When he heard the scream, Darren dropped the chair and started moving.
He was about to throw himself back into the maze of crates when he remembered the ladder that led up to the building's catwalk.
Turning on his heels, he ran towards the external wall of the "office" until he stood at the bottom of the ladder. He hadn't noticed earlier, but there were no lower rungs, probably a safety measure to keep the wrong people from climbing and getting themselves in trouble.
As he looked up, he could see that the first rung jutted out from the wall about a foot above him. Mentally cursing, he jumped, his fingers brushing the bottom of the metal rung, a few inches too short for him to grab on.
He tried again, this time he got a little further up, but he still wasn't getting high enough for his fingers to wrap around the metal.
He heard another scream. He had to do something. He was about to give up on the catwalk idea when something occurred to him - the rungs were metal!
Concentrating, he held out a hand and imagined the lowest rung drooping by about an inch. The metal glowed and began to "sag" slightly as the bar part of the rung shifted downward, the anchored ends of the metal remaining solidly attached to the wall, albeit now in a 45-degree angle.
Once the rung stopped glowing, he tried jumping once again. This time his fingers wrapped solidly around the metal bar. Using his feet to "walk" himself further up the wall, he reached out and grabbed the next rung, and the next, until finally he reached a point where he had both his hands and his feet holding on to, or standing on a rung. He clambered his way up the rest of the ladder until he reached the catwalk above.
The walkway was a grided mesh of metal that ran along the length of the exterior walls. It jut out at regular intervals to connect both sides of the structure. He ran along, until he could finally see the area where he had left Claire on the edge of the crate. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was still as he had left her, more or less.
She now lay completely on top of the crate, her legs no longer dangling over the side. She had moved away from the crate's edge, and from the looks of things, was attempting to flatten herself as much as possible.
She looked up and saw him staring down at her. With the slightest motion that she could make, she held a finger to her lips in a "keep quiet" gesture.
With that, Darren crouched down and surveyed the scene. The door to the storehouse was still closed. Everything looked secure, so he was confused as to why she had screamed and was now attempting to hide on top of the crate.
Another scream, but now Darren could see that it wasn't Claire who was making the noise. The scream was coming from the streets right outside.
"Let me go! Let me go!" came the shouts of a familiar voice. It was the voice of Hida.
***
Hida had figured the whole escape attempt was a long shot, so she wasn't really surprised that she got nabbed. What did surprise her though, was the fact that it was the city watch that had grabbed her from her hiding spot beneath a bridge. They had discussed not approaching the guards for help, since there was the potential for bribes bringing them onside with their kidnappers, but Hida hadn't been convinced that their captors had that much influence. She had been very wrong.
She had screamed a couple of times as she was dragged along the street by two large, armored men. She dragged her heels as much as she could, and begged for help from any passer-by, but the locals probably thought there was good reason that she was in custody.
"Now, now," one guard told her. "No need for a fuss. Stay quiet and there will be no need for us to MAKE you quiet."
That argument hadn't convinced Hida. The fact that they were well fed aboard their prison ship, made her believe that she and the others were considered somewhat precious cargo. She had hoped that fact had been conveyed to the search parties. They were getting closer and closer to the docks, so she was running out of time. She had to do something.
She screamed again. Even if it didn't help her escape, hopefully the others would hear her and realize what had happened to her.
"Enough!" one of the guards shouted. He held up a hand to strike her, but the other guard grabbed his wrist. "They said they want them undamaged."
"Well," thought Hida. "I was right about one thing today at least."
Fury flashed in the eyes of the guard who had wanted to strike her, but that faded after a moment. He nodded, "Aye, you're right about that."
The other guard released his wrist. "Come on, we're almost there."
Hida struggled again. Knowing now that the guards would have to handle her with some care gave her some hope that she might be able to break free.
"Let me go! Let me go!" she said over and over.
The guards dragged her down an alleyway, and to her surprise, stopped in front of a side door to a building.
"This it?" One guard asked.
"Yeah, this place has been abandoned for years. The captain says to hold up here until it's confirmed that they have paid up." The guard said as he pulled out a key-ring.
Selecting a key from the ring, the guard slid it into the lock and turned it.
"Huh?" The guard said.
"What?"
"It's giving me some trouble. Give me a second, these locks are as old as hell."
The guard pulled the key out and inspected it. "Yep, this should be the one," he said to no-one in particular. He reinserted the key and tried to twist it again. This time it opened with a click.
"Let's go."
The two guards dragged Hida into the storehouse.