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4. Cornered. Okay,

1:56

Amber, we need to get into this place fast. Hopefully without anyone seeing us.

2:00

Keep an eye out while I grab my tools. The

2:02

coast looks clear. Go for it. Damn.

2:07

What is it? Why did you

2:09

stop? The door isn't locked.

2:12

Are you serious? Yeah. Check

2:14

it out. We

2:18

can walk right in. Blake isn't

2:20

even trying to slow us down.

2:23

She's practically laying out the welcome mat. So

2:25

she wants us to follow her. Either

2:28

that, or she's in such a hurry, she didn't want

2:30

to waste time locking the door. Let's

2:32

get inside and take a look around. I don't want

2:34

to lose her. Right behind you. This

2:43

place is a mess. Looks

2:45

like it's been abandoned for a long

2:47

time. What's that over there? In

2:49

the middle of the floor? Uh,

2:51

oh, hang on while I grab the flashlight.

2:57

Okay, this definitely is in a warehouse. What

3:00

is that? Is that a swimming pool? Yeah,

3:04

but I doubt it's held water in years. It's

3:06

completely dry. So that's

3:08

what this place is. An old indoor

3:10

swimming pool complex or a health club

3:12

of some kind. What the

3:14

hell is Blake doing here? It's an

3:17

abandoned building. She can probably do whatever she

3:19

wants. Maybe she brings

3:21

victims here. Like the shack? In this part

3:23

of town, with nobody around, no one would hear a

3:25

thing. Let's worry about that later. Right

3:28

now I just want to know where she is. I

3:30

don't see any sign of her. We

3:32

might have to start searching the place systematically.

3:34

Start over here and... What

3:37

was that? It came from through there, out

3:39

the back. Come on, let's move. Well,

3:46

it looks like a maintenance area. Lots

3:49

of pipes and electrical conduits. There,

3:52

look! That has to be the door we heard. Might

3:54

be a utility room. I'm going to open

3:56

it. Easy. She

3:58

has to be close now. Do you feel

4:00

anything? No, not

4:02

yet. This

4:06

one's not locked either. Open

4:08

it. Shine

4:14

the flashlight down there. What do you see?

4:18

It's a narrow room, not much more than a crawl

4:20

space. More pipes and stuff running through

4:22

it. Some sort of plumbing for

4:25

the pool? Yeah, but it's long.

4:27

I can barely see the end of it. I...

4:30

I think I feel something here.

4:32

Like back in Shilling's bedroom. You

4:35

think there could be a den here? I

4:37

can't say for sure. Maybe. I

4:40

guess there's not much point going back. We

4:42

always knew we were going to have to take some risks if we

4:44

wanted to kill Blake. I guess. We'll

4:47

have to go single file. Right. Not

4:51

much room to swing an

4:53

axe in there? No,

4:55

it's not. Do you want me

4:57

to go first? No, I'll

4:59

lead. Just keep that flashlight up so I

5:01

can see where I'm going. What's your

5:03

step, Denu? If Blake does have a

5:05

den in here, there might be a hole in the

5:07

floor or a trap door that leads down to it.

5:09

You don't want to fall through that. I

5:11

don't see anything like that yet. Can you

5:13

see the end? How... how

5:16

far does this corridor go? I

5:19

think there might be a wall ahead. A

5:21

dead end? Yeah, looks like it.

5:24

So there has to be a hidden passage or doorway

5:26

here somewhere? Like at the shack? Well,

5:28

I don't see it yet. Shadows

5:31

can't dissolve into thin air,

5:33

can they? They could do a lot of things,

5:35

but not that. At least not

5:37

to my knowledge. So Blake

5:39

has to be here? Unless...

5:43

Shit. Unless...

5:46

what? Unless she never came in here

5:48

at all. God

5:51

damn it, there goes the flashlight. Fuck!

5:55

Blake closed the door from the outside. It's pitch black

5:58

in here. What do you want to do? Going

6:00

forward? No, back up. Fast.

6:05

What is she doing? I hear something outside.

6:07

Let's just get out of here first. Worry

6:09

about that later. You

6:12

OK? I tripped.

6:15

Shit. I can't see.

6:20

What the fuck is that? Is

6:23

it the pipes? They sound like they. Shit,

6:28

look out. They've ruptured. Help

6:30

me out. Come on, Amber. We have to

6:33

keep moving. I told you, I can't see

6:35

a thing. What about the glow sticks? Where

6:37

are they? Hang on while

6:39

I. Yeah. OK, OK, OK, OK.

6:41

Got one. Come on, baby. Come on.

