Chapter 10 - Urgency
Stewart reached the end of the hallway and turned the corner. For a brief instant he was in the dark and then the entire world flashed into brilliant existence. Out of pain and fear he slammed his eyes shut and pressed his body to the floor. Nothing happened. He slowly opened his eyes and realized he was in another long, never ending whiteness. This one was a bit different, though. He could see several depressions along the sides that held tall pieces of trees with no branches and no leaves. He skittered along the floor toward the first one and slipped into the depression as a person came striding into view.
The person carried a bundle in his front legs and never looked down where Stewart was trying desperately to hide. He walked by so fast Stewart felt the breeze the man made with his back legs. Three heartbeats later the man disappeared into a different depression in the white wall and the hall was deserted once again.
Stewart lifted himself off the floor and peered in both directions. Just as he stepped away from his hiding spot a voice crackled through the air.
“Code seven, south entrance. Code seven, south entrance.”
Stewart looked frantically around to find the mouth the words were coming from, but he was alone. His heart raced and his legs shook with fear. Where was the voice coming from?
“Code nine, men’s room, south entrance. Code nine, men’s room, south entrance,” the disembodied voice continued.
Not knowing what else to do, and filled with an extreme need to run, Stewart scurried out into the hall and made for the next depression. As he reached it he heard the slap – tap of shoes coming toward him. He pressed himself into the base of the strange flat tree and tried to look like a rock. Two women passed by him talking to one another, their voices tight and clipped.
“Code seven?”
“Yeah, that’s for the HazMat team. Someone’s had some kind of biohazard accident.”
“At the south entrance?”
“I guess.”
“But there aren’t any labs by the south entrance. And what’s code nine?”
“That’s the medical team.”
One of the women stopped. “They’re going to the south entrance…”
The other woman turned and looked at the first. “Yeah, the codes are probably related.”
The first woman raised her hand and pointed in the direction they had been walking. “That’s the south entrance,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere near it.” She turned away from her companion. “I’m going back and head upstairs from the main tower.”
“It’s probably fine, Ann,” the other woman said. “They would’ve closed this section if it was dangerous.”
Ann shook her head. “Nope. I want children someday. I’m not taking chances. If you want to go this way, fine. I’ll meet you in Lab 38 in ten minutes.” She started to walk back the way they had come.
The first woman shook her head and then sighed. “Fine, fine, we’ll go the long way. You’re so paranoid.”
“Yes, but I’m alive and I plan to stay that way.” Ann walked quickly down the hall with her companion hurrying to catch up. Stewart didn’t move until the clicking of their shoes was gone.
The word dangerous sat in Stewart’s head like a sharp stick. He knew what it meant and a blurry image of the hunting rock crossed his mind. He swallowed and ran for the next depression.
~ Peace and urgency
No comments:
Post a Comment