Project ELE (10 page)

“I don’t know guys,” I start. “I’m not sure what I expected to find, but this stinks. There isn't any fiction and the one non-fiction section that could be interesting doesn't really contain anything about this mountain that's useful. I guess we will have to find some other place to pass the time. Something to keep our mind off…things.”

Connor and Claire nod their heads in unison.

Alec on the other hand seems lost in thought.

“I mean, there’s got to be something fun to do here besides wallowing in self-pity or twiddling our thumbs. This place is huge. There must be some trouble to be had.” I furrow my brow in frustration. It’s really not like me to be looking for something that will get me in trouble, but hey, give me a little credit. I need something to help me unwind. These last few weeks have been completely crazy. I sort through the visual of the map in my head looking for another activity to enjoy in the shelter. Then it hits me. “Guys, I think I’ve got it!”

Both Claire and Connor turn and look at me expectantly. Alec finally returns from 'lala' land and gives me his full attention.

I get up quickly and find the book I had recently reshelved. “Here, look at this.” I open the manual on Sewage Systems and find the map. I lay it across the floor so we can all see. Taking my tablet out, I pull the general map up and set it by its side. I point my finger at the Sewage map. “You see here?” I ask excited that I've now figured out what struck that chord when I was staring at the map. “This is the map of the Sewage System. These tunnels run parallel to the halls, which I guess makes sense. If you look at the map of the facility that we use to make runs and this map simultaneously, you can see that these passageways not only connect to everything on the original map, but there are also some passageways leading to places that aren't named or mentioned. If you look really closely it looks like there is a whole other floor beneath the storage area." I look up from the map to see my friends staring at me like I'm nuts.

"You totally lost me." Connor says.

"Yep, me too. What exactly are you getting at?" Alec asks.

I laugh. It's hard sometimes for me to verbalize what my brain is processing so instead I put it in laymen’s terms. "Guys,” I say pause for dramatic effect. “I don’t think these are sewage tunnels per say; I think these are hidden passageways.” I look up to gauge their expressions.

Claire has a curious gleam in her eye but Connor busts out laughing hysterically.

"Secret passage ways!" I stare at him straight faced until he calms down.

"Hey it could happen. I heard a rumor about a spring somewhere down there that feeds into the mountain. That's how our water is being pumped in. There must be some way down to it. What Willow says doesn't sound too far fetched." Alec looks to me and I show him a grateful smile.

Connor's face turns a little red at having been shut down but he quickly gets over it. “Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

“Let’s go check it out,” Claire squeals. She gets up super-fast and reaches her hand out to me. I take it and she pulls me to my feet. She's got some good strength for a girl so small.

Alec and Connor meet us on the upright and I reshelve the book. “Wait,” says Connor. “We’ll need that to know where we’re going.” He reaches for the book I’m shelving.

I gently stop his hand. “Remember Connor? Photographic memory.” I point to my head for emphasis.

A look of realization dawns on Alec's face. “So that’s how you do it.”

We all break out in a laugh at Alec being clued in to how I manage to get my work done so quickly. The librarian turns around and yells at us to be quiet. I put my fingers over my lips and we slip out the door but not before the librarian gives us a dirty look.

When we get into the hall Alec is the first to break the silence. "Guys, I'm not sure about this. It's labeled sewage system for a reason. We can't be crawling around in that stuff!" My eyes drop as I realize what he's saying. "But," Alec begins again with newfound hope. "I think I may know how we can still do this." All of us turn to Alec and give him our full attention. Alec pulls out his tablet and opens a map I hadn't seen before. "Perks of the job," he says answering my unasked question.

Connor and Claire inch closer to Alec and me as he punches in different options on his tablet. He pulls up a map of the lower level and it expands into a more detailed translation; one I hadn't seen before. I take a mental picture of the gigantic space that takes up an entire level as Alec begins explaining. "This is where all the supplies are kept for the different jobs in the facility. The sanitation department has rubber boots and other gear that would allow us to go into these tunnels. I'm not sure what's down there but we should be ready for the unexpected if you ask me."

We all nod our head in unison.

"So," I pause trying to gather my thoughts. "Once we get down there, how will we know where the stuff is that we would need? I mean, it's got to be a pretty big area to take up an entire floor. And, what if we get caught? "

A small smile escapes Alec's lips. "In answer to your questions Willow: a) I don't know how we'll know what stuff is where; and b) we won't get caught if no one sees us." A small gleam catches his eye as a mischievous grin escapes me. I guess that was confirmation enough for Alec that I'm game. He turns to Connor and Claire, "You guys in?" He asks simply.

They look at each other and then nod their heads. We look like a bunch of Cheshire cats grinning the way we are. We've been working our butts off; now it's time to play.

"Wait," Alec says. "Before we go, we've got to figure out what to do with the tablets."

I furrow my brow. "What do you mean 'do with our tablets?' We take them with us of course." I say like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

He lets out a small sigh. "Seriously, you haven't figured it out yet?"

"Figured out what," Claire interjects.

"Figured out that the tablets track your every move." Alec says. He continues, "Willow, how on earth did you think I would know that you help Claire and Connor when you run? Hmm?" He asks me. He doesn't wait for my response before he starts tapping into his tablet. A map pulls up of the facility with a bunch of red dots that are moving slowly across the screen. "Now, I only have access to the runners under my direction, but there's a large map in headquarters that has all of the residents of the entire facility being monitored simultaneously. Yeah, kind of creepy, I know." He puts his tablet back in his satchel that he carries and waits while we all brainstorm.