6:44

What happened? Give me a second to shake

6:46

it. Hey, I think

6:48

it's working. Yeah, yeah. We're getting

6:50

something. Hold

6:53

it up. Yeah, I can see again. God

6:55

damn it. These

6:57

fumes are making me choke. Is

7:00

that bitch trying to gas us? Get

7:03

the door. Go that way. Fuck.

7:08

Fuck. She locked it. Move behind me

7:10

and stand back. I'll use the axe.

7:12

OK. OK, I'm clear. Can you still see?

7:15

Hold the glow stick right here. That's

7:18

it. Daniel. OK, here we go. I'm

7:23

getting losing this

7:26

fucking gas. I

7:29

know. Is it working? I'm

7:31

sure it'll lock, but there's

7:34

something blocking it on

7:37

the other side. Can you get

7:39

past it? I'm trying.

7:42

We don't get over here in the next few

7:44

seconds. Hang on. I've almost got it. One

7:48

or two more blows. Ah.

8:01

You got it. Not a moment

8:03

to spare. You okay? Yeah.

8:07

I'm good. A little lightheaded, but

8:09

otherwise fine. Look at that. She

8:13

chained it from the outside. Looks like she set this

8:15

whole thing up from the beginning. It's

8:18

her! Blake, stop! Put her on that way.

8:20

Cut her off at the entrance. I'll follow her. On

8:23

it! Come

8:26

on, Blake. Cut the shit. It's

8:28

over. Shit! What

8:37

happened? Where is she?

8:39

She went in here, behind this door. Looks

8:41

like it's locked from the inside. What is

8:43

this? A sauna? I don't know exactly, but

8:45

it didn't look like it had any exits.

8:47

We've got her trapped. Okay,

8:50

stand back. I

8:52

hate to tell

8:54

you, but you're

8:57

not making a

8:59

dent in this

9:01

thing. Shit. What

9:03

the hell? Well, it looks like it's

9:05

been reinforced. Why would someone do that to

9:07

a sauna? Look at the

9:09

construction. It seems newer than the rest of the

9:12

building, right? More modern? Yeah, it sticks out like

9:14

a sore thumb. I think

9:16

this might be part of a renovation of some kind. In

9:19

fact, it

9:22

might even be a panic room.

9:25

A panic room? Yeah, one of

9:27

those safe rooms that rich people put inside their houses

9:29

in case of a home invasion. At

9:31

the first sign of trouble, they lock themselves inside

9:33

and call the cops. Who puts a panic room

9:36

inside a health club? Something tells

9:38

me this renovation was

9:40

made after the club

9:42

closed down. You think Blake bought

9:44

the property after it was vacated so she could install this room

9:46

here? Wouldn't a panic room

9:48

like this be a perfect place for her to

9:51

bring victims? It's like an

9:54

extra layer of security on top of

9:56

this place being in the middle of

9:58

a deserted neighborhood, inside there. room she

10:00

would really have the freedom to do

10:03

whatever she wanted. No one

10:05

would hear a thing. Makes sense.

10:08

Now we have to figure out a way to pry her out of there. I

10:11

don't think the axe is gonna cut it. No,

10:13

man there's no lock to pick. Well

10:15

the good news is we've got her cornered

10:18

now. We're holding all the cards. If she

10:20

ever wants to leave this building she's gonna

10:22

have to go through us. Right,

10:24

and the debt we're going to be bothered by

10:26

anyone else in this part of town. Exactly. That

10:28

should give us all the time we need to

10:30

figure this out. Okay, let's

10:33

take a minute to catch a breath. Are

10:35

you alright? Yeah, feeling a bit short of breath

10:37

but I'll survive. She

10:40

really set us up in there didn't she? We

10:42

walked right into it. Yeah, she

10:44

must have been waiting nearby as we went inside

10:46

the maintenance corridor. Then overloaded

10:50

the pipes and chained up the door, hoping

10:52

we'd be stuck inside. In that tiny corridor it

10:54

would only take a few more seconds and we'd

10:57

have passed out. No doubt about it.

10:59

See? That's a good thing I told you to

11:01

keep that axe handy. It's also a

11:04

good thing that you came up with the idea of the glow

11:06

stick. Without it I doubt we'd have gotten out. Hey,

11:09

maybe the shadows can't affect glow sticks the

11:11

way they do with flashlights. Maybe.

