Chapter 6

"Sixty six" Kathy called out.

Matt did not call back or start his ride down, remaining frozen a step before the escalator entrance. Kathy moved to see what Matt was staring at, and what she saw took her breath away...

Kathy and Matt were now in their twelfth day in the escalator well. Their log was showing they were now down over 31,700 flights, just crossing the 180 mile mark. After their initial water-sink, they had found another after 5963 more flights, and then again after an additional 11927 flights. They spent some time discussing if there was any meaning in the fact that 11927 was so close to double 5963, but the next sink occurred after 5687 flights, and the issue was dropped.

Kathy and Matt were keeping two calendars, one tied to their watches, and a new one they created that ran off the time from their last sink. When they would find a sink, they would spend about 10 hours super-hydrating, washing, and sleeping, and then restart their travel target to:

Day A - 3,000 flights, 0.5 liter water each, plus cross bladder suckle

Day B - 3,000 flights, one-liter water each

Day C - 3,000 flights, one-liter water each

Day X - find next sink or die trying, finish remaining 0.5 liter water each

To extend their range, they decided to have one cross bladder suckle for each sink found, keeping it at the end of Day A when their urine was still a very light color from their recent super hydration. They were both grateful that their kidneys didn't seem to mind the strain.

A routine travel day was an eight hour sleep period, and five 3-hour treks of 600 flights each, separated by four 15-minute "cuddle breaks", where Kathy and Matt would relax with each other and pet each other's feet. Fortunately, they had only gotten into Day-X mode once, finding a sink near the end of a tough day's travel.

The time they had spent together in their great journey was both extraordinary and very sweet. Kathy and Matt spent most of the travel time sharing their hopes and dreams for their futures, revealing the core of their characters to each other. Each felt that they were forging life bonds of fidelity and commitment. The previous night, after Matt had suckled her bladder in a single easy flow, Kathy had begged Matt for sexual release, and she had her first orgasm under his loving kisses and caresses. Afterwards, she suckled his orgasm, as well as his bladder.

They were now near the end of their first morning trek of day B, having just finished trek mark 565, and both looking forward to foot pets in another 35 flights, when they were stopped cold by the sight of the next landing...

"Could it be the exit?" asked Matt.

"I was expecting more of a door, or an open area... This just looks spooky... And look, you can just see the escalator rails on the next switchback for the next flight down... I don't like this at all..."

Kathy and Matt were being stunned by the floor color of the next landing. After 12 days of uniform light grey walls and floors, the floor at the next landing was pitch black, a black so deep their eyes couldn't even focus on it.

"We need some way to test it, before stepping on it," said Matt.

"Agreed. My gut is telling me not to step on it at all. I suppose we can try to throw something down on it..." Kathy got her change purse from Matt, took a nickel from it and threw it down the well. "I didn't hear it hit. Can't see it now. Not much of a test..."

"No... I've got to get close up and personal with it."

"Matt! I can't risk losing you!"

"There's no choice. We've finished the food two days ago... Don't worry, Katherine, I think I have a plan. I'm going to practice running up the previous escalator just a bit, and practice a jump and stop on the metal landing grid that sits before the main landing-pad floor. See? That grid still exists below too..."

Matt and Kathy spent the next hour practicing the maneuver. It wasn't as easy as it first sounded. They practiced until each had 10 consecutive successes without the failure of slipping and falling on the landing-pad floor. They also practiced transferring from one switchback to the next by hugging the interior switchback wall and swinging their legs and bodies over the landing-pad floor without touching it. Again, it was a maneuver slightly more difficult than they first thought, but doable.

There was no reason to wait. Matt kissed and hugged Kathy fiercely for a brief moment, and then rode the escalator down backwards, smiling up at a worried Kathy. Near the end of his ride, he started walking briskly, holding his position against the 3 mph flow of the stairs. Then, with a practiced jump, he hopped onto the stationary grill.

"Nice job, Matt! Please be careful!

"Send down the water bag by itself! You didn't practice this jump carrying it."

"Okay!"

After catching the water bag from the moving stairs, Matt turned and pulled the ink core of the water bag's pen from his pocket. He dipped it to the floor and felt it push in without resistance. After pushing half of it in, he pulled up, and was dismayed to see that half of the pen core was completely missing.

"Oh, yuck! This is bad, Kathy! Think of this floor as one great garbage disposal. You don't want to touch it..."

"Oh, Matt! If all the floors are like this now, our progress will be almost zero. Plus, we're bound to slip and fall eventually..."

"I know..."

"Is the door on that level any different? Is it locked?"

Matt easily reached over and checked that the door was locked. Then something caught his eye that made him gasp.

"Kathy! What does the door frame sign say on your level?"

"My God, Matt! It's changed! It says the word SORRY"

"Same here! What does it mean?"

"I think the implications are staggering! We'll talk later. Want me to come down now?"

"No, no! Let me transfer across the switchback first!... Okay, I'm over. Good news! The next floor looks normal! Katherine, please be careful."

Kathy came down the escalator backwards, and caught her balance perfectly with her hop onto the small landing grid. She had a bit more trouble than Matt crossing the switchback, because of her shorter legs, but Matt helped her with her balance and she made it without incident. They both quickly descended to the next level, happy to leave the black ink of oblivion behind them. They both felt very relieved that the sign by the locked door on the next floor was back to normal, BOTTOM FLOOR EXIT ONLY.

"Matt, we have only 33 more flights to go on this trek before our cuddle break. I wouldn't mind having some distance between us and the black ink. Let's keep to our schedule and do the 33 flights now..."

For the first time since they designed the trek schedule, Matt and Kathy took a break from their routine. Usually Kathy loved to have Matt caress her feet on the short breaks, but on this break, Kathy had simply disrobed and pleaded with her eyes for Matt to lie with her. Their clothes were blankets on top of them, providing some shelter from the cool breeze. The metal colored floor felt hard, but neither warm nor cool. Kathy and Matt had discovered on their first night in the escalator well that the floor material appeared to conduct no heat at all, unlike all other metals.

Matt had been gently caressing Kathy's body for the last half hour, expressing his love for her with his hands. Slow, leisurely strokes across her breasts and nipples, tracing the outline of her defined ribs, and then soft caresses across her flat stomach and abdomen, feather-light strokes with his fingers across her hip bones, and then returning to her breasts and starting anew...