All of Me (Shawn Mendes) BOOK ONE

Chapter 16

Shawn looked over to me and squeezed my hand. I smiled at him then turned my face to the guard awaiting us.

"Let's get this over with." I said with a huff. He nodded curtly then exited the door. He turned back to wait for us.

We followed him down the dark hallway. The walls were a deep grey and had bolts and screws along the surface. The floors were a smooth concrete. We walked to the end of the hallway and came to a dead end. He pressed his hand into the wall to the right, and it caved into the surface. As he pushed farther, the wall in front of us caved in a little, then it slid over to reveal an elevator. The guard let us in first, then he entered as well.

"I will be getting off on the second floor to warn the guards and nurses. You will ride this elevator to the very top floor. When you get there, go all of the way down the hallway and turn to the left. You will come to a dead end, so just push into the wall like I did and take those steps. Make sure you take care of every guard that you see, for they are rebels. They will try to kill you. When you get to the top of the stairs, there is an iron door with a keypad next to it. The code is 5644375. Remember all of this, or you will get lost or killed. Take care of Crischen, then go back to your rainbow room. We will be waiting there for you, then we will make our way out of here. Good luck." He exited the elevator and the iron doors closed again.

I took in a deep breath and pressed the 17 button. We rode the metal contraption higher and higher for about 5 minutes until we came to a stop. The door creaked open all of the way and we stepped out gingerly. As soon as we all exited the elevator, a man with bulging arms and shoulders flew around the corner.

"You aren't supposed to be up here! Get over here!" He yelled, charging at us.

He took a turn for me and I grabbed his knees in my arms, then I forced my body up quickly, causing the man to topple over my back and hit his head on the hard floor. I jumped on top of him and punched him in the face repeatedly. He kept trying to grab my hands and arms, so I kneed him in the groin then I stood up and kicked the side of his head, causing him to fall unconscious. I turned around to find Shawn and Aaron tag teaming a large man with ginger hair and tight black clothes. He had a tattoo of claw marks coming down the side of his face. I found Miranda straddling a woman with brown hair. She was attacking her viciously. I saw clumps of hair and a couple of teeth scattered across the floor, and blood splattered against the wall. I pulled her off and punched the girl as hard as I could in the temple, knocking her out. I shook my hand as my knuckles began to bleed and swell. I knew they were broken. Shawn and Aaron shoved the man they were fighting hard against the wall, making his body slump to the ground with a thud. We started to run down the hallway until we came to the end. Two halls branched off of the one we were standing in, and I quickly remembered the guards directions and pointed down the left hallway. We sped across the length of it without any further altercation.

"It's a dead end!" Miranda called out, starting to turn around. I grabbed her elbow and pulled her back.

"Remember what that guard said! He told us to push the wall until the one in front opens." I told her frantically. She nodded and began feeling the wall to our right for a soft spot.

She felt around on it for a couple of minutes before the silence was overtook by a swishing noise. The wall in front of us slid to the right and opened up to a staircase. It went up so far that we couldn't see the top. The steps from our point of view led to a dark, black space from above. Aaron placed his foot on the first step, followed by Shawn, then Miranda and I stepped onto the stairwell hand-in-hand. The stairs weren't as long as I thought they were. The lighting consisted of a dangling light bulb at the mouth of the stairs and at the door that they led to. The body of the concrete steps was dark and hollow. When we got to the top, a glowing square was set to the right of a bolted door. I tried to regain the memory of the code, but had forgotten it in the midst of the fighting.