The ground-floor service office had two doors and a window that overlooked the rear service court. It was a different room from the office on six; the emergency stair they had descended opened into it. Through the glass, Eli could see a delivery van parked crookedly across the pavement. One of its doors stood open. There was no sign of the driver.
“Is the court clear?” he asked.
The shield bearer shook her head. “I haven’t been out there. We got the east entrance open, then something came through the lobby. We brought the people we could to the street and came back for the upper floors.”
“Did you see a man on the west landing? He was on a carry sheet.”
“The other responder brought him down.” She paused. “I don’t know what happened after that.”
Tessa had stopped beside the window. Her hand was in her jacket pocket again. Eli saw her watch the shield bearer’s face, searching for an answer the woman had not given.
“What’s your name?” Tessa asked.
“Rae.”
“Rae, my father’s name is Darius Vale. He’s the man Eli means. If you hear anything, tell me.”
“I will.”
Rae did not promise that Darius was alive. Tessa did not ask her to. She turned toward the group entering the office and began directing them away from the glass.
The responder with the pry bar pushed the second office door open. Beyond it lay a narrow service passage. Pipes ran along the ceiling, and a bank of electrical cabinets lined one wall. At the far end stood a red fire door with a horizontal release bar.
The responder pressed the bar. It moved, but the door did not.
He tried again, putting his shoulder against the frame. The metal shuddered and held.
“Stuck at the bottom,” he said.
Owen set down his corner of Mrs. Larkin’s blanket. “Let me see.”
The group lowered her carefully to the floor. Tessa checked Ben’s bandage while Mara continued pressing it. Paul placed the medical bag near the passage entrance, beside Mrs. Larkin, then returned to help Eli and Jun support Mei. Her splinted leg had begun to tremble.
“Is that the street?” Ben asked, looking at the red door.
“It’s the service court,” Owen said. “The street’s beyond it.”
He knelt at the threshold. The frame had shifted inward, and a strip of metal along the bottom edge was bent into the track. He slid the tip of his screwdriver beneath it, but the strip would not rise.
“The closer’s been bad for a month,” he muttered. “The frame wasn’t like this.”
Eli looked back toward the office. The loose ground-floor panel that Rae had dragged across the stairwell opening was still upright. He could hear scraping behind it. Every sound from the other side made the residents turn.
“Can you open it?” Tessa asked.
“There’s a manual release behind the wall panel.” Owen indicated a small rectangular cover beside the door. “If the linkage hasn’t twisted, it should disengage the lower latch.”
The responder with the pry bar set its end under the cover.
“Don’t,” Owen said. “There are wires behind it. The bar could jam the mechanism or trip the alarm.”
The responder withdrew. “Where’s the key?”
“In the maintenance cabinet by the lift lobby.”
Eli looked through the office. The ground-floor maintenance cabinet was on the far side of the damaged frame, close to the service stair and the creatures. It was separate from the sixth-floor cabinet that had held the evacuation plan.
“Can your screwdriver open it?” he asked.
“The cabinet, yes. The release needs a square tool. It has a recess instead of a screw head.”
“Is there another one?”
“Not nearby.” Owen glanced at Mrs. Larkin. “I can go.”
“I’ll come with you,” Eli said.
Tessa looked from the door to the office behind them. “How many people do you need?”
“Two,” Owen said. “One to hold the light and one to get the tool.”
Rae raised her shield. “I can take them.”
“You’re needed here,” Eli said. “If the creatures come through while we’re gone, they need someone with the group.”
Rae’s jaw tightened, but she did not argue. She moved to the office doorway where she could see both the damaged frame and the passage.
Tessa took the lamp from Leah and handed it to Eli. “We’ll stay here. If you can’t reach the cabinet without fighting, come back.”
Eli almost said that fighting was the only reason he was going. Instead he nodded. Owen took the screwdriver, and the two of them stepped back into the office.
The loose panel rattled as they approached. Eli raised the lamp. A claw appeared around its edge, withdrew, and scraped against the floor.
“We could push the panel harder against the frame,” Owen whispered.
“And trap ourselves on this side?”
Owen looked toward the passage, then shook his head. They needed a way back.
Eli angled the lamp through a gap in the panel. The creature on the stairs recoiled, blinking. Its muzzle bore a fresh cut, possibly from Paul’s scraper. It watched the light rather than the people behind it.
The maintenance cabinet stood three paces to the left of the opening. Eli and Owen could reach it without passing directly in front of the creature, but neither would have room to run if the panel fell.
“Stay behind me,” Eli said.