11:14

I guess that gut feeling of mine

11:16

at the entrance of the maintenance corridor had nothing

11:18

to do with the den after all. It

11:20

could have been due to the fact Blake was getting close to

11:22

us or something like that. Yeah,

11:25

I suppose I need to

11:28

fine-tune my interpretations a little.

11:32

Sorry, that could have ended badly. Don't

11:35

worry, you're still trying

11:37

to come to grips with this whole thing. Just

11:39

like I am. Anyway, we

11:42

should probably get to work figuring out

11:44

where to go from here. It's

11:47

not over yet. Right, something tells

11:49

me this room is going to be one tough nut

11:51

to crack. Let's put our heads

11:53

together and come up with some ideas. Oh,

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such a clutch off-season pickup, Dave. I was

12:04

worried we'd bring back the same team. I

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met those blackout motorized shades. blinds.com made it

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12:32

If I play you something, will

12:34

Mmm promise not

12:36

to tell anyone about it? What is it?

12:39

There's a thing in the sky. You've got to get someone down here quick. It's

12:41

fucked. It's moving. It's

12:44

buzzing you. It's getting closer, I think. I need to

12:46

talk to someone single. What are you through now? Don't,

12:48

don't, Poppy. It's getting louder. I can feel

12:50

it. I can feel it inside my head. Listen

12:57

to Hovering, the latest fiction horror

12:59

show on Realm's premiere horror channel,

13:01

Undertow. Hovering is available now

13:03

wherever you get your podcasts. Eggers

13:08

said to the interviewer he was convinced that the

13:10

thing out there wasn't a vault at all. Yeah,

13:13

I know what he thought. Dr. Eggers didn't think it was designed

13:15

to keep things out. I know what he thought. He thought it

13:17

was designed to keep something in. Do

13:20

you even understand the difficulty trying to keep a

13:22

base like Fathom at the bottom of the ocean

13:24

from killing everyone in it on a daily basis?

13:28

Oh my God. Everyone hold on

13:30

to something. I

13:33

think whatever is on the other side of

13:35

that door out there, it's not friendly. I

13:38

think it's trying to get out. That,

13:41

my friend, is a dire combination.

13:44

That's a bad sign. Get

13:46

out of the door. I'm

13:48

spreading like some kind of technological contagion. We

13:51

can either stop it here or watch the

13:53

world burn. Fathom, the

13:56

first season of Derelict. Listen

13:59

wherever you go. you get your

14:01

podcasts or learn more

14:03

at derelictpodcast.com Okay,

14:12

I think that's all I've got for now. Let's

14:15

go over everything from top to bottom and

14:17

figure out what to try first. Right,

14:21

so the first one I have here is the

14:23

idea of using power tools to cut through the outer door.

14:26

What kind of tools are we talking about? I

14:28

was thinking maybe a power saw or a grinder, something

14:30

like that. Do you know how

14:32

to use tools like that? Sure,

14:35

I've been on plenty of work sites in my time. Well,

14:37

there's one glaring problem I can see right

14:39

away. The whole power

14:42

thing. What do you mean? You're

14:45

gonna need to plug these tools

14:47

into something, right?

14:50

I'm guessing from the state of this building that the

14:52

power outlets won't be much good to us. Damn,

14:55

you're right. The power was

14:57

probably shut off years ago and we can't

14:59

run a lead to a neighboring building either. Not

15:01

around here, no. I mean, we're

15:04

surrounded by derelicts. Maybe

15:06

we could hire a generator from somewhere. Do

15:08

we have enough cash for that, considering

15:10

we would have to pay for the

15:12

tools as well? Probably, but

15:15

we might be stretching it. The other thing

15:17

that worries me is the amount of noise we're gonna

15:19

be making. If we've

15:22

got a generator running in addition to

15:24

grinding away at this door with power

15:26

tools, people are going to hear that

15:28

from a mile away. It's gonna bring

15:30

attention here. This neighborhood

15:32

is abandoned, remember? That doesn't

15:34

mean people don't come through here. Hell,

15:37

you could hear a power saw from

15:39

inside a passing car, easy. Yeah,

15:42

you're right. And I imagine if

15:44

someone walked in here and found us grinding away

15:46

at a panic room containing one of Black Ridge's

15:48

most respected citizens, that would be a very

15:50

bad look for us. The cops would throw the

15:52

book at us. False imprisonment, harassment,

15:55

you name it. Straight to jail. Do

15:57

not pass go. Do not collect $200. dollars.

