by Alyssa Lynn
“Did you have any issues getting to us,” asked Ava.
“Not as many as I was expecting,” whispered Ethan.
“Here I thought we had the all mighty Tank to our rescue,” whispered Ava.
He stopped dead in his tracks and turned himself to face her. “I know I’ve fucked up. I know that I put you in the hands of danger. But how about you quit being a little prissy bitch and realize that I was created to do that. I wasn’t taught any differently. I was told throughout the duration of my existence that I was made to find people and keep them out of harm’s way. They never told me that I was putting them in harm’s way. Once you’ve walked in my shoes and you’ve seen the shit that I’ve seen, and you’ve done the shit that I’ve had to do, then we can talk. Imagine being told that you’ve been saving all of these people, when in fact, you’ve lead them all to their death.”
With that, he turned away from Ava and continued to carry Demo down the hall. Ava was flooded with guilt and didn’t know what to say.
When they reached the end of another hallway, they heard a group of voices heading their direction. Ethan looked from one end to the other and pointed to a door, gesturing for them to go through it. Pushing the door open, Ava immediately recognized the room as the office that Demo had stolen the documents from when they were climbing inside the ductwork.
Ethan carried Demo inside the room and closed the door quietly behind them. “One of these bookshelves is a fake,” he whispered, “but I’m not sure which one and I’m not sure how it opens. All I know is that we can hide there until it’s safe to roam the halls again.”
The girls both ran to the walls and started ripping books off of the shelves. “They all seem to be real,” whispered Kaycie. Ava ran her hands up and down the sides of the shelving, but couldn’t find a lever or a button anywhere.
“Try the desk,” whispered Demo. He grabbed his side and winced with pain when he tried to talk. “I remember,” he began, “when I was looking for those papers. There was a red button inside one of the drawers.”
Ava darted across the room and started pulling the drawers open, looking for a red button. When she opened the bottom left drawer, there it was. She slammed her hand down on the red button and had to cover her ears from the sound of the alarms that were set off.
Ethan almost dropped Demo to the floor, but managed to hold him steady. Kaycie ran over to the vent in the wall and removed the cover, waving for everyone to follow.
“Well, shit,” muttered Ava, “that wasn’t supposed to happen.” She climbed into the all-too familiar vent in the office wall and replaced the cover.
Flashbacks flooded Ava’s mind as they made their way through the vents. Thoughts of being chased by these guys the first time didn’t even come close to how she was feeling right now. She knew they were capable of hurting, but what she watched Marv do to Demo was just torture.
Ethan was struggling with Demo clinging to his arm. “I can do this,” groaned Demo. “We just need to get out of here.”
Ethan stopped crawling and removed his shirt, wrapping it tight around Demo’s chest. “This will at least apply pressure to the wounded area. Don’t remove it.” Demo nodded in agreement.
With Ava in the lead and Ethan in the rear, she was getting instructions via the telephone game; all while hoping that the directions didn’t get misconstrued as was the game’s intentions. They came to a Y in the ducts and Ava waved for Kaycie to ask for directions. Looking at the two options, she was praying that Ethan was going to say “left” and not “we need to take the creepy, nasty way on the right in order to get out of here.”
Kaycie looked at Ava and whispered “go left”, and she felt a sense of relief. As Ava propped herself back up on her elbows to start crawling, Kaycie grabbed Ava’s ankle. “Never mind, he said right.”
“Of fucking course he did,” she muttered. Scooting herself toward the right, she kept praying that nothing was going to jump out and touch her. She led the group through the gross air ducts and kept moving until they came up to the next junction.
Rolling herself onto her side, she looked over her shoulder. “Which way now,” she whispered.
Ethan moved in front of Demo to make his way up to the front. “It’ll be easier if I lead.” As the whole group had formed a cluster in the same section of the duct, they felt movement underneath them. Before they knew it, they were falling to the floor.
