Chapter 6 #2
I moved past the sink toward the empty expanse of wall at the end of the bathroom, and I lifted my hand and tapped against the panel. It felt pretty solid, but just to make sure I hadn’t tapped against a stud, I tapped against a different portion of the wall.
Still solid.
Based on the positioning of the entire structure, this was the wall that was shared between the two bathrooms, so it still wasn’t a guarantee the outer walls were this secure.
I moved to another bare patch of wall, beside the counter, and I reached out my hand and rapped my knuckles firmly against it.
Solid.
I tried another spot.
Solid.
I tried a third place.
A hollow echo met my ears, and the wall gave slightly under the pressure.
What the hell?
I moved closer to the wall so I could inspect it better, and that was when I noticed the slight, vertical seam along one of the panels. I followed the seam with my eyes, where it reached up and then met with another thin, horizontal seam.
Was this what I thought it was?
I followed the horizontal seam over a short distance to where it met a second, vertical seam, identical to the first one.
It was a hidden door.
No fucking way.
What could possibly be back there? And how the hell did I open it?
I lightly pushed against the wooden door. Perhaps it just needed to be clicked in to open, but nothing seemed to happen.
Okay… maybe it needed to be pried open.
Oh, what I would give to have my hunting knife right now.
I tried to dig my nails into the seam in the hopes that if I got a decent enough grip, I’d be able to pry the door open without the help of some outside tool.
My nails were too short.
I glanced at the robot to see if maybe there was a piece from him I could use to wedge into the door, but I didn’t see anything.
I tried again.
Nothing.
“What are you doing?” Parker’s voice drifted over to me, and I glanced up to see all my companions watching me intently.
“There’s a hidden door here,” I said as I pointed to the wooden panel.
“What?” they all asked in unison, and they all moved closer to see for themselves.
“I’m trying to get it open, but my nails aren’t long enough, so I can’t get a decent grip on the thing,” I said. “Assuming it hasn’t been sealed somehow, and it can actually still be opened.”
“I can try,” Sadie offered. “My nails are pretty long.”
She held up her hands to show me her perfectly manicured nails. They weren’t super long, but they certainly had more length than mine.
“You don’t have to do that,” I said quickly, because I knew how girls could get about their nails. “Especially because we don’t know if it even opens, or what’s behind it. I’d hate for you to mess your nails up for nothing.”
“I want to,” Sadie insisted. “It’s worth a try. Besides, I mess my nails up all the time at work, this will be no different.”
I shrugged and stepped aside to let the determined woman pass, and I watched as she carefully gripped the hidden door and tugged. The panel moved slightly, not very far, barely an eighth of an inch, but it was enough to tell me the door definitely wasn’t sealed.
Sadie continued to tug, but it didn’t move any further, and after a few more seconds, she dropped her hands to her sides.
“It’s really heavy,” she sighed in defeat. “I don’t think I can get it open.”
“That’s okay,” I assured her. “You moved it enough that I should be able to get a better grip on it now.”
I glanced at Tyler, who got my silent message and quickly stepped forward to help me grip the door, and then together we pulled as hard as we could.
The door scraped across the floor as it opened, and I was surprised to find that the thin panel of wood was attached to a very solid, two-inch thick, stone frame.
Well, no wonder it was so freaking hard to open.
But that wasn’t even the most shocking part.
On the other side of the door was a steep stairwell headed down into the darkness.
“Oh, my god,” Claire breathed. “Where do you think it goes?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” I replied.
Normally, I wouldn’t wander into the dark unknown, but I got the same feeling here as I had when I found the strange metal objects. I couldn’t help but feel this hidden stairwell was placed here for us to find, and I had a strong feeling it was important.
“Stay here,” I said to the others. “I’ll go check it out.”
“Please be careful,” Sadie pleaded, and there was that worried frown again.
“I will,” I promised, before I shot Tyler a meaningful glance.
I tried to convey to him that I wanted him to close the door back up and protect the women if something happened to me while I was down there. I was pretty sure he got the message, because he gave me one quick nod.
Then I took a deep breath and placed my foot on the first step.
Suddenly, light flicked on in the stairwell, and I could see all the way down to the heavy metal door at the bottom.
The lights must’ve been motion activated. At least I wouldn’t have to feel my way down in the dark, and the stairwell suddenly looked much less ominous while flooded in light.
