The spray of bullet fire against the other side of the door started his countdown. At some point, the steel would yield to their assault. If William hadn’t found a way out by then, their bullets would tear him to shreds.
Chapter 35
A steel door might have separated William from the drones, but there were steel doors and there were steel doors. This one had already started to yield to the first spray of bullets. A splattering of indents evidenced their attack. The drones had to run out of ammo at some point, but he couldn’t bank on that. And like with Matilda and Artan in the arena’s roof, they could wait there forever for him to come out. He’d starve before they got bored.
Thud!
William jumped away from the door, crashing into a row of rusting metal shelves behind him. A drone had slammed into it, the impression of its contact pushing into the room. The glow from the drones’ lights flooded through the new gaps both above and below.
Thud!
A second drone hit the door and bent it further. “Shit!” William muttered. How did he get himself stuck in a dark cleaning cupboard? Although, while dark, it wasn’t pitch black. It hadn’t been pitch black even before the bent door let in the drones’ light. A weak glow came into the room from a vent up to his right where the wall met the ceiling.
Thud!
The door couldn’t withstand this attack. The vent cover, between two to three feet square, fronted a metal tunnel of a similar size. Along with a faint glow of daylight, it ushered in the slightest breeze.
Thud!
Wherever it took him, anywhere had to be better than his current spot.
Hum-thud!
The longer the drones believed him to be cowering on the other side of the door, fearing his imminent end from their rotating guns, the more time he’d have to get out of there. If he could avoid giving the game away …
Reaching up, William gripped the vent cover and held his breath. The hum of another drone closed in.
Hummmmm-thud!
William tugged as the drone connected. The cover came free in his hands.
Thud!
The gap along the bottom of the door would soon be wide enough to give a drone access to the room. William trembled as he rested the liberated grate against the wall. He had the heartbeat of a panicked mouse, but he fought against it. Slow and steady. He needed to get away from there without them knowing. He pushed his arms into the tunnel and wriggled his upper body into the tight space after them.
Thud!
A tight metal crawlspace, he shuffled all the way in, an inch or two’s clearance on either side of his body.
Thud!
The drones’ attacks grew fainter as William crawled farther away. The tunnel changed direction up ahead, which blocked much of the light, but it didn’t stop the fresh breeze. The smell of freedom … If he moved fast enough.
Thud.
The tunnel took a vertical right-angled turn. William turned over onto his back, the echo of his own gasping breaths mocking him. It joined the sounds of his scrambling feet from where he kicked and scraped to turn himself over.
Thud. Thud.
The vertical section of the tunnel stretched up by about four feet. William slapped his hands against the tunnel’s flat metal walls, bracing against the smooth sides, and sat up in the tight space. He turned and pulled his knees around, dragging them under him before he stood up. The short vertical section forced him to stoop. He faced down the tunnel at the brighter daylight at the end. The air fresher than before, it turned his sweating skin cool.
Thud.
William stretched forwards for a second time, reaching his hands out ahead of him towards daylight. He jumped and caught himself by slamming his feet against either side of the vertical tunnel. The metal cold against his chest, William slithered towards daylight, pulling himself with his upper body.
Thud!
The rending of steel was followed by the clatter of a falling door. An angry burst of gunfire tore into the room he’d left behind.
William pulled with his arms and then pushed with his feet. He moved down the tunnel like a frog swimming through mud, his panicked breaths echoing in the tight space. Focused on the exit, he pulled and then pushed, pulled and then pushed, pulle—
A hinged grate gave way beneath William, falling from the bottom of the tunnel. It squeaked as it swung. It hung down into the dark car park.
He could jump down now and escape. He’d be quicker on foot. But it would also land him much closer to the drones, and he still couldn’t see well.
The hum of the drones’ engines echoed off the car park’s walls.
William dragged his body over the grate and continued towards the light. Daylight would give him a better chance of survival.
Six feet from the grate leading outside, the hum of a drone’s propellors grew so loud William halted. They were in the car park beneath him where the grate had swung open. The brilliant glow from its spotlight flooded the tunnel, reflecting off the shining metal. Had it seen him?
The drone’s spinning guns whined.
A spray of bullets burst through the open hole. They ate into the steel air vent’s roof.
The line of fire moved towards William, punching up through the part of the tunnel he’d just slid across.
William braced his feet against either side of the tunnel and pushed forwards. He pulled with his hands while the bullet fire behind him tore holes through the steel. If the thing stopped shooting for a moment, it might hear him.
As the drone ripped the ventilation shaft to shreds, William reached the grate at the end. He slammed an open palm against it. The metal cover fell away and clattered against the concrete outside.
Only a foot to the ground, William squirmed from the shaft as if birthed from it. He landed hard on his right shoulder, scrambled to his feet, and took
