Chapter Six
Disclaimer: 30 days hath September,
April, June and No wonder.
All the rest have eggs for breakfast,
Except for grandma, she rides a bike.
Pretender fanatic: dunno about America, but in Australia, the majority of people in university lectures are teens. But you willingly read text books? I raise an eyebrow. Anyone so much as nearing the final years of high school won't touch the bloody things with a long stick. Oh well, I suppose you also willingly read the trash I post here so I won't complain. Thanks for your comment on my use of Sydney and Parker. I sometimes get so caught up with keeping you all guessing in one part that another becomes completely predictable. It shall be fixed forthwith. I do already have a surprise in store for Broots though...
mariel4000: One can't help feeling that you only reviewed for the sake of getting you name mentioned here. Meh, thanks anyway.
Brandy: Keeping you guessing? Good. #Smiles evilly#
Nans: It's good to know that I'm writing at least one character right. Lyle is designed to make you shiver. I will take it as a compliment. Thankyou.
mfkngst: The question to whether a pretender is faking it or not is always a complicated one. But yes, do keep reading, all will be revealed. Thanks for the review.
gemini006007: Who ever said that Jarod was acting? I wouldn't double guess if I was you, there are more than a few twists left in this story.
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Parker was counting the number of cinder blocks in the wall for the fourth time when she heard the slight scraping from the vents. It was a sound that would not be noticed by anyone that did not know how you had to roll to one side to open the vent covers from the inside. 'Sydney, wake up,' she whispered. The old man opened his eyes. He had just been dozing. Parker made a head motion towards the vent just under the ceiling. Sydney frowned for a moment then nodded in understanding.
Parker felt a thrill of excitement. Finally. She went to stand underneath the vent, to take the cover that was handed down to her to stop it from clanging on the floor and alerting the sweepers that guarded the cell.
'Put that chair under the vent' ordered a soft voice. Parker complied. They helped Sydney up first. The old man had never used the vents as a method of transportation before and was stiffer and less flexible than the two children of the Centre. Parker picked up the vent cover before standing on the chair, ready to cover their escape, but Jarod told her not to worry. 'We don't have long, we're going for speed, not stealth.' Even as he said it there was a low wail, which worked it's way up through the octaves, to a point that made the teeth stand on end, then fell silent. Half a second later it started again. Parker dropped the grate and scrambled into the vent. 'Where's Broots?' asked Jarod once he saw no one was following them.
'He left during the confusion of Lyle's take over,' Sydney told him. Jarod nodded in approval and the three of them hurriedly crawled away from the scene of the crime with Jarod in the lead and Sydney between the two others. The wailing of the alarm permeated everything. They reached the main vent for the sublevel and turned right. Suddenly Jarod stopped. Sydney nearly ran into him. 'What is it?' hissed Parker worriedly. Jarod didn't need to answer. Angelo appeared out of one of the side vents. She almost laughed in relief.
'What's up Angelo?' asked Jarod.
'Friend pain'
'That's why I'm getting out of here.'
'Angelo help.'
'Thankyou.' Replied Jarod sincerely.
Angelo reached out a hand and delicately plucked something out of the hair at the nape of Jarod's neck. Jarod looked at it in shock. He had no idea how Lyle had planted that there, but then again, he had been pretty out of it for the past week or so. Grasping the empath by the forearm, he nodded in thanks once again. Angelo acknowledged the gesture before they split and went their different ways, this time with Angelo drawing the chase.
'He'll take the most obvious route through to that maintenance tunnel on SL-5, so we'll go up the north side and out' explained Jarod. 'There's movement sensors in most of the vents, but Lyle will assume that we are Angelo and he is us.'
With that they kept moving, Parker soon losing all sense of direction in the almost total blackness. She found the vents to be much smaller than she remembered, and muscles unused to this sort of exercise were soon protesting. Luckily they made it to the surface feed before she needed to beg for rest.
High above there was a faint patch of light and a 'whump, whump, whump' from the fan that forced the air down into the sublevels. A faint cool breeze whistled past them.
'We'll rest here for a moment, it's a long climb out.'
Parker crawled forward until she was underneath the vent to the surface then gratefully sat with her back against the wall. Sydney did the same, not saying anything, although Parker could hear him panting slightly. Jarod flopped down until he was laying length ways along the vent, chest heaving. 'Jarod, are you OK?' asked Sydney in concern.
Give me... a... minute.' Replied Jarod haltingly. His calm and sure demeanour seemed to be cracking slightly. Sydney did not push it. If Jarod was not OK, there was nothing they could do until they were away from the Centre, so the most he could do was let the pretender rest.
After what seemed like too short a time, Jarod heaved himself onto his hands and knees and felt for the rungs that led up towards the light. 'Leave space between us in case someone falls' he said, then began to climb. Once he was a short distance up, Sydney followed. Parker sat in the darkness and counted to fifty, then grabbed the bottom rung and pulled herself up.
The vent was narrow enough that they had to keep their elbows in, but not narrow enough to lean back and rest. It was a long and tedious ascent. Finally though, they made it up to SL-1. Jarod waited until the other two had caught up with him then silently signalled that they should crawl into a side vent to wait while he checked out the surface. Once they had complied he quietly edged upwards until he was just under the blades of the fan that worked day and night to aerate the Centre. Flattening himself against the corner of the vent, he edged further upwards, hardly breathing until he was past the fan. Between him and the sky was a fine mesh grate, screwed unmovably into place. Or so the Centre thought.
Tucked into a tiny alcove was a screw driver that Jarod had used to escape so many years ago. That night he had left it behind, against the occurrence that he should ever need to do so again. Now Jarod carefully applied it to the screws, catching them as they dropped to prevent a long and clanging fall down the main vent. When all of one side was no longer pinned down, he lifted it a fraction of an inch and peered out at the landscape. They were right next to the wall of the Centre but thankfully no one was in sight.
Pulling the grate back to its original position, Jarod edged back down past the fan and into the side vent that Parker and Sydney waited in. 'There's no one up there but it is pretty exposed. Maybe we should wait for night,' he informed them.
'What if we circle around to the vent that's next to the car park?' asked Parker.
'It could work' agreed Jarod. 'Wait one moment.' He squeezed back up to the fan and retrieved the screwdriver then returned to join Parker and Sydney. They both moved to one side to let him past and then they all set off again.
Parker's mind shut down as she crawled, lost in endless dusty passages, so she was almost surprised when they stopped, having reached another upwards vent. Once again Sydney and Parker waited while Jarod went up to check. This time he returned with better news.
'This vent comes up about 30 feet from the car park. It's hidden from the view of the Centre by the cars. Come on.'
He led them upwards past the fan, lifting the grate off and pushing it to one side. Cautiously he stuck his head out, scanning one last time for any sign of danger, before clambering out and turning to help the other two. They all stood, stretching sore muscles and blinking at the sudden brightness of their surroundings. They were in a small stand of trees, right next to the Centre car park. The wail of the alarm could be heard in the distance. Parker turned around to ask Jarod what came next and saw him in the light for the first time. Her hand flew to her mouth, holding back a loud cry of horror. Sydney just stared in disbelief at his protégé.
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TBC. (If you ask nicely #smiles sweetly#)