✓ | 3. soldier, soldier, spy [STEVE HARRINGTON]

seven.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
DEPTHS OF HELL

[ THE CASE OF THE MISSING LIFEGUARD ]

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          The bodies had been moved from the lab. Thomas had been told about where Bob had died, and the shattered glass still littered the linoleum floor, but the bodies were gone.

          The shattered glass was their way in, lit by torches and cloudy sunlight; the doors were boarded up, but when they ripped off the planks of wood, the entrance was wide open. They merely had to dodge the cracked edges of the doorway.

          Thomas had been delegated a torch for his job, while Stanley happened to have one on his ring of keys, though it was only tiny and barely contributed to lighting the dimly lit room. The beams of light glimpsed back at them, bouncing on the shards of dusty glass. Thomas wrinkled his nose; the room hung with dust and reeked of death and rodents.

            "I never knew this place existed," Stanley said, and though his voice was quiet, it echoed through the vast entrance hall.

          Bob's final moments, final screams... They probably echoed too.

        "Deputy?" Stanley said, a little louder this time, and clarity set in. Thomas looked up. "You okay?"

          "I'm fine. Let's go." Braving himself, he stepped forward, towards the closest, widest doorway, and glass crunched under his boots. "Watch the glass."

         Breathing heavily from what Thomas supposed was fear, Stanley stuck close as they started down the nearest corridor. There were no windows here, unlike the entrance hall, and the torches came in handy; Thomas kept his ahead, but Stanley's remained on the floor, watching for rats.

          "Thomas... How did you know about this place?"

          The saying was a cliche, but Thomas couldn't think of anything that applied more than this: "It's a long story."

         Stanley grimaced and nudged him in a friendly manner. "I think we've got time. This place is huge."

          "What did I say about questions?" Thomas muttered back. If he wasn't so concentrated on his mission, he might have cared more about the fact Stanley was with him and was asking very prying questions, but his heart was racing just from walking these halls, and he couldn't concentrate on much else other than listening for signs of what he feared the most.

          "I didn't expect this," said Stanley quietly. He shone his flashlight to the left, and it bounced off a glass panel that looked into some kind of office, where everything remained intact except for its layer of dust. "Hawkins Lab. I never knew about this."