In Her Head - Collision Course

Panic Stations II

Elle and Peter walked out into a small hallway / corridor, they both chuckled slightly, they were pleased with themselves. If they were to be given 30 minutes per room and the last one took only minutes as they had wasted plenty of time talking, this should be a doddle for them and they might get out in half the time they anticipated. I hope Billy isn’t busy, I don’t fancy sitting around here for too long, Elle will probably rip the head off of shiny head, Peter thought. He chuckled, Elle looked at him quizzically, Peter told her what he thought, Elle agreed with his thinking and chuckled too, she knew what she was like. When she had enough, everyone stopped in their tracks.

Apart from the toilets that were clearly marked, there was only one other door in the small hallway / corridor, They opened it to what looked like a power plant type thing, the sound was like electricity, Elle groaned and Peter looked at her. “See if there is a keypad at the door or a keyhole, sounds like electricity but could be something else,” she told him. “There is no door Elle,” Peter said after looking around the room, “there is an emergency release button here but it looks like a crawl space, the button doesn’t work” he said worriedly pounding the release button. “Okay, just look around the room and let’s see what is in here,” Elle suggested. They looked around, there were large machines all with their switches on, the machines were numbered. There were six of the large machines but 9 was where the number 4 should have been, Elle realised the odd number out may be to do with the code for the sensitive files room, taking her backpack off, she reached inside to get her notepad and pen, she quickly wrote the number down and put them back in her backpack. There was a table with some copper wire, they could see wires going to the release button from the crawl space type thing then around the wall of the room. Two sections of the wire around the wall were broken. They tried to see if the copper wire would fit within the broken sections, it wouldn’t so they went back to looking around the room. After a few minutes they had covered the whole room, there wasn’t anything obvious that they could see. “We can conduct electricity,” Elle told Peter, “but I don’t fancy static hair for no reason,” she added. They had another look around the room, there was nothing for it, they had to try to use themselves to get electricity to the door. If Peter could stretch himself enough, Elle could use her head to press on the emergency release button. They got themselves in position, they grabbed a copper wire each and put one end around the broken sections then grabbed each other's hands, it worked. They giggled, they realised there wasn’t an electricity current, it must have been something to do with the copper wire. They were out of the room within 10 minutes. “Work pretty well together, eh,” Peter stated once they crawled through the trap door and stood up to another small hallway / corridor. 

They went through the other door and walked into what they can only describe as sleeping quarters. There were four bunk beds, two to the right and two to the left. There wasn’t a door, window or anything that even looked like a trap door. They were stumped, there wasn’t anything else in the room so they started by checking the walls. Peter could feel air coming through the edges of the end wall, they decided that that was a secret passageway, now, they just had to open it. Elle was trying to work it out then it dawned on her, she said “Okay, we have found the answers by what the rooms would be used for, this is obviously where people sleep, what if weight on a bed is needed to open the door, Let me start trying.” Peter nodded, waiting by the wall. Elle started to try all the beds, one by one. On the top bunk of the second bed Peter shouted out “I heard a click Elle,” Elle nodded and got her notepad and pen out to write the bed number down it was number 1, Elle looked to all of the numbers as it looked odd it was definitely not the first bed she tried, they were all in roman numerals apart from this one. Secret files room, she thought. 

On the bottom bunk of the fourth bed Peter shouted, “I heard a click Elle, stay there.” The wall didn’t open, Peter ran to the bunk bed labeled 1, reasoning that the two of them had to use pressure to open the wall. It did, they made it out of that room within 8 minutes. Feeling very pleased with themselves they high fived each other and walked out to the next small hallway / corridor.

They walked through the door towards the right end of the hallway / corridor and into what they could only call a biological weapons lab. It wasn’t but that is how it was laid out with radioactive labels on screens around the room, they were labeled in number order, 3 was where 10 should be, Peter had pointed it out to her so she took note of it. There were a couple of workbenches with different wet tea bags, there was jasmine, earl grey, redbush and chamomile. Elle looked around and noticed that the walls were decorated in this room, each wall was decorated differently. One had chamomile written on it, another had jasmine and the other two followed suit. The words weren’t clear and they were at the very top of the walls, Elle only noticed because she was looking up to see whether this was the climbing one. On each wall there was a small decorated square, Peter suggested trying to wipe the teabags on them, Elle didn’t have a better idea so she agreed. There was a number on the first one so they wrote it down, they then grabbed the other tea bags and tried. They had four numbers for the door keypad, the only trouble was they couldn’t remember what the order of tea bags were as they both grabbed the last two at the same time. They played around with a few combinations and found the one that worked. It took them 20 minutes to complete this one but that was largely due to the combination mix up. The door opened but Elle noticed a long stick with a hook, it seemed out of place. “Peter, should we bring this with us?” she asked him. “Not sure, we should take it anyway, you never know,” he responded, taking it from her.

