Well, this was going to be the penultimate chapter... somehow I'm not so sure; these characters just get out of control too easily. I'm glad I'm not Lester trying to organise them. However, the end is in sight... I think. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval. Neither in this Universe or any parallel one.
Matt and Becker had lapsed into pointless conversations. While this would have probably consisted of meaningless drivel about shoes, clothes and the latest goings-on in Hollywood if the pair had been female, the subject matter proved more elusive for the actual captives. Neither had a great interest in such things as football and the conversation of going to the pub afterwards lasted less than twenty seconds – the length of time it took Becker to point out it would be well gone closing time already and there was still no sign of rescue.
Thus the challenge for Matt became the constant issue of thinking of a new topic of conversation every other minute. He tried cricket, international politics, the economic crisis... he even mistakenly asked about what Sarah had been like, which was met with a chilling stare he endeavoured to avoid again.
It took him half an hour to strike the jackpot and afterwards he kicked himself for not thinking of it before.
"Still, at least in this space we can use our EMDs."
The argument was still on-going when Matt noticed the whirring of electrical machinery below them.
"So you can't narrow it down anymore?" asked Lester as Connor explained (roughly) the area they thought Matt and Becker could be in.
"Well, we know they have to be within five minutes crawl of your office. And we know they're conscious so they'll hear us and..."
"Whoa whoa whoa. They're both conscious," interrupted Lester. "You know this how exactly?"
"I phoned them and spoke to them," replied Connor, as if it was the stupidest question he'd heard all day.
"And the reason you can't phone them to find out where they think they are is...?" Lester left the question hanging as he raised an eyebrow at the pair's 'no comment'. "Right well..."
As if on cue, Connor's phone rang from inside his jacket pocket. Everyone stared at the young scientist who coughed awkwardly and pulled the device out his pocket. He pressed answer and out it on speaker phone, holding it out in the middle of the group.
"Connor! We noticed the electricity is back on. Well done, mate!" came Matt's voice. "Where are you?"
"They are both in the main corridor, along with me and a group of Becker's man... and one boy," said Lester, loudly. The young soldier behind him cringed backwards at the comment.
"We were just going to get support," explained Abby. "Look, do you have any clue where you might be trapped?"
"Erm... I'll have to check with Becker... he's more experienced with the vent shafts..."
"Probably all those sessions with Danny," muttered Lester. There was a pause and the sound of conversation happening away from the phone. The rescue waited impatiently.
"He says at the North end of the C18 shaft."
"Right," replied Lester. "And for those of us without a compass?" There was another pause and more muffled voices before Matt came back.
"The end nearest to your office. We should be above... lab 6A right now... and Becker wants to know why it has an 'A', considering there's no lab 6B."
Lester huffed and rolled his eyes. At least it sounded as if Becker was alright; when Abby was voiced her concerns, she was worried about the Captain's condition, though he did admit he was a little surprised Matt had been straight with her.
"Tell him I'll only let him take that one up with the management team responsible if he waits patiently for us to come and get him. No heroics. It may take us about half an hour or more to even reach you, what with the lifts still being down." Lester glanced at the shaft that Abby and Connor had just scaled down, grimacing at the image of him clambering up there.
"Ok then. See you in a while."
The phone clicked and produced the monotonous tone as Matt hung up. Connor pressed 'end call' and returned the instrument to his pocket. Lyons walked over to the lift shaft and examined the inside, making note of the all the hand-holds and foot-holds Abby and Connor had used.
"How many floors up do we have to go?" he asked.
"For those, only two," answered Abby. "But we'll come up a distance from them and, while the gap isn't between us and them, we'll still be plunging into some damaged areas. We may need equipment that we can't get up there."
"One thing at a time. We need to get up there and assess the path. Since we have no proper equipment readily available, we can't afford to bring in stuff just on the off chance of it being useful, particularly if it's going to be a bind to get it up there." Lyons looked at Lester. "You coming, sir?"
"Of course," stated Lester, as if there was no question.
"Right, well, we'll be climbing a shaft with no ladder, but from what I can tell, it's not impossible."
"OF course it's not impossible!" exclaimed Connor. "How do you think we go down? Come on. Follow me!" The scientist pushed past the soldier and hauled himself up onto the first set of rungs he could use. After that, he quickly eased himself up further, and Lyons, feeling slightly embarrassed, followed him directly.
Lester looked up. "Why don't we have a ladder? I swear there's some breakdown regulation that states we should." Several soldiers went past to start climbing.
"It was a security risk. You know, in case anyone decided to cut the power to stop us chasing them, they'd be stuck upstairs too."
Lester placed his hand on the first handhold. "Hardly impossible though is it?"
Abby smiled. "No. That's so we can follow them if they're already downstairs." Lester hauled himself up and out of sight and Abby, followed by the last two security men, pushed herself upwards.
