Just as Damon said, there is a connection to the tunnels. The entrance was at the back of the storage closet. It takes until mid-afternoon to find it though since the door is sealed behind the back wall. After Darlington nearly went into the laundry room to look for one, Marcellus tapped on the walls in the closet until he found a spot that sounded just hollow enough. With his screwdriver armed in Ro's hands and a knife from the kitchen in his, they dig through the plaster.

"You think I'm going to get fired for this?" Marcellus grunts, ripping at the plaster back and back.

Ro rolls her eyes, stabbing into the wall. Dust is gathering around. It would be faster if they had proper masks to protect them from the dust in the air. Messing with the plaster might not be good for their lungs.

"If you are, I'm quitting in solidarity," Ro points out. "Honestly, don't think even Darlington would stay if they kicked you out for this."

"Yeah, because Darlington is the moral standard," Marcellus stabs at the wall again. His arms feel tired. He hadn't expected it to be exhausting the way it is.

Pain doesn't care if you expect it.

While they dig, others were wandering around preparing for their descent. Most grabbed out their rainboots, wrapping their feet in double layers of socks to keep them warm. Benedict, Callie, and Tempest took up a spot in the study room, pouring over a physical campus map from the late 1990s. Their building isn't even on it, but Callie is very good at visualizing space and Benedict walks the campus more frequently than anyone else.

Tempest is their notetaker, marking down spots on the page.

"The tunnel might go here, but that's where that huge tree is," Benedict taps the sheet. "How dilapidated are we expecting the tunnels to be?"

"Not sure," Tempest says. "They're supposed to have been retired since the eighties, but obviously they aren't entirely if we are connected."

"Maybe the college wanted to be able to revamp them, if necessary," Callie shrugged.

"People should be ready," Tempest says. "Waterproof, rubber-soled shoes, scarves in case there is mould growing."

Benedict nods, "it's probably going to be even colder underground."

While they discuss, Galilee and Moonie prepare supplies in the office. They have two walkies, which means that they can have two teams going underground. She has used four left-over bags from their orientation week kit and packed them. She's got three filled reusable water bottles since having enough for everyone would be too much. Also, she's got some paint, the cheap stuff in the storage unit that is used by the facilities unit whenever a student punches a hole in their ugly off-green wall. That way, people can mark their paths in the tunnels if they feel so inclined. There are only six emergency flashlights in the office, so each bag has three. With some snacks inside as well, and a roll of toilet paper in case she thinks anyone has an emergency.

Moonie is packing them all, so focused that they don't notice Galilee sneak away from the table. She snatches a marker and rights her F alone, in quiet. She counts them all. Excluding Jerry, who began the whole thing, they're only missing one. She slides back to the table.

"I think this should be okay," Galilee smiles.

They nod back, "I don't know what else we would back. Anything heavier would probably slow us down."

Then, sitting in the lounge, Maverick, Elodie, and Jerry have been tasked with logistical planning, and all of them agree that they are the worst group to be given this task. Maverick and Elodie still haven't spoken in a few days, and Maverick feels a deep gnawing in his chest when he sees her. He knows he was cruel, and maybe the worst part of it is that he doubts Elodie has spent any time thinking about it. Since making up with Moonie though, he has thought. Maverick would never consider himself someone who gets caught up in his own head. However, there is no way that Elodie even cares. Maybe she doesn't even remember. That's who she is.

Elodie tries to focus on their task, instead of running through a thousand ways to apologize to him.

Unaware, Jerry pours over the groups. He's able to think logically about the situation. One group is going to be trying to navigate specifically to Townsend Place. While they considered sending the other to Burns Hall, Jerry thinks it's better to have the other group try to make a map. They'll do the maze trick of always having a hand on the right wall.

Clearly, to minimize bickering, they have to have two groups. Callie and Benedict should be in the group mapping the tunnels, and Darlington must be in the group searching for Hadley.

Maverick knows people. He knows he has a bad sense of direction but a cheering disposition. It pains him, but Moonie is just as cheerful and good at keeping up morale, and so they two should be separated.

"Tempest should go with Darlington to keep him calm," Elodie offers.

Maverick nods, "I'll join them as well, in case there are any obstacles since it's the most dangerous path. I'll bring my first aid kit."

It's the better of his two reasons. The other is that he's unsure if Moonie will be comfortable with Darlington. They filled him in, told him as many details as he wanted, which was honestly little.

