Emily's House: Book 1 of the Akasha Chronicles

Chapter 57: Escape from the Can

Chapter 57: Escape from the Can

Fanny had been gone only about half an hour when Jake and Liam heard what sounded like a large clap of thunder.

“What was that?” asked Jake.

Liam quickly walked the five steps required to reach the tiny barred window and looked outside. Not a cloud in the sky.

“There’s no weather out there. It must have been an explosion,” he said.

They looked at each other in silence for a moment. Both knew that what they had heard was an explosion and they knew who had caused it.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” asked Jake.

“If you’re thinking that that clump nugget is trying his best to blow this place to smithereens, yes, that’s what I’m thinking.”

“And are you also thinking that we can’t sit here one more minute?”

“Yep, I’m right with you. We may have a chance now. With the explosion, they’re probably distracted. Old Dughall might have given us the diversion we’ve been waiting for.”

“Right. But we’re locked in here.”

“The only way out is the way Fanny left and there’s no way I’ll be able to fit through there,” said Liam.

A few minutes later, they heard a scratching and thumping noise from overhead.

“You’re not locked in anymore,” said Fanny. She jumped down from the air vent.

“Fan, it’s good to see you and all, but you were supposed to unlock us from the outside.”

“Don’t get your shorts in a knot, Jakester. I’ve got the keys.” Fanny jingled the keys at Jake. “We can unlock it from the inside. I didn’t want to be seen coming in that way.”

All three ran to the door. Fanny’s fingers shook as she tried to work the keys to find the right one to unlock the door.

“Hurry, Fan,” said Jake.

“I’m going as fast as I can man. There’s like 20 keys on this thing. Hey, did you guys hear that explosion?”

“Yes,” answered Liam.

“You guessing it’s that butthead Dughall?” Fanny asked.

“That’s our guess.”

“Yeah, so hurry. We gotta’ get to the control room of this thing and make sure they’re shutting down everything before the whole place blows,” Jake implored.

Fanny found the right key and the door swung open into a deserted hallway. They ran down the corridor and found the door to the outside. They had been holed up in that tiny room plus a bath for days. All three took a moment to breathe in the fresh air and feel the warm sun on their skin as they stepped into the outdoors. But they knew time was not a luxury for them at that moment.

“This way,” said Fanny. “When I was taking my little trip through the air shaft I think I found out where to go.”

They ran as fast as they could, following Fanny closely. They weren’t the only ones running. People were coming out of every building at the facility running to exactly the spot Fanny led them.

“By the looks of it, we’re heading in the right direction,” Liam said.

They followed the crowds and, like salmon swimming upstream together, soon found themselves in the thick of command central. It would seem that after an explosion in their facility that CERN would go to high alert for terrorists. Instead, the explosion and ensuing alarms and shut down protocols made such a huge distraction, the trio was able to breeze into the main operations room without anyone trying to stop them.