While You Slept

by R. J. Parker

  The beeping stopped.

  Somebody had turned it off. They had to keep low, not be tempted to take a look over the wall, however briefly. Lily pulled Maisie to the next left turning and, when they reached it, they were looking at the windows that ran down the left-hand side of the office.

  They’d made it to the other side. Lily poked her head out quickly and looked in both directions. Nobody. To her right was a forty-yard space between them and some grey swing doors.

  The footsteps were hurrying now. Working their way in their direction.

  There was no time for second thoughts. Lily dragged Maisie out of the maze and indicated she should keep down. They dashed for the doors. If they stood, they would immediately be seen.

  The footfalls sounded close now. They had to know where they’d be headed. Should they have turned left and headed back to the first doors? It was too late. They scrambled for the ones in front and Lily was searching for signs of them being locked. If they were, they were trapped.

  The footsteps changed pitch. They were behind them now. Out in the open as well.

  Lily stood straight and jerked Maisie up so they could pick up speed. They were only about ten feet from the doors. There was daylight through the circular portals.

  Maisie’s legs couldn’t keep up.

  ‘Come on, sweetheart.’ Her hand was out to the doors.

  ‘I can’t.’

  Lily gathered her daughter up and launched herself at them.

  Chapter 55

  Lily found herself at the top of a dingy stairwell and, without looking back, quickly descended the dirty concrete steps. Before she was halfway down, she heard somebody hit the swing doors.

  ‘Behind us!’ Maisie shrieked.

  Because she was holding Maisie, she couldn’t see her feet on the steps and prayed she didn’t lose her rhythm before she reached the bottom.

  Footfalls resounded close behind them.

  Lily barrelled through another set of doors on the next level. There was a service elevator in front of them, but it took her a split second to decide that there wasn’t time to open the next fire exit door let alone punch the button.

  As the doors continued to swing open, she rammed her back against them and gritted her teeth in readiness.

  A second later the person chasing them butted the panels, and Lily turned her body sideways and put her shoulder forcibly against the middle of the doors. Before they could batter it again, she slipped her left arm through the two handles and clenched against the next impact.

  It jarred her hard and the edge of the door caught her cheekbone, but she slid her arm further through the handles, so her shoulder was lodged against the metal. She gripped one hand tightly in the other.

  ‘You’re crushing me.’

  ‘Drop to the floor!’

  But Maisie put her hands tighter around Lily’s neck.

  Another severe jolt. She cried out in pain but pedalled her feet against the door so they couldn’t bust through.

  The doors relaxed but Lily knew they were probably taking a run at it. She looked frantically around and saw the fire hose on the wall. ‘Maisie, get that for me.’

  Maisie opened her eyes and followed Lily’s gaze.

  Bang!

  The blow parted the doors wider and the handles bit acutely into her arm. Lily screamed, water filled her vision and she choked back the agony. ‘Get it!’

  Maisie slid from between her arms and dashed to the hose.

  ‘Grab the end and uncoil it!’

  Maisie grunted as she tugged on the nozzle, but it wouldn’t release from its rusty red spool.

  ‘Pull it harder!’

  Maisie crouched as she attempted to yank it out.

  The wood struck Lily’s body and she bounced off it, her feet sliding a few inches back. They shouldered it again, pressing their weight firmly against her. Maisie gritted her jaw and pushed back, grimly interlinking her fingers. They’d have to break her arm before she let them through.

  Maisie’s body jerked as she hauled repeatedly on the end of the hose, but it still wasn’t going to come free.

  Sharper, faster bashing from the other side. They were booting the door.

  Lily yelped as the metal cut repeatedly into her forearm. ‘As hard as you can!’

  Maisie yelled and leaned back and the hose coil squeaked and turned. She staggered backwards and fell over, but quickly got to her feet and ran with the nozzle end to Lily.

  Lily grabbed it from her just as their pursuer stamped the doors with even more force. But Lily couldn’t afford to shift her arm for even a few seconds so she could feed the hose through.

