HDA - Where Troubles Melt by Cherylann Rivers Introduction

Frank Hardy looked at Chet, who was standing next to him, in horror. He couldn't believe his eyes. There was some sort of split screen on the wall in front of him, and he and Chet had just witnessed Callie and Joe collapsing in some sort of vault, and Iola and Vanessa backed up against a wall, pointing to some sort of clock that read "Minutes to Meltdown." Then, inexplicably, the screen had gone blank.

"Chet!" Frank turned to his friend, fighting off panic. "Everyone is in trouble. We have to think of some way out of here!"

With that, Frank began searching the room in which they were being held. His head throbbed, and his arms ached. He didn't mind being involved in a fight, but not when the fight was unfair. He couldn't even see his aggressors in the dark, and he had been unable to fight back fairly. Looking at the screen, he could only think to himself, "Thank God Callie is safe, at least for now." The last thing he remembered, before being knocked out, was Shelley Butler, literally squeezing Callie to death. It had been the most horrific thing he had ever seen as he watched, powerless to stop it. Despite that, somehow Joe must have gotten to her and, although they were in some sort of trouble, they were at least alive. It was all Frank could hope for.

"W… where are we?" Chet asked Frank, confused. As he looked as his friend, Chet couldn't help but to notice the blood streaming from a wound on Frank's forehead. Worried, he asked him, "Frank? Are you all right?"

"Huh?" Frank questioned, looking around the old room.

"Your head- it's bleeding."

"Oh," Frank replied, and slowly raised his hand to his head. He hadn't realized that he was hurt; all he could think about was getting to Joe and Callie, not to mention Iola and Vanessa. "No, I'm fine," he said to Chet, and turned to his friend. "Listen, Chet, you saw the same thing I did on the screen. Everyone is in trouble, and that means two things. One, we have to get out of here to help them, or two…."

At that moment, the door burst open, and Jeremy Wilkins and Rob Smith came through, wearing masks. They appeared to be dressed in some sort of insulated uniform, which was puzzling to Frank. Behind them, Chet and Frank saw thick smoke in the distance, making their way through the building.

"Or two," Smith cut in, "It means you're in pretty bad trouble yourself…"

Frank and Chet stared at the men, who had guns trained on them very carefully.

"Follow us," they commanded.

Having no choice, Frank and Chet were lead outside, into the thick smoke and billowing fire…

*****

"Get up!" Joe Hardy yelled to Callie, jerking her to her feet. He tried to fight off the dizziness that was coming over him as he struggled to breathe. There had to be somewhere out of here; there simply had to be.

Weakly, Callie allowed herself to be pulled next to Joe, leaning heavily against him. She felt like her legs would give out any minute. "W… what are we going to do?" she stammered, gasping for air.

"I don't know," Joe coughed out. "But we better think of something… fast!" He looked wildly around the small vault. There was nothing. The shelves were empty, and there was no way of starting something, like a fire, that may trigger the vault door to open as a fire-safety precaution. Mind spinning, Joe tried to come up with some sort of plan to get the door open, but he had nothing he could try to jimmy it with. He felt his heart start beating quickly as each breath became more and more of a struggle.

"Joe?"

Slowly, Joe turned to the soft voice at his side. Callie was looking up at him in question. Instinctively, Joe wrapped an arm tighter around her. Callie looked like she was on the verge of collapse. Inwardly, he cringed. Part of him wanted desperately to keep her awake in case he could think of some way out. Another part of him wanted to let her pass out, and escape from this inevitable horror. At least she wouldn't be in pain as the air would be sucked from her lungs.

"Yeah, Cal?" he finally managed, the room beginning to swim slightly. He groaned, as he leaned with his other arm against the shelving for support.

Now Callie was coughing badly, but she managed to get out, "I... I think there's a way out!"

"What? Where?" By now, both he and Callie had to sit down, as weakness washed over them.

"Look- at the ceiling…" Callie motioned weakly in the direction of the ceiling at the other end of the vault.

Joe squinted, almost too weak to care. FOCUS! he said to himself, forcefully. Then, he saw what Callie had been referring to. There was a small air duct in the corner. "What about it?" he asked, and realized in horror that his words were beginning to come out slurred. He squeezed his eyes shut in concentration.

