Page 65 of Silent Road

"Maybe."He struggled to his feet, swaying slightly."But if the tunnels are completely flooded, or if we get turned around in the dark..."

"Then we drown instead of freeze.I'll take my chances."And what if Wells tries to get the drop on me in the darkness?she wondered.It was just a risk she'd have to take.

Can you walk?"she asked, studying him.

"I think so."He squinted upward at the distant opening."Why did your deputy give you up for dead?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out."Sheila swept her weakening flashlight beam down the shaft.Dark ice reflected the light perhaps thirty feet below."The important thing is that right now, he probably thinks we're either dead or dying.We need to move before he comes back to check, because if he finds us alive, he's going to finish the job."

Wells grunted."Just when I thought things couldn't get any more interesting…"

They made their way carefully down a series of old maintenance rungs set into the wall.The metal was rusted and slick with ice, threatening to crumble under their weight.The ice below looked black as oil in the failing flashlight beam.

When they reached the bottom, Wells pointed to a side tunnel that had been partially submerged."That one leads east.The others are dead ends."

"You're sure?"

"I've mapped this whole system.Spent weeks down here getting the perfect shots of rust patterns, mineral formations."He laughed bitterly."My father would have appreciated the irony—his obsession with photographing decay might end up saving a life."

"Two lives," Sheila said."You mean it might end up savingtwolives."

Wells gave her a long look."Yes," he said slowly."Of course, that's what I meant."

He trudged ahead.Sheila stared after him for a few moments, uneasy.Then, seeing no alternatives, she followed.

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

The service tunnels beneath the research facility were a maze of ice and darkness.Sheila's failing flashlight beam revealed sheets of frost coating the concrete walls, and frozen rivulets that had once been water seepage now formed crystalline patterns along the floor.

"The main maintenance tunnel runs east," Wells said, his voice echoing in the confined space."We can follow it about half a mile to a junction point.From there, a service corridor leads to an access door on the mountainside."

"You sure about the route?"

"I've photographed every inch of this place."Wells moved carefully, favoring his injured side."After my father died, I spent weeks down here.The isolation suited me.No people, no pretense.Just pure moments of natural decay."

They picked their way through the tunnel, boots crunching on patches of ice.The temperature was well below freezing, their breath forming clouds that hung in the beam of Sheila's weakening flashlight.She tried to conserve the batteries, using the light in short bursts, but the darkness between those moments was absolute.

"Watch your step," Wells warned."There's a maintenance trench ahead—it'll be covered in ice, but I wouldn't trust it to hold our weight."

Sheila swept her light across the floor, revealing a narrow channel that had once carried drainage water.Now, it was a treacherous ribbon of ice.They edged along the wall to avoid it, hands trailing against the frozen concrete for balance.

A sound echoed from behind them—metal groaning against metal.A door opening somewhere in the facility above.

"Tommy," Sheila whispered."He's down here somewhere."

Wells grunted."Looking for us so he can 'finish the job,' as you put it?"

"Probably so."

"Well, his chances aren't great.It's all too easy to get lost in this place if you don't know it like I do."

They moved faster now, but the footing was treacherous.Patches of black ice threatened to send them sprawling with each step.The cold was already affecting Sheila's thinking, making her movements sluggish.Even through her winter gear, the chill seemed to seep into her bones.

"Keep talking," she said, partly to help them stay alert."Tell me about the tunnels.How did you map them?"

"Methodically.Like everything else."Wells's voice was tight with cold."Started at the main entrance, worked my way down.Photographed every junction, every maintenance access.My father would have appreciated the attention to detail if nothing else."

They reached an intersection where three tunnels converged.Wells pointed to the rightmost passage."That one.It slopes upward slightly—less ice accumulation."

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