The air duct hit the ground and let out loud CLANG sounds while the group let out moans and yells as they made contact with the floor. Ethan brushed the dirt off of his clothes that had fallen from the air ducts and started moving his limbs to make sure nothing was broken. “Is everyone okay,” he asked the group.
“I’ve been better, but I’m not dead. So that’s a plus,” muttered Ava, sitting herself up. She looked over at Demo who wasn’t moving and scurried to his side. “Oh my God, Demo. Please be okay.” She slid her arm under his neck and propped him up. He opened his eyes and grabbed her hand. She smiled at him and allowed her pulse to settle. “You can’t not be okay,” she said to him as she leaned down and kissed his forehead. Once she knew he was alright, she began to look around.
“What the hell is this place?” asked Kaycie.
“It’s the control room,” Ethan said, as he helped her to her feet. He stood there and stared at her for a moment, wanting to tell her how sorry he was. Fighting the urge to touch her, he said, “It’s where they keep tabs on everything that happens in this place. The whole thing is run on what’s inside that little box.”
“Where is the bo-,” Ava began, but was interrupted by Demo extending his hand and pointing at the large thing in the center of the room. Ethan walked to the wall and pressed a button that lowered a claw. The claw grabbed the top of the box and lifted it, revealing a glowing cylinder. “What the holy hell is that thing?” asked Ava.
“It’s the energy source that they use to run the entire facility. They have to contain it inside that cylinder, otherwise it will combust and flatten everything within a six mile radius.”
“Wait,” Ava said, holding up her hand. “You mean to tell me that they’re running this place on antimatter?”
“Precisely,” replied Ethan.
“That’s not possible. The only way to use antimatter for energy is to have it come in contact with matter. That would cause annihilation which, as you said, would be catastrophic.”
“It is possible. They were in contact with NASA, who created the glass that is used in the surrounding cylinder. It helps contain the aftermath of the contact between the matter and antimatter. How do you know so much about this stuff?”
“I’m a research geneticist. Just because my job revolves around genetics, doesn’t mean I haven’t dabbled in the workings of other scientific fields before. This stuff is fascinating!”
Kaycie looked up at the two of them with her eyes glazed over. “Okay, can we speak English for those of us who only work in the medical field?”
“Basically, if that glowing blue stuff hits the air, there will be a nuclear-size explosion,” said Ava.
Kaycie nodded and dropped her gaze back down to her feet. Ethan walked over and slowly sat down beside her, gauging her reaction as he did so.
“Am I the only one thinking that we should blow this place up?” asked Ava.
Kaycie’s eyes widened as she looked at the rest of the group. “You honestly want to deal with that size of an explosion? We don’t even know the ins and outs of this stuff! Don’t be stupid, Ava.”
Ava looked at Kaycie and squinted her eyes. “Do you have a better plan?” Kaycie shook her head and slumped her shoulders.
“It’s possible that we can do this and keep it low key. We’re in the middle of nowhere out here. That’s why it’s been so easy for them to keep this place under the radar,” said Ava.
“She’s right,” said Ethan. “Nobody even knows this place exists. They don’t allow people near this facility, and those that do end up getting in… well, you al
l know how that ends.”
“Okay wait,” Ava began. “You need to answer a question for me right now because it’s driving me crazy.” She looked at Ethan and made sure to keep a strong hold on Demo so she didn’t drop him when she reacted to Ethan’s answer. “How did those guards find us at the club? Did you call them or send a carrier pigeon or something?”
“No, there’s a tracker in me,” Ethan said. “It was installed when they realized they were going to use me to find people.”
The group stared at Ethan and began scanning his body with their eyes. Ava snapped out of the daze and told herself that they had bigger issues at hand.
“Anyway, we will need to come up with a way to bust the glass on that cylinder, while giving ourselves enough time to get out of here before we all become street pizza,” said Ava.
“I think I have a way,” said Ethan.
