The sweat rolled from his brows, almost as if he were still under the sun. It was a single drop of sweat in his eye that brought him out of shock.
His hand dropped to where his pistol rested, and with a quick motion it was up and ready. His thumb racked against the safety and the gun whirred with charge.
Looking up into their eyes again, he stepped backward and then spun toward the door. The light in the hallway beckoned him like a moth to a flame.
His hands quivered as he crept down the hallway. Though he had not noticed it when he entered the cafeteria, the difference in the temperatures was drastic. The cooling system poured cold air onto him, making him shiver as it chilled the sweat that still clung to him for dear life.
The sound of a slamming door echoed past him, and he shivered again.
At the end of the hallway, by the decontamination room, he peered out the window to survey his options. The rainwater ran off the edge of the roof, flooding this side of the canyon. The wind was downing trees and even tossing around a pair of cycles.
He closed his eyes. Leaving shelter would be the death of him. If he was to stay inside, he needed a place to hide.
The first door down the hallway opened into the communication room. The light inside was on, which gave him hope.
“It’s as good of a place as any, and it’s right by the main door.” he thought.
From inside, he noticed a small walkway between the communication and the medical room. With as much stealth as he could manage, he entered the medical room and sealed the door to the hallway in a feeble attempt at security. Then he closed off the door between the medical and the communication room for good measure. The last door to seal was the door to the communication room.
He dared not change any details about the room that would be noticeable from outside. Whoever, or whatever, had killed the miners likely knew this place better than he did.
In a corner of the room away from the door he crouched against the wall and wept.
For as hard as he tried, he could not shake the image of their eyes from his thoughts. And then a terrible thought occurred to him. The heat in the cafeteria, the use of anti-gravity bands to keep them suspended, the lack of decay… Those men were hanging to cure.