Owen gripped the screwdriver. “I need to be in front of the cabinet.”
“Then I’ll stay between you and the opening.”
They crossed the office. Eli held the lamp in his left hand and the bar in his right. Owen knelt at the cabinet. He used the screwdriver to break the ground-floor cabinet’s glass, then reached through and searched beneath the emergency hammer.
“Anything?” Eli asked.
“There’s a box.”
He pulled out a small tin and opened it. Inside lay a set of keys, a folded inspection card, and a short metal tool with a square end.
“This is it.”
The panel shifted. Eli raised the bar. The creature pushed its head through the gap, then stopped when the lamp found its eyes. Its shoulders were too broad to follow without moving the panel farther.
Owen shut the tin. The snap of the lid made the animal jerk forward. The panel tipped.
Eli caught its upper edge with the bar and shoved it upright. The creature struck from the other side, forcing the bar back against his forearm. Pain shot to his elbow.
“Go,” he told Owen.
Owen ran toward the passage. Eli followed, backing away with the light. The creature squeezed into the office and looked after them. The bright beam slowed it, but it did not retreat to the stairs.
Rae stepped forward with the shield. “Left side,” Eli said. “Its shoulder’s hurt.”
She angled the shield toward the animal. It snapped at the edge and drove her back a step. Eli struck the floor beside it. The creature turned toward the noise, and Rae shoved it away from the passage.
“Door,” she said.
Eli pulled the office door shut as Rae retreated. The latch caught. The creature hit it once, hard enough to bend the handle downward.
“That won’t hold long,” Rae said.
“Neither will the other one,” Owen replied, kneeling by the fire door. “I need room.”
Tessa moved everyone back from the panel. Daniel and Jun kept their hands on the blanket while Mrs. Larkin rested. Mara sat with Ben between her knees, his bandaged arm held against his chest. Mei remained upright with her husband’s help, and Leah had taken a place beside them.
Owen inserted the square tool into the wall panel. It turned halfway and stopped.
“Is it the right one?” Paul asked.
“Yes. Something’s pressing against the linkage.” Owen eased it back and tried again.
A metallic click sounded inside the wall. The red door did not move.
“Try the bar,” Owen told the responder.
The man pressed it. This time the latch clicked, but the lower edge of the door remained trapped against the bent metal strip.
“It’s released,” Owen said. “We have to clear the bottom track.”
Eli crouched beside him. “Can we pull it out?”
“Maybe. Hold the tool there.”
Eli took the square tool and kept it turned while Owen worked the screwdriver beneath the strip. The responder wedged the pry bar alongside it. Together they lifted.
A bell began to ring overhead.
Owen froze. “Alarm circuit.”
The bell was loud in the narrow passage. It echoed through the office and down the stairwell. The creature struck the office door twice in quick succession. From farther away came an answering sound, sharper and higher.
“Can you stop it?” Tessa asked.
Owen opened the panel farther. Three wires ran behind the cover, one attached to a small switch. “The release moved the contact. I need to reset it.”
“Will the latch close?” Eli asked.
“Only if I turn the tool back.”
“Then I’ll hold it.”
Owen pressed the switch with the end of his screwdriver. The bell stopped. In the silence that followed, they heard movement in the office: more than one set of claws on the floor.
Rae shifted her shield. “We’re out of time.”
“Almost,” Owen said.
He and the responder worked the pry bar under the bent strip. It resisted, and the door would open only partway until the strip came free. Eli held the release while they changed their grip.
A scream sounded outside.
Everyone turned toward the fire door. The voice came from the service court, followed by a shout and the crash of metal against pavement. Eli could not see through the red door. Whatever had happened outside was between them and the street.
“Can we still use it?” Daniel asked.
“We don’t know yet,” Tessa said. “Rae, is there another exit?”
“There’s a small vestibule window on this side of the office door,” Rae said. “It faces the same court, but it is too high to carry people through.”
“Can we signal someone through it?”
Rae kept her shield and crossed the safe side of the passage to the window. The creature hit the closed office door behind her. The handle bent farther, but the latch held.
Owen worked the pry bar beneath the bent strip. “The latch is released, but the track is still holding the door.” He and the responder pulled the metal toward the wall, making enough room for a narrow opening.
“Try it,” he said.
Eli kept the tool turned while the responder pressed the release bar. The door opened a hand’s width, then stopped.
“More,” Owen said.
The responder pushed. The gap widened to a foot. Through it Eli saw the service court: the open van, scattered boxes, and a responder in a yellow helmet pulling someone behind the vehicle. A creature lay on its side near the far wall. It moved once, then went still.
