Room 5144

Low Maintenace

The knob was coarse and not the usual smooth I was accustomed to, it must be rusting. I pushed it open to reveal a long dimly lit corridor. I glanced over to Nira who silently motioned to go in. I stepped through the doorway, this corridor was different from the office yellow walls which I had to face earlier to the staircase. The door shut behind me with a clang as Nira stood to my side as we examined the hall which lay ahead of us. It looked like a maintenance tunnel. There were pipes lining the ceiling and the walls, some of which were red with rust. The only lights were small bulbs inches out of their designated holes. They were all flickering, providing minimal light and masking the end of the hall in darkness. I started to move forward silently as my footsteps reverberated against the concrete walls. 

After minutes of walking, we came to a crossroads which led to a lit corridor and another which was shrowded due to its lack of light. It seemed as if it only extended a few meters. 
"Yeah, I think I know where to go," I looked over to Nira who had a slight smirk painted over her face. I started to move through the corridor as I saw something on the floor in the distance. It was cylindrical and seemed weighty. I started to walk more swiftly to the object before crouching to it. It was a pipe that was dull and rusting on one end. It seemed weighty and it was blunt. I picked it up and held it. 
"Good Idea," Nira mentioned as I tried to look for a place to stow it before keeping it to flail in my hands.

I continued to travel, occasionally brushing my hand against the stubbled concrete surface wall, expecting something to happen yet knowing that nothing interesting will occur for what would feel like hours. We continued to walk aimlessly as we kept our ears open for sound. We were met with another crossroad, we heard the patter of feet approaching as two of those hound creatures zoomed past us, not even batting an eye. I looked past the corner where the two hounds sped to, instead, there were 3 figures, one of them being in the shape of a child. A shriek was let out as the small silhouette slumped to the floor. The two hounds closing in.
"W- Wait!" Nira called to me as I started to approach the hounds, plummeting my pipe into the skull of one of the creatures as I stared down the other. The hound started backing away as the other one twitched motionless to the right of my foot. The hound still seemed to be breathing but it wasn't indeterminable. The small figure on the floor was whimpering as she trembled. I reached out my hand to her.

"Hey, hey it is fine," at the sound of my voice she turned her head up. She seemed young and had a dark face that seemed full and lively, her eyes were watery, distressed. 
"Ah crap, there is a, well just look," I brought my eyes to where Nira looked too, a bulky-looking gray creature was around a corner, facing our direction. It seemed docile as it inched closer, now being 10 meters away from us, I looked to my right where the child stood. I glanced back at the creature who was now walking precariously. The sound of footsteps started to echo through the corridor as the girl was already meters away from me. That was a sign to run.

The creature was trailing behind. Its heavy feet pounding against the concrete floor, the child was fast, outrunning us. I took a glance behind me, Nira closing in as the creature still remained at the same pace.
"You think you can do anything about that?" Nira was now beside me.
"Yeah a pipe will do so much against that," I spat out before turning a corner.
"Well shit."
"Wa- Watch your language," I chuckled, gasping for air in the between, the girl turned a corner again. As Nira and I turned the corner, she was gone. Instead, there was a doorway with a blue light glowing from it. 
"Come one," she whispered from the room as she yanked at my shirt. I planted myself against the wall as I heard the sound of the creature become louder. The creature was standing outside the doorway, swaying as if it was drunk. The creature looked as if it was 8 feet tall but still stout with its mass. It let out a loud, almost sigh-like expression before tumbling away. 

"Well, that was close," Nira looked up to the girl, "Damn your fast, what are you? A ball of energy?"  
"Th- Thanks, my name is Keysha," Keysha responded with hesitation.
"Colin, Nira," I replied to Keysha, sending her a friendly smirk which was returned with a small smile.
"Never knew I would see someone so young turn up here," Nira told Keysha as I glanced around the room. The walls of the small annex were concrete and seemed cracked. There was a drawer to one side and to the other it was blank apart from a piece of lined paper which seemed wordless from my angle. The thing which emitted the light was a musty computer, situated against the back wall, like ones from the 90s. It was bulky and its light was irritating my eyes. 
"I am 12, not really young," Keysha said as I gave a small chuckle before approaching the computer. I stooped over and tried clicking the buttons of the keyboard but all of it was in symbols and numbers. When clicked upon, the screen would flicker with a darker blue before reaching its original state. 
"Quite surprised you don't even know how to operate a computer," Nira said looking at my struggle as Keysha gave a small giggle. Nira started to search through the drawer as she pulled out a large bag of chips and two bottles of almond water.
"Bingo was his name," she muttered to herself.
"No, No, it's just that these keys are all covered with numbers and well, the number symbols," I replied to her remark as I gave up trying to examine the computer. I went over to the paper on the wall, hung by a screw. I tore it off to examine it closely. The paper was tainted with yellow and had red lines which were fading away, the paper itself seemed moist. Turning it over, it had a name and a line, a singular line written in pencil.
"Henry Matthews, you are a button away from stopping th-" I muttered under my breath, the rest was smudged.
"I would love to say that this helps but it is smudged off. Some Henry guy is either doing something good or the opposite," I told Nira and Keysha who already opened the packet of chips. I approached them before sitting down beside them, taking a handful from the bag. It has been what must have been a day since I ate, this food tasted like the best I have had in my life. 

The bag was halfway done when I decided to stand up and look out the door. There were 3 ways to go, the way we came from, a way going forward, and a path going to the right. The path going forward seemed blocked off at the end which left us the option to the right. I looked over to the pair who were both seemed ready to leave.
"Not going to rest or anything?"  
"No, I'm fine we can go," Keysha said as he moved right in front of me with her arms to her sides. 
"We already saw two creatures in a span of less than two hours, best to get out of this place before resting," Nira added as she headed out of the doorway. We turned to our right, trying to make as little noise not wanting to attract any more entities. The pipes were still rusting and the sound of occasional gas being released appeared here and there. I still kept my ears peeled for the noise of creatures or anything close. 

The buzz of fluorescent lights started to appear again, however, I was more positive about it than earlier. It must have been something new. That was when I turned a corner, there was an elevator with the same towering creature strolling past. It was approaching us at its usual slow pace.
"Stay still, don't move at all, slow breaths,"  I whispered as the creature came closer and closer to us. I kept my eyes fixated on it. All was silent, all I heard was the pounding of the creature. It got closer and closer. It almost felt as if it sensed us there. Soon it continued to tumble past us as the footsteps grew silent. I looked back at Nira who nodded to me. I approached the elevator and pushed the dimpled button.
"Ding!"