Calamitous (Kaylor)

23

Karlie decided it would be best to wait a few minutes before trying to contact Taylor. She paced around in the small chamber, trying to avoid thinking claustrophobic thoughts. The pervasive darkness bothered her a little. Eventually she couldn't take the silence anymore and pushed the button to talk.

"Taylor? Any sign of life in there?" There were a few seconds of static before she got an answer.

"Nothing. It's dead," Taylor whispered. "I'm just around the corner from the control room. If anyone's in here, that's where they'd probably be. We rarely left it unguarded." Karlie could hear her breathing slightly faster than normal and realized that the blonde was nervous.

"Just take it slow. You'll be fine," she encouraged. It was another minute before the reply came.

"It's empty. I'm going to turn everything on. If there still is someone down here, they will notice, and they'll probably head directly toward me. I'll do my best to get out, but you will need to get the others down here before they have much time to prepare."

Karlie nodded, then realized that Taylor couldn't see her, so she hummed in agreement.

"Lights on in 3...2...1..." Karlie could see the light in the hallway through the crack under the door. She pressed her ear against the door, listening for sounds of people shouting or running, but there was nothing.

"I've got the cameras back online," Taylor's voice crackled after a moment. "There's no one here. Can you have one of the undercover agents go check the front door?"

"The communicator won't work from this far below ground," Karlie frowned. "I'll have to run halfway up the steps at least."

"Then get running. Time is kind of critical, Karlie." Karlie looked back up the stairs to the tiny speck of light in the distance.

"But I can't leave you down here alone!" she protested.

"I have the cameras now. I'll see anyone coming," Taylor assured her. "Besides, it will only take a few minutes."

"Fine." Karlie began jogging up the steps. She stopped and tested the communicator several times, and eventually was able to patch through to the group above. Once she explained the situation and ordered someone to go check around front, she sat on the steps, torn between waiting for them to report back and running back down to check on Taylor.

Luckily, the agent didn't take long. It was as Karlie had begun to suspect - no one was there. The building was locked. She ran back down, finally arriving at the door, and contacted Taylor again.

"Taylor? Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Is something wrong?" Taylor asked.

"Not really, I was just making sure. So, the building is locked. There's no sign of anyone around." Hearing this, Taylor cursed, frustrated.

"Okay. It looks like they were anticipating an attack, because they're long gone. They've probably moved to a new headquarters. I'll scan the system for any helpful data left behind, shut down everything, and be back to you in a jiffy." Moments later the lights shut down, plunging the abandoned base back into darkness.

Before long, the door opened and Taylor reappeared. Karlie greeted her with a hug, which made the girl stiffen up a little with surprise, but eventually she reciprocated. "That was scary," the detective said. "Maybe don't volunteer to run in danger like this again."

Taylor laughed. "No promises." The two made their way back up to the rest of the group. When they finally crawled from the hole in the hill, Karlie flopped onto the grass and breathed a sigh of relief. "I am not a fan of underground tunnels," she said in reply to Lily's amused look. Taylor crawled out after her, not looking worse for wear at all.