Two double doors led to a large industrial kitchen in the cafeteria. There was a large storage closet, with a locking steel door where I decided to hide during the 10 minutes head start the creatures gave me.

Hopefully, they would rush past this place, trying to catch me in one of the wings that I did not explore. I was sure they would go to the call center first since that was where I was trying to get to when they caught me the first time. If my plan worked, it may be an hour or two before they figured out that I had stayed behind.

It had been 8 minutes. I turned off the lights sat on the floor in silence and listened. Time ground to a halt, and I heard nothing but the beating of my heart. Four minutes more...I suspected I heard a click somewhere outside in the cafeteria. The noise came closer, "Click..Click...Click..." and then the bump of a door being opened. It was silent for ten seconds and then I heard the "woosh" of it swinging shut as the clicks became farther and farther away.

I stayed on the floor and waited for a good five minutes before moving. I listened at the door, then silently opened it and saw nothing. I crept to the double doors and looked out into the cafeteria. There was nothing out there. To be safe, I taped up some paper and aluminum foil to the windows in the door. I turned on the lights in the kitchen and got to work...

Part XXIV

Thanks for reading,

AC