room---a kitchen, with small units painted cream and blue, slanted glass doors on the cabinets above them, filled with floral patterned China. a low white sink with metal taps shaped like carrots was set into a pale blue work furface, decorated with little grey specs.

'Formica,' Alex mouthed. he opened one of the base cabinets and saw pots and pans.
Kristen pulled Joe. a cupboard set into a wall and found more packets and tins and bottles. 'LOOK!' She said. 'Heinz! It came be that long ago . . .' She pulled out a tin and the familiar Heinz label glimmered in the Orange light---- although Alex could see that it was an old fashioned design on dull paper. he eked over and looked into the cupboard and saw stack upon stack of square tins with SPAM on them.
The label carried the promise 'REAL MEAT FOR YOUR MONEY' in old style letters.

'Come on---we should keep going,' He said, quietly, as if he might wake ghosts hiding among the stacks of tins.

'Wait! Look-----sweets!' Kristen scooped a waxed paper tube out of the cupboard. it was Orange with yellow stripes and apparently cost 3d. 'Spangles,' murmured Kristen, turning the square tube in her Palm.