Nov 25 2008
National Novel Writing Month, Day 25
After a few moments, he pushed the door open and stepped out.
Ava straightened to her full height and strained her neck to try and see out through the narrow gap Caleb had left. Her eyes were at carpet level of the floor above. She leaned forward on the staircase, straining to hear where Caleb was.
Footsteps approached the door and Ava scrambled back down the stairs.
“Ava,” Caleb whispered above her.
Ava stopped and saw his silhouette
Ava stopped and turned back, a part of her cowering
Ava stopped and turned back. She climbed the stairs, again, but more reluctantly this time. The sudden sound of the footsteps closing in on her, and plus the darkness of his silhouette above her made her realize just how vulnerable she was to attack.
She waited to hear Caleb tell her that the nosferatu were coming, for her to swipe her tag on the scanner, to get back into the server room as quickly as she could, to run.
“C’mon,” he urged. “Hurry. It’s clear.”
Her heart still pounded as if he’d said warned her of an impending attack. She forced her feet forward until she was at the top of the staircase stairs.
Caleb said, “I’ll keep watch. You only have a minute. You only have a minute.”
She was too afraid to reply. She couldn’t bring herself to make any noise. She had seen what felt safe enough in the server room to be cocky over the radio when she’d had to, but outside of the dubious safety of those walls, the memory of what those things could do to a person was clear in her mind.
There was a sound on the street….
