Read Online Eve of Destruction by Patrick Carman - Free Book Online Page B

back. And adding him would make three, which exceeded what Mrs. Goring had told me to do. It would be risky defying her orders.
    I watched as Kate passed in front of the camera at the entrance and Marisa willingly followed, the two of them quickly past my ability to see in a few short seconds. The blue door would stop them soon enough, so technically I had as long as I wanted to think.
    â€œStart by getting Ben Dugan out of that shaft before he falls and breaks his neck,” I told Connor. “Let me look at the map again.”
    â€œRoger that,” said Connor. He could be surprisingly agreeable when there was something important to do that required his attention. He and Alex took off down the hall and I used the few seconds I had to look more carefully at the red zone tunnel, which told me all I needed to know. That direction held even more hazards to fall into. I returned to the controls, trying to understand as fast as I could how everything worked. It wasn’t like the bomb shelter, where only one monitor could be on at a time, and with all of them on it was mostly disorienting, too much information coming at me all at once. I realized what it must feel like to be a night security guard watching a bunch of black-and-white monitors of what essentially amounted to nothing moving. The images were all grainy, oversaturated color. 8 All six monitors projected views of haunted, unmoving space. Long, round passageways of rusted-out metal and missing sections of floor, empty rooms strewn with garbage and manuals and old office furniture, a wall of closed doors, giant empty spaces with looming, curved silos. It was the view of a place forgotten, filled with a hundred ways to die, crumbling slowly and silently into oblivion.
    I forced myself to look away from the monitors and focus my attention on the map one more time. I took a deep breath, really drinking in the whole of the underground facility.
    Marisa and Kate would be standing at the blue door, waiting for me to open it. Connor and Alex and Ben, they’d be leaving the main entrance and going back to the communicator near the red zone door.

    While I was lost in the details of the map, a familiar voice filled the observation room without warning.
    â€œSend the two girls together, they’ll be fine.”
    I felt a blinding urge to rip the door open, but of course I couldn’t, and turning around I saw that Mrs. Goring had returned.
    â€œI’d appreciate it if you could stop sneaking up on me like that. It’s freaking me out.”
    â€œYou’ve been down there for almost forty-five minutes. Progress needs to speed up.”
    â€œI’m working on it,” I said, watching her but also watching the other monitors in case Connor and Alex returned. “Which way is safer, blue or red?”
    â€œSmart boy. You see by the map there are two ways around.”
    â€œJust answer the question, will you?” I asked, peering back at the map and running a finger along the red path.
    â€œRed is safest,” she said.
    I’d come to see Mrs. Goring as a liar and a cheat. I didn’t trust her.
    â€œWhy do I have to close the blue door once they’re on the other side?”
    She wouldn’t answer me and seemed, once again, distracted by something I couldn’t see.
    â€œOnly one door can be open at a time,” she finally said, her attention returning. “That’s the trick. Otherwise you get a wind tunnel full of something you don’t want to be breathing in. It’s especially true once you open the O zone.”
    As best I could tell, the O zone was comprised of a gigantic room at the end of the blue tunnel.
    Still, blue was safest, not red. I felt it in my bones.
    â€œOnce you get two of them on the other side of the blue door, get the rest through the red door. Same thing, close it when they’re through. I’ll be back with more instructions. Don’t fail me, Will. I’m