Night 67: Janitor's Closet, 2nd Floor

[madeinthehrl]

[from here]

Soma took a step through the door, and the world shifted.

She couldn't find another way to describe it. One minute she'd been pushing the door open, bracing herself for the cold winds outside, and the next--nothing. Then, a sharp, intense smell, like antiseptic, and a darkness that was almost stifling.

It was a moment before she could orient herself. She was in a cramped room stuffed to the brim with cleaning supplies, and as she turned to see if the Once-ler had followed her in, she knocked over a mop, which hit an aerosol can and fell to the ground with a clatter.

"I don't understand," she said, her eyebrows drawing together. "That door..."

Comments

[fallenbeanpole]

It seemed like this night was determined to throw him off guard in some way or another, be it smeared roommate or, in this case, the weirdest feeling that walking through a door had caused the world to move around him. The Once-ler blinked in the darkness, startling a bit when the can hit the ground.

Soma sounded just as confused as he felt. The man brought his flashlight up and shone it at the walls, puzzled. That door was supposed to lead outside, right? And yet...

"We're in a closet." There was very little doubt about that. The mops, cleaning supplies, that toolbox; all things one would expect to be stored in a closet. "Why are we in a closet?"

[madeinthehrl]

"I don't know! I've gone out that door more times than I can count!"

So why not tonight? Soma pivoted again, scanning the crowded shelves as if somehow spinning in place might return them to the rec field. A supply closet, and not the one in the medical wing. That was the only one she could think of on the first floor, so...

"I think we're upstairs. There was a janitor's closet marked on my map, I think."

[fallenbeanpole]

"Whoa! Hey, just thinking out loud here, that's all." The Once-ler held his hands up submissively, but Soma was already looking back at the shelves. He sighed, and instead began inspecting the higher shelves himself.

The man nodded when Soma spoke up again. "Definitely a janitor's closet. This stuff is all things janitors would use." He picked his way through the cramped space, continuing to shine his light on the shelves. Something caught his eye; he picked it up, then turned back to Soma, grinning slightly.

"Check it out: box cutter."

[madeinthehrl]

So the second floor, then, but that still didn't explain why they were here. Soma's frown deepened for a moment before a box cutter appeared in her peripheral vision.

It wasn't as if being here was any kind of improvement on being downstairs--in fact, given how crowded this room was, it was probably worse--but the Once-ler had a point. As long as they were here, they might as well take advantage of the situation. She didn't so much return the grin as lighten her own expression somewhat, but she crouched and began going through the shelves as well.

She'd looped a roll of duct tape around her arm before Marie spoke up. Try not to get lost, she said. That was what Dr. Landel told us, wasn't it? He could be doing all this on purpose.

And that set off a chain of recollections, didn't it. Soma tensed for a moment, halfway to reaching for another roll of tape. How could she have missed it? This had happened before, a matter of weeks ago. Back with LDGC. They'd stepped through a door, and...

"I just remembered," she said aloud, turning to face the Once-ler. "This isn't the first time this has happened. There was a night a few weeks ago where every door in the Institute led somewhere else, too."

[fallenbeanpole]

The Once-ler pocketed the box cutter, looking for other items that could prove useful. It was a holdover from living in the Lerkim; making do with what he could scavenge from the ruins of his factory. The tool box caught his eye; crouching, he opened it up. The man liked what he saw; within moments wrench, hammer, pliers and screwdriver had been packed away in the satchel with his journal. The additional weight was noticeable, but better than taking the whole box with him.

Straightening, the man continued to look for anything else of use. He was shifting between several pipes when Soma spoke up again. The Once-ler craned his neck to look at her, holding one of the longer pipes in his hand. "So it's another way to mess with us, then? Doors leading to places they shouldn't be?"

The man tapped the pipe against his hand thoughtfully. "You know, we might actually find some useful stuff this way. I mean, hey, first warpy door and we end up in a closet that's got tools and so on." He looked at Soma. Hopefully she would follow.

[madeinthehrl]

Soma nodded. "It might be more than just messing with us. It would've been impossible for Landel to miss all the announcements about a cure on the bulletin board this afternoon. If they weren't lying, then half the patient population was probably headed for the greenhouse tonight."

But he was right--neither of them had planned to go anywhere in particular tonight. They might actually be able to turn this to their advantage tonight. Granted, luck hadn't exactly been on their side for their last few excursions, but it was worth a try, wasn't it?

"As long as we keep moving," she agreed. "The last thing I want to do is get stuck in a room like this one with a monster hard on our heels."

[fallenbeanpole]

"Yeah, that would make it more difficult to get to anywhere in particular." For a moment the Once-ler fell silent. A greenhouse; a building with the sole purpose of growing plant-life. He hadn't seen green, healthy plants of any sort for too long. The only thing that could grow in the wastelands that had once been the Truffula Valley was grickle grass, and even that barely held on to life.

He'd like to see the greenhouse, the man decided. But it could wait; tucking the metal pipe under his arm, the Once-ler rubbed his hands together. There was another door opposite the one they had come through. He pointed at it with the end of the pipe.

"Let's see what's behind door number two."

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