  ‘Get away from us!’ Maisie thrust her bulk to the door.

  But the next strike threw her a pace from it.

  Lily swallowed the shock and waited for the next one, but it didn’t immediately come. She squinted through the gap.

  She could see a shadow the other side. They were reversing to take a run. Lily seized her chance. She tugged her arm clear and tried to swiftly feed the metal nozzle through before they broke in. But the nozzle wouldn’t fit. The neck of it was too wide to go behind the handles.

  ‘Quickly!’ Maisie screeched.

  Lily swiftly took hold of the hose a foot below the nozzle, made a loop and fed that through the handles. She wound it once around them before they slammed into the door again.

  The doors bowed and opened inwards an inch, but the hose held.

  Lily drove herself back against them and, ignoring the throbbing in her left arm, wrapped the hose repeatedly around the handles and then fed it over and under the circle to secure it in place. She jumped back from it.

  The yellowing canvas hose creaked as it resisted the efforts from the other side. It was holding but Lily didn’t know for how long. She turned to the service elevator, jabbed the button repeatedly and listened.

  No sound from inside the shaft.

  Lily’s eyes shifted to the fire exit door. Should they wait or take their chances on the stairs?

  The hose complained as the doors were buffeted again.

  ‘It’s not working.’ Maisie dragged Lily’s hand towards the fire exit doors.

  But Lily resisted and remained where she was. ‘Wait …’

  Maisie wrenched on her hand. ‘We’ve got to go!’

  ‘Hang on.’ She bent her ear closer to the elevator doors.

  Maisie released her palm and made for the fire exit.

  Smash!

  That was glass breaking. Then they were using something heavy to strike the doors.

  Maisie opened the door of the fire exit.

  ‘Maisie!’

  Her daughter halted and heard the noise too.

  A whirring from inside the shaft. The elevator was on its way up.

  Chapter 56

  The elevator was quickly with them but even after it had settled into place the doors didn’t open.

  Thunk!

  They swivelled to the swing doors again and saw they’d been lodged nearly a foot open. The hose was still holding but its jaundiced canvas was stretched tight.

  Lily could see that the end of a red fire extinguisher canister had been jammed below the door handles.

  The blade of a fire axe appeared through the gap above the hose coil and slid down harshly against it, bouncing off.

  ‘They’re getting in!’ Maisie recoiled and put her hand on the fire exit door handle again.

  ‘Wait! Two more seconds!’

  The elevator doors still hadn’t opened.

  The axe chopped downwards a second time, and the edge lodged in the canvas hose. They waggled it, pulled it out and raised it for a third attempt.

  Maisie opened the door wide.

  Lily could see the darkened stairwell beyond. But if the doors gave how quickly would their pursuer catch up with them on the stairs? They could always go back up and try to hide on the upper floors, but getting out of the building was their best option.

  The axe scraped down the wooden
edges of the door harder and one coil severed and pinged away from the handles.

  ‘OK, let’s go.’ Lily joined Maisie at the door and looked back.

  The axe hacked away quickly at the hose and another coil dropped from the handles.

  Then the elevator doors slowly parted.

  Lily hesitated. How long would it take them to close again? But if they rode in there it meant they would be on ground level in seconds.

  ‘Come on!’ Maisie tugged at her sleeve.

  Lily calculated there were still a few more coils of the hose to cut through before the swing doors opened. ‘In here!’ She grabbed Maisie’s hand and ran for the elevator.

  Once they were inside Lily repeatedly punched the G button and they both waited breathlessly for the doors to shut.

  The swing doors were being forced and they were moving more easily now half of the coil had been hacked away.

  ‘It’s opening!’ Maisie pressed herself against the back of the elevator.

  They were nearly through and if they broke in now there would be no time to get out of the elevator. They’d be trapped. Where was her knife? It was no longer in her hand. Had she dropped it on the way down the stairs? Her eyes darted around the stairwell floor, but she couldn’t see it there. She had nothing to defend them with.