Jerry nods, "Marcellus will go too, for structural reasons."

"Marcellus and Darlington bicker too much," Elodie counters.

Jerry shrugs, "isn't that why we have Tempest going?"

And so the groups are decided.

The extraction group, as Jerry has decided to call it even though Elodie thinks the name is a bit dramatic, consists of Darlington, Tempest, Maverick, Marcellus, Jerry and Galilee.

The mapping group holds Callie, Benedict, Ro, Moonie, and Elodie.

It's not completely perfect. Elodie understands why the extraction group is larger but thinks Jerry and Ro should swap out in case there is any electrical issues. She isn't going to push the issue since Jerry is insistent. Mostly, he wants to keep an eye on Galilee. She has an injured hand still, and he has been the one changing the bandages. The only solution he sees is swapping himself and Galilee for Ro and Elodie, but having Darlington and Marcellus on a team with a more dangerous mission is already enough calls for disaster without throwing two more hotheads in the mix.

Soon enough, everyone is gathered, instructions are given and supplies are distributed. With a final kick, Marcellus smashes the door open. It seems as though it was locked from the other side. There isn't even a handle on their door anymore, and he doesn't do well with keys anyway.

The tunnel system is dark and intertwining. There are fewer pathways than most of them were expecting. Together, the group makes it about a hundred feet before the paths fork in three directions. Still, they are quite dark, even with the flashlights. The walls are concrete, the ceilings are made of a different material that Marcellus would identify if he had a flashlight in his group.

At the fork, they split. Callie, with a rudimentary copy of the map she made up quickly, leads the mapping group to the right. Tempest points down the middle, and the extraction group continues.

The mapping group has an easy time moving. The group passes through two areas that are lit. There is power down here. The ground is wet under their feet in some spots too. The combination makes Ro nervous. The water is probably in the walls too. Unlike the mechanical engineering majors, she doesn't have to take classes in structural engineering. She knows Marcellus has lots of crossover. Now, she feels bad about the jokes the other computer engineers make about the structural majors.

They specifically joke about a course called Advanced Concrete Technology, and joke that the heads of those kids are just as thick as concrete. Now, she wishes she knew the first thing about concrete.

Moonie holds onto the walkie tightly. Something squeaks, and a similar sound leaves her throat. Beside her, Callie holds her hand, peering forward at Benedict, who has taken the map. They move slowly since he is determined to take even steps and mark their path with paint consistently. Just as important as drawing the lines of the tunnels is measuring them.

"How long do you think it'll take for them to find Townsend?" Elodie asks the first time anyone has spoken down here.

It doesn't echo like Moonie expected. They had thought there would be wind whistling through the tunnels, and creaking, and maybe something buried down here that is long forgotten. It's a horror movie moment. Elodie's voice is dampened by the concrete if anything.

Benedict shrugs, "if you are walking around campus and taking the shortcuts, walking fast you'd get there in less than ten minutes. Burns would take eleven from here."

"Tempest guessed, if our tunnel approximations were correct, and they moved carefully, it would be around twenty minutes to get to Townsend," Callie remembers, nodding and glancing at Elodie. She hopes no one checks how long they've been down there. They've heard no word, and it's been thirty minutes.

"They'll buzz us if anything is wrong," Moonie grips onto the walkie.

Ro's feet slip, and she barely catches herself on the wall. Elodie grabs her arm, helping pull her back onto the path. Her lungs feel scratchy.

"Water, Moonie?" Ro manages.

Moonie digs through the bag and passes her a bottle. Benedict stops to paint another marker, just so he can stop counting how many feet they've gone on.

Ro coughs again, passing the water back. Her scarf is too thick. She takes it down and breathes in the air. It's so stuffy, with all the bodies down here. Ro shrugs off her coat too, shoving it at Elodie. She passes through the group heading off, still coughing. She needs some damn air that isn't thin.

It doesn't even bother Elodie, the coat. She takes it, and peers after Ro. Elodie takes in a deep breath. She kicks at parts of the ceiling on the ground. They knew it would be wet and damp. They hadn't expected the tunnels to be this hot, so far underground, during a snowstorm.

Elodie steps on something else and feels her stomach lurch. She swallows the rising bile.

Ro splashes into a puddle. It's deep, nearly soaking in above the top of her rain boots. She flashes a light at the bottom. She can't see what's in it.

