Shock

"We want to leave," Deborah said more emphatically.

"You'll be missing the most significant part,' Cindy said. "I have to insist!"

"Like hell you'll insist!" Deborah spat. "We're outta here!"

"We'll find our own way," Joa

"I can't let you wander in here by yourselves," Cindy stated. "It's against the rules." She grabbed Joa

Joa

"I can't let you be in here unattended," Cindy repeated.

"Then take us to the exit!" Deborah snapped. She snatched Cindy's hand from Joa

When Cindy reached for the button to disengage the alarm, Joa

"I knew we shouldn't have come in here!" Joa

"Shut up, and run!"

They ran through the arched tu

"Which way?" Deborah demanded.

"I think that way,' Joa

"I hope you're right," Deborah said. They could hear the echoes of Cindy approaching and calling their names, but the echoes made it impossible to tell the direction. A second later she appeared at a run from around an archway and collided with them. She grabbed onto Joa

"Good God, woman!" Deborah cried. With significant force she ripped herself free of the woman's grasp only to have the woman use both hands to clench Joa

Without waiting to check on the woman's condition, Deborah grabbed Joa

"Oh no!" Joa

Deborah, who'd momentarily turned to check how close Cindy was, spun around to see what had caused Joa

EIGHTEEN

DEBORAH RESPONDED BY instinct, again slapping her hand against the raised OPEN,CLOSE button, closing the heavy steel door in the face of the onrushing men. At the same time she was assaulted by Cindy from behind, who grabbed her around the neck and tried to pull her away from the door. Deborah resisted, keeping the button depressed.

"Get this banshee off me!" Deborah cried. Cindy was screaming that the door had to be opened.

Joa

"Joa

As soon as Joa

Deborah cried out from the pain in her hand, which she flapped wildly for a moment. Forcing herself to regain control, she grabbed the nearest incubator and rolled it over to the door. Joa

"What's your plan?" Joa

"The only way out is the dumbwaiter or the freight elevator! What do you think?"

"The freight elevator!" Joa

A few paces away, Cindy pushed herself up into a uncertain, semi-sitting position. She had a blank, unfocused expression in her eyes like a boxer hit too many times.

"All right!" Deborah said after casting one last glance at Cindy, who was now struggling to get to her feet. "Let's do it!"

Both let go of the incubator in unison and made a dash back through the maze of rooms. Unfortunately they made a wrong turn and ended up in a blank room. They had to retrace their steps before getting back on track. Behind them they heard the unmistakable sound of an incubator clunking up against another followed by deep-throated shouts by the men.

"Heaven help us if that freight elevator is not ru

They rounded the final bend, ran past the doors to the autopsy theater, and literally collided with the freight-elevator doors. A heavy canvas strap protruded through the chest-high horizontal gap. Deborah grabbed it first, but Joa

The elevator itself was a heavy wire-mesh cage eight feet square. To the right at chest height was a control panel with six buttons. The floor was made of rough wooden planking. Above, the supporting cables disappeared up into blackness; the only light was coming from the hallway through the open doors. In the near distance heavy footsteps could be heard ru

"The doors!” Deborah yelled as she reached up and grabbed the canvas strap attached to the inside edge of the upper door. Joa