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There was a metallic ‘thunk’, presumably as all the bolts shot home, then seconds later a muted pounding. I could hear voices too, so I guessed that whoever my dad had sent to stop me were trying to get the door open again.
‘Garret?’ said Pitr, his voice sounding shaky. ‘Are you there?’
‘Of course I’m here,’ I replied. ‘I climbed in first. Where else would I be?’
‘Just checking.’
The thudding on the door stopped. For a second I wondered if they had gone away and were going to leave me alone, then I realised they had probably gone to get re-enforcements. And my dad.
‘Come on,’ I said. ‘Let’s go.’
‘Go where?’
‘This thing must come out somewhere.’
‘But its pitch dark.’
‘So? All we saw was a blank corridor. If we don’t go too fast, we shouldn’t get into any trouble.’
Even as I spoke, I felt there was something wrong with what I said, but I wanted to get away from the door in case my dad managed to get it open.
‘Give me the bag,’ I suggested. ‘I’ll sling it across my shoulders then you can hold the strap.’
There was some shuffling and fumbling, but we were sorted out in a few minutes. I put my hand to the wall and we set off. Almost immediately I felt Pitr pulling on the strap.
‘What’s wrong?’ I hissed, annoyed by another delay.
‘You’re going too fast,’ he complained.
‘You want them to open the door and catch us?’
‘You want to fall down a hole?’
That stopped me.
‘All right, I’ll slow down a bit.’
So we shuffled, rather than walked. I kept my left hand on the wall. The metal was smooth, with no flaws or joins, and felt cool to the touch but not cold. My right hand I held out in front of me. Each ‘step’ I slid a foot forward about three quarters of a normal pace, making sure there was something to put it on before settling my weight on it and sliding the other foot forward. The soles of my shoes made a scuffing noise each time I moved, and Pitr’s uncertain footsteps made a soft tapping behind me. Any sound reverberated back and forth, and for a while I thought I could hear banging at the door again, but it was just Pitr’s footsteps echoing.
My right arm started to ache so I stopped holding it out in front of me and instead waved it around every few steps to check for obstacles. Then my back and thighs started to complain about the unusual gait. I haven’t got a clue how long I put up with it, but eventually I had to give in. I stopped, and Pitr barrelled into me. Maybe I should have warned him.
‘What’s the matter?’ he hissed.
‘I need to take a break,’ I said, ‘and why are you whispering?’
Pitr gave an embarrassed cough. ‘Sorry. I just feel a bit, well ... ’
I understood, but couldn’t put it into words either.
‘Do you want me to go in front for a bit?’ Pitr asked. For a moment, just a moment, I felt jealous. This was my adventure, and he was only along for the ride. Why should he get to go in front? I shook my head in amazement at how stupid I could be sometimes.
‘Sure,’ I said, and explained how I had been moving. We swapped the bag over so Pitr was carrying it, set ourselves up again, and started off. Walking at the back was easier and the stiffness soon went out of my back and shoulders. I started counting steps – not mine, but Pitr’s – and wished I had thought of it when we had left the door. At least we would have had an idea of how far we had come.
I felt Pitr’s steps start to get unsteady, and I stopped him when my count reached 250. We swapped over, and I started counting again. At 250, I still felt fine, and felt smug that I scored higher than Pitr. When I reached 322, the wall on my left disappeared. I froze and Pitr crashed into my back again.
‘Wall’s gone,’ I told him.
‘Is it a corner?’
I felt with my left hand, reaching back to find the wall again, then dragging slowly forward until I found the edge. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘It goes off to the left.’
‘Sure it’s not a side corridor junction?’
‘How do I know?’ I said, too sharply. Truth was, I was scared. I had been since we closed the door behind us, and now the corridor changing was making may heart beat harder in my chest again and I didn’t need all these questions from Pitr.
‘Can you touch the other wall?’
I stretched my right arm out to my side, and took a half step right. Smooth metal under my fingertips.
‘Yes.’
I felt Pitr shuffle across until he was behind me again. ‘Go forward three more steps, but slowly. If it is a corner, you don’t want to walk into the wall.’
Again, a little flash of anger shot through me. I should have thought of that. I started forward, but was only half way through the second step when my left hand, stretched out in front of me, touched metal.
‘It’s a corner,’ I said.
‘Move your hand over it,’ Pitr said. ‘Check it isn’t a door.’
I was already waving my hand back and forth, but felt only smooth metal.
‘Corner.’ I repeated, and we set ourselves up again, this time with Pitr in front, and set off. Before we had gone twenty more steps, Pitr stopped.
‘I see something,’ he said.
I peered around him, but saw nothing. ‘Where?’
‘Dead ahead.’
I stared again but still drew a blank.
‘Don’t look at it,’ he suggested.
‘So how am I supposed to see it?’
‘Look out the corner of your eye.’
Another of Pitr’s wild suggestions, but I tried it. And saw something. I couldn’t tell what it was. I couldn’t see colour, or shape, but there was something up ahead and it seemed to be blinking on and off.
‘Let’s go,’ I said. Pitr grabbed my arm before I could take a step.
‘No, we have to go as we were. Slow and careful. There could still be stairs, or a hole, or anything.’
‘But there’s something there. Why would there be anything dangerous between’
Pitr said nothing. Again, I knew he was right but didn’t like admitting it, even to myself. I gave in, but insisted I went in front, and I walked quicker than I had before. I could tell Pitr didn’t like it by the way he was dragging back on the strap of the bag, but I didn’t care. I had stopped counting steps too. It took a frustratingly long time, but eventually whatever it was started to seem closer. First I could see it looking directly at it, then it took on a green colour, and finally resolved into a button.
As soon as I could see what it was I slowed down. I didn’t know how big the button was, so I didn’t want to crash in to anything. It turned out to be only 2cm to a side, and although it was bright enough to see it didn’t light up anything around us.
‘Are you going to push it?’ asked Pitr, and I realised I had been standing there just looking at it.
‘Guess so,’ I said, and reached out a finger. It stopped flashing and stayed lit, then the tunnel echoed to a series of deafening bangs. We both covered out ears with our hands and flinched. Then I realised it was only the same sound as I had heard when the first door had opened – the thud of the locking bolts pulling back. Only inside the tunnel, and having been in virtual silence for so long, our ears weren’t ready for the noise. Then I remembered something else.
‘Move back,’ I said, pushing at Pitr. ‘The door opens towards us.’
As we stepped away, there was a hiss and the door popped inwards. Instantly there was a flare of light brighter than I had ever seen before. I cried out, moving my hands to cover my eyes, and I heard Pitr gasp too. There was a soft bump as the door finished opening, but I didn’t dare move. I didn’t know what was on the other side of the door. After a few seconds I was able to take my hands down and squint at the world through eyelids squeezed all but shut. I couldn’t see much, but I could make out the edges of the door. It was bigger than the one we had got into the tunnel through, and it opened at floor level. There was no step or ledge. I started to worry that it might close on us and called to Pitr.
‘Come on. Let’s get out.’