One Bright Spot -- The Revisions

6

∞Ethan∞

I follow Kota and Company out of the training room. We sound like a herd of elephants as we thunder up the stairs, but noise does not matter to us. We all have one person on our minds: Christal.

Strong, fearless, beautiful Christal.

There was no way I was going to let these guys rescue her without me.

"Kota!"

We all hear her shriek and pick up our already rapid pace. We are tripping over each other in our rush.

"Ethan! Josh! Theo! He-."

Her voice is cut off and dread seeps into me.

We come through the door just in time to see the elevator doors close with Christal and her captor in it.

"He's taking her to 25", Kota says to our other two companions. His shoulder is turned so that I feel excluded from the conversation. "It's between the fifth and sixth floors."

"How do you know that's where he's taking her?" the burlier one, Josh, I think, asks.

"He said she was going to be 'playing in water'. There's an empty tank on 25", Kota explains as we run up more flights of stairs. "They're going to drown her." Cold fear runs through me.

My breathing becomes labored, but I press forward. The others could probably do this all day long.

When we reach level five, Kota leads us through another door and into the hallway between all of the rooms on this floor. We follow him to a closet that says 'Janitor' on it and then inside.

Once inside, Kota starts going at one of the shelving units against the back wall.

"Kota, what are you doing? Christal's life is in the balance and you're stopping for paper towels?" the smaller guy asks. Theo, maybe?

"No", Kota grunts as he pulls the shelving away from the wall and chucks it behind him. The three of us duck as it sails over our heads and out into the hall. When we stand up, we see what he had been getting at.

There is a hidden door in the wall. The shelving had been hiding it from view.

Kota pulls it open and darts through it without a second thought. There is another flight of stairs, but the air is moister in here. We follow him up. He stops at the top, at the door, and opens it cautiously, listening for any signs of human life. He peeks out, and upon seeing no one, he slams the door open.

"Josh, Theo, stand guard", he barks. He starts off down a hallway made of cement.

"What about me?" I call after him.

He stops, turns around, and eyes me for a brief moment. Then he says, "With me." He takes off again. Our footsteps thud on the cement as we run.

At the end is a door firmly shut. To open it, we have to turn a wheel. Kota wastes no time. He turns it as fast as he possibly can. It feels like an eternity before it gives us a satisfying 'click'. He swings it open.

A wave of water pours out onto us. It quickly spreads down the way we just came, leaving no part of the floor within five feet of us dry.

With the extra water out of the way, Christal's lifeless body is easy to see. The remaining water tosses her back and forth, keeping her upright. Her arms float limply at her sides and the end of her brown ponytail rests just on top of the water. Her eyes are closed and there is a hint of a smile playing on her full lips. What about this situation could possibly have her amused?