The Departure Protocol

Chapter 22

Wared felt his stomach churn as he watched the cone of his flashlight illuminate the now closed door. He swallowed hard.

"What do we do now?" he said with a croak.

Before either of them could answer, dim blue light strips came alive around the walls. A sputtering noise came from above them, from one end of the room to another.

"What the—" Randee started. He was interrupted by gushing cold water that sprayed down on them, soaking them to the bone within seconds. Shea screamed and grabbed Wared while Randee looked around wildly for the source. But, before either of them could do anything, the water stopped.

A door on the other side of the hallway opened, revealing a rectangular room on the other side. Benches stretched along the left wall while lockers covered the wall on the right.

"What is this place?" Shea said as she stepped across the threshold.

"Looks like a locker room," Randee said and proceeded to check the lockers. "Here, there are clothes in here," he said and handed a pile of clothes to Wared.

Wared blinked and looked at the clothes in her hand. Clean clothes, in a locker room of some sort. At some point, someone had been here, someone had used this room on a regular basis.

"Do you think they're still—?"

"Here?" Randee said with a shrug. "I guess we'll find out. I'm sure they won't mind if we change into something dry though."

"Yeah, but what if—" Wared said, his eyes on the clothes in his hands.

"What if what?" Randee snapped. "I'm wet, there are dry, clean clothes that no-one's using them. Doesn't bother me. Let's get dressed, ok?"

Although they changed in silence, Wared's mind was running at full speed, churning out theories as to what this room was for, where they were and what this facility was intended for. He realized that they may be at the very end of the pipe and that much closer to the answer they were looking for. A mix of relief and uncertainty flooded his mind all at the same time.

"Are you two ready?" Randee said, interrupting Wared's thoughts. When they both nodded, he continued. "Remember, we don't know what this place is, or what we'll encounter. Stay alert and stay behind me, ok?"

As they stepped out of the locker room, lights flickered to life in the corridor outside. Some lights continued to flicker, while others didn't come on at all. An dusty smell was evident in the air, reminiscent of an abandoned building that no-one had been to in a long time. The walls that at one point had been white were discolored and the floor was covered with a visible layer of dust and other particles.

"It doesn't look like anyone has been here for a while," Wared said as he covered his face with his elbow.

"I agree," Randee said. "We can't let our guard down though. There's no telling what we might come across. Let's proceed carefully."

Lights continued to flicker on as the moved further into the structure. Doors they passed led to storage closets, equipment rooms and more storage. At the end of the hallway, they encountered another door, this one ajar a few inches, as if someone had left it open on purpose. Randee paused with his hand on the door handle and raised a finger to his lips.

As Randee held the door open, Wared stepped over the threshold followed closely by Shea. Randee closed the door without a sound. Wared raised his eyebrows and gestured in both directions of the hallway that came into view as the lights flicked to life. Where they had just walked through a dusty environment that visibly showed signs of age and deterioration, the corridor they stood in now was immaculate. The floors were clean the walls were bright white, as if they had just been cleaned.