"Do you know where this leads?" she asked Hiiro.
"No. But the vents are all over the complex, so it has to end somewhere."
"I hope it ends soon!" Trowa shouted up.
"'Cause we got company!" Shiris yelled. Behind them, right after the left turn, the end two could hear the doors slid open back in the corridor. Hopefully, the guards would have to wait for the gas to dissipate, but Trowa doubted it. Most likely they had gas masks.
"Shit! Hurry!" Julie cried.
Trowa glanced behind him. A face appeared in the opening of the vent.
"They're coming!" he shouted, crawling faster. Mayumi went as fast as she could. The vent turned right.
"Trowa, are they close?" Shiris whispered to him.
He looked behind him.
"Yeah. We need to get out of here." The men were about 100 feet behind, and closing fast. Now everyone could hear the scratching and clinking sounds of the guard's weapons.
Mayumi almost kissed the vent when she saw an opening in a shaft leading off to the left.
"Okay, I found one!" she called out, and raced for it. Stopping at the edge, she glanced down. Inside was the laundry room. No one was in there.
At the end of the line, Trowa turned around and took out his gun. As a guard turned the corner, he fired.
"Trowa! Are you okay?" Hiiro shouted back, hearing the gunfire.
"Yeah! I'm taking out the guards as they turn the corner!"
Hiiro pushed Mayumi forward. "Go!"
She kicked the grate out and jumped lightly down into laundry basket. Hiiro landed right next to her. Flailing amongst clean sheets, they managed to get out of the basket just as Julie jumped, followed closely by Duo.
"Whoa!" Shiris exclaimed as a bullet shot over her head.
"Hurry, jump!" Trowa urged. More than one guard was turning the corner. Shiris landed lightly in the basket. Trowa fired off one last shot and leapt out, landing next to Shiris.
"Come on!" Hiiro whispered, pulling Shiris out of the basket. They could hear the guards scrabbling towards the opening.
They ran for the door to the laundry room, and the girls flipped their watches to heat mode.
"Its all clear outside," Mayumi said. Voices could be heard from the vent, and then the thud of someone landing in the laundry basket.
Hiiro reached the door and flung it open. They ran out and Hiiro slammed the door shut and locked it.
"It'll take them a few minutes to get out of there," he murmured, and led the way down the hall.
"So where are we going?" Julie asked as they turned down another corridor.
"The only other way out of here," Hiiro replied.
"Which would be?"
"The air shaft."
"The air shaft?" Shiris asked incredulously. "That has to be a vertical shaft!"
"Yes. But we can climb up it. Its not wide."
"Its better then nothing," Mayumi commented. "Just how far away is this shaft?"
"Not far. It's right dow-" a shower of bullets stopped him mid-sentence.
"What was that?!" Julie cried, glancing behind them.
"Apparently, the guards have gotten out," Trowa observed.
"What so we do about the guards? They can shot us easily when we're up there!" Julie exclaimed.
"Someone will have to stay behind or we find another way out," Mayumi replied, turning another corner.
"I have a plan," Hiiro offered. "At each corner, someone will stop and shot a few of the guards. By the time we get to the end, all or most of them should be gone."
"Sounds good!" Duo agreed, "I'll take the first shift."
Julie glanced at him. "Be careful," she whispered, and squeezed his hand. He smiled, stopped, and aimed his gun at the corner they had just passed.
"I'll go next," Julie offered, practically running backwards she was so worried about Duo.
Duo had crouched down and was awaiting the first few guards. As one turned the corner, Duo shot him in the head. Two more went down like that, then another. Duo leapt up and raced down the hall and around the corner. Julie greeted him, waiting for the next group of guards.
"You be careful," he ordered with a grin, rushing past her. She smiled and shot the guard that had appeared. Duo ducked around the corner as more guards appeared.
"I'm next," Mayumi said, wanting to make sure her friend was okay. Soon Julie came rushing around the corner.
"They're catching up!" she whispered, running by.
Mayumi steadied herself and aimed at the corner. She managed to get four men before they all came rushing.
She found Hiiro waiting at the next corner. She nodded at him, and he nodded back.
"I'll go next," Trowa said. He hoped he could finish off all the guards before Shiris had to take a turn.
"There better not be many more, cause we're running out of turns!" Duo observed. The shaft was maybe three, four turns ahead.
Trowa faced the corner and three men came around it. Three shots finished them. Then another two, and a single one. No more appeared for a minute.
"They're all done!" he called to Shiris, starting to run to her.
"I'll stay just to make sure," she replied, getting into position as Trowa ran past.
"The vent's just up ahead!" Hiiro called out. Around the next corner, the five hit a dead end. Down there it was dark, no lights at all.
"The vent starts here," Hiiro pointed to a grate about waist high. "Its where the exhaust from various things goes, so its not going to smell very good."
"That's fine, just open it up," Mayumi commanded, glancing behind her.
"Shiris! Is there anyone?" she called back to her.
"Nope!" Shiris answered. She hadn't seen a single person. "It looks like they're all—crap."
She heard many footsteps heading for her. Many more than before.
"Hurry up!" she screamed back at them. "There's more! I'll hold them off for as long as possible!"
She faced the corner again. A man in a black commando suit appeared with double guns. She shot him once in the head.
"These guys are Elites! Get up the vent!" she shouted to the others. Mayumi kicked the grate in. "Julie, go. Duo next. Then Hiiro, then Trowa. I'll go last." No way was she leaving her friend to face those men alone.
Julie scrambled into the shaft. Inside, the vent was pitch-black except for a thin pinpoint of light several floors up where the vent ended.