She grabbed the gangly young man by his arm. “Lawrence, you have to help me,” she blurted out. “You have to get me out of here, now!”
He pulled back, staring at her.
“Lawrence, they’re going to kill me!”
He swallowed and glanced around nervously. Then he took a deep breath. “Okay,” he said finally. “Let’s get you, uh, out of here.”
Kait almost cried with relief.
“But where are you gonna go?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “You have to help me. There must be a cutter coming up if the ship is going to be decontaminated, right?”
He nodded.
“Then I just need somewhere to hide until they get here,” she asserted with more confidence than she felt.
“Okay.” Lawrence opened the door again and peeked outside. “Clear,” he said, motioning to her. “C’mon.”
Kait stepped into the hallway. The long white corridor swept away on either side. “Can we get to another floor?”
“Sure, there’s an elevator.” Lawrence started to lope down the corridor, but Kait caught his arm.
“Any stairs?”
“Sure.” He jogged in the other direction, and Kait followed.
After two hundred metres or so, he pulled at a heavy fire door. “Up or down?”
“Which way to the passenger section?”
His eyes bulged. “You wanna go that way?”
“They won’t be looking there, right?”
Lawrence gulped. “Okay. Then we go up. It’s like ten floors though.”
Time to test the cardio, Kait.
They made their way up nine floors of stairs as quickly as they could before Kait called for a break. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she felt dizzy. “Low…blood sugar, I think,” she said weakly.
“They scrimp on oxygen in places like the stairwell,” said Lawrence.
“Then, why are you still going strong?”
“Maybe because I’m used to it. Maybe because I’m fucking terrified,” he said frankly.
They heard the grinding metal of an access door on the floor above them.Shit!
“Go, go!” said Lawrence, opening the access door next to them. He hustled Kait through then shut it as quietly as he could.
“I’m not built for this,” he moaned, his chest heaving.
“You’re doing great,” encouraged Kait weakly, hands on knees as she sucked air. “Where are we?”
“Kitchen and meal prep.” Lawrence craned his neck to either side. “We’re clear, but we might not be for long.”
“Okay, time for a hiding place,” said Kait, her strength returning with the increased oxygen. “Is there a pantry nearby?”
