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About time, she said darkly
Yeah, well, I didn t exactly see you running to save the one fighting for your life,
Thrower said bluntly.
I m a scientist, not a fighter.
Oh, that s a good answer for everything, isn t it? Let someone else get hurt for you.
She didn t even have the grace to look ashamed or embarrassed, but it didn t worry
Lucia. She d met enough of Manya s kind and never considered them worth a second
thought, and this just proved her right yet again.
So. She nodded towards the opening. This leads to the Garrison?
Yes. We can get to the bisecting tunnel that leads up to Level Two, and get out using
the exit stairs there.
Why not down here?
The place is a mess. The Control room is almost destroyed, and the rest of this Level
has been damaged almost beyond repair. Level Two is the easiest and safest way to go.
More stairs? Oh joy, Thrower muttered.
Stairs are safer, Thrower. Lucia nodded at Manya. Let s go.
Silently Manya led them down the tunnel, and it seemed to Lucia that it was almost as
long and endless as the others. But that was only because she was sick and tired of tunnels,
had had enough of them the last few...what? Days? How many days had they been down in
the bowels of the prison and mines? With no way to tell time, she d lost track of days and
hours.
Coming to a stop, Manya nodded towards a closed door. That door leads into a
cupboard in the small change room next to the Engine room. That s how this tunnel bisects
Level Six.
Fantastic. Lucia frowned. Duran Corporation has a lot to answer for when we
finish up here.
We have to finish up first, Thrower grunted.
When we do finish up, she muttered, I m going to make sure the authorities know
what everyone in the Duran Corporation has been up to.
Angela Verdenius 141
Manya gave her a long look, then shrugged and pointed to the stairs. Up here.
The stairs angled upwards, and with a sigh of resignation, Thrower grabbed the rail
with his good hand.
Want me to carry you? Lucia offered.
Good grief. No!
I could manage to get you partway
Lucia, sweetheart, you re injured yourself. No, we ll do this the way we ve done it all
so far together. He dropped a kiss on her forehead.
She smiled. Thrower liked to kiss and touch. How interesting.
Manya gave them a moody look, and then started up the stairs.
Lucia and Thrower looked at each other and then started up the stairs behind her.
*****
Underground Level Two, Offices
Civilian Area, Unmonitored
The stairs were a nightmare for the injured guards. Thrower panted, sweat streaking
his face. His knuckles on the hand clutching the railing were white. Dark eyes glazed with
pain, he was almost dragging himself up the stairs.
Isles was doing a bit better. Then again, she didn t have a twisted ankle or sore thigh,
but her other injuries weren t doing her any favors, either, Manya saw. The guard s hair was
damp with sweat, her lips pressed tightly together. She favored her left side, the side Thrower
wasn t on.
The next plan she d just formed in her mind should be a piece of cake.
You could help, Isles gritted out. Take his other side
No. Thrower looked up. As long as I have this rail, I m better off. I don t have to
worry about tipping us all off balance and sending us all tumbling down the stairs.
Thrower
I swear to God, Isles, if I fall down these stairs, I won t be able to get back up them
again! You ll have to leave me down there. I don t think I can do this again.
Okay, Jonathon, she said soothingly. You re doing well. We re getting there.
Are we? We seem to have climbed for miles. How far up are we?
We passed the Level Four sign not long ago, Manya was pleased to inform him.
Watching the two guards suffer was a balm to her.
She d been doing some serious thinking while climbing the stairs. These two were
becoming a problem now. If they survived to rat her out to the authorities, everything she d
gone through for her future would be destroyed. There was no doubt that the authorities
would come after every employee of the Duran Corporation, especially the scientist, once they
got a whiff of what had been really going on down here. Reefer, Styx. Experiments. And all
because these two idiots were intending to inform on the Duran Corporation.
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