"You think it's going to collapse?" Benedict calls up at her, listening to the sound of the ceiling crunch under Elodie's boots.

Ro shrugs. If it does, it would be a coincidence and not because their bodies are in it.

"We'll be fine," Moonie insists, their smile aching on their cheeks. "I mean, we've got the packs prepared. Where about are we, Benedict?"

"Closing in on the Fitness Centre," Benedict shrugs.

"If we can get in, they'll have food at the concession stand," Elodie thinks to herself.

It's just going to be chocolate and popcorn, and maybe more protein bars if they are lucky. They don't need more food though. They need Darlington to find Hadley or Townsend Place and then they can leave. Elodie knows it would have been a bad call to stay back, at least socially, and she misses when she didn't give a fuck about the politics of their jobs.

"We could go for a swim," Callie laughs. "Or use the rock wall. I don't really want to ruin my hair. Washing it in the cold water again seems terrible."

"Maybe the FC has warm water," Elodie feels her shoulders loosen at the idea of using the communal showers, which she hopes to God never happens again.

Ro finally feels her breath come in. She looks down at the water. Something is bubbling under the surface.

~~~

The path to what they assume is Townsend is much drier for them, but Marcellus still isn't comfortable. Maybe after all of this, he's going to switch to structural engineering. He took a course called Decaying Public Infrastructure, and no pictures could do justice to the rocky steps they are taking through the pathways that are too short for their decent width.

They've reached a decent impasse. There has been a bit of a cave-in on the path in front of them. At least, the pile of ceiling below them is tall, not quite at the height of Galilee's waist though. Their group is tall, with the next shortest person being Tempest who almost has half a foot in height on Galilee. Marcellus and Maverick stand a decent way away from the group in case Marcellus causes a cave-in as he gently pokes the ceiling, looking for integrity. They won't pass if he thinks it could collapse further, getting them stuck.

"What do you think?" Maverick asks.

He thinks if everything fell, he could dig them a way out of the pile. Maverick doesn't know about the physics of it all. If they dug a way out, would the ceiling keep collapsing? Would they eventually have to climb to the surface? They wouldn't die down here, but if they did make it to the surface, or to another building, then what? Would they die in the cold, or would they end up in some small closet without water or a way to get out?

Marcellus shrugs. He's a mechanical engineer. Besides, it's hard to think clearly down here. They haven't heard from the others. Ro can handle them, probably. Callie drew a good map. Benedict can navigate easily. He wonders what Elodie is doing. It's stupid of him, to think of her when he should be thinking of the concrete walls and the water damage and the mould that is surely in all the walls.

Aside from them, the others are huddled together.

"Could we explain the way to the others on the walkie if we have to go through?" Darlington asks Tempest.

She spins her map around, shaking her head. They'd marked every corner which the group might follow, but she couldn't explain their route. They should've sent Benedict with this group instead of her since he seems to have a better sense of direction.

Galilee steps back from the group. She wants to dig at the ceiling with her bare hands, damn the infection she would probably get by ripping open her healing hand. They are so cold. She shoves them between her knees, bending over.

"How lost are we?" Jerry whispers to Tempest, looking from Galilee who is hunched over back to Tempest.

Tempest shrugs. At this point, they could be anywhere. They might as well turn off their flashlights. Everything looks the same, but perhaps they'd better be able to smell the paint trail they left or listen for the sounds of the others if everything just went dark.

She passes Darlington a map, stepping back from the group. Tempest feels like puking, which hasn't happened in days. Morning sickness should be fading away. It's clinging to her more tightly than the walls.

"Fuck," Darlington shakes his head.

Jerry grabs the walkie out of the bag, "do you think we even have reception this far underground?"

The two boys working on the path turn back and look at the others. Neither of them was in charge of the logistical planning, or the supplies. Marcellus doesn't think any of them checked.

"We should check," Darlington says, taking the walkie into his hands.

Galilee slinks away after Tempest. She doesn't think they will check. Jerry would, but she can't imagine Darlington or Maverick ever pushing down on that button. The chance there would be no answer isn't worth it. They wouldn't know if it was the reception or disaster, and either way, both possibilities would crush hope. Maverick lives on hope, and Darlington is only down here because of a potential. In all likelihood, they aren't going to find his friend.