  The axe bounced repeatedly up and down in the widening gap of the door, the action becoming increasingly frenzied as the hose was reduced to shredded threads.

  The doors of the elevator hummed and started to judder closed.

  ‘Come on!’ Lily screamed.

  As if it were a shout of encouragement to their pursuer, the axe finally cut the last coils.

  Just as their doors sealed shut.

  ‘We did it!’ Maisie sobbed.

  But Lily kept hitting G. If he got through and pressed the button in time the doors might open again.

  ‘Why aren’t we going?’ Maisie jumped on the spot.

  Lily wanted to do the same. Willed them to drop. Her finger kept stabbing the button. ‘Go, go, go!’

  Outside the elevator they heard footsteps.

  Seconds passed like minutes. Only Lily’s finger continued to move.

  The elevator made a series of clicking sounds and they both waited for the doors to open again.

  Lily felt her stomach gently bounce.

  They were dropping.

  But still neither of them released a breath.

  What floor had they been on? From their view out of the kitchen window she’d estimated them to be about ten floors up. And they’d already come down one flight. That meant there wasn’t a long climb down for their pursuer.

  ‘Will they come down after us?’ Maisie was still frozen.

  ‘Be ready to run as soon as the doors open.’ They wouldn’t have a huge head start and she had no idea what they’d find at ground level. The smell of stale urine suddenly stung her nose, and she took in the interior of their clattering box. There was graffiti on the walls and the digital floor display over the doors was broken.

  ‘I don’t want to run anymore.’ Maisie tugged in a lungful of air.

  ‘You’re fine. We’ll be fine,’ Lily said to them both. ‘We’ve got this far. We’ll be safe soon.’ Was the building locked up? It was likely, so they wouldn’t have much time to find a way out before he caught up with them.

  Their capsule juddered and squeaked and began to slow.

  ‘Just do as I say … and if we get separated …’

  Maisie shook her head. ‘Why would we get separated?’

  ‘Listen … if we get separated, you have to run and hide. OK?’

  She nodded, as if she were terrified to verbally agree to it.

  Lily wondered if they shouldn’t stop a floor above ground. They would be expected to go all the way down. Maybe they could hide there and find a different way out. But what if they bumped into them coming down? Which floor were they both on now? She stared at the cracked and lifeless display.

  They jerked to a standstill. Ground. The elevator had made the decision for them.

  Lily took Maisie’s hand. ‘Ready?’

  Chapter 57

  The doors rattled apart and Lily held Maisie back as a dingy and derelict foyer revealed itself to them. There was a long, grubby marble effect reception desk directly in front of them and, to their left, a floor-to-ceiling window with a revolving door in it.

  Maisie started to move forward.

  Lily restrained her. ‘Wait.’ She scanned the shadowy corners of the area but there wasn’t anybody in evidence. But that probably wouldn’t be the case for long. ‘OK, stay close.’ She walked her through the doors.

  Silence. Only their feet crunched on the fragments of plaster that lay about the black tiled floor. Adrenaline supressed the pulsing of Lily’s injured left arm.

  The doors closed unsteadily behind them. Lily turned and punched the button on the wall to open them again. She picked up a large lump of the plaster and put it on the right-hand side of the door runners. They tried to close again but repeatedly bounced off it. Now, nobody could summon the elevator from above and they could still get back in it if the need arose. There was another, larger, elevator beside reception, but it had an ‘out of order’ sign on the doors. Lily prayed it couldn’t be used.

  Maisie tugged Lily towards the revolving door, but she suspected they wouldn’t be able to get out there. Sure enough they found the mechanism locked and the situation was the same with the one door beside it. Lily pulled hard on the handles and the door rattled in its frame.

  Maisie gazed at the heaped rubble that lay beyond the glass illuminated by the blue morning light. ‘Can we smash it?’