Ava sat there for a moment, before shooting Ethan a look. “So,” she said, shrugging her shoulders, “let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
CHAPTER fifteen
D emo wasn’t a large guy, but anything can feel heavy when you’re supporting it on your shoulders. Ava had his arm draped across her as the four of them made their way down the hall. Ethan had a plan in his mind on how to get everyone out, but he was tired of arguing with Ava over leaving the rest of the residents behind.
“I still don’t see why we have to leave them all here to die,” Ava grumbled.
“Listen, Ava. It’s either all of us, or all of them. If we try and save them, there is no way to tell if we will all make it back out. We have one shot at this,” Ethan replied.
Kaycie walked quietly behind everyone; still shocked at the fact that Ethan was behind all of this. He’s the one that got them caught by Marcus and his men. He’s the one that allowed Ava to get beaten and bloodied. He’s the reason Demo can barely walk on his own right now. Ethan tried a few times to reach for Kaycie’s hand, but she kept her distance from him as best she could, leaving him to feel empty. Just yesterday he was holding her in his arms, kissing her neck, and telling her how beautiful she was. Now, she won’t even look in his direction and he knew he deserved every second of the ignorance.
On the other hand, Kaycie heard what Ethan had said to Ava about not knowing any different and how he was created to do the job he was doing. She was torn between her emotions and didn’t know how to take them on. Doing the only thing she knew how to do, she kept quiet and moved forward.
“What exactly did you have in mind for getting us out of here,” Kaycie asked Ethan.
Ethan’s ears perked up at the sound of her voice. “I uh… I’m going to take us through the main corridor and sneak you out that way.”
They stopped in the middle of the dark hallway and Ava turned so her and Demo were facing Ethan. “The main corridor? Don’t you think that’s a little… I don’t know… suicidal?”
“Well, we could go out the back, but with the alarm going off, I’m sure they’re going to expect us to try and sneak out one of the hidden places in the building. The most obvious way will be the safest.” Ava let out a huff and they continued down to the stairwell. Ethan looked back at them as he made his way to the front of the group, “I’m going first. Let me check out the stairs and make sure it’s clear. If you count to fifteen and I’m not back, you need to make a run for it in another direction. Understood?”
The three of them nodded as Ethan shed the bloodied lab coat and pulled the lever on the door. He slipped through and the three of them waited for the click of door latch.
“Well, what do you plan to do about Prince Charming,” asked Ava.
“I have no idea,” whispered Kaycie. “I mean, he put us all in danger, but as he said to you earlier, it’s the only thing he knows how to do. He wasn’t aware that the people he brought in were going to be killed.”
“Doesn’t it make you wonder if he slept with any of the other girls that he had to help?”
“You really know how to lend a helping hand.”
Ten seconds later, Ethan opened the door and waved for them to follow. Ava adjusted Demo on her shoulders as Ethan grabbed the other side and helped her haul him up the stairs.
“I should be okay to walk, you guys,” Demo grunted as they made their way up the stairs from the basement.
“Yeah, because you definitely look like you can run a marathon right now,” whispered Ava.
They got to the top of the stairs and Ethan peeked through the glass pane on the metal door. “Looks clear,” Ethan whispered. He pushed the door open and was letting Kaycie come through, but shoved her back and slammed the door.
Ava and Kaycie gawked at each other and Kaycie reached back for the door, but stopped when she heard Ethan talking.
“Yes, Marcus. I heard the alarms going off. I just assumed someone bumped the button near the crane technician’s desk again. They really need to get that cover installed,” Ethan said.
“I was told that they had fixed that issue last week,” replied Marcus. “Anyway, I have two groups of security doing rounds now to make sure nothing is out of whack. Your bounty reward is in your inbox in the office. Acknowledge it online and the central office will have the money wired to your account by tonight.”