Reaching the second floor took about fifteen minutes, mainly because Connor kept on having to explain where was a good place to put a foot or hand. They all gathered at the top waiting for the last man (who turned out to be one Lester insisted upon calling a boy) to appear.
"Which way now?" said Lester, straightening his shirt, which was going in the bin as soon as he got home. "Either we can take..." Lester peered down one corridor. "... the partially collapsed corridor or..." He glanced the other way. "... the fully collapsed corridor. I thought it shouldn't be too bad here?"
"It's still sustained minor damage. Almost everything on this floor will be suffering from possible structural weakness," said Connor, as he did a 360. He admitted that he was surprised by the extent of the damage, but he supposed that seeing as he was barely affected by the explosion when it happened, he was only prepared for a few shelves knocked over and a couple of burst pipes. Seems that the ARC was simply good at absorbing shockwaves.
Too good if you asked for Connor's opinion.
"This way," pointed Abby, down the 'partially collapsed corridor'. "Which is just as well since I think down the other way the floor stops."
"Stops?" whispered the youngest soldier, as if the building would fall to pieces from the vibrations of his voice. "Shouldn't we get professional help if the building is unsteady?"
Everyone turned slowly to stare at him. He gulped as he realised the reality. They were the shook her head and proceeded down the dusty corridor. One side had caved over, but at her height, she barely had to duck to get through. The men weren't so lucky.
"I have a feeling my hairdresser is going to be wondering what on Earth I have been doing when I see him next week."
"Oh come on Lester. Surely you're going to wash your hair sooner than that!" exclaimed Connor. The civil servant looked back at the younger man.
"I think I'm going to have to spend the next week in the shower to get all this dust and debris out. And at some point, I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of paperwork surrounding this whole thing!"
"Really? What gave you that idea?" said Abby. She pulled up. "Does anyone have any clue how far we've come down this corridor?" The labs, the numbers of which Abby was counting on to guide her to Matt and Becker, were under the collapsed half of the corridor and, with the lights destroyed and the glow from the end of the passage getting weaker, she was getting quite disorientated.
"Erm... I'd say about three labs further," guessed Lyons, less than confidently.
"Four and a half labs," came Lester's voice. "I know this place better than the back of my hand; I'll tell you when to stop."
Abby walked carefully another few metres and just spied, in the almost pitch black, a darker outline ahead.
"Anyone got a torch?" she called back. One was quickly produced (Becker liked to have his men equipped for all situations) and the blond woman shone it forward. A metal pipe crossed the gap and the debris was much lower at this point than where they'd come from.
"You could get through," stated Lyons. "And a couple of the smaller, slighter lads. The rest... it'll be a squeeze."
"Right. I'll go through, along with anyone else who can fit easily. We can just check the route, see how many people we will need." Lyons nodded in agreement.
Grasping the torch in her right hand, Abby stepped under the ceiling and slipped through the gap. Lyons was right; for her, it was the correct size, but for anyone larger it would be a challenge. She didn't wait for the person who was going to follow her, instead pressed through another couple of gaps, alternating sides of the corridor in a chicane, which were slightly larger.
Suddenly, she found herself with air to breath, so to speak. The corridor opened out into a foyer, the ceiling broken, but not fallen, as it had been. She glanced at the label on the lab to the right.
Lab 7B.
But that meant...
She looked back through the tight maze tunnel she had just come through. Lab 7A would be where the chicane was, which meant lab 6A would be...
She took in a lungful of cleaner air and plunged back into the maze she'd come from and straight into the youngest soldier.
"Hey! What gives?" he cried, obviously getting a little frustrated by everyone mocking him.
Abby rolled her eyes. "What's your name?"
"Stevens."
"Right, Stevens. About turn."
"In this space?"
"No. In a field in Somerset. Yes, in this space."
Grousing, Stevens backed, causing complaints from the man behind him, who was being pushed through by Connor and Lyons. A general yell went up at the chaos. Eventually, the commotion died down and the soldier was dragged though, which some nudging from Stevens' rear-end.
"ABBY! What's happening?" called Lester, down the tunnel.
"Shhh!" hushed Abby back. "Listen carefully."
Everyone was silent for a few seconds. The only sound was of a creaking from some distant brickwork. Lester sighed. Abby had definitely lost it.
Just as Connor opened his mouth, there was suddenly a new sound, thin and reedy within the compact and packed corridor.
"Is that...?" started Lyons.
"Yes," interrupted Connor, nodding excitedly. "That's Matt's voice!"
Abby! Connor! The cry was louder this time.
"But..." began Lyons, but he was cut off again by Abby, peering through.
"This pipe!" she gasped. "It connects directly to where they are!"
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