The responder in the court saw the door. “Hold it there! We’re clearing the street.”
Tessa stepped forward. “We have injured residents. How many can you take?”
“All of them. There’s a medical team around the corner.”
Eli heard the office door crack behind them. Rae returned from the window with her shield raised.
“Two in the office,” she said. “One has the door half open.”
Owen pulled the strip again. It bent but would not come free. The door’s lower edge scraped over it and stopped at a narrower angle than they needed for the blanket.
“We can turn her sideways,” Daniel said.
“No,” Tessa replied. “Not with her hip like that.”
“Then what?”
“We have to remove the bent strip,” Owen said. He and the responder set the pry bar farther under the metal, taking care not to crush their hands between it and the door.
The office door gave way with a crack. Rae planted her shield across the passage. One creature appeared beyond it, low and fast. The shield caught its first strike, but its weight drove her backward.
Eli left the square tool seated in the wall panel and put Paul’s hand on it. “Keep it turned until the door is open. Owen will take over before you leave.”
Paul held the tool in position. Eli moved beside Rae and struck the creature’s forelimb with the metal bar. The blow glanced off bone. The animal recoiled and snapped toward him.
“Back to the door,” Eli told Rae. “We need space for the carry.”
She retreated one step at a time. The creature followed. A second shape moved behind it in the office, but the narrow passage prevented both from attacking together.
Tessa raised her voice. “Listen to me. Ben and Mara go first with Paul. The responder outside will take them to the medical team. Mei goes next with her husband and Jun. Mrs. Larkin follows with the carry team. Leah comes behind them. Everyone else follows in pairs.”
“I can stay,” Leah said.
“You can help by telling the responders what’s coming,” Tessa said. “Your leg won’t let you defend this passage.”
Leah looked ready to argue, then saw the blood on Ben’s dressing. “I’ll go with him.”
“Good. Tell them he needs his arm checked immediately and that Mrs. Larkin can’t walk.”
The metal tore loose at one end, leaving a sharp edge against the concrete. Owen bent it flat with the pry bar and dragged it aside. The door swung wide enough for the blanket. Owen caught the heavy door before it could swing back onto the carriers.
When the door was wide enough, Owen held it open and took over the tool until the latch could no longer spring shut. He removed it only then. Mara took Ben through first. Paul followed, keeping one hand on the dressing. Leah limped after them, supported by the responder from the court.
Mei and her family moved next. Jun went sideways through the opening, pulling gently while her husband supported her from behind. Her splint caught briefly on the release bar. Owen held the door still while Tessa freed it.
Rae absorbed another blow on her shield. Eli struck at the creature when it tried to slip around the edge. He missed the head but hit its shoulder, and it recoiled into the animal behind it. The momentary collision gave them room to retreat.
“Blanket,” Tessa called.
Daniel and Jun took the front. Owen and the responder took the rear. Eli watched them lift, checking that the corners were secure. Tessa guided the group toward the door while keeping one hand near Mrs. Larkin’s injured leg.
The front carriers cleared the threshold. The blanket sagged as they turned into the service court.
“Stop,” Tessa said. “Owen, take a step left. Now lower your corner.”
They obeyed. The turn took longer than Eli wanted, but the blanket passed without catching. The responder outside took Jun’s place and helped carry Mrs. Larkin toward the street.
Owen remained at the fire door, holding it open. “Everyone’s through except us.”
“Rae first,” Eli said.
She shook her head. “You have the better reach with that bar.”
“And your shield will cover the opening while I follow.”
She considered the distance. The creatures were crowded in the passage, unable to reach them both at once. Outside, the evacuees were moving away from the door. Tessa had stopped at the edge of the court to count them.
“Together,” Rae said.
The first creature sprang. Eli drove the bar against its shoulder while Rae turned the shield. The animal struck the metal and fell sideways into the second one. They did not stay down.
Owen looked toward the office. “The medical bag.”
Paul had left it beside Mrs. Larkin near the passage entrance while helping Mei. In the rush, the bag remained there, close to the creatures.
“Leave it,” Eli said.
Owen was already looking past them. The bag lay on their side of the office doorway, where Paul had set it down. He hesitated.
“Tessa needs it.”
“The responders outside have supplies.”
Owen took a breath and stepped back toward the door. The first creature regained its feet.
Eli moved between it and the exit. He could slow it from here, but he could not hold the passage indefinitely. Behind him, Tessa called the names of the people she had sent out. Owen did not answer; he was still in the passage, reaching for the bag near the office entrance.
The second creature climbed over the first.