text: [Themes: war]
  
  > Look around
  This part of the hall has been plastered with signs in unsubtle red, white, and blue, occasionally accented with yellow smiley-face stickers. The overhead lights are flickering weakly here, and the power probably won't last long. The hall continues south toward the school kitchen and north toward the classrooms.
  
  Ashley is here, holding hands with you.
  
  Jude is here, holding hands with you and clinging to Mr. Bunny.
  
  The cafeteria doors are to the east, but they're closed and locked, since lunch ended hours ago.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  > Go south
  You are holding Jude's hand, so she follows you.
  You are holding Ashley's hand, so she follows you.
  
  With the overhead fluorescents out, it's particularly dim at this end of the hallway, but the flashing fire alarms illuminate the door labelled "KITCHEN STAFF - NO STUDENTS". The door is partly open, wedged in place with a serving tray.
  
  Ashley is here, holding hands with you.
  
  Jude is here, holding hands with you and clinging to Mr. Bunny.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  > Go east
  Jude says, "It's too dark in there!" She lets go of your hand instead of following you into the kitchen.
  Ashley protests, "Hey, there's no light in there!" She lets go of
  your hand instead of following you into the kitchen.
  
  The kitchen has no windows, and without the overhead lights, it's seriously dark here. Counters and shelves are barely discernable glints in the blackness.
  
  Reflected fire alarm light flickers in the doorway to the west.
  
  > Go north
  You feel your way carefully through the maze of counters until you reach the cafeteria door.
  
  You push painfully through the swinging door.
  
  This is one of the few modern-day cafeterias that doesn't sport a set of vending machines in addition to standard cafeteria fare. Pale sunlight streams down through the high bank of huge windows, shining carelessly over the faded tile and the ceiling-high folded lunch
  tables alike. The kitchen door is to the south.
  
  The cafeteria doors are to the west, but they're completely blocked
  off behind the folded lunch tables.
  
  The door swings shut behind you.
  
  > Shout
  You shout, "Samir, can you hear me?"
  
  Sounding tinny and far away, Samir hollers, "I'm here, I can hear
  you!"
  
  > ask Samir,  to look around
  You shout, "What's around you right now, Samir?"
  
  From somewhere above the ceiling tiles, Samir yells, "The tunnel is bigger here, and there's a grate in the wall with light coming
  through. I think it's daylight - if I get up close, it smells like being outside, except that everything in here smells like grease too. It's all kind of sticky. There's the grate with the light ahead of
  me, and a big dark tunnel to the right, and the smaller tunnel back behind me."
  
  You translate that mentally as ducts to the south, east, and west,
  with the east exit leading outside. You shout back, "Okay."
  
  > ask Samir,  to go south
  You call, "Samir, please go down the big dark tunnel."
  
  From somewhere above the ceiling tiles, Samir hollers, "Okay, I'm
  going now!"
  
  > Go south
  Even pushing through the swinging door takes more effort than it should.
  
  The kitchen has no windows, and without the overhead lights, it's seriously dark here. Counters and shelves are barely discernable glints in the blackness.
  
  Reflected fire alarm light flickers in the doorway to the west.
  
  The door swings shut behind you.
  
  > ask Samir,  to look around
  You shout, "What are you seeing, Samir?"
  
  Through a vent in the ceiling, Samir yells, "It's really dark, but I can see a little bit from the light behind me. There's another grate in front of me - in the floor this time, not in the wall. It's big
  and flat, as big as the whole tunnel, and I can't see anything past
  it. It's even stickier here than it was before, and it smells even more like grease."
  
  > look
  You call, "Samir, what do you see?"
  
  Through a vent in the ceiling, Samir hollers, "It's really dark, but I can see a little bit from the light behind me. There's another grate in front of me - in the floor this time, not in the wall. It's big
  and flat, as big as the whole tunnel, and I can't see anything past
  it. It's even stickier here than it was before, and it smells even more like grease."
  
  > ask Samir,  to go downwards
  You shout, "Samir, I need you to drop down through the grate. Hang onto the edge, then stretch yourself out as much as you can, so it won't be a long fall."
  
  Samir asks nervously, "Will you catch me?"
  
  There's no way you could support his weight - it's all too easy to see yourself stumbling and falling into the stove, crashing your head or his against an unyielding metal surface. You say, "I can't. I'm sorry. But I know you can do this."
  
  Samir says, "I'm not so sure...."
  
  > ask Samir,  to go downwards
  You call, "Time to come down now, Samir. Just lower yourself through the grate, stretch yourself out long, and let go. I know you can do it."
  
  With a squeal of unoiled hinges, a ventilation grate in the ceiling opens.
  
  Samir lowers himself out of the grate in the ceiling. He hangs for a moment by his fingertips, then drops to the ground and rolls when he hits.
  
  You say, "Great job! I knew you could do it."
  
  Samir says, "They taught us how to fall in gym class", as he gets to his feet.
  
  You say, "I bet Coach Lewis never thought something like this would happen," and you share a smile in the darkness. "Come on," you say, "let's get out of here."
  
  > Go west
  With the overhead fluorescents out, it's particularly dim at this end of the hallway, but the flashing fire alarms illuminate the door labelled "KITCHEN STAFF - NO STUDENTS". The door is partly open, wedged in place with a serving tray.
  
  Ashley fiddles unhappily with the damaged hem of her skirt.
  
  Jude is here, clinging to Mr. Bunny.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  > go to the east
  The kitchen has no windows, and without the overhead lights, it's seriously dark here. Counters and shelves are barely discernable glints in the blackness.
  
  Reflected fire alarm light flickers in the doorway to the west.
  
  Samir is standing nearby with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
  
  Because you know exactly where to look, you can see the ventilation grate against the darkened ceiling.
  
  > get Samir
  You take Samir's hand. "Stay with me," you say.
  
  > go to the west
  You are holding Samir's hand, so he follows you.
  
  With the overhead fluorescents out, it's particularly dim at this end of the hallway, but the flashing fire alarms illuminate the door labelled "KITCHEN STAFF - NO STUDENTS". The door is partly open, wedged in place with a serving tray.
  
  Samir is here, holding hands with you.
  
  Ashley fiddles unhappily with the damaged hem of her skirt.
  
  Jude is here, clinging to Mr. Bunny.
  
  The fire alarms flash and shrill monotonously.
  
  > get Jude
  You let go of Samir's hand.
  
  You take Jude's hand. "Stay with me," you say.
  
  > get Samir
  You ask, "Ashley, would you please hold hands with Samir?"
  
  Ashley takes Samir's hand.