Hinterland (The Aftermath #2)

Chapter Six

"One, two, three-"

Zenon launched me up, his hands on the soles of my shoes, and I gripped the sides of the panel to help hoist myself up, and onto the cold roof of the elevator.

"You got it?" Zenon asked.

"Yep." I got up from lying on my stomach and searched the surroundings. We were quite a ways underground. Light from the surface of the Asylum spilled down the shaft, creating a white beam of dim light, just enough to illuminate the unconscious guards that lay at my feet. It would only be a matter of time before more showed up. Luckily, I had the real gun strapped around my shoulder and waist and the tranquilizer over top of it so that would be the first thing I grabbed.

Two sets of ladders lined the concrete elevator shaft, which explained how the guards even got down in the first place. There was just enough distance between the wall in the elevator so you couldn't get crushed if you were climbing down.

A pair of hands reached up onto the elevator's roof. It was Erin. I grabbed her wrists and pulled her up. She crawled forward, crouching down and feeling her ankle.

"Is it okay?" I asked her.

"Surprisingly," she replied. Only a faint white scar existed in place of the bulletwound, at least from what I could see where her pant leg ended.

"Focus, April!" Another pair of hands gripped the escape hatch. This time it was Shane. I helped him up, and while I helped the next person up, he went to go conversation with Erin. Three people later, Zenon, Terri and Adelyn were the only people left in the elevator. Guards still hadn't come.

"You've got to leave the girl down here," Zenon told Terri, who was still holding Adelyn.

"No way," Terri said. "She's my sister."

"Zenon, please. I can lift her up," I said. I craned my neck to peer over the panel and extended an arm.

"Fine."

Terri held Adelyn up, and I grabbed her under her arms, lifting her up and onto the elevator roof. Her steady breaths merged with the collection of other breaths from the unconscious guards.

"We're good," I said. After pulling Terri up, Zenon was the only one left in the box. He stood silent staring at me, probably wondering what to do. He walked over to the side of the elevator which surprised me, and kicked the wall with his foot. The wall wasn't very stable, and shook. He kicked again, making a crack noise. One last time, and the top half of the wall actually separated from the box, smacking into the ladder beside it.

"Woah," I said. "How'd you know you could do that?"

"It was always unstable," Zenon replied. "It's been making me nervous since we came here." He pushed all his weight onto the broken wall, and made enough space for him to crawl out onto the ladder, leaving the broken elevator behind. His head emerged from the side and he crawled onto the roof.

As soon as he did, the elevator shook. It made a noise that shouldn't have been made, and started to go downward slowly. Luckily, Zenon wasn't on the ladder anymore. The broken wall scraped along the ladder as it descended to the cells. Before we could reach the bottom, I yelled out, "Grab the ladder!" and my hands found a rung. I hoisted myself up, wishing I wasn't so afraid of heights. I kept my eyes forward rather than down to avoid trembling.

Soon the elevator would emerge at the bottom of the shaft filled with only unconscious people. What a wonderful find for any guards that find another way to get down there.

"Is everyone up?" I asked.

"Yes," Zenon replied. I was thankful that Erin and Shane had been healed, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to climb up.