Out of nowhere I hear this guttural laugh coming from Claire. We all stare at her like she's lost her mind. She puts her hands on her knees and continues to laugh for a moment longer until she settles down enough to speak. "Sorry," she says between breaths. "Okay, I think I have an idea." She looks around her to make sure the coast is clear then huddles closer. "So, Alec, you say that they track us by our tablets so we can't really leave them anywhere right? I mean, that would look pretty obvious if we sit in the same spot for several hours." Alec nods his head and she continues, "So what if I could guarantee that we'd leave them somewhere and they would move around throughout the day?"

Alec furrows his brows, "I'm listening."

"Okay," says Claire. "What if we found a way to tape them to the bottom of something that gets moved around all day." We all nod our heads waiting for the punch line. "So, I say we put them on the bottom of say, a maid cart, or the cafeteria tray carts?"

Connor begins jumping, "Claire, that rocks!" He pulls her into an excited hug and keeps jumping. Claire's body stiffens and her hands remain at her sides. Connor must sense this because he stops mid bounce. He clears his throat. "Sorry 'bout that. Just got excited." He looks down at his foot and I try and stifle a small laugh.

"So anyway," I say trying to change the subject. "Claire, I think you're onto something. Alec what do you think?" We all look to Alec for final approval.

"I think it's go time." He says with a smile on his face. "Okay, so here's the plan. I'm going to go into the office and grab a roll of heavy-duty tape and meet you all back here. Then we'll each go our separate ways, tape up our tablets and then meet by the elevators in the commons area. Sound like a plan?" We all nod our heads in agreement.

"Wait," I interject. "I mean, it sounds like a fail-safe plan, but how are we going to find our tablets when it's all said and done?" I hate to sound like a killjoy but it's a valid question.

"Good question, Willow." Alec responds. "All I have to do is retrieve mine first and then I can pull up each of your tablets locations. Maid carts and tray carts don't move that fast; I'm pretty sure we can manage to track them down. We all good with that?" Alec asks everyone.

"How are you going to find yours?" I ask.

He smiles at me. I feel a flutter in my stomach. "I'm going to be earning extra credit by working on my only day off. I'll just tape it to the underside of my desk."

"Clever." Connor says.

We all nod our heads in unison. "Okay, hands in." Alec puts his hand out in the middle of the circle. We each stick our hands out and put them on top of the other. "Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three..."

I'm not sure what we're supposed to do so I just stand there. We look at Alec a bit awkwardly, "Were we supposed to say something?" I ask Alec.

He just rolls his eyes and removes his hand. "Oh, never mind. Let's meet back up in half an hour." We agree and disperse to find our secret hiding spots.

****

Thirty minutes later we've stashed our tablets and are waiting by the elevator in the commons area; all of us except Claire that is. "I wonder what's taking her so long," I say tapping my foot.

A few moments later Claire rounds the corner out of breath. "Sorry guys, the maid was trying to chase me down. She thought I was trying to steal her small shampoo bottles."

I let out a short laugh and push the down button on the elevator.

"Here goes nothing." I say to no one in particular.

We all pile in and Alec pushes the button at the bottom labeled 'S'. The elevator doors close and we jerk at the motion. The ride down seems to take forever. I'm not sure if it's just a long way down or if the elevator is just slow. My ears begin to pop at our decent so I'm guessing it's the former. After a good minute the elevator settles and the door opens. We shuffle off and the doors close.

Before us is a vast room at least ten stories high illuminated by dim track lighting. There are humongous wooden crates lined up for as far as the eye can see. Each crate is large enough to hold our entire group inside then some. I count four different rows in the warehouse and immediately feel our plan fizzle. How are we going to be able to find what we need? "There has to be over one hundred crates in here. There's just no way--" I begin.

Claire cuts me off. "Well, there must be some organizational method or a map. They wouldn't just store crates like this where the contents are impossible to locate." Without another word Claire begins searching the area near the elevator doors. "Ah-ha," I hear her say from around the corner. "Found it!"

We all shuffle around the corner to find a piece of paper haphazardly taped to the right of the elevator. There is a label for each crate briefly telling of the department for which they belong. Claire takes her finger and begins searching for Sanitation. Her finger stops on one of the sections at the far end of the warehouse. "Here," she says. "I wish we could take this map with us. It's going to be hard to find."

"That would be my job," I say taking in a mental snapshot of the map. "Follow me." My friends pause and look at me questionably but once again I point to my head and without saying anything else they nod their heads.

It takes us a good five minutes to find the correct boxes. Not because they're hard for me to locate, but because of this area being so big. "If I'm right, they should be right...up...here." We stop in front of a stack of boxes.

Alec finds a latch on the side of the box and pulls the boarded door down. It lands with a loud thump as he lets it drop the last few feet to the ground. We all freeze at the sound. It doesn't look like anyone's in here, but with as vast as this place is we can never be sure. A few moments pass as we listen for any footsteps or voices. I breathe a small sigh of relief and watch as small bits of wood dust settle on the floor. Alec is the first to step into the crate. He finds a string and pulls on it. A light clicks on the ceiling of the crate and illuminates its contents. Shelves have been built on either side of the crate holding different sized cardboard boxes. Thankfully, these boxes are labeled. We all pile into it and begin searching for things we may need.

"I've got gloves," I hear Claire say.

"Here's some boots," Alec says as he wrestles a box to the floor.

"And here's some goggles?" Connor says like it's a question. "Not sure we'll need them but here they are," he says justifying his comment.

"Oh, here's some waders." I read the label on the box out loud.

We each drag our boxes out of the crate and open them together. I pull out several pairs of waders from mine and find they are a 'one size fits all,' which basically means I'll look like I'm drowning in them. Oh well, I think to myself. It's not like I'm going for fashionista of the month or anything. We pull out four of everything and then put away the boxes.