They needed it sooner than they thought, they looked for a door, apart from the toilet door there was nothing, it seemed like they were stuck in the corridor. Peter spotted a hatch on the ceiling and smiled, using the hook he opened it and a ladder fell down. He stood there smiling at Elle, “would you like a badge Peter?” She asked teasingly, they chuckled, both of them were pleased it didn’t take too long, they made their way up the ladder with Elle taking the lead. They had something to prove to shiny head.

Noooo! Why me? Elle screamed internally.

They got up onto a platform, in front of them were two ropes leading from the platform they were standing on straight across to another platform. Directly above those, barely in arms reach for Elle, was another two ropes. There was a net underneath so at least they wouldn’t hurt themselves if they fall, on the floor was a ladder, it was too big for one to carry but not long enough to reach the other platform, Elle looked down, it was a mistake, she could feel the prickles of sweat on her forehead. The ladder wouldn’t reach the floor below them. She looked to the other platform and could see there was a ledge that the ladder might just reach. “Peter, I think we are in a bit of trouble here,” Elle said. Peter walked to the ladder and picked it up, it wasn’t too heavy but there is no way that he would be able to get it across and hold on.  “Right, if you go across, I will find a way to get this across,” he said to her. Elle snapped her head to look at him, “are you for real?” She asked, “the idea is that we work together, don’t give me macho bull,” she scolded. “Okay, how do we do this?” he asked. “We can go across together, there is space so we should get a good balance and the ladder shouldn’t wobble too much.” She assessed. “Okay,” Peter pouted, “I am stronger than I look Peter,” she told him. Elle pulled her harness from her backpack, Peter did the same, they pulled them up their legs and secured them ready for safety. They pulled the ladder over to see how they would balance it. “The rungs of the ladder are numbered,” Peter said to her, they found the number that shouldn’t be there so Elle got out her notepad and wrote it down, number 7 in place of number 8, at least we have the digits now, they both thought. Peter suggested facing each other while they shuffled along the rope sideways, that way they could keep pace with each other. Elle said to rest the ladder near the shoulder so it doesn’t fall and they have both their hands free to hold the upper rope. They got ready and fastened on to the top rope then they made their way across, they had already spent 10 minutes in this room, it was slow going for them. There was clips to hold the ladder steady, they set it up and made their way down. Ever the gentleman, Peter had Elle go first then followed when she reached the bottom. As Peter made his way down the ladder, he missed his footing, lost his grip and plummeted to the floor. 

Peter swore and groaned trying to get up, he held his left hand at the wrist, he had a cut on his palm and it looked like his wrist was bruising, it felt painful but he knew it wouldn't last long. Elle worked quickly grabbing the first aid kit out of the bag then she assessed his hand. Peter was amused and let her continue enjoying the contact, "It looks like you might have sprained it, I will clean the cut and bandage it up for you," she informed him. Peter was trying to keep a straight face as he enjoyed Elle fussing over him. "You had a nasty fall there, you are lucky you didn't break any bones," Elle said as she cleaned his wound. "It probably looks worse than it is," he laughed. "Elle, are you shaking?" He asked needing confirmation, she nodded, "I don't do well with heights, it's just adrenaline," she shrugged and moved on to bandaging his hand and wrist, "You were really lucky, I can see a bruise starting so you will need to go easy on it for the next few days, don't put any pressure on it until you get it looked at," she told him. "Thanks sweet," Peter said. Elle groaned, "that's all I'm going to hear now, isn't it? Peter laughed, "oh yes." "Come on let's see how we can get out of here," Elle said, helping him to his feet. Elle ached, coming across on the ropes really took it out of her, she know's she will have to do the heavy lifting now and she needed to get out of here. They looked around and seen a crawl space, "it seems we will have to go through there," Peter grumbled. "Don't use your hands," Elle warned him, "use your arms and try to keep off of that wrist," she said and started making her way through. "How am I going to hide the fast healing, urgh!" Peter thought. His wrist was still sore but he would be fine within a couple of hours, Peter was positive the cut was already closed. By the time he got through the crawlspace, he was shocked. It was a narrow room with a high ceiling, a climbing wall was on the left, at the end of the room was a door, it looked like the watertight door on a ship but there was no handle, just a hole in the middle. "That must be where the handle goes," he thought aloud. Peter looked at Elle, she was staring at the top of the climbing wall and her face was pale. Peter looked up to where she was gazing, she was staring straight at the wheel they would need to use to open the door, it must have been at least 17ft from the ground. "Peter, I won't be able to see much when I am on the wall, would you be able to direct me?" She asked. Peter stared at her open mouthed, "I thought you wasn't good with heights?" He asked her, "I'm not," she confirmed. "I will do it!" He exclaimed, "Peter, you are out of service until that wrist heals, although it doesn't seem broken, we don't know if there's a fracture. There isn't a hope you will be doing it," she told him firmly. Elle was pleased she didn't bother to removed her harness, she could see the ropes and clips she would need to attach to for safety. She removed her backpack getting her water from the side pocket, she took a sip of it, she needed it as her mouth was suddenly dry. After putting her water away, she left her backpack by the door ready to grab on the way out.

