[Automatic] (An Aarmau AU)

[Chapter 26] Good Job

The tunnel went on for miles.

Shortly after we took off down the dark hallway, Nicole informed us that there were originally escape routes for the royals. They connected all throughout the castle and unless you had a map you would most likely get lost.

She made so many twists and turns that I knew I would never been able to find my way back if I tried. I finally understood why Nicole was so important to the kingdom, she knew anything you could ever need to know.

We mostly walked in silence, scared that our voices might echo and attract the guards to us. We still had to walk for awhile before we made it out of these damn tunnels, so the risk of being caught was still present. The silence was almost deafening and made the trip that much more eerie.

I'm not sure how long we walked. Hours, days, who knows. We stopped a few times, for water and rest. Nicole didn't quite understand why we had to stop, but my body and arm still weren't function right so I was not going on without some food. Katelyn also understood that, and occasionally checked my arm to make sure it wasn't about to snap.

"Stop", Nicole said. "There's something up ahead"

Katelyn pulled out her gun, and I hoisted the bag up onto my shoulder. We walked down the hall slower, take every step with extreme caution. With our flashlights we could only see a few feet ahead of us, so we would have very little time to react to anything that might jump out at us.

We kept walking, but nothing happened. Soon our light reached a dead end, another solid stone wall like the others around us. Katelyn groaned and dropped the gun down to her side.

"A dead end, of course", she said. "I thought these tunnels were suppose to lead us out"

"I do not understand", Nicole said. "My interior map says that this tunnel continues"

"Well it doesn't", Katelyn screamed. "And now we're lost down here with no way to get out"

"Katelyn", I yelled. "You need to calm down"

"And for what Aphmau, we're lost and we're going to die down here", she cried. "I knew from the second we came down here it was a death trap but I just thought that, maybe, just maybe we could get out of this"

Katelyn fell down the floor, hands over her head, "I just want to go home"

I turned back to the wall, hoping there was something we missed. Katelyn was right, we only had so much food and these tunnels could go on forever. If Nicole said there was something past this door, then by Irene above, I was going to find it.

I dragged everyone into this mess, and now I had to drag them out.

With Nicole trying to figure out what might be wrong with her map and Katelyn breaking down on the floor, I would have to do it alone. I put my flashlight into my mouth and started using my working hand to find any indent in the stone. Something like a door handle or key pad.

My heart almost stopped when I found a small crevice on the left corner of the wall. I dug my fingers into and found it to be fairly deep. I starting trying to pull it open like a door and I felt the stone shift a little.

"Nicole, Katelyn", I said. "Come help me with this"

Katelyn stood up and ran over. Nicole looked confused as to what I was doing, but came to help any way. There was just enough room for our hands and we all started pulling. Thank Irene we had Nicole because on our own, Katelyn and I would not have been able to move a giant stone door.

We got it open just enough for us all to slip in. On the flip side of the door was a hand, so it was much easier to close then open. We all collapse to the floor, Katelyn and I panting while Nicole stared at us. The room we had enter seemed bigger then the stone halls I had become accustomed to, but it was dark like everything else in this place.

"Come on", Katelyn said, helping me up. "We need to get going, my screaming might have attracted the guards"

I flipped on my flashlight on and found we were in a giant empty room. It could have been the size of the royal hall, or of the plaza. I saw Katelyn looking around with awe, the same thoughts probably going through her mind.

"The exit is this way", Nicole said, starting to walking into the darkness.

"What was this place", I asked, the light from my torch barely reaching the ceiling. "It's ginormous"

"These tunnels and rooms were built before the war", she explained. "They needed to be big enough to house the royal family and their staff. I'm guess this was the main hall, but it has since been abandoned"

We continued walking, shining our flashlights around the room as we did. It wasn't completely empty like I had previously thought, with a few broken tables and chairs scatter around the floor. Some dusty old banners also hung on the walls, the Old Kingdoms symbol still sewn onto them.

"Here", Nicole said as we came to the end of the room. "This staircase will take us back up to the surface"

"How low are we underground", I asked Nicole, dreading the answer.

"A good hundred meters", she answered, making Katelyn groan. "It needed to be deep enough to protect its inhabitants from attacks such as, bombs, canons, fire-"

"Ok ok let's get climbing", Katelyn said, starting up the stone stairs. "This is going to suck so let's just get it over with"

So we climbed.

And we climbed.

And we climbed some more.

We had to take a few breaks for water and rest. It seemed as though we would never reach the surface, we'd just be stuck climbing these endless stairs for all eternity. Even Nicole, who could walk forever and not get tired, was starting to look sick of climbing. Right then and there I decided I would never complain about the few flights of stairs I had to climb up to get to my apartment ever again.

"We're almost there", Nicole said at last, and I almost felt like crying. Most of the feeling in my legs were nonexistent and Katelyn was almost panting like a dog. We'd both sleep really good tonight.

I soon heard what I assumed was birds, but I was so tired and delusional that it could have just been my imagination. We reached the top of the stairs and I collapsed onto the ground of the room they led into to. Katelyn followed suit and for a few minutes all I could hear was the heavy pants of our breath.

I was finally able to stand up and look at where we had ended up. It was just a small room, about the size of a garden shed. Katelyn wobbled over to the door on the far end and threw it open. Nicole and I followed her and found our selves back out into the wonderful world of the forest.

Xx

We made camp a few miles away from the shed, just to be safe. If the guards did find how we had escaped we did not want to be anywhere near it. So despite our burning legs, we managed to find a nice place near a river.

We spent a majority of the night lying in the cool water, soothing our legs. Katelyn also manage to fix my arm, but she said it would still be a good idea to get it check professionally when this was all over.

We were going over the supplies we had gathered and getting ready for bed when a bird landed next to me. There was a small piece of paper tied to his legs and I instantly recognized it as one of the castles carrier pigeons.

I carefully untied the note from the birds legs and then it flew away. I  opened it, and could instantly tell it was from Aaron from his hand writing. It only contained two words.

Good job.