Fearless

chapter 13

One policeman stopped at the threshold, and the other came through and roughly lifted Monica off the floor.

"Don't touch, let go..." she whispered in a hushed voice and tried to wrench her arm away.

"Don't touch me, you bitch!" he spat out and said something to his partner. I knew it was bad, so I quickly texted Ian the situation. The main thing is not to panic...

Ian worked instantly, I don't know what he did, but one of the cops got some kind of message, both of their faces stretched, and they left, throwing the poor girl back on the floor.

She cried, struggling to stifle her sobs. My heart was tearing apart, but I had to act fast. I leaned my face against the net and whispered:

"Monica."

Zero reaction. Probably didn't hear it. I did it again. The girl jerked her head, looking around. I called out a little louder, adding "look above you". She lifted her head and finally saw me. Oh, how much pain I saw in her eyes! Trying to control myself so I wouldn't go and finish off all the employees in the damn place, I asked:

"What's your brother's name?"

"J...Jack... Who are you?" she answered quietly.

"I'm his friend. No time, listen to me, okay?"

She nodded vigorously, wiping her face with the back of her small hands. I picked the lock on the mesh and pushed it aside. The phone vibrated, alerting me to a new message. "Hurry up, you have fifteen minutes left. I trust you can do it. I'll try to keep the vents under my control. Ian." I shook my head, driving away the bad thoughts, and pulled a rope from my inside pocket.

"Monica, grab the rope as tightly as you can, tie a nautical knot around your waist, Jack taught you, remember?" I asked, pulling down the end of the rope. The girl nodded and did as I asked.

I slowly began to pull the rope toward me. There was a low grunting sound below.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked worriedly, peeking out of the hatch.

"Yeah, just a bruise, don't mind me." replied the little girl.

I kept pulling, which was not an easy thing to do. She was seven years old, but she did not weigh as much as a snowflake. At last the little hand emerged from the barrack, grasping the edge of the hole. Then Monica grasped with her other palm, and I, taking both her hands in mine, pulled her into the tunnel. Once she was so close, she hugged me tightly and cried.

"You saved me..." she whispered, shuddering as she looked down at the barracks. "Thank you."

"It's too soon to thank." I said, kissing the top of her head. "Let's go, we have to hurry. I mean, let's crawl." I corrected myself and opened the map.

The clock was ticking relentlessly, cutting off our escape route with each passing second. I hoped for the best, as always, though. I couldn't say the same about Monica, but she didn't cry or complain, just crawled obediently behind me through the endless ducts of ventilation. Five minutes, still halfway there... I would have sped up if I could, but Monica was crawling as fast as she could, trying to ignore her fatigue. I felt unbearably sorry for her, but I couldn't stop and let her rest for her own sake.

A message came in from Ian – he'd managed to extend his control of the cameras for seven more minutes. He was taking big risks, and I hoped to justify them. Monica and I were already near the exit from the vents when a siren of incredible power sounded deafeningly throughout the Devil's Mouth. Even the pipes around us vibrated.

"Prisoner missing, prisoner missing, assemble the patrol!" A nasty voice commanded from all the speakers.

Ian texted me to get out by way of 4 through the duct, he had already called Jack off, the guys were waiting for us in the woods right by the vent grate. I checked the map and changed our route. My elbows were all bruised, my arms were bruised, my jeans were torn at the knees, and my whole body was covered in rust and dirt. Even so, I managed to get Monica out! I wish we hadn't been caught in the woods. If only Jack and Ian hadn't been captured...