The Normals

Chapter Seventeen: A Whole New Person

“I can’t see a thing,” said Nicole.

“It’s all right. Just hang on, I’ll get you to the hiding place.”

There was a clank somewhere in front of them, followed by a groan. “Ow,” said James.

“Good, you just ran into it.”

“This?” Marianne could imagine him feeling up the side of the Machine, thinking it nothing more than a big wall of metal. “It’s nothing but a big wall of metal.”

“Over here,” she whispered. “Quietly, so they don’t hear us.” Actually, the person she didn’t want hearing them was the Shark. She was worried that if he heard his sidekicks getting led away, he would somehow find the strength to come help them.

She led them through the dark, measuring her footsteps carefully. Their breathing sounded inhumanly loud in the air beside her. Marianne wondered if they were finally starting to feel worried. Probably not.

The door of the Distilling Chamber was more than halfway down in its frame. “Careful,” Marianne told her friends. “Nicole, you’ll need to come down.” She curled her hand around the heavy bottom edge and ducked under, listening to the sounds of the twins doing the same.

“What is this hiding place?” James asked. His voice echoed, filling the tiny space.

“It’s just a niche in one of the walls,” said Marianne. “I’ve never seen anybody use it for anything, so no one’s going to look here."

“There are nozzles in the walls,” said Nicole’s voice from near the ceiling.

“Are there?”

“Yeah, or maybe they’re vents.”

“Could be part of the air conditioning system,” said Marianne.

“I guess...” said James slowly.

His voice was further away from her now. Marianne's back was still pressed against the half-shut door, her fingers feeling the edge. She was listening to her friends’ voices, mentally measuring how far away they were from the narrow exit.

“Marianne?” said James after a moment. He was near the back of the chamber, though that didn’t mean he couldn’t be by her in a second.

“Yeah?”

“How did you get out of the room at Headquarters?”

Marianne had been hoping she wouldn’t have to explain. “Well,” she stalled. “I’ve been kind of training myself for tight situations for years.”

“Yeah, but those rooms are designed to keep Supers from getting out.”

“You guys know me. I’ve always had a knack for getting out of places."

“Really? Because—”

The door trembled behind Marianne. She never did get to hear about what her friends thought about her and tight places, because with a speed that James could have envied she ducked down beneath the closing door, all too aware of the shifting tons of metal and the tiny gap. James and Nicole cried out, but she didn’t hear what they said, and she was just hoping that they didn’t know where the exit was enough to reach it in time. She rolled on her back across the floor. The door of the Distilling Chamber snapped itself shut with a hiss, the teeth along the bottom edge fitting neatly into grooves in the floor. Her sneaker’s shoelace got caught.

“Well, that’s just typical,” she said as she began to unlace it.

“Sorry,” said Roger from the control panel. He flipped on the light. “I thought I placed it too low, I’m so sorry, I was just worried they’d catch up to you and then—”