Gail turned and noticed Dimitri. Her face soured, but something about Russell’s agitation amused her. It was disgusting, but it was great to see Russell getting so fired up again.
Hanna wasn’t amused by Dimitri’s bold action and more focused on another skirmish breaking out. She tracked Russell’s hands as they slowly tightened into fists.
“You got two ladies standing right here, asshole,” Russell continued.
Dimitri thought about it for a moment. A flurry of insinuating responses filled his head, but he had to choose carefully. Otherwise, it would be another missed opportunity. He thinks he has so much power over us. Dimitri snickered to himself and flashed a look back. “Sorry, Mr. Boss Man. You mind if I take a piss?” he replied with a sarcastic tone as he slowly pivoted around and faced Russell. “Or should I hold it for another four hours?”
Russell had hit a wall. He was speechless with rage. His blood was boiling. He knew it would cost him his job. His retirement. His benefits. Everything was at stake. He wanted to kill the man. He stepped toward Dimitri with his chest puffed out and his fists lifting into the air. Dimitri swung around and positioned himself for the assault.
Hanna knew she had to intervene. She quickly jumped in front of Russell, keeping him from initial contact. However, she bounced off the man’s body like a racquetball. He wasn’t an easy one to stop.
“Look here, you little bastard!” he shouted over Hanna to Dimitri.
Dimitri slowly stepped forward, hoping Russell would make the first move. It would give him the justification he needed to hurt the old man. He stepped back and lifted his forearm to block a hit.
The sensation of g-force rocketed through the room. An explosion off in the distance captured everyone’s attention. The entire place rattled with the aftershock of an earthquake. The lighting started to fail. Dry-rotted foam insulation rained down from the ceiling like a fake winter display. Russell’s right foot had hardly hit the floor in front of him when he froze like a statue. Everyone braced as the last bit of electricity rushed through the circuits. The room went completely dark. Blackness. The comforting, steady hum of drones faded away. The stuffy smell of sweat and dust was even more apparent without the sensations of generators or the visibility of the space.
The clatter of rearranging movement haunted the room. Russell took the first heavy sigh. The movement wasn’t good. He wasn’t able to protect the door. He couldn’t even find his way back to the door. If any of them wanted out, that person could do so without any trouble from him. He was afraid to walk. His legs were locked. His fists were ready. He felt the faint warmth of Hanna’s body heat a few centimeters away. Hopefully it’s Hanna, he thought. If it’s the Russian, I’ll kill him.
“Stay where you are,” he directed everyone, but he really meant Dimitri.
More shuffling ensued. His order hadn’t been followed. The group was obviously defying him with a brazen protest. Russell had finally found himself a king without a castle. The order sounded ridiculous and desperate.
Hanna needed to find the wall. She slowly backed up, her shoulder blades making contact with the cold, riveted texture behind her. The wall was welcoming. It provided some protection, at least from one side. Her mind raced with possibilities. She had known these men for only a few hours, but she knew enough about life to know when a woman was most vulnerable. In the darkness, she trusted no one. She reached her arms out in front of her and felt around through the nothingness. If something is going to happen, it’s now. Just be ready! Then a little whimper seeped from across the room. It was Gail. One could only assume the darkness was an unwelcome reminder of her recent nightmare. Hanna couldn’t see Gail, but she knew where she was. She imagined Gail’s tormented moment and how alone she must have felt. She’d had little connection with the lieutenant since her arrival, but she felt as if she should try to avoid another panic attack.
Hanna started a trip toward the corner, but it was short-lived. The darkness ended and took new form through a digital wristwatch lighting up Dimitri’s tired, sweaty, agitated face. Hanna froze in her step and beamed back. Dimitri inspected the darkness with a glower, trying to take notice of sounds vibrating up above. He angled back toward the ceiling.
Hanna glanced up in a daze. It sounds as if the roof is going to collapse. The sound was distinct and carried an ominous bending metal noise that reverberated through the walls and floor and into the bones in their feet. If there had been an explosion outside, then perhaps the room was compromised.
Russell backed up and found the edge of the desk. His attention was moving back toward the door across the room, but it was still dark. “Everybody, just be cool.”
The comment seemed to be more for him. He was more intense than the others. Some serious shit is going on out there. I’m glad I did my job, he couldn’t help but think smugly.
Dimitri tried desperately to listen to the sounds, but Russell’s interjections and heavy breathing were creating a hindrance. “Everyone, shut up!” Dimitri hissed.
The sounds of distant servos and generators sputtered out from above as Dimitri’s words faded away. The room went into a deep, numbing silence. The only thing that could be heard was the swell of breathing coming from Gail and Russell. Hanna could hear her own heartbeat. It was the rushing of blood to her head. Her senses were on full alert. Her legs started to weaken. Her mouth tasted chalky and like metal.
A new sound arrived. Pings and twisting metal bounced around from every direction. The place sounded like a submarine sinking helplessly toward the ocean floor. There was pressure against metal. Steel was being bent. The air in the room seemed to be vacuumed out. Then a loud slam came from above. Something crashed on top of the ceiling so hard that the entire place shook up and down. The group flinched. Everyone braced.
“This is it. It’s going to collapse!” Gail cried out.
Hanna was less dark. She welcomed the commotion from above. It was progress. It was the end of a silent stalemate that had them asking the same questions. Where are we? Why are we here? When can we leave? Now, something seemed to propel change. Staying in the room was looking less and less like a safe bet.
Dimitri was unshaken by the commotion. The sounds only solidified what he had already believed to be true. The power to the base was collapsing — not the roof. The generators were loud when they shut down and sounded rough and clamoring. It wasn’t uncommon for them to make an impact as they had. It was the sound of the intake valves closing to keep whatever air had been pumped into the facility from escaping. The generators were only supposed to last a few hours down here. They were not where they were supposed to be. This part of the base was uninhabitable. Their time with oxygen was running out.
“There go the gennies,” he said with an I-told-you-so shrug.
He released his watch, and his face vanished back into the darkness.
More shuffling around the room created an unsettling swirl of chaos.
Russell responded nervously, “Everyone, stay put.”
Hanna replied in a hurry. “No. We’ve got to move!”
“No one’s going anywhere. Just hold up!” Russell asserted.
Hanna started to move. Russell had anticipated it. He quickly stepped forward. His hand reached through the blackness, clumsily feeling for Hanna’s arm.
“I’m not waiting,” Hanna shouted.
She felt Russell’s girth. His massive body grabbed her. His hands were dry and scratchy. His fingernails were longer than they should be.