Free Blackout by Peter Jay Black

away.
    At the end of the hallway, the guards stopped, removed Jack and Charlie’s backpacks and threw them to the floor.
    ‘Hey,’ Charlie shouted. ‘Be careful with my stuff.’
    The guards opened a door and shoved them inside.
    The night duty manager turned to one guard. ‘Wait here.’ He looked at Jack and Charlie. ‘The police will deal with you.’ He motioned for the other guard to follow him.
    The remaining guard smirked and slammed the door shut.
    The lock clicked.
    Jack stared at the door, then spun around.
    They were in a small room lined with shelves, each crammed full of cleaning supplies.
    Jack looked for an escape route. There was only a small ventilation grate – no way in there, and the suspended ceiling didn’t look strong enough to take their weight anyway.
    There were no other doors.
    No windows.
    Jack tried his headset again, but Obi still didn’t respond. He looked at Charlie. ‘We’re trapped.’
    ‘Mm-hmm.’ Charlie moved along the shelves, muttering under her breath.
    The lights went out.
    Jack reached into his pocket, pulled out his torch and flicked it on.
    ‘Give me that,’ Charlie said, taking it from him and turning back to the shelves.
    ‘What are you doing?’
    ‘Reading.’
    Jack frowned at her. ‘Reading what?’
    Charlie picked up a white bottle with a red skull and crossbones emblazoned on it. ‘Labels.’ She grab­­­bed another, smaller, green bottle. ‘Hold these.’
    Jack took them from her.
    Finally, Charlie removed a large black bottle and a bucket from the bottom shelf. She put the bucket in the corner of the room, opened the black bottle and upended it.
    The glug, glug of the green liquid smelt like pine disinfectant.
    Once emptied, Charlie tossed the bottle aside and motioned for Jack to hand her the other two.
    She rechecked the labels, opened the white bottle and tipped half of its contents into the bucket. This one smelt like bleach mixed with alcohol.
    Jack screwed his nose up and took a step back as it started to hiss.
    Charlie opened the last bottle and hesitated. ‘We need a few other things first.’ She set the bottle down and refocused her attention on the shelves.
    After a moment, she opened a pack of cleaning cloths and tossed two of them to Jack.
    ‘What are these for?’
    Charlie pointed to a mop and bucket by the door. ‘Dip them in that water.’
    Jack walked over and peered inside.
    There were hair and leaves floating in it. ‘It’s not exactly clean water, Charlie,’ he said, screwing his nose up at the brown liquid.
    ‘Just do it,’ Charlie said. ‘What do you want? Mineral water?’
    Reluctantly, Jack dipped the cloths in the dirty liquid.
    When he was done, Charlie took one of them from him and returned to the other bucket.
    ‘Right,’ she said. ‘This might not work.’
    ‘What exactly are you doing?’
    Charlie pointed to the ceiling directly above her. There was a fire alarm – its red light blinking.
    Jack looked at the bucket. ‘You’re gonna set it off with the chemicals?’
    She nodded. ‘You might want to put that over your nose and mouth.’
    Jack stared at the wet cloth. Yellow-brown water dripped to the floor. ‘Put it over my mouth?’ he said, incredulous. ‘Are you kidding me?’
    Charlie held her own cloth in one hand and the bottle poised over the bucket in the other. ‘I’m not sure how toxic this will be.’
    ‘Toxic?’ Jack said. ‘Is this likely to cause any permanent damage to us?’
    Charlie looked at the bucket, the bottle in her hand and then considered him for a moment. ‘Maybe.’
    ‘Great,’ Jack said. ‘Let’s just call for an ambulance now. Wait.’ He glanced at the locked door. ‘How are you so sure that guard will open it?’
    ‘I’m not.’ Charlie upended the bottle.
    The liquid in the bucket immediately started bubbling and fumes poured into the air in a billowing plume.
    The stench of chemicals made Jack gag.
    Reluctantly, he held the wet cloth over his mouth and nose. The