The early hour on a weekend morning worked as well as it possibly could have. They didn't encounter a single person on the silent walk through the commons and the wood-walled corridors. Loretta and everyone else breathed a little easier once they were in the dank brick-lined tunnel two flights of stairs below the surface.
George handed out folded pieces of paper.
"I made maps for all of you, but you can't be letting anyone else see those. That would mean all of us rounded up and wishing we'd never met. For now, just follow me and watch where we turn. Oh, I have copies of the keys, too, but I'll give you those in order as we get to the gates. Karl, you have a light?"
He held up a lantern, the same kind George was carrying.
After several minutes of walking and avoiding the larger puddles
