Swamped

You decide to keep hidden for now. You'll keep an eye on Corvus and grab his mouth if he wakes up.

It's about five minutes later when you hear a particular knock - Crook's signal. He opens up the hidden door and waves.

"Thought I'd best check on you," he says. "Base is in an uproar and I didn't need you getting mixed up in it... what's Corvus doing there?"

"He, um. He found the entrance," you say. "So I caught him by surprise and knocked him out."

"Huh." Crook blinks. "So you did. Funny, they're saying he beat Grey-maw in arm wrestling, and here he is knocked out by a newmuck. Anyhow, if he's found you, it's probably best we get you out of here."

"I told you, I don't do so well going down ladders."

"Not to worry. See, ol' Crook saw an opportunity here. Everyone's bein' rushed out to hunt the tunnelers, but Crook, he says, 'y'know, someone's got to take care of all these sick folk in the meantime, Doc can't handle everything herself'. And everyone else is all, 'oh, Crook's just looking to get out of the dangerous work', which is good, because it means they're not going 'hey, Crook's just got himself a big cart full of blankets and pillows that you could hide someone in'. Or give someone a soft landing in, yeah?"

"Well, all right," you say. "Let's go."

You walk over to the ladder. Crook goes down first, checks that it's clear, then waves to you. You jump down and land in a very soft pile.

"Right. Now, you just hide yourself in the cart while I take you to the next hiding spot."

"Where's that?"