Free Milo Moon: It Never Happened by Derek Haines Page B

the door behind himself, and making his way back down to the street.
    ‘What do we do now, Milo?’
    ‘Okay, Michael. Let’s be calm. Let me think,’ and they both started to conclude that they had serious problems now.
    ‘Right! First thing to worry about Michael is our third eye. We’re probably being tracked, so it’s not going to take long to find us. We need to find somewhere where we aren’t able to be monitored.’
    ‘Yes, but if we’re monitored, they will know where we’re heading. So even if we head for the edges of Sootere, they will be able to follow us as we make our way there.’
    ‘The bin! The bin, Michael.’
    ‘What bin, Milo?’
    ‘The garbage bin. Let’s see what we can find.’
    ‘You do have some crazy ideas, Milo.’ but Michael dutifully trudge off towards the garbage bins at the side of his building.
    ‘What are we looking for, Milo?’
    ‘A balaclava.’
    ‘A what?’
    ‘Oh here we are. This will do just perfectly,’ Milo said, as he held up a black plastic bag full of kitchen waste.
    ‘Oh it smells, Milo!’
    ‘Just wait, I’ll empty it.’ Milo emptied the contents and shook the bag as best he could to remove all the rotting pieces of food scraps.
    ‘I’ll turn it inside out. It’ll be fine.’
    ‘Fine for what, Milo?’
    Milo pulled the bag over Michael’s head and tied the plastic tie straps around his neck. He then pushed his fingers through the front of the bag to create holes in front of his eyes, and one for his mouth. He did the same for himself.
    ‘Now, Michael, if we keep extra quiet, we might have a chance of not being tracked.’
    ‘It still smells, Milo.’
    ‘Come on, Michael. Let’s get a move on. We need to get back near G Sector. That I think, is where we need to start if we want to get out of here without being terminated first. Do you still have the duct plans?’
    ‘Yes, they’re in my bag. Why?’
    ‘Because I think we are going to set up home there for a while.’
    ‘Milo?’
    ‘Yes, Michael.’
    ‘I miss Claire already.’
    ‘Me too, Michael. Me too!’
    Keeping to unlit areas as much as possible, Michael made his way towards G Sector. It took nearly an hour to get there, and then another half an hour to crawl along enough distance of ducting to feel relatively safe.
    ‘What now, Milo?’
    ‘Find a duct that leads to food, Michael!’
    ‘Can we take the silly hat off now?’
    ‘I think another hour, just to be safe. Study your maps. Find food. I think we’re starving.’
    ‘There’s a food distribution point a little to our right and then left. About four hundred meters. There’s an air duct leading into the storeroom.’
    ‘Right. Let’s get going.’
    ‘And the hat?’
    ‘A little longer.’
    Guided by their torch, it took nearly an hour and a half of stooped walking and mostly crawling to get to the duct junction that led to the food storeroom. Michael made his way down the narrow chute. He was surprised to see in the distance that the grill covering was not in place. He approached slowly, sensing danger.
    ‘Michael?’
    ‘Shut up, Milo.’
    ‘Okay!’
    Just a meter or two from the opening of the duct into the room, Michael could see light. He crawled slowly and carefully so as not to make a sound. Finally he could see the ceiling of the room. A little further and his viewpoint improved and he could see the walls and storage shelves and refrigeration cabinets. Inching forward slowly and being extra careful to be quiet, he finally arrived at a point where he could see almost all of the room. He saw a shadow in the room moving on his right. He held his breath, more out of fear and expectation than any sense of skilled espionage. The shadow moved again, and appeared to be someone moving about just under him and to his right. He waited, hoping that whoever was making the shadow would come into his view. More movement, but still only a shadow. He tried to gain a few valuable inches, making sure he was still well away from the