Page 90 of Then She Vanished

‘Sounds like the ventilation system has been restored. We need paramedics here,now, with oxygen, and someone from the fire department with hoists.’

She recoiled at the sight of the body below.

Jacob gasped. ‘That’s Gary Pritchard.’

The man’s body lay at the bottom of the metal steps, blood pooled around his chest area, his body contorted after what Gina thought might have been a rough landing. A bloodied knife lay on the floor next to him.

Jacob shone his torch into the room. Gina popped Eric’s phone into her pocket as she climbed down, careful to not step on Gary’s body as she reached the concrete floor.

That’s where the horrendous smell had been coming from.

Gagging as she breathed in the thin air, she grabbed a face mask from her pocket and popped it on, not that it was going to be much help. She heaved a couple more times before finding her composure.

‘There’s a door here,’ she yelled up. The ventilation system rumbled. ‘Ruth,’ she called out, in the hope that Ruth had just been slipping in and out of consciousness, but there was no answer.

Jacob jumped down beside her and pulled his coat over his nose. ‘Jeez,’ he said as he sidestepped the body.

Gina went to grab the door, but it was locked. She pulled out Eric’s phone again and went back to the CCTV images. A wash of light-headedness came over her, but with the systems back up and running, the room would soon be filled with precious oxygen.

Jacob began banging on the door. ‘Ruth,’ he called, but the woman on the screen didn’t move.

‘We have to get in there.’ The human body could only last so long without oxygen – only a matter of a few minutes at most. She began to flick through everything Eric had been using on his phone, and she spotted an app with a door logo.

She pressed it and hit the ‘unlock bunker’ button. A clunking sound of the door unlocking filled the tiny space. ‘We’re in.’

She swallowed as she pushed the door open.

They’d already found two dead bodies. Were they about to find another two?

FIFTY-NINE

The light-headedness began to subside as Gina opened the door to the capsule. She placed Eric’s phone back in her pocket, no longer needing to see what was right in front of her. Without wasting a single second, she ran to the back of the kitchen area and opened the other door. On the floor, lay Ruth and the girl.

Knees to the floor, she checked the frail-looking girl. ‘There’s a pulse. Not much, but it’s there. She’s breathing faintly. Jacob, check Ruth.’

Gina grabbed the girl and dragged her off Ruth and lay her in the recovery position, leaving enough room for Jacob to administer first aid too. ‘Get the paramedics in here,’ she called. Three paramedics ran in with oxygen tanks and took over. Gina stepped out into the kitchen area and paced the tiny space. Jacob joined her.

Seconds felt like hours as they waited to see how Ruth and Luna were. Gina stared at all the pictures on the wall above the sink. There was the drawing of Luna with the scarf that they’d found, along with many others. A little note was written underneath a drawing of Luna and Albie.

Happy birthday, Daddy.

She turned around and saw the racks of food and supplies. Then she spotted the red baseball cap with the word Florida printed on the front. The edges were frayed and shabby after years of use. A pile of birthday cards sat next to it and the top one had a picture of a teddy bear on it, with the word daughter written at the top.

Jacob pointed to another drawing that had been hung on the wall near the door. It was of an underground bunker leading up some ladders, and above the ladders were dead trees and dead animals strewn across the barren earth above.

Gina heard Ruth coughing from the end room. Two paramedics helped the confused woman through, nudging Gina and Jacob against the rack. A hoist dropped through the hatch and they began strapping her in before Ruth was gently pulled through. O’Connor peered down. ‘I’ll go with her in the ambulance to the hospital.’

‘Thanks.’ Gina watched as they helped Luna. As the oxygen circulated, she began to breathe greedily before prising her eyes open. A wash of fear filled the girl’s eyes as she stared directly at Gina, and then at the paramedic who was helping her. She let out a hoarse cry and began to hit him and tear the oxygen away. Gasping, she stumbled to the back of the capsule and onto the bed where she sat in the corner, gripping her knees.

‘What’s your name? I’m Bennie,’ the paramedic said, gently.

She reached out and hit his face.

‘I’m trying to help you; I need to get you to a hospital. You’ve been deprived of oxygen. I know all this is confusing.’ He smiled. ‘I have a daughter your age.’

The girl grabbed one of the chess pieces and threw it at his eye. He withdrew. ‘It’s okay, I’ll wait here.’ He stood by outside the small WC that seemed to be dotted with bloodied rags.

Gina then knew that Albie Hathaway was meant to get back to the bunker with his daughter’s sanitary products.

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