Liz was screaming hysterically. “The door’s going down! Laura, get us out of here! Find a way—” The door slammed to the floor, and Liz’s cries were muffled now.

Laura rolled over and felt for any injury on her back. She looked at her hand and saw a few splotches of blood, but nothing too bad. Rising to her feet, she looked around carefully. The hallway was silent. That was a girl’s scream, Laura thought, and it was obvious the girl was in pain. She stopped for a moment. Wait. Think this out. Was this some sort of a trick—a secret tape recording as a warning of some sort? Was it a trap that had been set up years earlier in order to scare people away?

The hallway exploded with another scream. Laura leaped in fright, falling back against the door. That’s no tape, she thought, that is definitely a person in trouble. Someone is in here, right around the corner. Laura looked around for a weapon of some sort. Any kind of protection, a crowbar, a stick of wood. She saw nothing.

The screaming continued at a horrifying level. Laura shivered at the gut-wrenching sobs and moans she heard. She had to help the person but had no idea how to go about it.

Get Help
What do you do? Laura asked herself. You have three options, girl. Find out how to help this screamer. Or go on and find the switch to open up the door and let your three friends free. Or . . . make a run for it and save yourself.

Laura knew what she wanted to do. She also knew what she ought to do. A rising panic started shaking inside her. I want to run. I want to get fresh air. I want to see the sky again. I don’t want to die some gagging, suffering death.

She fell to her knees and pressed her hands against her face. Dear God, she prayed, I’m not sure how I used to do this, but I’m doing it now. I’m praying to you, Jesus, and asking for help to do the right thing. I need Your strength, and I need Your wisdom. Help me.

She stood up and wiped her eyes. Think, now. Calm down and think. You know what you’re supposed to do. Now do it. She treaded lightly toward the sound, careful not to make any noise herself. She heard a humming behind her and saw the door mysteriously raise a few inches before stopping. She shivered.

Time to brace up, Laura. Time to face the challenge ahead, no matter what it is. This is a good thing you are doing, she thought as she heard another scream. This is the right thing to do. That noise was right around the corner from her. Just ahead, she’d see what the noise was.

Trapped
Another ear-shattering scream ripped through the complex. Laura tiptoed around the corner and glanced quickly before drawing back. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She couldn’t believe who she was seeing.

Ashley was standing by herself, screaming and cursing loudly, her hand lodged in a wall-box of some sort. She was in such pain that she didn’t notice Laura glancing into the room a second time. Laura made sure that Ashley was not being attacked, nor was anyone else in the area to set up a trap. Laura slid over behind a table and peered at the scene.

Ashley’s hand was caught in a mechanism within the box. The glass from the front cover was scattered all over the floor; Ashley’s hand was jammed between two large metal gears, clamping them in a viselike grip. She pulled and yelped, but nothing would set it free.

Laura stepped forward. “What did you do?”

Ashley looked over, her teeth clenched in fury and pain. “Don’t just stand there! Set me free! This metal thing is tightening on me, and it’s breaking every bone in my hand!” She started sobbing and cursing loudly.

Laura took another step. “Tell me what happened. That way I can figure out what to do.”

Ashley shook her head and lowered her eyes.

Laura held up both hands. “Listen, Ashley, don’t worry. I know you probably followed us in order to attack us or something.”

Ashley looked away.

“I don’t care what your intent was,” Laura said, walking over and peering at the box. “I just want to help. Can you trust me?”

Ashley bobbed her head quickly. “Yes, yes, just hurry. It’s pressing harder.”

Laura looked at the small plaque above the machinery. “Tell me what you did.”

Ashley gulped. “I heard you in the room, and I saw the door move. I looked around and saw that this was an outside mechanism to close the door, in case they needed to seal it off or lock it up. I reached inside to pull an inner switch, but someone in your room must have hit the same type of machinery, and it worked against what I was doing. Next thing I know, the gears in here grabbed my hand, and it’s been adding pressure every minute. Hurry, get me out of this!”

Ashley tried to yank again and howled in pain. “My hand feels like it’s begin crushed into pieces. Stop reading that note and get me out of here!”

“Tracy was playing with the lever inside the room—that must have worked against your box. Hold on!” Laura said. “The plaque says that this is a double-lock system. That’s right! It’s how Kim and Tracy got into the room in the first place! But Kim slammed that one shut.”

She glanced over to a second glass box. “It was made so one person couldn’t shut the doorway by accident and seal someone in. Two people needed to pull the levers on the two boxes and set the door in motion.”

Ashley groaned. “The glass on this one was already broken. But that one,” she nodded toward the second box, “is not. Take the hammer next to it and smash it.” Her head drooped. “The hammer is attached to the chain, hanging next to the box. You’ll need to really smack it hard, girl. The glass is double-pane thickness, probably so it couldn’t be accidentally broken. Smash it hard, or you won’t get through. Unh,” she slurred, and Laura could see that she was passing out. “The gears are tightening more. Hurry.”

Laura ran to the second box. A broken chain hung next to it. “Ashley!” she yelled. “There is no hammer! Throw me yours!”

“Can’t,” she slurred some more. “The hammer’s on a chain, welded to it. Can’t come off. Hurry.”

“Forget her!” Tracy was on the other side of the thick steel door, screaming underneath the few inches of space. “She deserves what she got! Just push the mechanism and get us out! Use her box!”

Ashley’s head pitched forward, and she slumped, held up only by her crushed hand.