Elle started the climb, Peter directed her when she wasn't able to see and she made good progress.

"Don't look down, don't look down!" She kept telling herself. 

They heard a rumble and Elle froze. The wall felt like it was vibrating, Elle picked up the pace as much as she could, "Peter, where next?" She demanded. "The wheel is just above you, you are going to have to stretch up," he told her. She reached up but couldn't quite get it, after four attempts, she had it in her hands. She put her arm through one of the gaps so that she could have her hands free. Elle spotted a rope to her right, "Is there a foothold near the bottom of this rope?" She asked Peter while wiggling the rope, "There is, it's about 6ft from the ground but Elle, There isn't anything to hold around it." He informed her.

"Sod this, I cannot stay up here!" She thought, her hands were starting to sweat and her heart was pumping, she had to get off this wall as fast as possible. "If I can get my hand in there, I can drop."  She told herself.

Elle unhooked herself from the safety rope, she reached for the rope beside her and took a deep breath. "Elle, what are you doing?" Peter asked, his voice full of concern. Elle couldn't answer him, she wasn't able to. Her chest was starting to hurt and she had to concentrate on her breathing. She let go of the wall with her other hand and grabbed the rope, she removed her feet from the foothold and was hanging by the rope. Peters heart was beating faster but he positioned himself below her in case she fell. Elle started moving one hand below the other to descend, her arms were burning and she was close to tears. When Elle reached the bottom of the rope she let go, she couldn't hold on any longer. She landed on her feet and made her way to the door, she couldn't even look at Peter. Elle opened the door, grabbed her backpack, dashed out into the hallway and then her legs couldn't hold her. 

In an instant Peter had gathered her in his arms seating himself on the floor directly behind her, she was shaking uncontrollably and her breathing was uneven. Peter was shocked, all he could do was rock her whispering "it's okay Elle, you did great." Elle didn't move, she accepted the comfort and cuddled into him. After a few minutes Elles shaking started to subside and her breathing was becoming normal, she knew she would continue shaking until later but at least it wasn't as noticable. "Elle, how are you feeling?" Peter asked quietly, Elle laughed, "Bloody stupid, I realised when I was up there I wouldn't be able to climb down and I panicked," she admitted. "Right, time to get back on these legs to see if they work," she whined. Peter laughed standing up, he helped pull Elle up to her feet and only when he was sure she could support herself, he reluctantly let go. Elle quickly grabbed her water bottle from her backpack and took a long drink of it. Peter followed suit, wondering what the next room would hold and praying it was straight forward for Elles sake. He was shocked to the core that Elle had gone through with it, even though she was obviously terrified. "Sweet, if there is any more climbing we use the safe word," he told her. "If you even attempt it I will make your life hell," she told him. Peters chest swelled with pride in her, but he knew he wouldn't take the chance of putting her through that again. "Thank goodness there is a door entry," Elle said unenthusiastically. They walked to the door in anticipation of what is coming next.

They stepped through the door, Elle gave Peter a satisfactory smile. "I'm good with water," she said grinning from ear to ear. "So am I," Peter said returning the smile. Elle raised an eyebrow, "not with that wrist," she told him. Peter groaned internally, it was only a little sore now but he couldn't tell her that. The room was the largest they had come across yet. They were on a platform above the water, in the water there was lots of weights floating a different depths in the water. The room was well illuminated and Elle was pleased the water was clear. There was a plank, over the water, that went from their platform to another one where a door was. There was a small net, goggles and a rope. Elle was puzzled, "it's too simple," she said while she was taking her climbing shoes off. "The net can be used to get the weights, if we do get the weights, they don't have any pattern and there are too many to have time to go through the combination solutions. There isn't four floats at the same depth that would make me think they.. ..wait." Elle said, trying to reason. Elle put her climbing shoes back on, "Let me try something," she said. She grabbed her backpack and started across the plank to the other door, "Elle what are you doing?" Peter asked. "He told us there was six rooms. If there are six rooms, why has another one been added on, what if the entrance to that is here?" She asked over her shoulder. Peter agreed with Elles reasoning, it made more sense if this was supposed to be the Special Operations Training Room. There is nothing that looks special about this, unless they were to hold their breath under water, that was unlikely, there wasn't anything else in or around the pool apart from the floats. "We can try, if it doesn't work, I jump in," Elle said at the door. She pulled out her notepad and put in the combination as Peter made his way across, the door opened. They smiled at each other and stepped into a file room, the safe was open with a single folder in there. 