16:01

So power tools might be a last resort. What

16:03

else have we got? Let's

16:06

see. We take the door

16:08

out of the equation and concentrate on the

16:10

walls instead. Go around the back of the

16:12

sides and use a sledgehammer to try to break through that way. Yeah,

16:15

I don't know if I like that one either. If this

16:18

is a true panic room, it's probably

16:20

reinforced on all sides. Just a big

16:22

steel box. You're just gonna encounter

16:24

solid metal whichever way you approach

16:27

it. At least a sledgehammer doesn't

16:29

need a power outlet. And it

16:31

is cheap. I guess,

16:34

yeah, I guess it might be worth trying if

16:36

you can pick one up at the hardware store. What's

16:39

next? The next option is sit

16:41

and wait for her to come out. Oh yeah,

16:43

that was, that was one of mine. How

16:46

is that going to work exactly? Just like

16:48

it says, we stake out the door of

16:50

the panic room and wait for Blake to stick her

16:52

nose out. I mean, she has

16:55

to come out eventually. Does she?

16:58

Uh, yeah, she has to come out for, um...

17:01

For what? To go to the bathroom? I

17:03

don't think the Shadow's bodies work like that. Okay,

17:06

okay, maybe not, maybe not, but

17:08

she'll need to drink, won't

17:11

she? I've never seen a Shadow drink anything but

17:13

human blood. As far as we know,

17:15

they might not need water at all. Then

17:17

she has to eat. Shadows

17:20

can go months between kills, maybe even years.

17:22

Oh, I doubt she's gonna have

17:24

the patience to stay cooped up in there that

17:26

long. She doesn't have to. She only

17:28

has to wait long enough for us to leave. Well,

17:31

we are not going anywhere. You

17:33

say that now, but give it a few nights of

17:35

sleeping in this musty shithole and you might change your

17:37

mind. It's gonna be cold, uncomfortable.

17:40

Oh, we can set up bedrolls on the floor and

17:42

try a little campfire or

17:45

something. Eventually, someone's going to

17:47

notice that we're here. They'll see

17:49

us coming and going to get food and supplies.

17:51

If they suspect we're squatting, the cops will come looking.

17:54

And that puts us in the same

17:56

situation again. Blake

17:58

will step out of her... cozy little

18:01

hidey-hole and tell the

18:03

cops we've been holding her hostage. Right.

18:06

So even though it seems like we have all the time in the

18:08

world here, I don't think we do. We

18:11

need to end this in a day or two, no more than that.

18:14

Otherwise we risk someone stumbling in on us. Maybe

18:16

we're just approaching this the wrong way. Maybe

18:18

we should be making her come to us.

18:21

How exactly would we do that, Amber? Is

18:24

there a way we can trick her? Pretend like

18:26

we're trying to bargain or something. She's

18:28

too smart for that. How about if

18:30

we pull back a little? Make it seem

18:32

like we've left. We could hide outside the

18:34

building and grab her as she comes out.

18:37

Shadows are too closely attuned to us to fall for

18:39

something like that. She'll sense that we're

18:41

still near and realize it's a trick. Hell,

18:44

there's a chance if we pull back too far that she could

18:46

sneak out undetected, too. What if...

18:49

What if she's already gone? I'm

18:52

not sure what you mean. I didn't get

18:54

a chance to see much of what was inside

18:56

that panic room before she shut the door. Did

19:00

you? No. Is

19:03

it possible that she might have a secret escape

19:05

route built into that

19:07

thing? Like a tunnel or

19:09

something that pops up somewhere outside the

19:11

building? You really think she'd have something

19:13

that elaborate? Well, we already know she

19:15

built a kick-ass, state-of-the-art panic room inside a

19:18

derelict building out here in the middle of

19:20

nowhere. So it's not that much

19:22

of a stretch to imagine she might have added

19:24

a few extras. Shit. Let's

19:27

see if we can figure out what we're

19:29

dealing with here. See if

19:31

we can get her to respond to us. That

19:34

would let us know that we're not standing here

19:36

guarding an empty box for a start. You

19:38

want to talk to her? Well, it

19:40

can't hurt. Be my guest.

19:49

Blake? Susan Blake? We

19:52

know you're in there. Why don't

19:54

we talk about this, hmm? What'd

19:56

you say? I mean, it seems

19:58

as though we're at a— a bit of an

20:01

impasse, doesn't it? How about we

20:03

work something out? A compromise.

