Apartment 905 by Sahin, Ned (best color ereader TXT) 📗

I think about my short trip to the other side of the bunker. The blueprint she described sounds right. If the main exit is in the middle, the second exit should be at one of the edges. I look around in the playroom.

“I don’t think they put an escape tunnel to this room. It’s too small and there is nowhere to hide a door,” I say.

“Then it should be either in the library or classroom... if it’s on this edge of the bunker at all,” Toshi says. The pieces are coming together.

“Children are in the classroom. So we have to check the library first… It would be easier to hide a door behind shelves,” Kathleen says.

“Let’s go.” I stand up.

“What about the kids? Ben and Lilly? Elijah? Neman wanted us to take care of him…and there are probably more of them being abused by these monsters.” Toshi asks.

“It would be too risky to take them with us while Ricas are roaming around... We will come back for them,” I say. As much as I want to take them with us, I know that outside is more dangerous than this bunker.

I open the playroom door an inch and then check both sides of the hallway. Nobody is in sight. Children are back in the classroom. They had a break while we were discussing our options.

We walk to the library. The door is wide open and there is nobody inside. Each of us goes to a different wall in the room to check for any hidden door.

I go to the left side and look behind the books randomly. I try to push the shelf, but it’s too heavy to move it by myself. I don’t think they hid an exit door behind a shelf since one person is not capable enough to open it.

Kathleen and Toshi are trying to move the other shelves. The sound of shifting wood echoes in the hallway.

“Check this out…” Kathleen says. Unlike the others, the shelf she is trying to move is screwed to the wall. We randomly check some of the books. Most of them are not actual books but are decorative plastics.

We carefully check each side of the shelf.

“Bingo!” I say. One corner is aligned perfectly with the vertical line on the wall. As Toshi pulls the shelf with the right angle, the metal hinges crack before the shelf starts moving easily. Cold air from the darkness on the other side of the door breezes through our faces.

We make sure our knives are still attached to our belts and pick up the bow and shotgun before entering the darkness through the narrow opening.

“Guys…” Toshi whispers in hesitation while looking back to the library door. We turn our heads.

Ben is at the door standing still. His dull face shows no emotions.

“Ben, we are getting out of here. Come with us,” I say. I know he won’t be able to catch up with us if we run from the Ricas, but we can easily carry him.

He continues to stare at us one by one. I realize that I have never heard him talk. He might have speech difficulties, or he might be simply choosing not to talk. One thing I am sure of is that he can hear. That’s how Logan asked to follow him when we first saw Ben.

The boy locks his eyes into mine. Then he lets out a blood-curdling scream. It’s too loud, which I would never have expected a kid at his age to be able to do. I also notice half of his tongue is cut.

“What the heck!” Kathleen yells.

Ben takes a short breath and screams again.

“Go, go!” I tell Kathleen. She enters the door. Toshi follows him. I hear other children coming out of the room and staring at us. Logan runs out of the cafeteria and pulls his gun out from his holster.

Following Toshi, I step into total darkness. We try to close the door, but it’s almost impossible to do it from our side since there’s no handle to pull it.

“Climb up!” Kathleen says. Her voice comes above us. She is already halfway on the ladder.

I can hear Toshi taking steps up on the metal ladder. With the help of the light gliding through the narrow opening at the door, I find the ladder and make my way through the top as well. I hear Logan pulling the door inward.

“It’s locked!” Kathleen says while punching the exit hatch.

“Let me check!” I say. I pass Toshi on my way up and get next to Kathleen who is out of breath.

I push the hatch a few times. It can move just about an inch. I don’t think it’s the lock holding it down. There must be something around the hatch preventing it from being opened.

I slide my knife between the hatch and the iron perimeter. I move it up and down to cut through dense plants. Dirt falls into the tunnel as I continue loosening up the stuff around the hatch.

Toshi is coughing due to the falling dirt.

“Okay, on three…” I turn to Kathleen who nods. “One, two, three!” I say. We both push the hatch upward as hard as we can. It raises halfway. I put my hand above the ground and hit the hatch with my other palm again. It opens wide enough for us to squeeze through.

While Kathleen holds it open, I pull myself out of the hole. Then I grab her hand and yank her up as she climbs the last step. I give a hand to Toshi.

“You, idiots! Come over here!” Logan yells from the bottom of the ladder. He fires his gun. I hear the bullet bouncing on the tunnel’s cylinder perimeter.

The sound of the shot gets the Ricas’ attention. Roaring and snarling, they run from the main entrance toward the noise.

“Quick!” Kathleen says to me. I grab Toshi’s arm and pull him up. Ricas get closer to us like lions racing toward their hunt.

“Run!” Kathleen yells