Mickey had run toward the soccer fields but had seen nobody. Panicked, she raced across the parking lot toward the swimming area. Think now, where would those girls go? She tried to remain calm but knew the consequences of letting girls go on their own. Mickey knew the penalty for allowing campers to roam free without supervision—last year was a grim reminder. Campers from two cabins had snuck out one evening to go rock climbing. One girl had slid down an incline and broken an ankle. Another girl was struck by a falling boulder, gashing open her forehead. Both cabin counselors had been fired, and one even faced a lawsuit from some irate parents. Mickey gulped and called for the girls.

“Liz! Kim!”

She turned and ran toward the back of the camp. “Tracy!”

It’s that new girl’s fault. Smart-mouthed little fanatic, coming in here, trying to mess up my cabin’s harmony. Mickey gritted her teeth in anger as she raced toward the back hills. When I get my hands on her . . . Christians like to talk about martyrs. Well, she’ll experience it herself.

“Kim! Tracy! Liz!” Mickey stopped and thought for a moment. Then she headed for the area known as the Backwash.

***

“It’s no use,” Liz said, “I can’t make it through.” She whimpered. “We must get out of here, even if we have to make a bomb of some sort. We can do that, can’t we? I saw it on a show last week, with some guys trapped underground and then blasting a hole through concrete.” She pointed wildly at a table full of beakers and books. “There would be something in there about blowing up a wall, wouldn’t there? There should be some chemicals that would dissolve this wall, or maybe make an explosion, right?”

“Button your lip and get away from that grate. Let me try,” Tracy said. “I’m the smallest one in the room, anyway. Come on, get out of the way.” She grabbed Liz and pulled her back.

“Let me go. Stop shoving,” Liz said. “You won’t make it either. Look, see for yourself, the exit’s too small.” Her lip quivered. “We’re all going to die, and nobody will know about it. They won’t discover us for another 50 years, down in this stinking hole.”

The four girls fell silent. This seemed to be their fate.

“Ah, it’s no use,” Kim said, pushing some old textbooks away with her foot. “It’s just no use. What are we supposed to do? Wait for a miracle? Miracles don’t happen nowadays.”

She looked over at Laura, waiting to get an answer, but Laura had other things on her mind.

Laura sat back and looked at the ceiling. Time to pray. Jesus, I know my time isn’t just yet, so I’m asking You . . .

They were all thrown into shock upon hearing a high, piercing scream. The shrill, high-pitched shriek of pure agony sent an electric jolt of fear down Laura’s spine.

“W-what was that?” Kim shouted, falling back against the desk. Tracy grabbed for her ears, and Liz stared wildly about, gritting her teeth. The scream sounded a second time, ever louder than before. It was terrifying.

Laura’s heart pounded furiously as she looked over the candlelight. “It seemed to me like it was right outside the steel door, in the hallway,” she said. “It sounds like someone was being attacked or something.”

She ran over to the door and pressed her ear flat against it. She could hear muffled sobbing and wailing and occasionally a grunting as if someone was trying to pull on something.

A sharp hum and tremble ran through Laura’s ear. She jumped back and stared at the door.

It was opening!

The large steel door was slowly rising, causing the sobbing and wailing to increase in volume. Another earsplitting scream, followed by sobs. Little by little, the large door lifted, hesitating now and then, until finally it shuddered to a stop after rising about 18 inches.

“Be careful, Laura,” Kim shouted. “Those screams are from pain. Someone’s being tortured or cut or something. You’d better . . . ”

“Hey, who cares? We’re free!” Liz shouted, running for the door.

Laura edged her head under the bottom. The steel door fluttered up and down, as if it were unsure what to do next.

Kim waved a hand. “That door is still trembling, and it could fall, Laura, so don’t crawl.”

Laura had already pushed herself under the doorway, straining and clawing her way to the outer hallway. She could feel the thick steel door scrape her back as she shoved herself inch by inch toward freedom. A piece of jagged metal caught her shirt and held it firm. Another scream filled the hallways and rattled throughout the room. Liz shivered violently.

The door started to lower. Laura was caught.