Page 68 of Stay Scared

“Can we still reach the backup room?”

“We can, but we have to go around.”

“Then lead the way.”

Owen starts forward, and I tighten my hold before he gets a full step away.

He turns toward me.

I lace our fingers together, and we move through the altered maze side by side.

Owen checks each seam before guiding me past it. His utility light finds an exposed maintenance opening near the floor. Someone removed the protective cover and spliced new wiring into the local circuit.

He crouches beside it. “That’s how they reached the maze.”

“Can you disconnect it?”

He grips the bridge cable and tears it from the port.

The maze lights switch to white, and a door unlocks at the far end.

We emerge into a stairwell descending beneath the midway. Owen keeps my hand as we cross the wet steps.

Voices carry through the backup-control-room door.

Ash is arguing over a hardline phone. “The municipal line should be independent. Find where it was cut and get someone to the north warehouse.”

The response is too faint to understand.

Owen opens the door.

Ash stands at the central console without his glowing mask. Several monitors display errors while a paper map covers part of the desk. A technician works beside an open equipment cabinet.

Ash sees us, and his eyes drop to our joined hands.

Owen’s fingers are still threaded through mine.

Neither of us lets go.

Ash looks up.

The torn shoulder of my jacket hangs open farther than it did before the maze. Owen’s coat is twisted where I grabbed it. His mouth is red.

The technician says something about the hardline, but Ash ignores him. His attention returns to our hands.

I let him look.

Owen’s thumb moves once against the side of mine.

Ash sees that too.

“Are you hurt?”

His voice is controlled enough that the question sounds harder than it should.

“My shoulder took some pressure. The maze activated in maintenance mode.”

Owen releases my hand only when he needs both of his for the console. The absence of his grip leaves my palm cold.