Chapter 28: Chapter 28
We continue searching the abandoned warehouse for the next twenty minutes, making our way through several empty rooms. The entire time, silence hangs in the air with the occasional echoing from our footsteps. No-one speaks the entire time, simply turning to give each other a signal or indicate a direction.
"I think it's a bust." I tell Uncle Tobias, the cold beginning to seep it's way inside my jacket. The hope I previously had begins to fizzle out as time goes on. Tobias sighs, running a hand through the dark strands of his hair. I know he's desperate to find my parents and another bust is disheartening so I place my hand on his shoulder, letting him know it's okay.
"You did your best. We'll keep looking." I murmur. He nods slowly, his head hanging low —
"It feels like I'm failing them." He responds quietly. I reach up and wrap my free arm around his frame the best I can. He's taller and built musclier than me so it's a struggle but it resembles an awkward embrace eventually. He returns it, breathing in sharply. We remain like that for a few moments, sharing the same burden of disappointment and anxiety.
"Over here," Woody mumbles, breaking the silence in the air. I pull back and turn to look in his direction. He turns off his torch and is standing by a metal door that's cracked halfway open. He remains frozen in place, his eyes focused intently on something inside the room. My heart thuds heavily inside my chest and Uncle Tobias and I turn to look at each other.
He raises his finger to his lips, signalling for me to remain quiet. I nod my head and we both walk towards Woody's direction, careful not to make a noise or trip over any debris in the dark. As we approach Woody's side, I narrow my eyes to search the room and frown in response.
It's completely empty, dark shadows looming over the walls and floors from the trees outside the windows. There's another door on the other end that's opened halfway but other than that, the room is deserted. I confusingly look at Woody who's still frozen in place, his chest rising and falling heavily as he stares in the direction of the door.
"Woody?" Tobias whispers worriedly, placing a hand on his shoulder. Woody flinches, his hand shooting up to signal for him to be quiet. He remains in the exact same spot, the grip on his bat tightening further.
"Someone walked through that door a minute ago. Dressed in all black, I didn't see their face." Woody eventually responds. I stiffen up, chills appearing all over my body. Beside me, Uncle Tobias' body grows defensive and he gently guides Woody to the side before taking a slow step inside the room. We follow behind him, our eyes trained on the door.
Who is the mystery person Woody saw?
"It could be squatters," I mumble, my heart thudding loudly inside my chest. With silence surrounding me, all I can hear is the pounding beats of my heart in my ears. It's very likely a warehouse like this could be used by homeless people or drug addicts however considering the warehouse is in the middle of an empty field, it seems unlikely.
Uncle Tobias shakes his head, confirming my thoughts. He raises his torch and flicks it on, pointing it in the direction of the door as we all slowly make our way towards it. My hand hovers over the bulge of the gun inside my jacket pocket. Beside me, Woody has pocketed his torch and instead is gripping his bat tightly.
Uncle Tobias is the first to reach the door and when he does, he reaches out, pulling it open further. The sound of loud metal screeching across the floor fills the silence and I jump, feeling startled. If anyone is in the warehouse, they definitely would have heard that. Tobias turns to glance at Woody and I before turning back around and slowly entering the next room. Woody signals for me to go next, constantly keeping watch over his shoulder.
I follow Uncle Tobias, my breathing quickening up in fear. The next room seems to be the ground floor of the warehouse and definitely the largest area on site. As Uncle Tobias shines his torch over the shadows, I squint to make out the dark shapes of abandoned construction materials and stacks of wood. The room appears to extend backwards further but the light from the torch can only show so much. Half of the room is engulfed in complete darkness and the thought of someone sitting in the dark shadows, watching us has the hairs on the back of my neck stand pin straight.
"Hello?" Uncle Tobias calls out loudly, his voice echoing through the large floor. I turn to find Woody stood behind me, worry and anticipation sprawled across his face. He nods at me, signalling to keep following Tobias so that's what I do, keeping closely behind.
"Emily? Jake?" Tobias calls out, his voice floating through the air and bouncing off the metal structured walls of the warehouse. I hold my breath as I wait for a response, my stomach twisting and turning nervously. After the echoes of Uncle Tobias' voice disappear, silence falls upon the room once again. The sound of the wind outside beating against the metal sheets of the warehouse is the only sound to be heard.
"Mum? Dad?" I call out, wondering whether they're here and and can hear me. Maybe they're hurt and can't respond?
I eagerly wait for a response, my heart thudding wildly against my chest. After several seconds, a loud clatter can be heard coming from opposite us. I jump in fright and Uncle Tobias immediately shines his torch in the direction of the noise. Several feet away from us is a stack of wood piled on top of each other. An empty can is rolling on the floor in front of it, heading for our direction. As it reaches Uncle Tobias first, he stops it with his foot, his breathing growing heavy.
"Come out and show yourself." He says firmly, his voice secure and booming through the emptiness of the room. We all remain frozen to the spot, waiting for the person to emerge from the shadows. After several tense moments of no movement, we hear another clatter and this time, a second metal can rolls towards us from a different direction. Woody whips out his torch, shining it in the direction it came from. Nothing can be seen but I know someone is out there, taunting us. I don't feel safe so I reach inside my pocket, pulling the gun out and holding it the way Uncle Tobias taught me.
Silence falls upon us again and we remain in the same spot, eyes straining as we don't dare blink incase we miss movement amongst the shadows. Uncle Tobias takes a slow step forward, walking further towards the middle of the room. As soon as he takes another step, I hear metal roll towards us from another direction. I spin around, my gun held high as I breathe deeply —
"Come out!" I say firmly, my chest rising and falling heavily. As the can approaches me, I glance down at it and stop it with my foot. The sound of popping can be heard coming from it and I jump backwards, wondering what the hell is happening. It suddenly erupts, hissing and spitting white powdered gas into the air. Beside me, Uncle Tobias kicks it as hard as he can away from us —
"Run!" He yells at Woody and I, the gas continuing to fill the air amongst us. Our eyes widen in fear but we don't need to be told twice as we turn around, ready to run straight out of the room. Woody grabs my arm and we head towards the metal door we came from but the sound of it slamming shut in the darkness has us stopping immediately in our tracks. I turn around desperately, trying to find another way out as the gas can be heard continuing hissing in the air —
"Find another way out!" Uncle Tobias tells us, running in the opposite direction and further into the dark room. Woody and I follow him, our breathing erratic and our hands covering our faces in an effort to inhale as little gas as possible. In front of me, Uncle Tobias groans and falls to the floor, his legs giving out under him. I scream and release Woodys grip on me, bending down to pick Tobias back up.
"No Ruby! We've got to go!" Woody screams, his arm muffling his speech. The gas continues to seep through the air, filling our bodies with who knows what. I fight against Woody as he pulls me away from Tobias and towards another door several feet away from us. All I can do is watch as Tobias attempts to stand before his eyes roll backwards into his head and he loses consciousness. Woody pulls on the handle of the door but it doesn't budge and within seconds, I feel my own body grow heavy and the chemical take over.
The last thing I remember seeing is Uncle Tobias lying completely still. I stumble towards him, my hands outstretched so I don't leave him behind.
The last thing I remember hearing is Woody yell my name as I fall, my head bouncing hard off the concrete floor.
My entire vision and mind goes blank.
Darkness clouds my mind and everything turns into complete silence.
Black is the way people describe losing consciousness however I'd describe it more as an empty vast of nothing-ness.
No thoughts, no images, no colour.
Just nothing.