This place certainly couldn’t have been that old because it was oddly clean for a secret space. I didn’t even see a single cobweb. I silently crept down the steps until I reached the bottom floor.
The ground beneath my feet appeared to be solid stone, as if the stairs had been cut directly into the Earth itself, but I also noticed a massive metal grate at the base of the stairs, as if someone had installed a giant storm drain down here.
Weird.
I turned my attention to the door, which upon closer inspection, appeared to be made of some sort of thick, shiny metal. The door was styled to look like the door on a vault, with a large wheel with thick, metal spokes protruding from it.
I grabbed two of the spokes and tugged. It took some force, but the wheel groaned and slowly gave way under my force. I spun the wheel counterclockwise until it suddenly stopped. There was a loud hiss, like a seal being released, and then the door swung open.
Similar to the stairwell, past the door was nothing but darkness, but as soon as I took a small step over the threshold, bright lights flicked on.
Nothing could’ve prepared me for what I saw.
The room looked like a strange mix of alien tech, apocalyptic bunker, and recreation room. Along one side of the room on the wall were endless shelves of various foods, drinks, and snacks, and everything looked new and fresh.
There was a large shelf in one corner that held dozens of books, and blankets as well as plush cushions that were spread out near it as some sort of makeshift reading area.
There was another nearby shelf that held different types of games and multiple TVs.
“What the hell is this place?” I muttered to myself.
I quickly returned to the group, and they were all exactly where I’d left them at the top of the stairs. They all looked incredibly relieved to see me alive and in one piece.
Outside, I heard the beginning of howling wind and the sound of heavy rain as it pelted the top of the building.
The storm had finally reached us.
“What was down there?” Tyler asked. “What did you find?”
“There’s a sort of bunker or safe room downstairs,” I said, and I could see their eyes widened when they heard that. “I think it’d be better if we waited out the storm down there. There’s plenty of food, water, and entertainment. And it even seems to have electricity.”
For now, at least. Who knew what the storm would do to that? I wasn’t even entirely sure how this building had electricity to begin with because it seemed so far from any potential power grid.
“What about flooding?” Tyler asked. “Won’t we be at risk of getting trapped down there?”
“I don’t think so,” I said with a shake of my head. “There’s a massive storm drain-type thing at the base of the stairs, and the door to the bunker seems like it completely seals when shut, so we should be safe there.”
Everyone looked hopeful.
Just then, there was a loud pounding on the door at the entrance of the bathroom. Everyone jumped at the sudden noise.
At first, I thought it might be the wind, but the sound had been too rhythmic. Then I faintly heard shouting from outside.
“It’s the others,” I said as I quickly crossed the room to the door.
I unlocked the door and twisted the knob, but then the force of the wind blew it open before I could get a chance to do it myself. It opened to reveal Kyle, Zade, Clarisse, Annabelle, and Martin on the other side.
All of them were soaking wet, and all of them looked pissed.
It was a struggle not to wear a big, fat, I-told-you-so smile on my face as I stared at the sad, wet group.
I stepped aside and let them all hurry past me as fat raindrops pelted inside at an angle behind them. I quickly shut and locked the door again, but it took a fair deal of strength to do it because the wind pressed mercilessly against the door in the opposite direction.
I did get it, though.
“What the hell are we supposed to do now?” Zade asked, and it was probably the first time I’d ever heard him speak.
Normally, he was just laughing at what Kyle said or did like an idiot.
“Yeah,” Kyle agreed. “There’s no way this flimsy building will hold up against that storm, and it’s only getting started.”
“We found a hidden bunker downstairs.” I explained. “It’s sealed off, so we shouldn’t be at risk of flooding or anything like that.”
Kyle frowned at me, even though I’d basically just shown him a lifeline. All because he hadn’t discovered it himself.
Pathetic.
“Whatever, let’s just go,” Clarisse interrupted, and I could see she was beginning to shiver as she wrung out her hair.
“There’s lots of blankets down there,” I assured her. “Maybe we’ll find some dry clothes for you guys as well.”
For the first time since meeting the woman, her expression seemed to soften.
But only slightly.
“Why the hell did you bring that?” Kyle asked as he jabbed a thumb in the direction of the robot.