Working together, it only took the four a few minutes to clear off all of the objects resting on the carpet. When they were done, Dianne had Mark and Jacob roll the carpet up into a corner and duct-tape it so it wouldn’t unroll.
In the middle of the room, beneath the carpet, was a wide wooden trapdoor. Metal bands held the wood together and three thick metal hinges were on the side of the door closest to the back wall of the room. Two large swinging handles and a thick latch and padlock were installed on the opposite side from the hinges, though they were inset into the door itself so that they didn’t form bulges that would be visible or tangible through the carpet.
Dianne knelt down, unlocked the padlock and removed it, then motioned for Mark to stand next to her. “Lift on three, all right? One, two, three!” Mark and Dianne pulled at the trapdoor for a few seconds, grunting as they tried to move the wood from where it had sat untouched for so long. The wood groaned in protest as it scraped against the concrete floor of the basement into which it was set until, finally, it came loose.
The door wasn’t all that heavy and once it was free of the floor it rotated back smoothly, the hinges giving a slight squeak as rust and dirt were rubbed away. Dianne and Mark carefully leaned the door against the couch and Dianne turned to Jacob. “Grab a couple of flashlights from upstairs, would you?” Jacob nodded and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He was back less than thirty seconds later, excitement written all over his face.
Dianne took one of the flashlights and switched it on before glancing at Jacob. “Give the other one to your brother. You and Josie stay behind him. Mark, you keep back behind me, okay?” Mark nodded in response.
“Hey.” Jacob nudged Mark and whispered as Dianne peered into the hole in the floor of the basement. “How did you know about this place? Did Mom and Dad tell you about it?”
Mark shook his head. “Nope. I walked down here one time years ago when Dad left the basement door unlocked by accident. He and Mom made me promise never to tell you or Josie.” Mark shrugged. “I guess they didn’t want you two trying to break in and get hurt or something.”
“Mark?” Dianne was halfway down the stairs, her body no longer visible.
“Yeah, Mom?”
“Grab your flashlight and come down after me, okay? These steps seem pretty solid so far and I could use the extra
light.”
Mark grinned as he turned on his flashlight while Jacob and Josie grunted in despair. “Can we come too, Mom?”
“Give us a couple minutes to make sure it’s safe first. Mark—watch the ceiling on the third stair. A bit of the wood collapsed. We’ll need to shore that up.”
Mark stepped cautiously down into the hold, looking at the edges as he went. The sides were covered in dust and cobwebs but instead of being bare dirt they were lined with thick planks. The stairs were wooden as well, though they gave merely the hint of a creak as he stepped on them even after years of disuse. Each step he took downward drew him farther into the darkness beyond, filling his mind with far more exciting thoughts than were worthy of the underground chamber.
“Oh boy.” Dianne’s voice came from in front of Mark.
“What is it?”
Dianne turned around and shone her light at Mark’s feet. His landed on her chest and face and she smiled broadly at him. “Jackpot.”
Chapter 11
Las Vegas, Nevada
The next two hours of travel went along with very little in the way of conversation. While Rick was concerned with paying attention to their surroundings and ensuring that they didn’t run into any of the men who were looking for them, Jane was still frightened by what had happened and didn’t know what to say to Rick.
The journey towards where Rick thought Nellis was located was slow and ponderous. The Strip and the areas directly to its east had been hit hardest by the earthquake. Every time Rick thought that they were making progress they had to double back, take a different route and find a way around or through a collapsed building or other large obstacle. Over the course of the two hours they continued hearing the rumble of the diesel engine traveling back and forth and while neither of them commented on it, they both knew what it meant.
When the pair was working to climb through a narrow gap between a partially collapsed bridge linking two buildings together and a group of tractor-trailers parked underneath, they heard a sound that finally caused Rick to break the silence.
“Hey, hold up.” Rick turned his head, trying to pinpoint the direction of the noise.
“It’s just the engine.” Jane gave him a confused look.
“No.” Rick shook his head. “It’s two engines.”
“What?” Jane’s face went from a calculated calm back to panic. She began turning her head, and after a few seconds realized that the distant rumble she had been hearing had turned into two separate noises. The old one that they had heard for the last two hours was still present, but there was a deeper, throatier rumble behind it that was distinct and separate from the first.
“I guess they put out the fire.” Rick sighed. “Not that I expected that whole thing to really stop them, but I was hoping we’d be farther away by now.”
“What do you want to do?” Jane looked around nervously, half-expecting their pursuers to appear out of nowhere.
Rick gave Jane a careful once-over as he helped her stand up after their crawl. “You’re looking weak and I could use a rest, too. Let’s find someplace here to hole up in for the night. Maybe they’ll be finished searching by morning and we can carry on then.”
“Hey!” Jane put her hands on her hips and scowled at Rick. “I’m not weak.”