, and neither of them yet knew that the deeper they went, the more the building itself seemed to be waking around them.
The sixth floor smelled of rain.
That was the first thing Yan Cijin noticed. The second was that there had not been any rain inside the mall for a very long time. The air was cold and damp, and tiny droplets clung to the broken railings overlooking the atrium. Some of the ceiling panels had been torn away, exposing pipes and layers of insulation. Water dripped somewhere in the dark, but the sound was too steady to belong to a natural leak.
Bai Li touched the railing.
"Warm."
Yan Cijin ran her fingers over it and felt the same thing.
"Something is pumping water through the building."
"Or blood."
Yan Cijin looked at her.
"You really know how to ruin a perfectly good observation."
Bai Li laughed softly.
They stepped away from the stairwell.
The roar came again.
It was much closer now.
