Akeldama | lrh

twenty four - persistence

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."

-Margaret Thatcher

•••

Sweat is pouring down my face and dripping off my skin when Ivy slams the heal of her boot into the vent door, the sound rocketing through the tiny chamber we're all squeezed into. The air is heavy and hot, and Ashton is a panting mess in front of me.

We've been crawling through tunnel after tunnel ever since Michael got the first air vent door open around an hour ago, trying to use the different openings and sounds to navigate to the basement. We were largely unsuccessful, until now. We haven't come across any downward vents in several long minutes and there's absolutely no sound coming from anywhere. This is the biggest indication we have that we've hit rock bottom.

Ivy kicks out hard at the metal vent again, and this time it starts to give a little. She swears, swiping a hand across her shining forehead, before giving it one last devastating blow and the thing flies off its hinges.

I can't see that far in front of me, but judging by the way Ivy's breathing picks up, I can tell we've found something.

"Bingo." She whispers.

Through the gaps of Ashton's arms and legs, I'm able to make out Ivy pulling the gun from her belt and sliding the hammer back. I also see a little square of white, the room we just uncovered. "On my call." She says, and slips out.

I hear her feet hit the ground, and then silence. Then, after a few agonizing seconds, "Clear."

Ashton crawls out of the vent, hitting the floor below below with a thud. I drag myself forward with my good arm, sliding through a trail of my own blood, until I'm able to shove my head out of the opening.

I have to blink several times before my eyes adjust.

Everything is concrete, and the hallway is well lit by intricate torches hanging next to every door. The sudden change from darkness catches me a little off guard.

We're in the dungeons. We actually made it.

Ashton is waiting for me when I slide myself out, and he catches me before my body can hit the ground. He does the same for Jess, but Michael just slides out and lands gracefully on both feet.

The bleeding in my shoulder has slowed, but not stopped. I stumble and nearly fall, fetching up on the wall opposite of the vent. My vision blurs momentarily, but I blink the white spots away.

Ivy is alert and on guard mode, the gun at her side while she keeps watch down the hall. When we're all out of the vent, Ashton refastens the door over the hole in the wall the best he can and wipes his hands off on his jeans.

"Ok." Jess says, side eyeing me a little. "So we found the place's creepy ass dungeons. Now how the hell are we going to find Luke?"

Michael frowns, looking around at the doors surrounding us. They all look exactly the same. He walks over to the one closest to me, eyeing the handle. He then walks deliberately to the next one down and does the same. "The handles are all scuffed up pretty bad. We can't judge by the most recent." He gazes down the corridor. "I actually have no idea how we're going to locate him."

I start to respond, but the words don't come. I choke, my eyelids fluttering, and the dizziness becomes too much for me. I slump down the wall and hit the ground.