Bad Nerd Falling by D.R. Grady Read Free Book Online Page A

other. “Go check,
Maria,” Helena commanded in an enthused tone.
    Jorge added his encouragement as she
did so. His mother turned to the side and squeezed through the
small space, Helena right behind her. Both women faced the wall and
then turned again so they could see behind it. “There’s a whole new
shelf back here.” His mother’s voice burbled from the other
side.
    “ Really, more shelving?”
Jorge sucked in his small belly and turned between the shelves. It
was a tight squeeze but he ended up exclaiming with the women over
this new discovery.
    Despite his much larger frame, he was
going to have to join them. He could do this. There were plenty of
times when he had squeezed his bulk into small spaces. He didn’t
like it, but he did it. Taking a deep breath, he turned to the side
and worked his chest through the tight space. Helena and his mother
had shifted so Jorge could fit. Now they all surged forward for
Vlad.
    Then, in a stroke of fate, his mom’s
extra high heel caught in a small hole near the base of the wall.
It threw her off balance and she stumbled, right into the secret
panel. The newly oiled door gave way under her weight and with a
yelp, she plummeted through it.
    He leapt to grab her. He had to knock
Jorge, who stood between them, out of the way, but he managed to
snag his mother, and still keep Jorge upright.
    His mom’s hands latched onto him and
clung until her world righted itself again. “Thank you for saving
me, love.” She sounded dazed.
    “ What is that?” Jorge
pointed, his brow furrowed.
    Helena’s eyes widened. “It’s a secret
passage.”
    They all turned to the door that still
swung from the momentum. With another look at each other, Jorge
straightened. “We need to inspect this.”
    Since this was his goal he said, “I’ll
go first.”
    He didn’t want any of them stumbling
into his control room. It would be difficult to locate, but since
they now knew about the passage ways, it wasn’t improbable for
them. They were all scientists. That meant they had more than their
fair share of curiosity.
    He hoped that by leading, he could
show them the way he wanted them to know. In the event of a fire or
other emergency, this would also be another way out, another safety
route. He wanted them comfortable traversing the
passage.
    To keep the space dark enough that
they wouldn’t notice there were other passages snaking off the main
corridor, he kept the small penlight he carried trained on the
floor. His companions eased through the panel behind him. They
could all see the floor and he quickly showed them the stone walls
on either side. It wasn’t a spacious hall, but enough that one
person could easily walk, even if carrying a heavy pack or
equipment.
    “ I’ve heard of these
passageways.” His mother’s shoes made a staccato ping on the stone
floor.
    “ So have I.” Jorge’s shoes
didn’t make a sound.
    “ I haven’t.” Helena’s
voice indicated she was rather enjoying herself nonetheless. In
fact, all three of them sounded like they were.
    “ I hope this doesn’t dead
end.” None of these passages did.
    He shined the light, keeping watch for
landmarks that told him where the other corridors branched off.
When they reached those, he shined the light on the opposite solid
wall to keep his companion’s attention off the more interesting
aspects of the tunnel. Knowing his mother and Helena, though, he
didn’t doubt both would bring their own lights and thoroughly
explore this space.
    That meant he better rig up a system
whereby it looked like the entire wall was solid. Mentally counting
up the passages off this one, he realized he would be busy for the
next few days. That should be enough time to build what he needed
to block off the other corridors.
    Hopefully Tia would have plenty of
work for them to do in the next few days since it was obvious they
wouldn’t be working today. Up ahead the corridor turned, and he
shined the small light on the corner, then