Free Escape (Chronicles of Hart) by Kat Murray Page B

a difficult turn to reach the nine. He gave it a sharp tap letting the grate shake debris off onto his hair and shoulders as it clicked into motion, falling slowly into a short ladder up.
    They then entered the smallest tunnel Walt had ever seen. It had grown small to the point of restricting.  He could barely squeeze his large midsection through parts of the tunnel, slowing their pace to a turtles speed. Walt’s belt buckle scraped along the stones with a sickening grinding noise. Steve had taken the duffle bag and was pushing it in front. Steve was having little trouble, save the squished part, navigating through the opening.
    “Go ahead .” Walt huffed, as Steve stopped ahead of him in the tunnel waiting. “Wait for me at the end. Yell back when it gets bigger,” He wheezed, coughing loudly as his head knocked against the top of the tunnel tapping a stone loose onto his back. He flinched at the pain, hoping that nothing else fell on him and he hadn’t collapsed the tunnel by bumping its delicate framework with his head.
    “I’ll let you know when it gets easier ,” Steve agreed, worried about his co-worker and long-time friend. He scooted ahead shuffling quicker through the small opening.  Soon the tunnel became more passable and he quickly popped out into the opening ahead landing on his shoulders as he rolled across the stone floor to catch himself. He hadn’t expected the tunnel to end so abruptly. “Hey,” he called back with excitement “You’re almost there!”
    “Keep talking.” Walt groaned from inside the tunnel. The scraping sounds grew closer, echoing against the walls while Steve waited for him in the anteroom.
    Steve thought for a minute. He wanted to encourage Walt to pull himself through without making him think too hard. He worried that the stress was already too much on him, “Did I tell you I bet on that Titans game last night? I won fifty bucks on it.” He chuckled to himself knowing that he had picked the right topic when he heard Walt grumble through the tunnel.
    ***
    Four more men had arrived at the church. The first group of only two had already searched the cellar and main floor extensively. The six then split into two groups of three and separated. One group headed up for the tower, the other for the invaders point of entry; the wall.
    The first crew trudged up the winding stairs, their heavy feet loud against the warped wooden floorboards that creaked in protest. They followed their captain Roy Mulligan, who had been one of the first two to arrive on the scene. Mulligan was usually on switch shifts with the guys, he was a ground level guard. Mostly because he didn’t want to go anywhere near the girl, she gave him the willies. Who would need to be locked up all alone like that, unless they were very dangerous? He had heard stories about that girl from some of the older guards that had since retired. Story was she was a bad seed, a killer, that’s why she needed to be kept alone and guarded twenty four seven by a team. Look at what she had accomplished today; they were saying she had nearly killed Steve on her way out of the confines of her tower. He kept his men between himself and the door, just in case she was lurking somewhere near.
    “Boys, this is a tricky one,” He announced, preparing to tell them the back story Hart had arranged. Knowing which information was vital and what was important enough to be kept under wraps was part of his training as the first on the scene. “Prisoner escaped, looks like it had outside help. You see anything suspicious, report it to me. Got it?”
    “Yes sir .” replied the two in unison, staring at their commanders back. Perfect, thought Mulligan. Now they would do all the work for him and never have to know about the psycho lady that was kept at bay in the tower. They would sleep soundly tonight thinking they had helped while he had nightmares of a scraggly red-head killing him in his sleep and burying him in the woods.
    Reaching the