TWO: Bones
(START: 11 hours 42 minutes 10 seconds)
The screws of the ventilation cover clattered to the floor in quick succession.
She paused, waiting for a reaction. The whispers didn't stop. Nothing happened.
Lacing her fingers through the shutters of the cover, she pushed the thin metal away from the concrete wall. It gave, and she dropped it. The resounding clang that followed gave her pause, but again, there was no reaction.
The halls of Outpost 17 were icy, barely lit by emergency lighting. Against the spotlight of the LED flashlight fastened to Madison's head, nothing within her perception seemed solid. The weight of the backpack shifted to the right, pulling her sideways. A quick survey of the floor below her showed no immediate signs of life, just wet concrete. Still, she remained cautious of the space outside of her. Anything could happen.
Shimmying backward in the vent, Madison pressed herself against the side of the square space, careful of the cast on her arm, and turned herself so that her feet pressed against the other wall of the vent. Turning further, she let her legs hang out of the vent. Leaning back as far as the backpack would allow, she positioned the fingers of her uninjured arm on the edge of the vent.
Pulling herself forward, she dropped to the floor, landing in a crouch. The sound of her sneakers against the cool stone floor echoed loud and far. Yellow light pulsed below her in quick flashes, barely giving her eyes time to take in the sight of the railing and pillars that stretched down beyond her sight.
A hollow sound, low, hurting, and close to the walls, rattled the foundation beneath her feet, reverberating into the building and through her body. Her teeth rattled behind her lips. The mangled whispers and quick gasps fell under the sound, little more than an irritating scratch in her ears.
Titanus Dianoia.
Huddled in the dark, she strained to hear something beyond the call of the titan. Besides her own breathing, her ears didn't pick up on anything out of the ordinary. The yellow light flashed again. This time, she saw shadows moving across the pillars. Shadows shaped like people.
The phone in her pocket buzzed silently. She jumped. Dragging her hand across her side and down into the pocket, she gripped the phone, hesitating only when she saw a light flash again. Running a thumb up the side, she pulled the phone from her pocket and tried to shield the light of the screen from view. She tapped the phone icon, static popped, and breath followed.
"You in?" It was Andrew.
"Where else would I be?" Madison looked left to right, but there was no sign of danger so far.
"Stuck in the vents?"
Madison glared into the dark. "Have they noticed I'm gone yet?"
"No. Ling's too busy arguing with Foster," Andrew sighed. He was moving, indistinct voices and emergency sirens rising and falling as his place among them shifted. "Mads, thanks for doing this."
"Don't thank me, Andrew. He's our dad," Madison frowned.
"I know, I know." She imagined Andrew pinching the bridge of his nose like Dad would. "I just–I wish it were me."
Vibrations ran up Madison's feet into her legs, drawing her attention toward the fractured ceiling and away from the angry retort sitting on the tip of her tongue. "I don't," the answer fizzled flat between them.
"Call me when you find them," he said.
"That's the plan." She ended the call, pocketing the phone. Hopefully, it didn't get wet.
Rising from her crouch, Madison moved toward the railing, following the cone of light atop her head. Keeping her head level, she slid her hand across the bar for a guide. Perspiration rolling down the cylindrical frame put every nerve in her palm on alert. The yellow light flashed again, drawing her eye over the railing.
Silver reflected harshly in the light. She squinted against the gleam, slowly raising her gaze upward. Madison followed lines of light external to her own until her eyes fell on the ceiling. A series of red veins clustered around the circular dome, running across and under its body like snakes. Yellow flashed again, and it took all Madison's self-control not to cry at the sight of the growth.
Looking down, she saw the very bottom bodies contorted in impossible positions. Some faces were covered in shame by hands frozen in mid-claw, others folded over or backs bent back so that the arc of their jaw pointed up. They spun idly like broken marionettes on the floor where the Monarch logo split, forced open from below.
At least it looked like they were on the floor from where she was standing.
Swinging her backpack to the front, she unzipped the bag and fetched the walkie-talkie from the inside. "Hello?" She whispered. "Dad? Are you still there?"
Silence.
Madison had been on her own plenty of times, especially in Monarch outposts. She wasn't afraid of exploring or going places without her parents, but she was never alone under those circumstances. In the dark, 'the nothing' felt like it surrounded her, crowding in. Her skin prickled, even though she knew there was no one in the dark with her save for the unconscious Monarch employees she was bound to trip over.
Reaching the end of the railing, Madison began the slow descent down the stairs, heel-to-toe. She kept her head forward, her gaze somewhat downcast on the steps. Her phone buzzed again, and it was enough to make her jump. Her foot slipped from the edge of the stair, Madison held onto the railing, closing her eyes against the rattle of the metal staircase made in the quiet. In the middle of the stairs, Dianoia's howl made the hair on her neck stand upright.
The yellow light flickering from the open elevator lift just across from the staircase quelled into a violent red. Dread filled Madison as the silver veins descending from the walls vibrated, the bodies attached to them quivering. The radio crackled in tandem with the sound of string snapping and heels clashing with the floor. Without meaning to, Madison looked over the railing. A man and woman were inching into a stand, their movements clumsy, stilted. She had to get off the stairs, and she couldn't hesitate.
"Madison," the sound of her father's voice through the radio stopped her.
"Dad? …Dad!"
(END: 11 hours 20 minutes 53 seconds)