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Library/ The Silo Saga
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Generic location illustration for Neighboring Silo Staircase
location

Neighboring Silo Staircase

The neighboring silo’s staircase bears traces of the collapse and flooding; Jimmy and Elise now start downstairs from a landing with a failed emergency light.

Story so far

During the silo’s collapse, the spiral staircase shook under a stampede. A dead man lay on level thirty-one and a fallen woman was trampled. Later, cold air moved through stairs lit by green emergency lights, while rising floodwater eventually submerged even the level where Jimmy rescued Shadow. Jimmy’s fishing left only about a dozen fish in the flooded stairwell.

When Juliette worked to drain the lower levels, oil and gas coated the flood and emergency lights still glowed underwater. Two weeks of early pumping lowered it less than a foot. Solo secured a rope to the railing for her descent; air trapped beneath the hollow stair treads later helped her escape. She and Solo rested on landing one-thirty-two during their difficult climb, and she subsequently hauled herself upward using the railing. An old bloodstain remained above the receding water.

Now Jimmy and Elise begin another descent from a landing whose emergency light is out.

Appearance

A spiral metal staircase with railings and green emergency lights, including one failed light at the current departure landing. Its hollow stair treads held pockets of air when submerged.

Role

It connects the neighboring silo’s levels and has served as a route of flight, flooded worksite, and path for the survivors’ movements.

Relationships

Juliette — Juliette descended through the flooded stairs and survived using air beneath their treads.
Elise — Elise now starts downstairs with Jimmy.
Sources — 20 recorded facts, by chapter
Chapter 39
  • The other silo’s stairwell has working emergency lights that give off a green glow.
Chapter 42
  • An upward current of cold air moves through the stairwell.
Chapter 56
  • The flood in the stairwell is coated with oil and gas, with emergency lights still glowing beneath it.
  • Two weeks of pumping have lowered the stairwell flood by less than a foot.
Chapter 62
  • The lower stairwell is flooded with foul water through which Juliette must descend to reach the pumps.
  • Solo secures a rope reaching the bottom of the flooded stairwell to the railing.
Chapter 69
  • Air from Juliette’s descent is trapped in the hollow undersides of the submerged stair treads.
  • The staircase’s green emergency lights remain lit during Juliette’s ascent.
Chapter 74
  • Juliette and Solo rest on landing one-thirty-two during their difficult climb.
  • Cold air circulates over the floodwater and through the stairwell.
Chapter 77
  • Juliette climbs the silo’s stairs using the railing to haul her exhausted body upward.
Chapter 84
  • An old bloodstain remains at the railing where Solo stands above the receding water.
Chapter 147
  • People are already scrambling on the stairwell when Jimmy’s mother removes him from school.
Chapter 148
  • The spiral staircase shakes under the upward stampede.
  • A dead man lies on the landing of level thirty-one with a severe head wound.
  • The crowd tramples a woman who falls on the stairs.
Chapter 170
  • Only the green emergency lights illuminate the landing Jimmy reaches.
Chapter 182
  • The flood has completely submerged the level where Jimmy rescued Shadow.
  • Only about a dozen fish remain in the flooded stairwell because Jimmy catches them faster than they breed.
Chapter 198
  • An emergency light is out on the landing from which Jimmy and Elise begin their descent.
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