RESCUE
ME!
by
CQB
Chapter 11
The Chapters
“Wait Frank,” Joe said suddenly, “I just had a thought. If some of these computers have battery back up, they might be able to shed a little light in the room.”
“Great idea, little brother,” Frank agreed. The pair scooted to the table again and began pushing any buttons they could find in the dark. To their delight, two laptop computers came on, filling the room with a glowing light.
“I see the door now,” Frank said, looking across the room.
Grabbing the laptop nearest him, Frank hurried across the room, with Joe right on his heels. He opened the bathroom door and peered inside.
The room contained only a toilet and sink, but it had a drop ceiling, just like the outer room. Frank climbed on top of the toilet and lifted a panel of the ceiling, handing it to Joe.
“See anything?” Joe asked hopefully.
“Too dark,” Frank answered. “Hand me the computer.” Joe obliged.
“Bingo!” Frank cried. “There’s a door here, but it’s in the middle of the ceiling. Think you can lift me up on your shoulders?”
“No problem,” Joe grinned. “Climb aboard.” Joe crouched in front of the toilet low enough for Frank to climb up onto his shoulders. Frank had left the laptop in the other opening, so there was plenty of light as Frank removed the center panel of the ceiling.
Seeing a latch, he pulled on it and the air-tight door hissed open. “There’s a ladder, Joe!”
“Wahoo!” Joe shouted, pumping his fist in the air, “We’re outta here!”
“Let me get up,” Frank said as he grabbed a wrung of the ladder. “I can’t see the top. Should we bring the computer with us?”
“I can just move it,” Joe suggested. He climbed on the toilet and retrieved the laptop, and then moved back to the opening.
“I’ll get a chair and hand it up to you.” Joe raced back into the other room and grabbed the nearest chair, carrying it into the bathroom. He climbed up and handed the laptop to Frank.
Frank gently set it on a nearby tile, facing the monitor up the shaft. He could see the rungs of the ladder going up a tall shaft, but the light only penetrated about 20 feet. Above that, only darkness. “There’s probably a door at the top with the same kind of lever as this door.”
“Start climbing Frank, so I can get up there.”
“Joe, there’s no way you can reach, and I’m not sure I’ve got the strength left to pull you up.”
Joe bit his lip. Frank was right, but he didn’t want to have to wait. He desperately needed fresh air. ‘If only I had a rope,’ the blond Hardy boy thought.
Joe suddenly smiled. He didn’t have a rope, but he had something that would work just as well. “Hold on Frank! I’m going to need your help.”
Joe again raced into the other room. He glanced around until his eyes found exactly what he wanted; a heavy duty extension cord. He hurried back to the bathroom, panting heavily.
“Frank…grab…the end,” Joe said, his lungs once again screaming for more oxygen than they could get.
“Got it,” Frank called down. “I’ll tie it off on one of the rungs. Good thinking, Joe.”
Frank secured the extension cord, and then climbed above it. “Okay Joe, come on up!”
Joe got on the chair and grabbed the cord with both hands, hoisting himself upward. With his lungs already deprived of much needed air, it was not an easy task.
Frank wanted so badly to go back down and help Joe, but he realized that if Joe couldn’t make it up, it would be up to him to get out and get the generator up and running again.
“C’mon…Hardy,” Joe chastised himself, “don’t…be…a…wimp!”
Frank smiled as a familiar blond head poked up into the passage. Frank braced himself against the sides of the passage and reached down toward Joe. “Give me your hand.”
Gratefully, Joe stretched his right hand up to Frank. With Frank’s extra muscle added, Joe was able to heave himself into the tunnel.
“Whew!” the younger boy sighed as soon as he was safely gripping the ladder. “I thought…I was in…such good shape.”
“Don’t put yourself down,” Frank added. “I’m not sure anyone of average strength and agility could have done what you just did under these conditions, kiddo.”
Joe looked up at Frank and smiled. “Thanks.”
Frank returned the smile, but then glanced upwards. “We’re not through, Superman. Are you ready to climb?”
“Compared to what I just did, this will be a piece of cake.”
* * *
“The boys are inside,” Amy Gantz gestured toward a cement block building. “Unfortunately, they are 80 feet below us and to get you there, I’d have to turn the generator back on. Now, I’m afraid, that is impossible since I shot the thing all up.”
“Joe and Frank are underground?” Vanessa asked, nearly hysterical with fear. “What was the generator for…light?”
“Among other things,” Amy smiled coldly, pulling open the door. They hadn’t bothered to re-lock it since the boys couldn’t use the elevator. “The generator also ran the air- filtration system.”
“Oh God,” Callie cried. “They’ll suffocate!”
“Why, yes dear,” Amy agreed, chuckling, “That is exactly what will happen, if they are even still alive. Tim’s underground workshop is now the ‘Tomb of the Hardy Brothers’.
“I’m sorry I can’t offer you the same accommodations, but I can give you this delightful penthouse room. Get inside!” Amy pulled open the door the rest of the way with her left hand, while her right hand firmly gripped the pistol.
Callie and Vanessa tentatively moved inside the small building, only to be shoved hard from behind. The two girls stumbled forward, crashing into the far wall. Before they could recover, the door was slammed shut.
The only light was faint moonlight filtering through the trees and in through the tiny windows high on the wall.
Before they could even begin to assess their situation, Callie and Vanessa were startled by a loud bang just outside their prison door.
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Disclaimer
The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.