…Minus 069 and COUNTING… Huge, rusted heating pipes festooned

In the Y.M.C.A. basement, Ben Richards moves through a filthy, rat-infested space full of rusted pipes, stacked newspapers, and furnace noise. After the furnace startles him, he finds a crowbar near a fuse box and searches for a way out while wondering whether the authorities know he has reached the basement.

Richards locates a steel storm-drain cover near the far wall. Although the narrow, dark pipe triggers intense claustrophobia, Richards decides it is his only escape route. Before entering, Richards positions the cover so he can pull it back into place from inside the drain.

Richards then escalates his diversion. Instead of merely pulling fuses, Richards uses his last match to set the stacks of newspapers on fire, knowing the nearby oil tank may explode. Richards returns to the fuse box, tears out most of the fuses, and plunges the basement into darkness while the fire grows behind him.

With the basement burning, Richards lowers himself into the slanted drain and drags the cover shut over his head. Richards slides down the slimy pipe but reaches a sharp elbow where his body cannot immediately fit into the horizontal section. Panic nearly overwhelms him as heat and firelight increase above.

Richards forces himself to stay calm and uses the slime coating the pipe as lubrication. By twisting, flexing, and pushing with his head and arms, Richards painfully works his hips through the narrow bend, scraping his back and contorting his arms. Finally inside the horizontal pipe, wounded and filthy, Richards begins backing into the unknown darkness.