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Cliff had escorted her to the underground tunnels the Right Arm always used to infiltrate the city. He pulled the lid off the hole in the ground and Evan swallowed back the pain as a memory shot to the front of her mind. She had been down tunnels like these before, with Thomas and Brenda. They had barely made it out alive then. Evanna wasn't exactly in the mood for a reoccurrence.
"You okay?" he asked her.
She nodded. "Yeah, just not a fan of tunnels," she answered, looking back at him as she knelt down to inspect. "Kinda died in one before, you know?"
Rolling his eyes, Cliff gestured down. "Just hurry, yeah? If you get caught by the police in the city, then there's nothing we can do for you."
Evan waved him off. She didn't need any more people rushing her and telling her what to do. She knew perfectly what was at stake. Grabbing the rusty ladder, she started climbing down. Cliff's face become less and less clear until it was a blob somewhere above her. Reaching for her flashlight, she turned it on and shone it around before letting go of the ladder completely.
A shiver ran down her spine and she had to coach herself into staying calm and going deeper into the tunnel. There was a thin layer of water at the bottom of the tunnel. The sound of her shoes hitting it bounced off the walls. She shone to the ceiling. Lights came into view, but they weren't working.
As if he knew what she was thinking, Cliff told her, "The lights have motion sensors. Just start walking right and they'll come on."
It sounded a lot easier said than done. The dark tunnel looked foreboding and creepy and all things bad. She had never been down there before, and she wished she had left with Gally and the others instead of going on her own. Evan wanted nothing more than to climb back up and just leave it for what it was. So they would only get inside tomorrow, what was the harm?
"Evan," Cliff called down and she jolted, looking up. She didn't think he was still there. "There's nothing down there. We've been using these tunnels for years now. You'll be fine."
She shot him a thankful smile though she doubted he could see it. He closed the lid. Swallowing down her fear, she ventured further into the tunnel. After a couple of steps, the lights finally came on and Evanna breathed out a sigh of relief. It didn't make the tunnels look any less creepy, but it also didn't make her feel like she was walking towards her doom anymore either.
The concrete walls were cold and the lights above her flickered every now and then. They were harsh and she had to squint her eyes every time she looked up at them. They reminded her of WICKEDs facility in the Scorch, with its almost white hallways and harsh overhanging lights mimicking daylight. It felt weird to her that she had ever felt safe there – in a place so cold and void of anything. She wondered how she could ever have considered it home.
