"I don't think so. It's best to stick together. Anyone have a preference?" Alicia asked.
"Left?" I suggested and we turned that way.
The corridor was fairly short and had just one set of double doors at the end. We pushed our way through them and were greeted by row upon row of bunks, not unlike those Taylor and I had been sleeping in at SubWar. Each had a small table and a bed with pullout drawers underneath for personal belongings.
This was the first room we had come to that showed any signs of disturbance. Most of the sleeping areas were turned out, the drawers pulled open and belongings slung around as if people had been looking for something. There was a lack of clothing amongst the things strewn about and there were several photo frames scattered in pieces. It was as if people had pulled them apart or broken them to remove the photos inside.
"Looks like they knew they weren't coming back," Coal said, kicking a bit of broken glass aside.
"This must have happened when it all changed. Hunter told me there were riots and people were crazy with fear. They were killing each other in the street just for a piece of bread," Alicia added, twitching a bed sheet over and revealing a dark, rusty-brown stain that looked horribly like blood.
We spread out across the huge room and walked along the aisles between the bunks. There wasn't much to see.
On the final bunk was a folded piece of paper with a name scrawled across the front of it. 'Elena.' I reached for the letter and unfolded it. The Message inside was short and hastily written.
We waited here as long as we could but the food is running out. I'm heading to that lake house we visited last summer. If you find this, you'll find me there.
I love you - Joel
"Why is there nothing useful anywhere?" Laurie huffed, kicking aside more junk.
"Yeah, I was hoping for a nice little map or something." Alicia smirked.
I placed the letter back where I'd found it with a shudder and hurried back towards the doors.
"It must have been for security, they wouldn't have wanted people to be able to navigate this place easily. We think they held all sorts of national secrets here," Coal said as we made our way back out of the dorm and up the corridor to take the righthand turn.
I was glad to leave the dorm behind.
It turned out the only thing down the righthand hallway was an elevator.
"So how do we use an elevator in a building with hardly any power?" I asked.
"Hunter didn't mention this," Alicia frowned.
I stepped forward and pushed the button without any real conviction. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened.
"Let's have a look inside." Coal pulled Alicia's machete out of the holster at
her hip and jammed the blade into the gap between the two sliding doors. He placed a boot against the edge of the doorway and pulled on the makeshift lever.
"That's my favourite knife." Alicia frowned as the metal groaned but she didn't make any move to stop him.
He grunted with the effort and I was sure the machete would break. Slowly, a gap started to appear and the darkness beyond was revealed. The metal squealed in protest as the doors were forced apart.
They gave way suddenly at the last moment and Coal fell forwards. I jumped towards him and grabbed the back of his jacket. I dug my heels in as he swung out over the ledge and felt Alicia and Laurie grab hold of me too. The machete fell from Coal's hand and dropped silently for several seconds before clattering to a halt somewhere far below.
I heaved and we all fell backwards into the corridor in a heap.
"I'm definitely not regretting saving you!" Coal exclaimed.
He pulled me to my feet and wrapped his arms around me. I returned his hug and felt my arms tremble with delayed shock as I realised I'd just saved his life.
Alicia beamed at me as she and Laurie stood back up. My heart fluttered as Coal released me and I took a steadying breath.
We stepped forward cautiously and looked down into the black abyss that extended far below us. Alicia leant forward, her outstretched arm holding her torch, and shone its beam upwards. It illuminated the shaft going up at least three floors above us with no sign of the elevator itself. She pointed it down and we could see that it was stopped two floors below.
"So, I vote we start at the bottom and work our way up." Coal pointed to a maintenance ladder to the left of the doorway we were standing in.