Apartment 905, Sahin, Ned [black female authors .TXT] 📗

But upon closer look, one empty bed in room #7 grabs my attention. I stand at the door and peer around to make sure no one is awake, then I go inside to find out whose bed is the empty one.

The sheet is not wrinkled. The kid on the night schedule probably made the bed, but what happened to the kid on the day schedule who is supposed to be sleeping right now?

I see the name written with a marker on the bed frame.

Ben.

Where is he while his friends are already sleeping?

A clattering sound in the hallway interrupts my thoughts. Footsteps follow it. The sound of every step echoes in the container walls.

I look for a place to hide, but the bedroom is stacked with beds on both sides and I am too big to fit in any of them. There is a narrow space between the door and the first bed on the left side. That’s my only chance to hide. I squeeze in the spot as much as possible.

The steps get closer. It doesn’t sound as heavy as Murray’s or his sons’ boots.

It stops right in front of the door. I can hear the person breathing. I will be caught if he or she enters the room.

The person waits for a few seconds before continuing to walk down the hallway. I lean my head to see who it is. It’s the older kid from the cafeteria. He must be on some kind of night watch duty.

I’ve come this long. I can’t stop here. I decide to follow him.

He turns the corner that ends up at the storage rooms and host bedrooms. I trudge along discreetly behind him.

I lean over the corner to see him standing in front of Murray’s bedroom. He knocks on the door three times. There is no response. He knocks two more times. The door opens. I step back. Although I can’t see them, I can hear their voices.

“All done, sir,” the kid says.

“Thanks... Let me give you rations for tomorrow,” Murray says. I hear him walking to another room and unlocking the door. Someone else in a farther distance starts walking toward my direction. The sound of the steps is very disoriented and light, but it keeps getting louder the closer it gets. I take a step back and get ready to run, but it won’t be possible to go to the first bedroom to hide without making noise. I try to walk as fast as possible.

He turns the corner before I make it to the bedroom.

It’s Ben. He has bruises on his cheeks and neck. His hair is all over his forehead and ears. He gets support from the wall while limping toward me. He seems to be beaten up. I can’t take my eyes away from him as he approaches me. I feel like I am about to lose my control. What kind of person can behave this ferocity? Murray is evil in human form. I have difficulty stopping myself from running to him with my knife ready to take revenge for Ben.

Ben pauses and looks up to me for a moment. He is too weak to say a word or show a reaction. He rolls his eyes down and continues to walk toward the bedrooms.

I hear a hand cart moving from the storage rooms. It sounds like Murray and the kid are loading it with boxes. While walking back to the cafeteria, I pass by Ben’s bedroom in time to see him get in his bed.

As I am halfway in the cafeteria, Logan enters the room from the other side.

“Hey,” he says.

I try to act confused as much as possible.

“Hi... Um... I was looking for some late-night snacks...” I try to smile, but Ben’s frightened face stays in my mind.

“We have some granola bars here.” Logan gestures toward the corner shelves while narrowing his eyebrows as he stares at me. He opens a drawer and hands me two bars.

“Thanks... Good night,” I say and walk away from him. I can feel his eyes are still on me.

I go back to the playroom and close the door. Both Toshi and Kathleen are awake.

“How did it go?” Kathleen asks while standing up on her blanket.

“I saw Ben leaving Murray’s room. He was... beaten up.” I try to control my emotions, but my lips and hands keep shaking.

“We have to get out of here…now,” I add.

Kathleen nods as she shrinks her eyes and raises her hand to her jaw. “I know how,” she says.

Chapter 30

“My father used to run a steel shop. He had orders for bunkers occasionally. He took me to his work a few times…” Kathleen says.

Toshi and I are all ears as we listen to her.

“What would be the first thing to consider if you were designing a bunker?” she asks.

“Food and water storage?” Toshi answers.

Kathleen shakes her head.

“Air system?” I ask. You could bring food and water from outside, but you can’t pump in fresh air if you don’t have a system in place already.

She shakes her head again.

“What if the main exit is sieged? Bunkers are designed to protect who is inside…but what if intruders keep blocking the exit forever?” she asks.

“You would need an escape tunnel,” I say. Not sure how I could’ve missed this. It must be an awful feeling to be trapped underground. Every bunker designer would think about a backup exit.

“Exactly!” she says nodding her head.

“They control the main exit, but there must be a second exit. This bunker is an L shape. The main exit opens to the cafeteria, which is in the middle of the long line of L. Murray and his sons’ bedrooms, as well as the storage rooms, are along the shorter line of L. Playroom, library, classroom, and some of the dorms are on the opposite side. It means…” she says, then pauses while grabbing stuffed animals and placing them on the floor for demonstration, “the second exit