The P.U.L.L || #Wattys2017

Chapter 43: The Vent

Joshua slinked into the the corridor and quickly ducked as he approached an intersection. Just as he thought, a few group of guards were still there, trying to locate their whereabouts. Gladiola, on the other hand, was on his tail and on the lookout for approaching guards in the opposite direction. The two of them silently scaled the hallways while they thought about their next move. A few of the guards whirled towards them as they passed the intersection but they were already out of their sight as soon as their field of vision hit the intersection. Joshua and Gladiola heaved a sigh of relief as they survived yet another intersection.

"We're still not in the clear, Gladiola, you okay?" Joshua muttered under his breath. 

"I'm fine, just a little bit nervous since this is my first time escaping." Gladiola began. "And we're in the villain's lair, aren't you getting nervous?"

"Just a little bit, let's go."

Joshua once again pulled Gladiola as he ran through the corridors while barely making a sound. It was quite a feat getting as far as they could without a single guard detecting them. Joshua and Gladiola must have practiced covert operations in their subconscious since it was almost impossible to sneak past the guards. 

They were able to do it without breaking a sweat.

"We're almost there." Gladiola told him.

"Really? Which way?"

"We just need to climb that vent and crawl straight towards the power-source room."

"How are we supposed to get up there without making any sounds, any ideas?" Joshua whispered back.

Gladiola smiled at her as if she was planning something. Grabbing his neck using the length of her arm, she tried to look serious as she whispered at Joshua. "I know you could do it. I'm relying on you here, okay."

Phew! Joshua sighed after seeing Gladiola's determined face. I guess it's all on me this time.

.....

Emma worriedly looked at her parents after seeing their calm disposition. Not only her parents, but everyone inside didn't budge an inch after Emma motioned for them. It's as if they ad decided to stay in the cell and let Emma and Rick escape all on their own. "I'm afraid we can't." Mr. Quiller disappointingly replied. "If we go with you, it would really ruin our only hope of saving the whole world. The mastermind knows that we're here and he's focusing on all of us adults while trying to read our minds. If he couldn't detect us in this room, then he would assume that we had escaped and it would only be a matter of seconds before he finds our whereabouts. That's why we have to stay, so we could fool the mastermind and at the same time, let the two of you go with your plan."

"B-but." Emma stammered.

"We need to go Emma, we had been exposed to the mastermind long enough already. This plan should work, but we have to get out of here as soon as we can so we won't be within the mastermind's range." Rick agreed. 

"Don't worry about us, just go." Her mom told her. "We will escape as soon as you carry out your plan and we'll all get out of here. We can handle ourselves just fine, but we have to work together for this plan to work, Emma."

Emma felt a lump on her throat as she nodded. She couldn't think of any plan that would be better than the one that they already have. If only Joshua were here. He would have been able to handle everything just fine. She thought while she approached the button on the wall.

Press.

The metallic door smoothly slid downwards, separating the adults from Rick and Emma. Rick also had mixed feelings about the plan but he knew that time is of the essence and he couldn't let his feelings get the better of him. 

"Let's go Emma." Rick told her as he walked to the opposite of the metallic door.

.....

Joshua and Gladiola just stood still, carefully thinking about their next move. They were at a pretty long hallway and they knew that they shouldn't be careless since the other end is quite open. They were also at their most vulnerable since there are no places to hide, except for the vent directly above them. Furthermore, aiming for the vent without making any sounds is impossible, even for Joshua.

Well, we just have to risk it and hope for the best. Joshua thought as he took one last look at the vent.

"Well then." Joshua gulped. "Let's go Gla..."

Footsteps.

Lots of them.

"Hey, Joshua, do you hear that?" Gladiola whispered. "I'm not hallucinating, right?"

"This is our chance! Let's go!" Joshua nervously said.

With one swift motion, Joshua jumped towards the vent, landing inside it wit one loud thud. Gladiola, on the other hand, jumped as soon as she saw Joshua inside the vent. Catching her arms, Joshua pulled Gladiola inside the vent just before the footsteps become surprisingly audible. "Phew! That was close! Thanks a lot, Joshua!" Gladiola hoarsely whispered. "I knew I could rely on you!"

"Alright, just be quiet for a moment." Joshua told her. "We should check what's happening below, the guards must be chasing Rick, Emma, or our parents."

"You're right. Okay," She responded while positioning herself on the other side of the vent's hole. "And if it's one of them, we pull them straight up here, is that what your plan is?"

"Depends." Joshua replied. "But we can't leave them alone. Wait, here they come."

Just as Joshua finished speaking, two figures loomed from the other end of the corridor, running as fast as they could. Looking through the gaps of the vent, Joshua quickly recognized them. Joshua then slipped his hand through the gap and motioned for the two of them to jump to the vent.

To their relief, Rick was able to see Joshua's hand-signals. "We have to jump to that vent!" Rick told Emma, making her look bewildered. "Just trust me." He continued.

Emma and Rick could see a few shadows emerging form the other end of the corridor and they were most likely guards heading towards them, not to mention the guards on their tail. "Alright." Emma replied, seeing that she doesn't have any choice nor any other ideas that might work.

Here goes. Emma thought as she jumped towards the vent. Rick watched her reach out for the edge of the vent.

But to no avail.