A Complicated Web

Chapter Sixty Four: Malfunction

(Since yesterday's chapter was so short, I"m giving you another one today.)

Kally had to stop. The pain in her leg had grown. It wasn't useless, by any means, but it might get that way if she couldn't do something about that puncture wound. She just hoped it had missed any veins or arteries. Considering that it didn't seem to spurt when she could look at it, she felt she was in the clear. There just wasn't enough room in the ducts to properly take care of it. And there hadn't been vents for a while, just a few junction areas that had given her enough room to sort of look at her wound. Despite the blood not spurting, there was still a decent amount present and she knew she'd need to find something to cover it sooner than later. The metal tool had gone down at an angle and she could only guess at what kind of damage it might have done.

Another disadvantage to the duct tunnels was that she couldn't tell if there were any alarms going off or not. All she could hear was the rush of the forced air, which occasionally blew her hair into her face. She'd paused to try and braid it to bring that down to a minimum, but the ends were still loose and it could come undone at any time. A third disadvantage was the trail of blood she'd left behind, which anyone could follow if they so chose. She really wished she had a map of the whole system. It would have been useful.

Finally, after what felt like forever, light shone into the duct from another vent cover. She crawled over as fast as she could and looked out. The room she'd found appeared to be some kind of barracks room and it appeared to be empty. Even more importantly, there was a bunk bed pretty close to the opening, which would allow for an easier exit. She wasn't sure if she could easily take a fall of more than few feet at the moment. At least not until she'd found something to tie off her wound. Chances were good she'd need a tetanus shot when all was said and done but she'd worry about that later. It had been a while since she'd last had one.

It took some doing to get the vent cover off. She had to use one of the precious medical tools in her arsenal to get it done as she'd somehow lost her screwdriver in the previous room, but she did it. And, with a little ingenuity, she managed to sort of roll onto the top bunk nearest her. It wasn't quite even with the vent's opening but she made it, grunting in pain as her thigh hit against the railing.

Whoever used the bed she'd landed on seriously needed to change their bedding. It smelled three shades more than stale, and there were food crumbs. Kally quickly slid down to the ground floor, brushing off her clothes. It was a wonder the place didn't have roaches, but since it was underground, that might explain it. Maybe the outside environment didn't allow for them either, though she had no way of knowing for sure.

A couple of cupboards stood to one side and she went to rummage through them, finding a first aid kit, which she pillaged. It took her longer than she'd planned to wipe the puncture clean, disinfect it, and cover it with gauze and tape than she'd have liked, but it was necessary. And throughout it all, no one entered the barracks. Something must have changed on the outside.

Kally closed her eyes and reached out with all of her senses. She'd been able to tell the general direction of things before, along with sensing footsteps and such from outside her cell. Surely she could do it again. It took a few seconds to clear her mind, but when she did, she realized the immediate area seemed deserted. But there were what sounded like shouts from above her. Something definitely was going on up there. She just had no idea how far up.

Before exiting the room, Kally took the opportunity to switch out her attire for something in one of the closets, which would hopefully help her blend in more. That and she'd ruined the scrubs with dark red stains. She found a blue coverall similar to the ones the guards wore. She even found something to tie her hair back so it wasn't in her eyes. She chose to abandon the medical tools for the more conventional weapon she found in another cupboard, a retractable bow staff. And, after a little practice, she managed to figure out how to make it retract and expand to the size she needed pending on the size of the area she was in. In its compact form, it easily fit in one of her pockets, freeing her hands for other things. Medical tools, while great for projectiles, didn't allow for closer combat.