Kaycie looked through the glass pane and saw Marcus pat Ethan on the shoulder as he walked off. He made his way back to the door and pulled the lever, waving for them to come through. “I’m sorry Kaycie, I didn’t know what else to do.”
“I guess you always do what you have to do,” she responded as she pushed passed him. Ethan let out a hard breath and kept them on track.
Ava looked around and realized she was in the main hall that had her world go all topsy-turvy. She pointed to the place where Demo had grabbed her arm and dragged her down to the next corridor and said, “Shouldn’t we do something to commemorate this spot? It was where we first met.”
Demo looked down at her and smirked. “If we can celebrate once we’re safe, I would greatly appreciate it.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” replied Ava.
“Okay,” began Ethan, “Once we get to the end of this hall-,”
“We will be in a large computer room and the door to get out is directly on the other side?” interrupted Ava.
“Yes, how did you-“
“I catch on quickly,” she said, cutting him off again. Ava peeked into one of the classrooms and noticed the clock on the wall, “five in the morning. Yuck,” she muttered.
Just then, someone squeezed Ava’s shoulder and Demo dropped to the floor. Kaycie whipped around in enough time to see two men dragging Ava and Demo back down the hall. She reached over and tapped Ethan. Both of them took off running toward the two men and tackled them.
Ava could feel her scalp burning from the pull of her hair. There was a blow to her side from one of the men who attempted to hit Ethan, but missed. She could see the terror and anger mixing in Kaycie’s eyes as she lashed out at the guards. Ethan was trying to pry Demo from the grip of the other man.
Just then, she looked up at the keys hanging in the hallway and saw something familiar; her pepper spray that she dropped the day Demo dragged her down this very hallway. She fought to get free of their grasp, which was easy with Ethan and Kaycie hulking out on them. She ran to the keys and grabbed the pepper spray, yelling for Kaycie and Ethan to grab Demo. They got out of the way just in time for Ava to press down on the button, covering the two men in a burning liquid that scorched their eyes and made it impossible for them to see. The group took advantage of the moment and ran for the computer room.
“Go! Now!” yelled Ethan.
“Not without you,” said Kaycie, grabbing his hand and pulling him with them.
Ethan opened the door and shoved them all through. Reaching for Kaycie, he put a phone in her hand. “You’re going to need this.”
Kaycie looked at him with watery eyes. “You have to come with us,” she said through tears.
“I will be with you, but there is something I
have to do first.” He squeezed her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Now, hurry or our plan will never work.”
Kaycie didn’t take her eyes off of him as she stepped backward toward Ava and Demo. Ava pressed the button on the wall and the large garage door opened up.
“You were right,” Ava said to Kaycie, “Pepper spray is an amazing thing to have on hand.”
Making their way through the stone lot over to the fence, Ava gave the blue blazers a dose of pepper spray if they got too close. Kaycie had a hold of the back of Ava’s dress and Demo was using all of his strength to walk, in order to take some of his weight off of Ava. They made it to the fence and opened the gate. Climbing up the grassy hill, they kept their eyes on the building. Men were sprawled all over the ground unable to see and struggling to breathe. Kaycie gripped the phone in her hands, staring at it in hopes that it was going to buzz.
Ava put Demo down on his back in the grass so that they could both catch their breath. “Where did you get that?” she asked Kaycie.
“Ethan gave it to me. He said I would need it.”
They both sat there and stared at it for a minute, but nothing happened. “Alright Kaycie. I need you to take Demo and get to safety. The further away from this place, the better.”
“What about you?” Demo grunted, as he attempted to sit himself up. “I’m not leaving you here.”
“Neither am I,” added Kaycie. “I did that once already. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, I’m a fucking idiot.”
Ava smiled, “You have such a way with words.”
Kaycie smirked at Ava and looked down at her hand as the cell phone lit up.
“What is it,” asked Ava.
“It’s a text from Ethan. He said when he sends the signal, we need to stand up and start jumping and yelling. I’m guessing it’s so he knows where we are.”