Rukiya woke up to a loud droning in her ear. She squeezed her eyes against the bright light and tried to turn over, but her head thumped against something warm that smelled of cedar and geranium. And that was when she remembered she wasn't in her bed, but trapped in a damn elevator.
"Rukiya. Hey." Kadin shook her. "Time to get up."
She groaned and rubbed her face. The world was foggy when she opened her eyes. Shades of gray and black swam in an amalgamation of color. She blinked a few times, and the silvery doors of the elevator snapped into focus.
"Good lord," Rukiya groaned. Pins and needles ran up and down her left leg and when she tried to sit up properly, her body listed to one side.
"Easy, easy." Kadin caught her by the shoulders. "The fire department's here. We're getting out."
That bit of news woke her up the rest of the way. "We're getting out?" She looked up, but saw nothing but the sealed hatch on the elevator's roof. Beyond it, the sounds of machinery droned, drowning out the buzz of the lights. It seemed sometime while she was asleep, the power had come back on. But not the heat. It was even colder than she remembered it being last night.
Kadin offered her a hand up. His bag sat on his shoulders, and their garbage was in his other arm. His hair was a little dishevelled and eyes baggy, and she imagined he hadn't slept at all. Heck, even though she'd gotten a few hours, it felt as though she'd been wrestling bears. Her neck was stiff, her butt sore, and her leg hadn't fully woken up.
"Thanks." She slipped her hand in Kadin's and he pulled her up to her feet. "How long have they been here?"
"A few minutes." He stuffed his hands in his coat pockets. They watched the hatch in silent anticipation. After a few minutes, the droning stopped and metal knocking against metal took its place. The sounds moved closer, echoing through the shaft, until the thump of boots on metal sounded as though it was right on top of them.
The hatch above their heads swung open, and a headlamp glared in. The firefighter it was attached too, looked more like a shadow stuffed into a uniform than a person. "You folks alright down there?" He lifted his helmet to reveal a rugged face and dark eyes framed by crow's feet.
"A little tired, but no worse for the wear," Kadin said.
"Alright. I'm officer Lansing. Captain Crawford is up on the next floor. We're gonna do our best to get you both out of here quick. I need you to scooch on back so I can lower this ladder."
They stepped back until their backs touched the wall of the elevator, and the firefighter lowered a metal ladder down the hatch. He gave it a few jiggles to ensure it was secure. It was just a regular aluminum ladder, but to Rukiya, it was the stairway to heaven.
Kadin nodded for her to go first.
Rukiya adjusted her bag and mounted the rungs. The metal was icy against her bare palms, but stable under her feet as she climbed. Dry, musty air met her out in the shaft, and the firefighter's headlamp illuminated metal tracks on the wall. Rust bloomed like little flowers on the steel. Over her head, light poured in from the opened doors of the floor above.
"No wonder this piece of junk got stuck," the firefighter said. He tapped the ladder leading to the floor above. "Just a little bit to go."
She climbed onto the second ladder, her boots clinking against the metal. Another firefighter—Captain Crawford, she presumed—awaited her at the top. He offered her a hand up when she reached the last rung on the ladder and pulled her into the hall of floor seventy.
"Are you alright ma'am?" he asked.
Rukiya rubbed her hands together to warm them. "Yeah. Just a little tired and cold. Thanks so much for your help."
"Of course. It's what we do." He turned his attention back to the shaft, and she moved further up the hall.
Closed doors lined either side from end to end, offices, empty hollow shells, not even thought about by their usual occupants at times like this. Being stuck in one of those for eight hours a day wasn't that much different from being stuck in the elevator—the banal monotony of desk work was just as maddening as sitting in silence or under the buzzing glare of lights.
If anything, this whole ordeal made a desk job even less appealing. She much preferred the contract work that took her around the city and country. Her job was to strategize, manipulate and crunch numbers. Deliver results. And she did that while sipping coffee at her favorite cafe or pacing in front of the picture windows in her apartment.
Ruiya turned back to the shaft in time to see Kadin emerge. Captain Crawford held his backpack as he emerged with their bag of trash in hand.
"How are you feeling, sir?" he asked.
Kadin roughed up his hair even more. "Happy to be out of that damn elevator. I feel even better once I'm out of this building."
"I feel you, but it may be a while before you can head home. The plows are still out there, clearing the streets. Most of the highways and main roads are clear, but some residential areas are still snowed in."
"That's fine," Rukiya said over a yawn. After spending all night in the elevator, a few more hours in the lobby was a luxury by comparison. "Thanks again." She flicked her head towards the door that led to the stairwell. "Shall we?"
Kadin nodded and went ahead to hold the door open. On a normal day, she wouldn't have given the stairs a second look, but today, they were nirvana. They were freedom, and she felt light and giddy as she descended them with Kadin in her wake.
It was a long, winding way down the concrete steps. Their footfalls echoed up and down the stairwell. The metal rail was icy against Rukiya's palm as she descended. She hazarded a peek over the edge and vertigo sent her head spinning. The bottom was but a tiny square from her perspective, and for a fleeting moment, she got the urge to jump.
"You alright?" Kadin asked from beside her. He had his jacket tossed over one shoulder, his backpack hanging off the next, and their garbage in his hand.
Rukiya nodded as she yawned. "Just happy to be out of there. How long do you think it'll be before they clear the roads?"
"We can check the news when we get downstairs, I guess."
They fell silent, and their footfalls moved in to occupy the empty air. Rukiya gave her phone a quick peek and debated calling her boyfriend. The memory of his scalding words was burned into her brain, the blisters still stung. There was no need to call when Kadin had already offered a ride. And they'd have plenty of time for a talk when she got home. A long, soul-searching talk. She did, however, shoot a quick text to Wendy: Hey, we just got out. Will be home when the roads clear.
After around ten minutes more of descending the steps, the ground floor was in sight. Kadin held open the door, and she stepped into the lobby. The circular desks in the front were empty, the computers off, the chairs tucked in. A seating area opposite reception was alight with the glow coming through the glass entrance.
Rukiya crossed the dark blue carpet to gaze at the piles of snow left behind after the storm. The blinding glare of the sun illuminated the other buildings across the street. The pizzeria had taken down its awning and pulled shutters over the windows, and the traffic lights blinked yellow.
She wrapped her arms around her waist and stepped back from the glass. Seeing the streets and buildings abandoned tied her stomach into knots. It was like stepping out of the real world and into a horror movie. She turned from the bleak view and met Kadin standing on a couch and fiddling with the TV on the wall.
The screen flashed to life, and the sounds of the morning news echoed through the foyer. The ticker across the bottom said the storm had dropped twelve inches of snow. A feed on the side displayed which highways and roads had been cleared. Hers wasn't, of course. That would be too easy.
Rukiya settled on a couch of her own and slipped off her shoes. It was just as cold in the lobby as it had been in the elevator, but at least the couch was comfy. Her butt was sore from sitting on the elevator floor, her neck was stiff and her back achy.
Kadin settled onto the couch opposite her and dug through his bag. "For breakfast, I can offer you some trail mix."
"Trail Mix? You spoil me, sir," Rukiya said, accepting the little bag. She tucked her legs up into the chair and leaned on the armrest. Even though the sweet-salty snack chased away the gnawing in her stomach, it didn't alleviate the grogginess dragging her lids down.
And the couch was far more comfy than the elevator floor.