The Good Deed ~COMPLETE~

Chapter 33: Tunnel Vision

I was frozen with fear, staring into the dark opening. Who the hell was down there? And why? Was it someone else here to do the job I was sent to do? Were they sent here to try and stop me or maybe make sure I go through with it? What if they were sent to kill me? Questions assaulted mind, consuming me with emotions I wasn't prepared for.

Jacob Scholtz was behind this; I just knew it. He was playing more mind games with me. I was about sick of his games. I reached into the backpack and removed the hand gun and the flash light. I was here to 'kill' one man, but I had a dreaded feeling that I would have to kill more than that.

I approached the hole and peeked down into it. It was very dark so I shined the light into the void. There was a five or six foot drop, then the tunnel split in two separate directions. I needed to think of a plan. I knew I couldn't just enter the ducts. It would be much too noisy and whoever was in there would immediately hear me coming. I felt I had no other options, but to announce my arrival.

I called into the shaft, “Hello” My voice carried on through the tunnels, ricocheting off the walls. 'Hellooo-helloo-elloo-eloo-lo' I sat with my head in the opening, waiting, listening for an answer. Nothing. I spoke into the darkness again, this time with a warning to anyone that was listening, “I'm coming in, and I have a gun.”

December 11th 2005 7:22am

Climbing into the ventilation system, I gently lowered myself down. Every move I made echoed down into the ducts. There was no way I would be sneaking up on anyone. I figured that meant they wouldn't be sneaking up on me either. I took a little comfort in knowing that.

I always enjoyed those action movies where the hero wound up crawling through a ventilation system. Hollywood has a way of making such stunts seem so easy. Truth be told, it isn't. In the movies, the shaft is plenty large enough for the actor to crawl through on his hands and knees, and the tunnel is always so clean and conveniently lit. In reality, the duct work is barely big enough for a skinny guy like me to slither through. It was pitch black and dirty as hell. Not to mention at every joint, the metal squeaked and shifted downward slightly, as if it might collapse at any moment. These thin aluminum sheets of metal were not rated for a hundred and sixty pound man to crawl through. I had planned on spending most of my time waiting in the ducts to keep out of sight. They felt way too unstable. I needed to exit the vents as soon as possible.

I crawled as fast as I could, and made a hell of a lot of noise in the process. I continuously had to stop to readjust. The zipper on the book bag would get caught on the seams of metal, where two sections of duct work were attached. It was difficult to inhale deep breaths in the constricting tunnel. I pressed on as my air was wearing thin. My only thought was to get out of that confined space. I approached an intersection and made a right. I based my decision off of my memory of the blue print...I hoped my memory was correct. Luckily, it was. Not long after the turn, I came to a vent opening. The room below was dark. I shined the flashlight downward. The room looked to be empty from my vantage point. I applied slight pressure upon the vent cover and it popped loose.

I carefully lowered myself into the dark room. I tried to do it as quietly as possible. Once on solid ground, I used the flash light to survey my surroundings. The room was quite large. It appeared to be a storage room of some kind. Folding tables and chairs were arranged neatly against the far back wall. There were stacks of boxes along the other walls. I walked toward the door to the room. I listened for movement. It was quiet so I reached for the door knob. Slowly turning, the latch clicked open. I eased the door outward, revealing a dark hallway.

 I shut the door behind me and walked the hall slowly. I listened for any sounds of other people that could have been lurking. I still wasn't sure who else was in the building. Someone had moved the air conditioning unit before I arrived...but who? I cautiously continued to the end of the hall where I found another door. It was a door to a stairwell. I eased the door open and it squeaked a bit, causing me to wince in fear. The stairwell was lit for emergency purposes. I quickly descended to the ground floor and exited the stairwell.