Ike Hamill - The Vivisectionist

“Let me see the drawing,” said Stephen. Jack held his flashlight on the map painted on the door. They hunched over in the small passage and their heads nearly touched. Tracing a finger across the drawing, Stephen checked each line and mark on Jack’s reproduction. He asked questions about lines that appeared on the door, but not in Jack’s notebook. Some of them were reference marks, pertaining to ducts or utilities as opposed to corridors, by Jack’s calculations. When they agreed on the accuracy of Jack’s map, Stephen handed the notebook back and then crawled into “the vents.”

Jack pulled duck tape from his pack and they marked the first turn. Only one path didn’t end in a skull and crossbones, so their choice was easy at first. As they had seen two days before, the only viable choice was the second right and then the left turn before the trap Ben triggered. After that, they had two choices that didn’t have a trap, and both ended abruptly. They reached the crossroads and paused.

On the map, the left wound around for a bit and then stopped near the top. The right looked straighter and shorter, and ended near the right-hand side.

“I guess we’ll just have to check both,” said Jack.

“Seems pretty risky,” said Stephen. “We don’t have any idea if they have traps or not.”

“I don’t know — why bother to mark some traps and not others?” asked Jack.

“Who knows,” said Stephen. “The guy who made this place was a nut-bag.”

“How about this: one of us goes and the other follows, like ten feet back, so if there’s a trap, we’ll just have to figure out how to rescue the lead guy,” said Jack.

“Who’s going first?” asked Stephen.

“You can go,” Jack smiled. “I don’t mind.”

“Good one, son,” said Stephen. “Think I’ll pass.”

“We’ll flip for it,” said Jack.

“Okay.”

Jack produced a quarter and said, “Call it in the air.” He hunched further and flipped the coin in a low arc.

“Heads.”

It came up tails, and Jack elected to go second.

“Okay, but you better figure out how to get me out,” said Stephen. He headed off to the right and worked his way down the hall, testing each step before he committed. Stephen made the first corner without incident and poked his head and flashlight around to see what was coming. “Looks clear,” he said.

“Take your time,” said Jack, sarcastic. “Not like we have to get back soon or anything.”

“I know, she’ll be back at three.”

“That’s right.”

Stephen rounded the corner and continued down the shaft. He noted that the passage was getting smaller, and Jack confirmed his observation. When they got to the final corner, Stephen was almost too apprehensive to continue.

“It’s got to be right here,” said Stephen.

“Back up — I’ll go,” said Jack.

“No, I got it,” said Stephen. He disappeared around the final corner and then called back for Jack. “Hey — here’s the end, you’ve got to see this.”

Jack followed the sound of Stephen’s voice to the end of the passage. He found Stephen looking down a hole in the floor. Centered in the hole was a brass pole like Jack would have expected in an old firehouse.

“Weird,” said Jack.

Stephen was shining his light down the hole, trying to make out some detail. “Looks like it goes down forever,” he said. The pole was screwed to the ceiling and Stephen reached out to grab it.

“Don’t touch!” yelled Jack, but it was too late. Stephen gripped the pole and then looked quizzically up at Jack.

“What’s wrong?” asked Stephen.

“I just thought it might be electrified or something,” said Jack.

“Oh, nope. Unless it’s off for some reason,” said Stephen.

“Can you seen anything?” asked Jack. The hall was very small at this point and Jack couldn’t really get close to the hole with Stephen in the way.

“Nope — nothing,” said Stephen. “Just goes down and down.”

“Want to take it?” asked Jack.

“No way!” exclaimed Stephen. “How the hell would we get back up?”

“I don’t know — maybe that’s the boss trap,” said Jack.

“I say let’s go check out the other direction,” said Stephen.

They agreed to investigate the other passage before making a decision. Stephen managed to convince Jack to take the lead. Turning around, they made their way back to the crossroads and then started down the left turn.

Jack came to a floor panel that looked unusual — “I think there’s something here.”

“Where are we on this map?” asked Stephen and Jack indicated their approximate position.

“Can’t be anything bad then, right?” asked Stephen. “After all, it's not marked.”

“You should be farther back,” said Jack. “In case something happens to me.”

“Yeah, true,” said Stephen.

Jack put his weight on the corner of the panel ahead of him. It seemed normal and solid, but there was no ignoring the color difference.

“Okay, give me your rope,” said Jack. They tied the line around Jack’s waist and then Stephen braced his feet against the wall and held the other end of the rope.

“All set,” said Stephen.

“Here I go,” said Jack. Hand-by-hand, Jack put his weight on the odd panel, clenching his jaw and waiting for the floor to fall away. When he was on the other side of the questionable panel, he turned around and laughed. “Nothing,” he said.

“Better safe than dead,” said Stephen.

“Roger that,” laughed Jack.

Jack still went through the motions of testing each panel before he put his weight on it, but he put his trust in the map. At the end of the passage, Jack found a small opening wall; it looked like the switch from the white room that Stephen had triggered.

“Come here — check this out,” Jack said to Stephen. He was pointing his light at the hole in the wall.

“Huh,” said Stephen.

In the white room, Stephen had stretched out his hand to activate the switch without getting his wrist caught when the trap closed. This switch was laid out differently. It had roughly the same arrangement — two pieces of plexiglass with two halves of a hole cut into them. If they collapsed together they would trap a person’s arm. The other major difference was the depth to the switch. Stephen had easily reached the switch in the white room because it was only recessed a couple inches behind the plexiglass gate. Here, the switch they found sat sixteen inches back — they had no opportunity to cheat with a stretched hand.

“Well, should we try it?” asked Stephen.

“Might as well — the other one didn’t do anything bad,” said Jack.

“Yeah, but I think our arms are bigger than that hole,” said Stephen. “If that thing closes, it’s going to pinch.”

“Let’s flip on it,” said Jack. He pulled out the quarter they had used earlier — “Call it.”

“Heads again,” said Stephen.

“Heads it is — you got lucky,” said Jack. He removed his backpack and moved closer to the hole. He put his hand just inside the hole and then pulled back. He brushed the bottom plexiglass and then pulled his hand away. “Hey — it’s sharp,” he said.

Stephen reached out and tested the edge — “You’re right. That thing’s meant to cut.”

“If it clamps down like before, that would nearly cut my arm off,” said Jack.

“So what do we do? We know it has to be touched by skin,” said Stephen.

“Maybe,” said Jack. “The other one had to be, but maybe this one is different.” Jack pulled out the broken broom handle he carried in his pack. Inserted into the hole, it just barely reached the switch at the back, but pressing the switch had no effect.