Water in Shaft 37

When the iron door to Shaft 37 opened, a stale breath of damp air rushed out first, like an old well buried underground, still exhaling a little cold no matter how long the sun had been beating on it. Marcus went down first, boots clanging on the metal ladder in hollow bursts. Erin followed with a penlight she had taken from the exam room. Lin came last. When he looked back, all he could see was the narrow slit of hospital light behind them being swallowed by heat, as if the city were not letting them escape so much as pulling them back in. At the bottom of the ladder was a stripped maintenance corridor. The walls were blistered in places. Rust water ran slowly from the base of the pipes, like sweat from something hidden in the dark.