CHAPTER III – VENTILATION
- Fuck… Oh f-fuck… - Adam’s voice was trembling. His knees started to feel weak and couldn’t handle the weight of the traumatized teenager anymore.
Sam looked away in disgust. Mike and Riley just stood there, still gripped to each other, no sound emanating from their open mouths.
It was just so sudden. One moment Jerry was there, the next he wasn’t. Wiped out, crushed like a simple bug by her unaware girlfriend. Until that point Adam was trying to remain as rational as possible. But not anymore. That was his breaking point.
- W-what… did I do? Oh g-god, what d-did… I do? – Adam was on his knees, his hands on his head, starting to shake uncontrollably. His friend was gone. And it was all because of him.
- My god, Jerry… - Riley uttered the first words in ages. Apparently (and ironically) Jerry’s death seemed to have awoken him from his catatonic state, to the surprise of his brother.
- It’s m-m-my fault… m-my f-fault... – Adam was losing it. Sam decided to lift him up.
– Adam, it’s not your fault, please calm down – as shocked as he was, Sam knew that they still needed Adam to get out of this situation, preferably in a sane state.
- N-no, it’s m-my fault, my fault, MY FAULT!!! WHAT DID I D… - Sam slapped Adam him the face with all of his force. – Adam, focus! Jerry threw himself into his death! There’s nothing you, or me, or anyone else could have done! Do you get it?! Nothing! No come back to me!
Sam’s mighty slap seemed to have worked. Adam calmed down.
- We will mourn him, ok? When we get out of this situation. Later. Now focus Adam. Professor Yen. You said we needed Professor Yen, remember? – At this point, Sam was on full survival mode, almost like he forgot the death of his friend just moments ago.
- Pr-professor Yen… Yes… Yes we n-need to get to her…
- Good, where is she know?
- H-here office… She m-must be in here office at t-this hour… - Adam was holding his right cheek, the pain seemed to have numbed his feeling of utter shock.
- How do we get here? – asked Riley. He was now the one holding Mike, still in shock.
- Office 111… It’s a few steps through the corridor. Well, more like a thousand for us.
- Good, so what are we waiting for, let’s go. Come on Mike – Riley looked at Mike, who was also recovering from the shock. – Y-yes, let’s go.
- No way, we are not going through the corridor! – retorted Sam - Did you not just see what happened to Jerry? No way in hell am I going to that death trap.
- Sam his right, the corridor his to dangerous, at this size we could get crushed by anyone. If we are not mistaken from bugs…
- Then how do we get to her office? – Mike asked.
- The vents… we could go through the vents – Adam started to talk to himself again.
- The vents?
- Yes, the vents. We can reach Professor Yen’s office through the air conditioning instead of going by the corridor. – Adam pointed towards a vent near the ground. – It’s safer, we are sure to not encounter anyone through that. There’s also no risk in getting lost since we just need to go straight until we can reach the office at the end of the corridor.
- Good, good, not a bad idea Adam – Sam was trying to comfort Adam. The mark of his hand on Adam’s cheek was still visible, to the point where he was almost feeling guilty.
- O-ok then, let’s go – Riley and Mike took the lead, both brothers eager to get out of this situation.
…
The walk towards the ventilation took almost half an hour at their size. In a way, that was a good thing, since it allowed to group to digest Jerry’s death.
- Fuck, I can’t believe Jerry is gone, Adam… - Adam looked at Sam while walking. For the first time, Sam seemed to shown some grief towards his friend’s passing.
- I know man… I just… Why did I had to do that damn demonstration? Why?
- Don’t let this eat you from the inside, Adam. What happened, happened. We need to stay strong. We need to survive. For Jerry.
- Yeah, for Jerry.
- Hey guys, here we are – Mike and Riley already reached the vent. – Know, how do we climb it?
Thankfully for them, the vents in Rosevalley High-School were pretty close to the ground, by only a few inches. However at their size, that was still a pretty big climb.
- We’ll use the rugosities of the wall. – Adam approached and looked up. The walls were pretty old and at this size, the paint was already decaying.
- So basically, it’s like a big climbing wall – Sam joined in – Like that one in the mall. Except without safety rope.
- Man, I suck at that – Mike exclaimed frustrated. He may be a huge videogame enthusiast, but when it came to physical activities, that enthusiasm quickly wears off.
It was tense and difficult, but after another half-hour, the four remaining teens managed reached the vent. A cold breeze was felt inside it.
- Great, the last thing I need is a cold – Riley said. It was early summer at Rosevalley, and the boys were wearing light clothes. However inside the vents it felt like late autumn.
…
After two long hours of endless walking under a considerable cold, the group was almost exhausted. Prof. Yen’s office was visible through the vent, the light almost blinding them (not surprising since they stayed so long in the dark).
- We… made… it… - Mike was visibly gasping for air.
- Damn, I’m tired… And hungry. - Mike and Riley seemed to be the more affected, but Sam was also starting to show signs of weakness. He looked at Adam. He was once again in it’s own world, probably thinking about some equations or something…
- Hey Adam, I never asked you this, but once we’re inside Prof. Yen’s office, how do we get her attention?
- Huh? Oh, well I haven’t thought about that yet. I’m still thinking how I could fix that reboot error, so it doesn’t happen again. Maybe if I…
- Dude, forget about that damn machine! We need to solve our situation first! – Sam was staring to lose his temper. He remained calm until know, but the fatigue and hunger were getting to him.
- But what if another power outage happens? What if someone is looking for us in the lab and also accidentally gets shrunk? I need to put better fail-safes so it doesn’t…
- I said forget that STUPID MACHINE!!
- IT’S NOT STUPID!! IT’S A YEAR OF HARD-WORK!!! IT’S REVOLUTIONARY!!! DAMN IT, THIS WAS SUPOSSED TO BE THE HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!! INSTEAD IT ALL WENT TO SHIT!!!
- Huh, guys… – Mike tried to draw the attention of the pair.
- WELL, BOO FUCKING HOO!!! JERRY ALSO WENT TO SHIT!!! WE WENT TO SHIT!!!
- Guys!
- OH, SO KNOW YOU’RE SAD ABOUT JERRY!!!! IT DIDN’T SEEMED YOU GAVE A SHIT BACK WHEN HE WAS CRUSHED LIKE A FUCKING INSECT!!!!
- GUYS!!!!
- WHAT?!!!! – Adam and Jerry exclaimed in unison while looking at Riley.
- Is it me or did the breeze became stronger?
It wasn’t just Riley. The small cold breeze quickly became a strong wind. And then it turned into a hurricane. The air conditioning seemed to have gone into full intensity, dragging them away from the vent, away from salvation.
- SHIT!!! QUICLY GRAB SOMETHING!!!! – Sam shouted, while grabbing one of the vent’s grid.
Mike did the same thing, while Riley grabbed his back. Adam however, was starting to be blown away. That is until Sam grabbed his hand.
- I GOT YOU ADAM!!! – Sam went back into survival mode, apparently having forgotten their heated argument seconds ago.
- IT’S TOO STRONG!!! I’M LOOSING TI!!! – As mentioned before, Mike wasn’t very good in the physical department, and the fact that he had to hold his own weight plus his brother’s wasn’t helping.
- HOLD ON!!!
- I… CANT…. – But it was too late. The brothers were blown away into the depths of the ventilation system, into parts unknown.
- FUUUUCK!!! – Sam exclaimed in anger, while dragging himself and Adam out of the vent and into Prof. Yen office. What he did forget however, was there was almost two inches of hight between the vent and the ground. Both friends fell into the carpet, and into unconsciousness.