Steel spine 52: Barricades

Colin had finally plucked up the courage to do something about the door to the basement, he’d been trying to avoid thinking about Chris but he convinced himself that doing something about it might help. He was willing to admit his current plan wasn’t brilliant, there was a cupboard that he thought he would be able to shift to cover the door, but as long as it wasn’t too obvious he thought it should work. The only other option was a combination of a wall hanging and a coffee table, which somehow didn’t feel as safe. It was, however, a lot more work.

“What’s that noise?” He’d managed to move it so a narrow strip of the door was covered when Chris called up. Colin shut his eyes and kept pushing. “What are you doing?” Chris sounded confused, and a little concerned. Colin paused and almost answered, but he stumbled on what to say. He couldn’t think of how to explain to Chris what he was doing without telling him about everything that had happened outside. There was too much he’d missed.

“I can hear you up there!” Chris’s shouting was suddenly a lot darker, and Colin pushed the bookcase harder, eager to be done with it so he could retreat upstairs again. “Answer me!” Colin tried his best to ignore the shouting and focus on the wood in front of him, but it wasn't working. Even in the pause after Chris’ demand Colin was only worrying about what he was going to say next.

“You’re shutting me in? You’re just going to leave me to starve down here? I’ll die! Don’t you care?” Once Chris had worked out what was happening he didn’t stop shouting, Colin struggled to fight the urge to run away, but he knew if he abandoned this now he’d never be able to face finishing it. A couple of times he almost cried back, almost said how he didn’t want to do this, how he only wanted to help but the words tasted too much like lies and he didn’t think it would help.

The moment he was sure the bookcase was in place he ran back upstairs, flinching from the hurt in his friend’s voice.