Run

Chapter 8

We entered the vent one by one. Casey was in front since she had the map and Tom was in the back. We were all quiet except for Tiffany, who kept complaining.

" MY DESIGNER SHOES ARE BEING RUINED!" she would complain. The rest of us would just ignore her and roll our eyes, even though she couldn't see us. I even considered taping her mouth shut. Everyone moved slowly and I was worried the vent would collapse. Our movements echoed across the walls, the shuffling of knees and heavy breaths. Occasionally, we would stop and rest for a while, before moving on.

" Mara I'm tired." Complained Abby.

" Just a little longer Abbs. I promise." I replied. We kept moving. We were in the drain for about 30 minutes.

" Hello?" A muffled voice spoke

I froze. It came from outside the drain and sounded familiar. Everyone stopped and strained their ears to listen.

" Who's there?" The voice spoke again. I tapped Casey, who was in front of me. It was pitch black but i'm pretty sure she placed a finger on her lips. I heard footsteps to my left and went stiff, not even breathing. After a while, Adam spoke.

" We need to get out of this drain and enter another one. Everyone be careful." He whispered. I saw a light in front of me, signalling that the drain had come to an end. Casey carefully removed the cover and we all stepped out. It felt good to stretch out my back after being bent over for 30 minutes. We walked along the wall as to not be seen. No one, not even Tiffany, made a single sound. We reached the other drain and Casey pulled the cover. She began to get in.

" STOP!" Shouted someone. I turned around and saw the silhouette of a person. My eyes still hadn't adjusted to the brightness but it was a woman. She stepped forward and her face came into focus.

Michelle.

" What're you kids doing out here? It's past your bedtimes.".

Just then Daniel stepped forward.

" Sorry about this Michelle.". She looked confused but soon, Daniel punched her and she fell to the ground. She was still alive as I could tell from the rise and fall of her chest. Jess stared at Daniel, her eyes wide with terror.

" Enough waiting around we gotta go." Declared Casey. Everyone snapped out of though and crawled into the drain. Tom pulled the cover shut and we crawled. This drain was much smaller then the last one. My head touched the top and my arms touched the sides. After crawling for about 10 minutes, I couldn't feel the drain anymore. I put my hand up but only felt space.

" Guys I think we can stand" I exclaimed. Soon, everyone stood up. I heard the loud clang of metal followed by a groan.

" Stood up too soon." Tom said wearily. Despite the serious situation, we all laughed and it felt good. But the feeling was soon replaced by fear as we realized what would happen once Michelle woke up. We were walking for about 20 minutes before Casey signaled us to stop.

" There is a T-intersection up ahead. Turn left." She announced. We kept walking, relieved to be able to stretch out our back. I realized something. Tiffany wasn't complaining anymore. That's odd.

" Hey Tiffany? You okay?" I asked. No reply. " Guys where's Tiffany?"

" She was right behind me" Spoke Edward.

" You don't think she turned right do you?" Asked Jess. I let out a sigh of frustration.

" I'll go find her."

" Mara no. You stay here."

" I'll be fine. She couldn't have gone far."

" Mara? You'll come back right?" Spoke Abby. I gave her a hug.

" Of course Abbs"

"Promise?"

" Promise.". I let go of her and turned back to find Tiffany.

" You guys go ahead. I know the map!".

-

I walked back to the T-intersection and turned right.

" Tiffany?" I whisper-yelled " You here?". When there was no reply I kept walking forward.

" Tiffany." I kept whispering.

" PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" Someone yelled.

I rolled my eyes " Tiffany it's me, Mara."

" Who's Mara?"

Really. I sighed " It's Martha."

" Oh thank goodness Martha! I never thought I would be this happy to see you. I got lost." She exclaimed.

" That's cause you turned the wrong way. Come on let's head back.". As soon as I turned around, it hit me that we were lost. I couldn't remember which side i'd come from.

" Um Tiff..."

"Yeah?"

" We're lost."

" WHAT?!" She exclaimed. I shushed her.

" Don't worry there's another way." we walked the way that Tiffany had come in from. Suddenly, the tunnel was illuminated as lights came on. I threw my hands up, blinded by the sudden light. Tiffany did the same. As if that was not enough, a blaring siren rang, echoing through the tunnel.

" They found us! RUN!" I yelled. I broke into a sprint, not knowing where I was running towards. I knew Tiffany was right on my heels. Something caught my eye at the end of the tunnel. A door. As we approached it, I realized that we needed a key-card to open it.

" That's it. We're doomed." I threw my hands up in frustration.

Tiffany rushed forward " Oh shut up will you" She pulled out a key card from her pocket and I stared in shock.

" How did you-"

"I know people" She said with a smirk. She swiped the card but it beeped twice.

Access denied. A voice spoke. She tried again.

Beep Beep, access denied.

" Keep trying!" I shouted.

Beep beep, access denied.

" Girls! Where are you going" Someone spoke from across the tunnel. I saw Mr White standing there. He was surrounded by 4 guards, each of them armed.

" Keep trying" I whispered to Tiffany.

" Mara, I did not expect this from you." He spoke.

" Yeah well I didn't expect a lot of things from you either. Get rid of children who are below average? Did you really think I would stay here?"

He smiled. Not a sweet innocent smile, but one that sent a shiver up my spine.

" So you've heard.". I nodded. My hand curled around the gun Casey had given me earlier. Just then, a beep sounded. And I heard the words access granted. I turned around to see the door had opened.

" Mara, I thought we could trust each other." The guards were now moving forward. They held their weapons at ready.

" Well guess what. I don't trust people like you." I pulled out the gun and began shooting. I had no idea how many bullets there were but right now, getting out was all that mattered. Tiffany pulled out a gun as well and started shooting. Casey must have given everyone a gun. Two of the guards dropped to the ground and the other two continued shooting. Jackson picked up one of their shields and covered himself. I fired a bullet, hitting one of the guards. He immediately dropped to the ground. Now there were two against two.

" Trust me Mara, you don't want to go out there. Bad things have started to happen and they will get worse.".

" Shut up!" I fired a bullet, hitting him in the leg. He fell to the floor, one hand grabbing his injured leg. Tiffany had already hit the last guard.

" GO!" I shouted. We ran through the door, not once looking back at the scene. That's when I realized something. The others. Were they safe? Also I had just killed more than one person. I wondered what the old Mara would think of me. The Mara who kills.