Midnight Sun by M. J. Fredrick Read Free Book Online Page B

letting her heel hit the tile above the heads of the men below. Carefully she set it on the support, and they remained still as they listened to the men move down the hall.
    Marcus didn’t know how long they waited. His leg muscles ached with holding still, with holding his balance on the metal. His arms ached with holding Brylie, so afraid she’d slip. He heard nothing below them, and only after several moments did he dare look through the tiles into the hallway.
    “Clear,” he said, so close to her ear as to not make a sound. But he didn’t dare reenter the main walkway. No, they’d have to see how much progress they could make in the crawlspace.
    “The radio,” she whispered.
    He nodded once, then pointed in all directions and shrugged. Which way? She took a deep breath and inclined her head to the right, then got on her hands and knees and started that direction, careful to keep her weight on the struts, moving slowly, her movements unsteady as the edges pressed into her flesh.
    They reached a wall. She stopped and rocked back a little, rubbing her forehead, which creased in thought. He tapped her shoulder and pointed to a panel to their left. Pressing both hands against it, he lifted it up, wincing as it scraped, pausing before a moment before deciding it had to be done.
    The passageway he revealed was narrower, and this time he led the way, since there didn’t seem to be many options anyway. He started through, and heard Brylie’s sharp breath behind him. He twisted to see her, pale and drawn, and hesitating.
    He tried to reach back to her, to encourage her, but there wasn’t room. He had to hope this tunnel opened up somewhere, somewhere safe. And he had to hope when he moved forward, Brylie would follow. He didn’t know what else to do. So he started crawling, listening for noise behind him, and below. He finally heard her breath behind him, shaky, but behind him. He grinned. Yeah, she was tougher than she thought. Good for her.
    He found another panel like the one they’d come through. Please God let it be a bigger passageway, or maybe just a place where they could stop and think. He didn’t know if there was a place on the ship like that. They needed to be able to catch their breath, and he needed a drink. Water would be good, too.
    She gripped his arm and drew him down another, smaller passageway, though he hadn’t thought that was possible. Warmth flowed toward them, then the passageway opened up and Brylie sat against a wall, drawing in deep breaths.
    “We can talk here,” she said above a mechanical hum. The surface beneath them was solid and warm.
    “Where are we?” He shifted his weight to sit next to her. He didn’t know their location in relation to the bad guys, and they couldn’t risk being overheard.
    She let her head fall back against the wall. “On top of my freezer.”
    He hadn’t expected that. He looked around, but they were boxed in, only the vent wall open. “What? The kitchen? How do you know?”
    “Because we’re on top of my freezer,” she said slowly, as if to a child. “Where else would a freezer be?
    “Wouldn’t there be a fan or coils or something?”
    “All on the inside. We’re closed in here, safe. No one should be able to find it.”
    “How did you know this was here?”
    “I saw this space when they were installing it. I asked why it was here. The guys said it needed space to vent the heat.”
    He shifted on the warm appliance. Yeah, he could see that.
    “So what do we do next?” she asked.
    He dragged a hand over his face. Why did she think he had any answers? “The radio. We have to get to the radio and let someone know what’s going on.”
    She pressed her lips together as if considering it.
    “You have another idea?”
    “I’m thinking about getting some food.”
    “We can eat later.”
    “I mean to save. If they’re here to wipe out our supplies, it’s a long journey back without food.”
    “You think they’re here to raid the ship?”