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Zoe shook her head. "She owns the whole place. Elena, you come first. I'll help you down and Clayton can--"
"Elena shouldn't be stooping to climb down rickety stairs," Clay said.
"This is the only way in. The doors are bricked over."
"I'll be fine," I said.
The moment I reached the bottom step, I gagged. Clay knocked his head on the low ceiling frame in his rush to get to me.
"I'm okay," I said, trying to speak without swallowing or closing my mouth. I motioned for him to wait, hurried up the steps and spat outside. When I came back down, the gag reflex kicked in again and I hesitated on the lowest step.
"Come on," he said, taking my arm. "We're getting out--"
"No."
I pried his fingers free, then walked into the room, taking shallow breaths, acclimatizing myself to the smell. As for what it smelled like--I pushed back the thought as the bile rose again.
"I can talk to Tee," Zoe said. "You go outside, get some fresh air, maybe something to settle your stomach--"
"I'm fine. Just give me a moment to...get used to it."
I peered around the room. It was midday and sunny outside, but only a faint glow shone through the window above, illuminating a scant few feet of dust motes. As my nose adjusted, my eyes did too, and I could see that we were in a hallway, barren except for neatly stacked crates. The hall was tidy, clean even. The smell seemed to come from a closed door down the hall, opposite the stairs leading up to the second level.
"No lights, I suppose," I said.
Zoe shook her head. "Sometimes I bring a flashlight but...it's better this way."
"She--Tee doesn't like the light?"
"Umm, not so much her..." Zoe slid off the crate and headed for the stairs.
Labyrinth
ZOE LED US UP THE STAIRS, WHICH ENDED AT A LANDING. To the left was the back door, which was indeed bricked over on the inside.
We followed Zoe to the interior door. She did a fast patterned knock. As I waited for an answer from within, Zoe eased open the door just enough for her to slide through sideways. I grabbed the handle to push, but the door didn't budge.
"Uh, there's no way I can fit--" I began.
"Hold on." She grunted, as if moving something. Another grunt, and the door opened.
I stepped in to see her restacking a pile of books.
"Hope that was right," she murmured. "Tee hates them out of order. Is the smell better in here?"
The horrible smell from downstairs was now overpowered by another sort of rot. Mildewed paper. I edged in, banging my stomach on a stack of books.
"Hold on," Zoe whispered. "Give your eyes a second. It's a bit of a maze."
Clay was breathing down my neck, but I waited, blinking a few times to adjust to the dimmer light. The windows had been boarded up, again from the inside, behind the blinds. To a passerby, it would look as if the shades were always drawn.
When my night vision kicked in, I found myself in a labyrinth of books, some stacked taller than me. A narrow passage snaked into the room. Zoe had disappeared ahead of us.
"Just follow the path," she called. "It only leads one way. Pretty easy."
I'm sure it was easy--for those who could turn without adjusting like a transport driver for swing room. After banging my stomach into another stack, I walked with my hands over my belly. By the time I caught up to Zoe, my knuckles were scraped.
"Stay close," she said. "We're almost there."
