The Last Winter

Saturday: The Man With Fire (25)

Oriana
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The passage winds into a large, open chamber. Several other pathways branch off into different directions, but there's some kind of mechanism in the center that grabs my attention--an old-fashioned elevator.

I scramble toward it, but once inside, I turn a rusty lever in vain. No power.

I mutter a weak curse.

I can use the elevator to descend the next level, find Nelia, get back to the elevator, and ascend to safety.

If only I can actually get it to work.

I hesitantly creep out of the elevator, nervously eying the other dark passages. The shadows.

That...thing I saw earlier could be hiding around the corner. Any corner.

I anxiously dig out that flare gun that Nelia gave me. Its defense may be limited, but it's all I have.

A strange animalistic snarl echos down the tunnel I had just left, and I desperately look around for some leverage. A rickety wooden ladder leads to some sort of platform above. I think I see a torch mounted on the wall, casting strange dancing shadows. I don't have time to wonder what it means or how long it's been lit.

I jump to the first rung and pull myself up. I feel the ladder sway dangerously under my weight, and I have just enough time to swing my arms over the side of the platform when the ladder gives way. It makes an alarmingly loud crashing sound as the boards clatter to the ground. I hang over the side for a sickening moment, before I catch myself and heave onto the platform.

I never had the sufficient strength to be successful at monkey bars as a kid, so it took every ounce of determination to drag myself to safety.

That blood-curdling shriek cries out again from somewhere above--the next level up, I suppose. My gut twists into a knot. I have to get past whatever is up there in order to get back to the surface.

I push this thought away. Get power. Descend. Get Nelia.

A promising switch located near the burning torch invites my attention, and with a flip, an excited hum fills the eerie silence. A few light bulbs spark to life, lighting up this interior chamber.

I quickly find a set of stairs and make my way back to the elevator. However, this time when I pull the lever, the elevator jolts upward.

"What?" I sputter, trying and failing to reverse the action. "No! No, stop!"

Nelia's down below somewhere. Cold, lost, scared, and quite possibly injured. I need to get down there!

The elevator groans to a stop when I reach the next level.

Sighing in frustration and spitting quiet curses, I venture down the dark passageway. I see a small cavity at the end, where the tunnel curves to the left, and another path forks to the right. I start going left, but then I see the silhouette of a tall man walking in my direction.

I whip back around and glue myself to the wall.

I can't stop my racing heart, and I struggle to hold my breath so I can hear if he's coming. He's breathing heavily, and with every step, something heavy and metallic clunks in harmony. He must be carrying something big.

It's him. It's Ronnie. It's gotta be him.

And he's not stopping. If I don't do something now, then he'll come around the bend and find me.

I take a deep breath and bolt from my position, heading for the tunnel on the right. I don't dare look back, but somewhere behind me, I hear an alarmed scuffle.