They grabbed it and walked out of the room, the clock hanging on the opposite wall read 11:45am, they high fived! Shiny head burst through another door, red faced looking like he was furious. Tie back walked in 60 seconds later with a smile on his face, "Congratulations!" Tie back exclaimed, genuinely happy for them. Peter handed the file to shiny head with a smug grin. Tie back shook their hands saying, "well done you two, you beat the record by 8 minutes." "You are the only ones to have ever walked out of there dry," shiny head begrudgingly added. Peter and Elle finally removed their harnesses and handed them back to tie back with the backpacks. They were then taken to the changing rooms where they could get showered and changed back into their normal clothes. Elle had left her own backpack in the room and opted to get dressed into her satin shirt, cropped jeans and trainers.

Peter is wearing trainers so, why not? She thought.

Elle had finished and headed to the room they had breakfast in, there, they were given their times sheet, it listed the rooms and how much time was spent in them. They would have finished sooner if they hadn't spent 12 minutes in the corridor after Elles legs gave way. Peter was very happy, "I couldn't have done it without you Sweet," he proudly said. "I couldn't have done it without you either braveheart," she said grinning. "Oh for crying out loud, why braveheart?" he asked her, not really wanting to know the answer. Elle was trying hard to keep a straight face but Peter could see right through it and was amused. "You wanted to climb the wall with a sprained wrist and you showed empathy" she replied. Secretly he loved the nickname but he wasn't going to admit it, so instead, he groaned. He couldn't get over the change in Elle from the wreck she seemed after the wall, the last room she was back to assertive, he decided to bring it up. "Sweet, what happened at the wall, you was terrified but you still did it, I cannot commend you enough for what you did there," he said. Her face went red, "erm.. ..yeah, I em.. ..I am really sorry about that.. ..It's just that em I have a little phobia of erm.. ..heights. It can get really bad," she told him sheepishly. "Well sweet, I would say it's more than little," he said with concern. Elle sighed, "my phobia of heights is little, I panicked because I couldn't see how to get back down. It em.. ..it triggered my erm.. ..anxiety," she confessed. Peter was shocked, "but you trusted me to get you up there," he stated. Elle nodded, "I know, I just.. ..it's just.. ..I erm.." She began, "I am not even sure if I can explain it, we had to get the thing for the door so I knew I would have to do it. Blimey, I don't even know what happened, my hands were sweaty and I must have realised that I couldn't see." She tried to explain. "Call it self doubt if you will but I just don't know, I can control a lot of it with breathing but sometimes it just happens," she said. "Okay, how can I help with your anxiety?" He asked, "I don't think you can, it isn't often a panic attack happens as I know a lot of my triggers so I use my breathing techniques to bring them under control before they really start but, there are still some I am not sure of. I try to think rationally to get out of my head if I am overthinking, most days it is exhausting but I am doing a lot better than most. It can be very debilitating for a lot of people, not many understand," she said. He tapped his finger on his chin like he was contemplating.

"Please don't fire me or think I'm weird or think I am too much hard work," she begged him internally. 

"I cannot pretend to know what you are going through or what you have been through to get here Sweet, all I do know is that I admire your determination and strength, you are an inspiration," he told her with honesty and pride. She blushed.

He doesn't hate me or think I'm week. Bet he thinks I am a fool though. Woman of 38 with anxiety what a saddo, but you heard him and seen the honesty of it in his eyes, he doesen't strike me as one to placate another. Elle debated in her head.

"You completely went straight back to business as soon as we got in the other room, it was like nothing happened, I know you did have one, you couldn't fake that but, in an instant it was gone," he said in awe. "That would be the water, water calms me instantly, I knew I could jump in there at any point and it just made me feel calmer, I suppose I am just weird," she explained with a chuckle. "Definitely not weird Sweet." He told her. Elle blushed again. 

At almost 1pm they made their way round to the front of the building following tie back, they thanked him for his help and he chuckled. "Thank you both for wiping that smug smile off of Johns face, I've been waiting ages for him to be proved wrong," he said earnestly. Billy pulled up at that point and they made their way to a gastropub near the river, it was on their way home. Lunch flew by, Peter had asked Elle lots of questions and Elle asked Peter lots of questions, by the end of it, Elle came to the conclusion that Peter was an honourable man. She felt a great deal better about working with him and he didn't scare her as much.