20:05

We can be reasonable. That

20:13

went about as expected. Should

20:15

I go and scout the area outside the

20:17

building? See if I can find a tunnel

20:20

entrance? Don't waste your time. If a secret

20:22

exit is there, it's going to be well hidden. Well,

20:25

looks like we really screwed this whole thing up,

20:27

didn't we? Come on, there's no

20:30

way we could have anticipated that Blake would have a

20:32

panic room at the ready. Oh, not

20:34

just that. We screwed this

20:36

whole situation. Blake has been pulling

20:38

our chain from the beginning, delaying

20:41

us with Mr. Cordell, and then pretending to

20:43

run away from us. She was leading us

20:45

into a trap, and we took the bait

20:48

like a couple of idiots. Yeah,

20:51

like I said before, if we hadn't picked up

20:53

those glow sticks, it might have been curtains for us. A

20:55

tiny corridor was filling up with gas awfully quick.

20:58

We underestimated her. Maybe.

21:01

I think we need to take this as a warning. You

21:04

possess a conduit now, and I can make them

21:06

bleed with my bare hands. Sure,

21:08

that's great. It gives us an advantage

21:11

in close quarters, but we have to

21:13

admit that we're still up against it.

21:16

Every time we walk into a new

21:18

town, we're entering their turf. And

21:20

in most cases, these shadows have

21:23

had decades to prepare for any threats

21:25

that might come their way. Who

21:27

knows how many of these little surprises are

21:29

waiting in store for us? I

21:31

don't know about that, Amber. I think most of them are

21:34

still unprepared. Why do you say

21:36

that? Because I've never seen

21:38

a combination like you and me before. Yeah,

21:42

that's exactly the type of overconfidence

21:44

that's going to get us gassed

21:46

in a fucking maintenance corridor. Don't

21:49

think that... The

21:52

fuck is that? Yeah, yeah, I

21:54

heard it too. It came

21:57

from the panic room. I guess we have her answer now.

21:59

She's still in it. Yeah, but what

22:01

the fuck is she up to? I don't like

22:03

this. Come

22:06

on, let's get closer in case she decides to make

22:08

a run for it. Any

22:12

idea what the noise could be? Sounded

22:15

like something being slid aside. The

22:17

lock? Nope,

22:20

it's definitely still locked. Hey,

22:25

do you hear that? Yeah,

22:27

I can hear breathing. I

22:32

can hear you out there. Shit.

22:35

Blake, open the door. Not

22:38

on your life. What

22:40

are you playing at? Come on, quit

22:42

screwing around. It

22:44

won't come out. But...

22:48

Maybe there's another way we can move forward

22:50

here. What

22:52

other way? I'll talk.

22:55

Just like you wanted. Okay? I'm...

23:01

I'm ready to negotiate.

23:21

The Road of Shadows is created by

23:23

Mark R. Healy. Want

23:26

to delve deeper into the story? Head over to

23:28

Patreon to find character concept art and other bonuses

23:30

like ad-free episodes that you can hear a week

23:32

early. All of that

23:34

and more is available now at patreon.com/Beyond

23:37

the Dark. Check

23:39

out more of my podcasts at

23:41

theroadofshadows.com The

23:43

Road of Shadows Season 3 Stars

23:47

Hamish Plagamas Marta De

23:49

Silva Liz Morey

23:51

Maria Damunu Simon Allison

23:55

Edin Soloman Zander Grant

23:58

Sean Luxford and Terence Edison.

24:01

The Road of Shadows is a Beyond the Dark

24:03

production. The

24:33

Fable and Falling Network, where

24:35

fiction producers flourish. I

24:40

got this really strange email last night.

24:42

I need to see what's going on with this mystery file.

24:45

Hey, it's a map of

24:47

a town called Ocean Bay. Someone

24:50

sent these images to you for a

24:52

reason. I'm so lost right now. When

24:56

was the last time you chose a direction and

24:58

followed it? I'm going

25:00

to Ocean Bay. We

25:04

don't get many tourists this time of year. Ocean

25:07

Bay is a friendly town, but we're not that

25:09

friendly. I never sent

25:11

you an email. I don't even know you. And

25:15

why exactly are you here? The

25:17

map is the reason we're here. Maps

25:20

help when you're lost. Do

25:23

you know what a trap street is? Trap

25:25

streets aren't real. They don't

25:27

exist. Don't trust anyone unless

25:29

they give you a reason to trust them.

25:33

I think he's dead. How could

25:35

so much damage happen to a human body in such a

25:37

short period of time? What

25:39

the hell is going on here? From

25:42

the creators of Strange Air, this is

25:45

Trap Street. So

25:49

maps can have secrets. Yes.

25:52

Maps can have secrets.