The two girls reach each other. Tempest's face is pale, and she's hunched over. Her hands braced on her knees, barely holding herself up, Tempest is sure she's going to collapse but she isn't sure why. Galilee feels stiff. She bends down, wrapping Tempest in a hug and lifting her up a bit.

"This is not God's plan for you," Galilee whispers. "This moment, He will not let it define your life. We will be okay."

Tempest is religious, but she isn't the kind of woman who thinks you can be so pious to prevent disaster. Praying cannot cure cancer, and hurricanes do not happen to punish those who live lives of sin and hedonism. God will not save them from this place. She can't do it either.

Galilee can feel Tempest collapsing. She holds her up.

"Have faith," Galilee says. She swallows. Sometimes it isn't good enough to ask how you can get from a two to a three. At least, not with her little siblings. " 'For I know the plans I have for you', declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' "

Tempest pulls back. She wipes her eyes. They feel dusty down here. Perhaps in this moment, she feels herself some false God. She thinks of the baby, her baby. Maybe it seems bad, and maybe her baby can even feel her stress. She knows it's bad for the pregnancy. Yet, she wants to protect it, give it hope and a future. Tempest will make it out of here.

She hadn't heard the footsteps approaching. Darlington, arms on her shoulder, pulling her into a hug. He whispers to her, "do you need to go back?"

She shakes her head.

"We're going to double back," Marcellus tells the others. "I'm not sure it's safe."

Jerry nods. He and Galilee make eye contact. She smiles but his eyes dart away to her hand. The bandage looks grey. They should change it, maybe even down here.

The walkie beeps.

Maverick's holding it now. The shock makes him tighten his grip. For a second, he's worried he's gripped it so tightly that something it in snapped.

"This is Ro, come in Extraction Team."

Maverick presses the button, "you've got Maverick."

The line crackles, "Mav, it's Moonie. Ro, she thinks there's a leak of some kind down here. A pipe or something."

Marcellus snaps his fingers and Maverick passes him the walkie. "It's Marcellus. Everyone's okay?"

"Elodie's puking," Ro chimes back in. "We're trying to hustle out but it's hard. I don't know what kind of gas it is. I'm dizzy and she's nauseous. Anyone in your group not feeling great?"

All of the eyes turn to Tempest, who is still barely on her feet.

"We need to evacuate," Darlington says.

Tempest shakes her head, "I've been sick for a few days."

Galilee looks at her face. That sheen. Her parents are going to surprise her with a new baby, and she knows that glow. Galilee clamps her mouth shut, but her eyes are as wide as can be.

Maverick knows Tempest is pregnant. It could be that. Nothing in his first aid kit would tell them for sure.

"No," Darlington says.

The line crackles, "hello?"

"We should double back," Tempest offers. "We're close."

Jerry shakes his head. He takes the walkie from Marcellus, "we're talking."

"We can separate," Galilee offers, swallowing. "Tempest, Jerry and I can go help the others evacuate. We've got the path. You three should keep going."

Darlington is unmoved.

"Hadley is out there," Tempest pleads to him.

Maverick feels antsy. He wants to do something. Never before has he felt this eager to move. Even with the ground covered in debris, he could sprint back. Moonie needs him, maybe. Tempest does too.

There is no way to see the entirety of an object at once. We live in a three-dimensional space. There will always be one side of something you can't see. Maverick isn't sure what he is blind to doing. When you have the whole world on your back, you can't see any of it at all.

"You aren't putting your entire life on the line for me," Darlington says. "I refuse."

Tempest looks at him.

Jerry cracks into the speaker, "we're coming back. We're a bit turned around, but we will keep you posted."

The group starts to move back. Maverick hurries the way forward, treating the ground like an obstacle course. Jerry sticks close to Galilee. If she falls and the bandage gets any dirtier, their situation could get a lot worse. Marcellus has the walkie, knowing that besides Jerry, he's the best to be level-headed about any disasters that come in.

Darlington has an arm around Tempest, pushing her forward. She lets him. Not because she can't stop him. She didn't want to drag him down in her storm. Now, she sees it for what it is. They are both already so deep, thrown about. It's hard from down here to tell which way is up. She's not the one dragging him down. They are kicking so hard together, trying to find their way up.

~~~~~

Sorry this took so long, but it felt like a huge doozy. Another disaster, yet again. I actually am really happy with the character journeys though. Next chapter though, teehee. Well, every chapter here on out is actually extremely evil of me mwahahaha.

Any final things you hope to happen as the book wraps up?