"I… I think I could get up there, and come around and open the door for you."

Joe opened his eyes wide. "Callie!" he gasped. "There's no way! Do you know how small that thing is?! PLUS, it's incredibly dangerous! You don't know what's up there. You might not be able to get out. No," he finished.

"Yes," Callie whispered, and shakily stood up, ignoring the pain in her side, the dizziness, and the struggle to breathe. "Don't argue with me, Joe. We don't have a choice. It's our only chance. I… I don't think I can make this much longer. I feel so… horrible…" Callie struggled to remain standing. She had to do this quickly, or she knew she'd chicken out.

Joe weakly stood next to her. She was right-it WAS their only chance. Still, Joe knew how dangerous it was, and how Callie could easily fall and be trapped, or suffocate, or … who knew what else? Then again, they were going to die here, anyway.

Callie leaned her head against Joe's shoulder, and Joe noticed again how pale she was, and realized that he must look very much the same way. "I can do it. Just- give me a lift up."

"It's so small…" Joe managed, fighting back tears. By letting Callie do this, it was almost certain death. If only he could have thought of something earlier!

"Well, I'm small, too," Callie managed. "Since I've been sick, I've lost even more weight than normal. Joe, come on! I can't be more than 105 pounds or something. You can manage one boost, can't you?! Please," she begged him. "We're running out of time."

Joe felt dizzy, and he couldn't focus correctly. They WERE running out of time. Something Callie said struck him, though. "Since you've been sick?" he managed. "What do you mean?"

In a moment of clarity, Callie suddenly realized that Joe had no idea about the cancer or anything; he had thought she was pregnant the whole time. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she whispered, "Never mind, Joe. Let me do this." Callie knew she would probably die going into the ventilation shaft. But… she couldn't let Joe die, too. He had a long life ahead of him; she didn't know if she had that luxury anyway. If she could save Joe, then maybe he could save the others. Callie knew she would be virtually sacrificing her life for theirs. Yet, as a sudden calm washed over her, she realized that she was okay with that. She might die anyway; why not do some final good, and save those she loved?

Joe shook his head, but walked Callie over to the duct. Before lifting her up, he met her eyes. "Callie," he whispered, "Are you sure?! It's dangerous. It almost certain …" He stopped, unable to finish his thought. They might still have a half- hour or so if they remained trapped here, but Callie could die-easily- before that time.

"I'm sure," Callie replied with a weak smile. "If something happens, tell your brother…" Callie stopped. Tell him what? Tell Frank she loved him? He knew that. How could you really express to someone how grateful you were to have him in your life, how he actually made her a better person? At once, it came to her. "Tell him-- high five." She smiled. "He'll know what it means."

Joe was puzzled, but nodded. "I will. And Callie? You'll have even less air up there than in here. You have to be very careful. As long as there's nothing to block your air, you should be okay. Hurry." With that, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and said, softly, "Good luck," fighting off his own guilt that he had been unable to get her out of this predicament in the first place.

He boosted her up, using his last bit of energy before collapsing to the floor, weakly. He looked up into the vent, and could no longer see her.

And then, something happened. Just as Joe began to feel the smallest trace of hope, he saw it-smoke, beginning to work its way in, under the vault door, somehow. Fighting off his confusion and panic, he realized exactly what Vanessa and Iola had realized only moments earlier; the building was on fire!

And that meant… Joe recoiled in horror at the thought. That meant that Callie wouldn't be able to breathe at all! Any ventilation would be shut off immediately in the hollow shafts. Callie would suffocate quickly.

Fighting off the rapidly building smoke, and the feeling that he'd pass out, Joe started calling out, "Callie! Callie! Come back!" between gasps of air.

Five minutes passed. Tears streaming down his face, Joe collapsed unto the ground, giving up for the first time in his life.

There had been no response. Callie was gone….

Let the author know what you think of this story

Home Library Authors Rogue's Gallery Vehicles Chums Message Board Rap Sheet Links Contact

Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow them without express permission of the authors.