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Eli looked over Lynn’s face as she waited for a “ok, mom” sort of response, but instead she noticed the ashy spots on Lynn’s skin. Another side effect of wearing the collar, she assumed. She didn’t have much time to think of it, or feel more sympathy for Lynn than she already did, because she heard the sound of metal against concrete and turned to see Packet moving the manhole cover from it’s spot.

It was time.

Inside Eli’s head, an internal clock began ticking. It wasn’t necessarily an alarm, and there wasn’t a deadline either. It was just a reminder of how much time was going to pass while they were beneath the surface. How long it would take them to get through this, to get back to the Ring, she didn’t know. Still, she could hear the quiet [i]tik… tok… tik… tok.[/i] Time was so precious, now.

Her hesitation was clear on her face as she looked into the darkness of the sewer passage. She stood in place, almost frozen, but as Lynn took the first charge into the depths Eli moved to follow her. Part of her wanted to stay close to Lynn, like her friend had asked, but it was also for her own comfort as well. Lynn was just as much a protector as she needed to be protected. Eli gave the ceiling of The Promise one last glance. One last look into the eternity of space from the Ring’s point of view. The same sky that she’d seen for so many years. Then she descended beneath the ground and stood next to Lynn in the darkness.

One by one she watched them all climb down. The smell was worse than she remembered. The symphony of the sewers was louder this time. Sure, it was only the second time she’d been down and it was a different part of the sewers, but something was odd about it. She walked alongside Lynn with Packet in the lead. She felt her stomach tighten when Packet mentioned the breakout. While the others aired their grievances Eli agreed that the Promise Security wasn’t to be trusted. Then she thought back to when she’d walked these tunnels on her own and frowned. Had Packet known about them at the time?

As if on cue, a Rodent Of Unusual Size scurried past them. Archie jumped, which made Eli jump, and she had to hold her breath to keep from squeaking. She huffed and shook out her shoulders to release the tension. [i]God, I hope we’re close.[/i] She didn’t want to catch rabies before she made it to The Spire.

She looked towards Packet as if to ask the question, but she noticed that they came to a stop at a fork in the sewers. Her brows furrowed. [i]We’re [b]lost[/b]?[/i]  Her eyes scanned the area. The catwalk seemed more promising, but it could lead towards a security team or an exit from the sewers. To the right… well, it was just more tunnels. As promising as the catwalk, really. The door to The Spire was hidden in a tunnel, anyways.

Archie and Packet started to bicker and Eli gave them a concerned stare. Of all people to start fighting, it was these two? She would have thought that Lynn would have made a snarky remark by now. In fact, why wasn’t she?

Eli turned her head towards Lynn and, for some reason, the way Lynn was backing towards them with the shiv in her hand, Eli felt goosebumps rise on her skin. Was Lynn shaking? Why was she so scared? Eli followed her gaze into the darkness behind them but she saw nothing.

Aaaand, there’s the snark. Eli took a deep breath through her nose and slowly released it through her mouth. As much as she agreed that this wasn’t a good time to get lost, she was hoping that there would be less bickering and more collaboration going on when they all relied on Packet to flip the lightswitch and cut the cams. Natalie had a point too, but Eli wasn’t so sure that they should just pick a direction and go so easily. Packet should have known the way to go. Something was up, but they had to think logically before acting. Even if a sinister presence was lurking in the dark.

They’d taken on men with semi-automatics and survived. They’d survived the breakout. They could face whatever was lurking. If they could just take a breath. Eli took another breath herself, but all she could taste was the mucky water and stale air of the sewers. As much as she wished that it was just the lack of O2 that was making everyone snappy, the threat of an escaped convict luring them into a trap worried her too.

[color=E5D0FF] “Packet, did you happen to bring a copy of the map? Maybe we just took a wrong turn somewhere.”[/color] 

[b]“There is no map. There’s no paper trail. No evidence!”[/b]

Eli sighed softly and turned to look back at their options. Of course he wouldn’t have created any evidence. It made sense. If they were caught right now with a map to a Spire entrance it would look pretty damn suspicious. Without it they could at least try to play the “exploring teens” angle. But they couldn’t get caught. Not by Promise security or by the dark figure Lynn saw lurking behind them.

[color=E5D0FF] “Okay. As much as I’d like to trust your instincts, Archie, I’m not happy with taking a random chance on either tunnel. I wish we could trace our steps backwards until Packet finds a spot, but if Lynn saw something or some[i]one[/i] back there I’d rather avoid getting into a fight before we even get to the Spire.”[/color]

Eli then turned to Archie and Packet. [color=E5D0FF] “Everyone just take a deep breath and try to think rationally, okay?”[/color] She looked Packet in the eyes. [color=E5D0FF] “How close to the inner Ring do you think we are? Maybe if we head towards the side closest to The Spire we’ll find the door.”[/color]

She then got another idea and turned to Keaton. [color=E5D0FF] “What are the statistics if we take either direction? Which one has a higher chance of taking us the way we need to go?”[/color] It was a long shot, but Keaton’s ability could really come in hand at the moment. Just like it usually did.