“Let’s straighten all of this up. Then I’ll show you.”
He led Zorn down a series unfamiliar hallways, stopping at every corner to bend down and check a part of the wall.
“What are you doing?” Zorn asked.
“I marked the way,” Topher said. “Before.”
The hallways were dark but for the occasional emergency light, and every now and then they heard doors opening in some distant wing, a creak and a bang that echoed in the emptiness. Sometimes they spun around a corner only to see a shadow flit by the next intersection; sometimes a door slammed behind them, forcing them forward. Creatures scrabbled in the ceiling above. Water dripped from cracks in the cinder blocks. They got lost, backtracked, backtracked again, each time seeking out the mark.
Topher picked up the pace, turning left, right, l
