Pete and Chloe slowly walked down the narrow passageway. It was really only wide enough for two people to walk side by side with a little extra room on each side. But, then again Chloe figured there hadn't been too many people down here. It wasn't messy, in fact it was very neat, sterile even.
As they continued on the light increased in intensity and was now very well lit. They reached an area that had rooms on each side with wide glass windows as if for someone to be able to view what was going on in the interior from the hallway.
Chloe looked inside one of the rooms and saw several different computers in one corner of the room. Black lab tables were lined up in the middle with various types of beakers sitting in trays on them.
Suddenly Pete stopped walking and Chloe nearly walked into him. "What…" Chloe's words were cut off quickly as Pete clamped his hand over Chloe mouth. He placed his hand over his mouth with one finger pointing up indicated for Chloe to be quiet and listen. When she did, she could hear the distinct sound of footfalls coming toward them.
Chloe's eyes got big as she listened and then looked at Pete wondering what they were going to do. He pointed to the nearby lab room, praying that the door would actually be unlocked. Chloe nodded her head as Pete removed his hand from her mouth. Pete grabbed the doorknob and as quietly as he could attempted to open it.
At first he didn't think it would open, but then it began to cooperate with him and it opened gently. He was in a way surprised it was unlocked, but then again who would be down here, that the doors would need to be locked.
Chloe hurried into the room and squatted down against the wall below the window while Pete slowly closed the door and let go of the handle. He dropped to the floor, nearly crawling to where Chloe was sitting. They both sat in silence, though Chloe felt as if her heart was beating so loudly that surely anyone near could hear it. She looked over at Pete and could tell he felt the same way.
They stayed in there makeshift hiding place until the footfalls had come and died away going in the direction they had come. Chloe let of a sigh of relief after a few minutes with no other noise coming their way. "That was really close." Her voice was shaky, and her hands felt like they were trembling.
"Yeah," Pete nodded his head. "I'm going to check and see if everything is clear." Chloe nodded her head in agreement. While Pete peeked over the glass Chloe looked at what was sitting right in front of her and curiosity began to get the better of her. She hesitantly stuck out her hand and nearly screamed when Pete grabbed it. "I wouldn't touch anything." Pete said giving her a wry smile. "Besides the coast is clear."
Chloe felt like slapping him for scaring her like that, but just glared at him instead. "Well, at least help me up." Pete extended his hand like a gentleman and gently helped Chloe back into a standing position.
They looked around one more time before exiting the room. After going just a little ways further they saw that the corridor branch off to the left. Chloe figured that must have been the direction the person had been coming from earlier.
Pete looked over at Chloe unsure. "Which way?"
"Lex, said to go to the end of the corridor. He didn't say anything about turning."
Pete gave Chloe a look saying, You know how I feel about that.
"I know, I know." Chloe said putting her hands up. "Lets just go a little further and if we don't find him we'll come back. Okay?"
Pete nodded his head as they continued straight on. They didn't have to go much farther when they came to a room that caused them both to stop in their tracks. They looked through the window on saw Clark laying on a metal table with wide metal straps covering both of his wrists and ankles. Chloe noticed that his eyes were closed. She didn't know what had happened to him or even if he was conscious. The thought made her want to cry. No, Chloe. You have to keep it together.
Pete looked down at the doorknob, it was slightly different from the round doorknob that was on the door. This one had a long extended handle on it. Pete pressed down on the handle, but the handle stopped part of the way down and wouldn't go any further.
"What's wrong?"
"The door's locked." Pete answered anxiety evident in his voice.
Thinking quickly Chloe asked "Pete, do you have a credit card on you?"
"No, but I have a debit card." Pete pulled out his billfold, handing over the card.
"Great." Chloe expertly slid the card in between the door and the frame while pressing down on the handle. After a few seconds she was rewarded with a click as the door slid open. She quickly handed the card back to Pete before rushing over to the table.
Chloe shook Clark's shoulder gently. "Clark, Clark. Wake up."
Clark opened his eyes, blinking several times trying to get his bearings again. "Chloe?" Chloe heard the surprise and relief in the way he said her name. "How did you get here?"
"Lex helped. But I'll give you the details later. Let's get you out of here now." Chloe looked down at the restraints on Clark's wrists. "I think I'm going to need your help on these Clark. You think you're up to it."
"I"ll see what I can do." Clark tried to pull at the restraints but they would only move a little. Chloe wondered why Clark just couldn't break himself out. "Clark, what's wrong?"
"My abilities aren't working right yet. They've been out since last night." Chloe looked down at Clark realization dawning on her. He came and rescued Lex and me knowing something like this could happen. Chloe tried to look around on the top of the restraints to see if there was a release mechanism.
"Who are you and just what do you think you are doing?" Chloe turned around slowly to see a man dressed in a white lab coat looking very angry.
Chloe stared at him for a moment trying to come up with something to say when a loud thud could be heard and the scientist dropped to the ground. She saw Pete standing behind him, the baseball bat now showing a slight crack.
"I told you this thing would come in handy."
"You didn't hurt him too badly did you?" Chloe looked down at the now unconscious man before looking back at Pete.
"Now, I hit him across the shoulders. He should be fine." Pete walked over to Clark. "Hey, man. We're going get you out of here."
"Pete, you look on that side while I look over here. There has got to be a way to undone these things." Chloe continued to look below the restraints and the underside of the table. Chloe found a small button and decided to press it and see what happened. Chloe heard a snap and a slight hydraulic sound. She stuck her head up and found that her mission had been successful and one restraint had popped open.
Chloe nearly squealed as she spoke. "Pete, there's a button on the bottom. Just push that." Pete nodded and soon another snap could be heard. Chloe went to the foot of the table and quickly released the other two.
Clark sat up slightly disoriented and stayed still for a moment before rubbing his now sore wrists. "Can you walk?" Chloe asked unsure.
"Yeah, I think so." Clark placed put feet on the floor and felt how cold it was to his bare feet. He held his weight for a moment but then he legs felt like Jello and he began to fall. Chloe and Pete quickly came to each side of him for support. They each placed an arm around their shoulder. Clark couldn't help but smile at the awkward way they were going to have to walk. "Thank guys."
Pete just smiled. "Let's get going." After careful maneuvering out the door, they made there way down the hall as quickly as they thought Clark could move. Thankfully no one else appeared and it seemed like they were going to make a clean get away. They stopped shortly before the entrance to rest and to try and figure out how to get the door to open back up.
"Now what?" Pete asked worried.
"There has got be a lever to open it, just like there was outside." Chloe looked over at Clark concerned. "Are you doing okay?"
He gave her the best smile he could at the moment. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Okay, Pete. You check over there and I'll check over here." They both walked over to the wall and began feeling around.
Clark knew he could help out, if only it would work. He decided it wouldn't hurt, hopefully, to try. He decided he would start on the end Chloe was at and try to come back toward Pete. He concentrated on the wall, the image not changing to began with. Then slowly he got a fuzzy imagine of something mechanical near Chloe. But the picture went away before he could tell what it was.
"Chloe, there's something behind the wall near you. I couldn't tell what it was." Chloe looked over at him confused for a moment before realizing what he had done. She then turned back to the wall and pressed on a stone. To her relief she could hear the door beginning to move.
As they exited Clark couldn't believe how good the afternoon sun felt to him. He stood there just looking at it as it sat low on the horizon. "Feeling better already, huh?" Pete asked as he could tell by the look on his friend's face.