  Lily looked around for something heavy but guessed it was probably reinforced glass. Was there a way out the other side of the foyer? There were two wooden doors there just beside some scaffolding that supported the wall. ‘Try over here.’

  Maisie allowed herself to be led there.

  The elevator door continued to bounce off the plaster and they both eyed the door to the stairs beside it as they crossed the tiles. No sound of feet on steps … yet.

  The first door handle was tight and couldn’t be depressed, but the second one opened. They stepped into what looked like a security area. A bank of empty screens filled one side and there was a small office through an open door to the rear.

  ‘Let’s take a quick look.’ Lily ushered Maisie through.

  In the poky office there was a couch and a desk with plastic chairs inverted on it. Beside that was a blue wooden door. Lily opened it. It led down a flight of concrete steps. ‘Just stay here for two seconds.’

  Maisie didn’t protest as Lily released her hand and quickly scuttled down them. Before she reached the bottom, she realised she was in an underground parking zone. She could see daylight filtering down a ramp on the far side but there was a shutter pulled down there. It looked like the only exit.

  ‘Come back!’ Maisie hissed down.

  Lily looked up at her. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Somebody’s coming.’

  Lily climbed the steps again and listened. ‘I can’t hear anything.’ But then she could.

  Feet echoing as they thudded down steps.

  ‘OK. We’ll hide down here.’ She quickly slipped back to the first door and pulled it quietly closed. As soon as she did Lily heard the stairs door open. She froze and put her finger to her lips.

  Slow footsteps crunching in the foyer.

  Lily pointed to the door leading to the steps, and Maisie crept there. Lily closed the middle door. There was no way to lock it. She followed her daughter down. They’d have to find a way out or they’d be cornered. When she got back down Maisie was already heading for the ramp and her feet were echoing off the ceiling. ‘Ssshhh!’

  Maisie slowed down and trod lighter.

  Lily noted the support pillars at intervals around them. At least they’d be able to hide behind them. Once their pursuer knew they hadn’t gone out of the main door they’d be
heading straight down here.

  Maisie reached the metallic shutter and tried to lift it.

  Lily could see the two padlocks holding it in place by loops in the concrete.

  Maisie rattled the shutter with her hands and the noise reverberated around the parking zone.

  ‘Quiet.’ Lily turned back the way they’d come. Shit. Were the keys for the shutter in the office? She should have looked when they were up there. It looked like the place had been cleared out though. But Lily knew she had to go back. ‘Come with me.’

  ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘You’re going to hide behind that pillar over there.’ She pointed to the one nearest the steps. ‘I’ll go quickly back upstairs and see if I can find the keys.’

  Maisie looked out through the shutter and shook her head once. ‘We can’t go back now.’

  ‘There’s no time to argue. Wait down here and if you see anyone but me go by then sneak upstairs and get back in the elevator.’

  Maisie shrank back against the shutter.

  ‘Now.’ She pointed.

  Maisie avoided her glare but indicated the pillar nearest. ‘I’ll hide there.’

  ‘No. That’ll be the first place they’ll look.’

  ‘That one by the steps will be the first place they’ll look.’

  ‘Not if he thinks you’re trying to open the shutter. Now move.’

  Maisie folded her arms around herself but started to run back. Lily kept up with her and then gestured her to the pillar near the bottom of the steps. ‘I’ll be back as quick as I can,’ she whispered after her.

  Maisie disappeared behind the pillar, but then peeped out.

  ‘Don’t do that. Not until you hear me say it’s all clear.’

  Her head ducked back round.

  Lily hesitated briefly at the bottom of the steps. How long would it take them to work out where they’d gone, and would they be in the office already? Lily quickly scaled the steps and listened at the top.

  No activity in the office.

  Lily leaned in and clocked the drawers in the desk with the chairs on. Would the keys be in there, if they were here at all, or was there more chance they’d be in the room where the screens were?