XVIII - Josh
The
factory was so empty. That was the
first thing which struck Josh about the dark, silent place they had
entered. Its emptiness was evident all
around them, from the way the darkness made the hall they were in look like it
just might be endless, from the echoing sounds of each footstep, from the
traces of litter, rubble and debris which lay scattered across the floor in
isolated little heaps.
The only
light came from Josh’s torch and the faintest of glows from the hollow windows,
but it was enough to reveal other details, like the black marks on the concrete
floor which told of the machines which had once stood there, or the evidence of
oil stains, paint marks, blood. An
entire history lay mapped across the space.
Josh could almost feel it, weighing him down.
Paige
stayed close as they walked across the hall, the torch light swinging slowly
left to right, right to left as they sought out some sign of what had happened
to Charlie. He could feel the heat of
her and, in that darkness, it was a gentle comfort, but also an unwelcome
distraction.
“Charlie!”
they called out, their voices echoing obscenely loud, as if desecrating the
silence of a cathedral, “Charlie!”
There was
no obvious way to go, no trail to follow, no clues leading to the boy’s
whereabouts. A number of doors seemed
to lead away from the hall, but none of them had anything about them that made
them think that, yes, that was the one they should take.
They came
to a halt in the middle of the floor and the torch went round and round.
And then
suddenly there was something, a change to the light, a dimness growing, glowing
all around them as it swelled from nothing into a familiar light, the light of
fading fluorescents and the light of day.
Dirty glass now filled the window frames, posters and signs covered the
walls and the air was thrumming with the sounds of machines and voices.
Josh
watched as shadows began to fill the spaces above the marks on the floor. The shadows grew, took shape, gained solidity
and then, as if everything finally snapped into place, they were whole. Shadows no longer, Josh realised he and
Paige were now standing between a set of gigantic looms as all around them
tired factory workers in blue overalls hurried from one machine to
another. The looms hissed and snapped
as they carried out their work under the supervision of a few more workers
standing up on platforms at one end.
Josh
glanced at Paige. She was staring
around her with her mouth wide open, her eyes quivering with fear and then Josh
felt it too. Whilst they were viewing a
scene which seemed so ordinary, so modern, the very fact that it could happen
at all was a reminder of just how powerless they were in the midst of all of
this. There were no guarantees and no
assurances.
And then
Josh spotted the boy running away from them, ducking through the gap between
two looms further along the hall and following a group of workers who seemed to
be leaving for their breaks through a door at the end.
“There he
is!” Josh shouted, grabbing Paige’s hand and breaking into a run.
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