Dammit. The cameras are still live—
She stared at the platform doors and the now closed conveyor belt hatch.
Steel double doors and yeah, the hatch is secure. Shit there’s no way in, not even ventilation grilles. It’s sealed tight. Christ… what are we going to do? We’ll have to wait until the next batch of body bags arrive and shoot our way in when the doors open. That’ll be suicide—
Mercy glanced back into the tunnel. She swore.
What the hell, guys—?
Torchlight flickered in the tunnel.
Chapter 6
Hidden
Mercy made her way back to Barnes. Rose was twenty yards away, moving down the tunnel, her torch on.
“What the hell does she think she’s doing?” Mercy hissed.
Barnes grunted, “She’s convinced she felt a breeze. She went to explore, said she’d be back before you—”
“Christ, OK let’s go get her,” Mercy replied.
Rose, I hope you’re right—
Rose was standing in front of a pile of rubble, searching the ground with her torch. She turned around at Mercy’s approach.
“What are you doing Rose? We discuss stuff first, that way shit doesn’t happen—” Mercy said, trying to keep her voice under control.
Rose nodded, “I’m sorry but I had to check it out. They’ve blocked this tunnel off. The next station would’ve been Federal Triangle, and that’s outside the wall. I felt a breeze, it’s coming from somewhere around here—”
Rose continued to shine her torch along the ground. Mercy took a deep breath and gave Barnes a look. “Even if there’s a breeze we’re not going to be able to break through this rubble. Looks as if they’ve used an excavator to block the tunnel off—” Mercy took her torch out and switched it on. She swept the beam across the tunnel roof confirming the extent of the blockage.
Yeah, rubble… floor to ceiling. Totally sealed—
Some yellow paint on the tunnel wall caught Mercy’s eye. She directed her beam at the spot.
What’s that? Part of a word—?
Mercy squinted at the grimy letters, trying to make them out.
N-L-Y? What the hell is N-L-Y supposed to mean?
She went over to the wall and lifted her torch to illuminate the area.
O. There’s an O in there… so… ONLY. What’s that about?
She felt a breeze on her cheek.
OK. Rose was right. There’s something behind here—
Mercy waved Rose and Barnes over. “Here, help me with this, there’s something behind all this crap—” Mercy clambered onto the rubble and began moving some of the loose rocks.
More yellow letters became visible: A-C-C-E-S-S. The breeze grew stronger. Barnes took over from Mercy and after twenty minutes of hard lifting he had exposed part of a steel door. The letters E-N-C-Y had been revealed by his efforts. Barnes sat down exhausted.
Rose shone her torch on the steel door. “Emergency access only,” she said, her voice full of hope. “Emergency access only. That’s it, that’s gotta be it, you know it—”
Mercy nodded, “It looks promising Rose.” She looked back along the tunnel towards the station platform. “We need to keep going while luck’s with us. You have a go, then I’ll take a turn—”
They spent the next thirty minutes removing more rubble from around the door. The work was dirty and soon their faces and hands were covered in dust and grime. Finally, Rose stepped back on shaky legs and made a flourish at the door. A yellow triangular warning sign proclaimed: DANGER ELECTRICAL HAZARD.
“It’s got ventilation holes in it, that’s where the breeze is coming from. It must lead outside. There’s a padlock, I could try and pick it… if I had some lock picks,” Rose said, patting her pockets.
“No need,” Barnes replied. “Hold on, I’ve got this.” He turned and walked to the other side of the tunnel. He bent down and picked something up. He returned with a long iron bar in his hand, “We’ll try this on the door. It’s probably something to do with the track. It’s better than a crowbar. Here, let me have a go.”
Rose stepped aside allowing Barnes access to the door. He placed the iron bar through the padlock and against the steel door. He levered it back, using his full weight. Nothing happened. He turned to Mercy, “Come on, give me a hand.”
Barnes took up position again and Mercy stood behind him, gripping the bar.
“On three. One, two… three—” Barnes said.
They pulled together, wrenching the pole against the padlock. The padlock held out but the door bolt snapped and fell to the floor.
“Result—” Barnes whispered.
Rose stepped up to the door and placed her hands on the handle. She looked at the others and twisted the handle. The door opened. The breeze grew stronger. Mercy smiled.
One step closer—
“It’s definitely leads to the surface, that’s fresh air,” Rose said.
Rose stepped through the door and Mercy followed. They entered a low corridor filled with electrical cabling and fuse boxes.
Barnes ran his fingers along a fuse box covered in duct tape. “Looks recent… looks like a hook up between the old DC Metro electrics and some new secondary power system. Some components have been cannibalised from other systems. This stuff wouldn’t pass any safety standards back in the day. This is new work, probably to do with keeping this stretch of the line open—”
“Yeah, whatever. I just want to see where it goes. So long as it’s up and out of here, that suits me fine,” Mercy replied.
They squeezed their way through the narrow corridor for thirty feet then came to a spiral staircase in a concrete shaft. Rose stood aside to allow Mercy through.
“Your call,” Rose said.
Mercy breathed in, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all know I want this shit to be over, period—”
Thanks Rose. I’m just so glad not to be alone. You didn’t have to come with me but you did, we’re in this together—
Mercy climbed the steps two at a time, shining her torch up the shaft. Their boots gave rise to a weird metallic sound as they ascended the
