Status: Redo of my old story

Silence Falls

Chapter 86: Trap Door

“God, I can’t believe I’m actually going to agree with you assholes on this!” Bam gripe with irritation before spinning on his stool to face Otep and Bert so he could observe them receiving their closing settlement on whether they were voting to stay in the mall, or vacate it.

“We decided that we want to stay here for the time being until it’s time to leave the town.” Cris broadcasted from their side of the Smoothie Cafe they had already been rallied in before this particular meeting.

Bert nodded in understanding before glimpsing towards the other side of the cafe where the girls were clustered on stools around a small table. “And have you ladies voted on what you want to do?”

They all shook their heads in unison. Onika threw out a cursory explanation. “Not yet. We’re still trying to decide.” She looked back to face the other ladies to go over their options again.

Hermanni perused their table for a minute and sensed that they were having trouble acceding with one another on what to do. Using their drained glasses as an alibi to say hello, Hermanni grabbed his tray and headed on over. The ladies didn’t detect his presence until he stood by their table. While compiling their glasses on his tray, Hermanni pried. “I hope you are enjoying your drinks. Is there anything else I can assist you with besides more refills?”

“Yeah, actually, we’re having trouble deciding on what's the best option to take right now. I think we all kind of want to stay here, but we’re frightened that those soldiers will come back for us. It feels so safe here in the mall, but then when we look at the whole picture, the mall is still IN Silence Falls. If we stay here, we’ll never be truly free from them.” Natasha encapsulated for Hermanni who stood behind Alexis’s chair.

“I see. Well, let me tell you a little secret that you should keep in mind before you solidify your decision.” Hermanni shared with them with an upbeat smile.

“Oh yeah, and what secret would that be?” Alexis inquired, gazing at him over her shoulder.

“You all have me to protect you now.” Hermanni answered confidently.

They all glanced at each other then back at their sensual bartender. Hermannni wasn’t exactly heavy built, actually he was a rather slender man with fabulously good looks. Last time they checked, beauty did not win wars such as theirs. Wincing, Demitria felt lousy for inquiring. “And what exactly can you do against an army?”

“I can do magic.” Hermanni stated matter of factly. “I know how nonsensical it might sound, but if you can only believe in me as much as I believe in each and every one of you then your heart will know for certain that no harm will come to you as long as I am with you.”

Before the girls could wheedle him for more answers to what his ‘magic’ consisted of, Otep and Bert flagged them to give their final decision on what they should do. Unitedly, they were afraid to die at their young age without having ever had an opportunity to live their lives like every other kid their age has, but they also wanted to live their lives openly without jitters. All in all, they were still truly divided on what to do, but something about the way Hermmani was presently staring at them... and the way he conveyed those words with such feelings made them all trust him…and so they agreed with the boys as well. Natasha was the one to speak for their group. “We think we should also stay for a while until it's time for us to move on again.”

“Very well. It looks like the final decision has been made. Now on to the next few steps.” Bert concluded wrapping up the first part. Rising from the couch, he stood beside Otep and let her take over.

“Since we all decided to stay, we need to keep in mind that we are still in danger of being found. What we need to do next is to enclose every single avenue into this place to keep others from getting in again. After that, we’ll need to shroud every pane of glass to the outside world with whatever we can find. We’ll also need to thoroughly review the basement for anything convenient that we can use in the meantime.” Otep indexed out, counting on her fingers while idly pacing in front of the couch.

“So ladies, you’re in charge of recovering whatever tarps, blankets, sheets, and anything else you can think of to curtain every window in sight.” Bert directed, beginning to divide the groups up. “Bam and Hermanni, we require some more locks and chains from the hardware stores on this floor. Swipe as many carts as you find necessary to ship them to the exits. Cris and Connor, you guys are coming to the basement with me. Now, let’s move, we’re wasting time just standing around!”
____________________________________________________________________________
Down in the basement, Bert, Cris and Bam sighted generous quantities of blue tarps, folded cardboard boxes, immense rolls of bubble wrap, and towers of toilet paper. But what really caught their attention was a mysterious trap door beneath those many rolls of toilet paper. The smell of dust was the first thing to hit them when they managed to hoist the small weighty door open. The second thing they discerned was the minute they opened it, light started to irregularly flicker on from deep within the hole. The trio almost vaulted back in apprehension that someone was down there until they conceived that the light had to be a part of some kind of automated light sensor, they didn’t hear any life scuffling down there. Bert attested it when he valiantly poked his head in and spied absolutely nothing but a concrete tunnel heading to what he speculated was an unknown destination. “Wonder where this tunnel leads?” Bert whispered to himself before rectifying himself.

“What did you see?!” Cris demanded from him, hysteria engraved across his face. “Is there anyone down there!?

“I don’t think so. All I can see is a deserted tunnel leading somewhere. I don’t think it goes too far from here.” Bert briefed them before rising up to assemble up the blue tarps they unearth in his arms to bring upstairs to the ladies. “So, who wants to go down in there and check it out while I’m gone? I would go, but I gotta get these tarps upstairs to Otep fast or I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Cris and Connor glanced at each other, before peering back down into the hole. Connor let out a heavy sigh before deciding to nominate himself to go dive in first. “I’ll go down.”

Cris watched with wide eyes as Connor positioned himself over the edge to drop himself in. Before he could, Cris refrained him by snagging his arm. “Wait! I’ll go too. If the boogeyman is down there, you’re gonna need someone to watch your back, right?”

“Whatever, man.” Connor smirked as he flicked his hand aside and dropped himself down into the unknown. Green eyes squinted through the small cloud of dust billowing up from his landing, and through the long black curtain of hair to see dim yellow orbs that were small light bulbs running alongside the walls of the stone tunnel. The reduction of illumination gave the place an almost archaic look. Coughing and dispersing the last cloud of dust with his hands, Connor gradually investigated his surroundings. He wasn’t able to see well due to the insufficient lighting, nor was he able to pick up on anything that should alarm him enough to leap back up for the tunnel’s entrance to safety.

A small thud followed by several coughs sounded behind Connor, signalling Cris’s arrival. “Connor, where do you think this tunnel might go to?”

“I have no idea, but that’s why we’re here, to find out.” Connor replied before surging forward to take the lead down the tunnel to where they hoped wasn’t dangerous. The tunnel’s first turn unfolded a sight that had them thinking that this place could turn out to be an impossible underground labyrinth that was infinite, but as they ventured on they discovered a dead end with another entryway in the ceiling. Only this one was constructed completely unlike the first.