“I am no fool, and I hope you aren’t either. Can’t you see your boss is finished with you? He let us take you out of that office without so much as lifting a finger. Do you think he cares if we send you back?” John roared.
Collins shrank back. “Okay, it wasn’t a big deal. The guy told me he worked for the government and they had a paper and everything telling me they were legit. I set it up so they could access the cameras and the communications, but that’s it.”
“What about the data on the servers? Do they have access to that?” John yelled.
“No, they just told me they wanted to keep an eye on you.”
John stared at the pale man and nodded to Barrows.
“The computer files indicate that he didn’t receive any money before, during, or after the assignment. He might be telling the truth,” Barrows reported.
John stared at the flickering monitors on his desk. Gunshots were being fired and his people were in danger.
“Fine, get him out of here and send in reinforcements. I want our guys to have backup, and make sure they wear masks.”
With his office empty, John wanted to hit something. Simard was behind this, he knew it. Others had to be involved, but there was no time to find out who. All he could do now was damage control. More and more reports popped up on his screen about police disturbances near the facility.
A nitroglycerin tablet went under his tongue and he waited for it to dissolve and ease the pain. Time to create an escape plan. He pulled out his phone once again, and then put it away. The building they were in now was designed to keep out airborne pathogens when in lockdown. He needed to get his wife and Covington here before it was too late.
Covington would know what this mess was all about and help the team he had here to work on a solution.
“I can’t find him! Where is he? Do you think he was able to escape? Why wouldn’t he come for me?” Smith rambled as she searched for a familiar face among the dead bodies in the hallway.
Arthur was happy that only a dozen or so came out for them to deal with, and even happier when Dixon ordered them to clear the offices. They were a wealth of information and he shoved several important looking documents as well as multiple flash drives into his backpack pockets. He lucked out and found a small netbook with a fully charged battery. One way or another, he’d find out what the hell they were doing here.
One office in particular held interesting tidbits. The name on the door read Watkins. Arthur gathered several more data sticks, a tablet, a bag of pills, and when he found a locked drawer, he used the gun to blow the lock off. He’d always wanted to do that. Inside, he found envelopes with red stamps all over them;
Arthur packed them away wondering what the hell this place was really being used for. He knew it only recently opened, so to speak, but he had a feeling several current projects were moved here so they were more secure, and from the looks of it, out of the public eye. Why else would people sign on to work underground?
Last he checked, space rocks and testing on human subjects had no connection, so why stick him in here unless they wanted to, or were using the samples he’d gathered for other purposes. He heard Smith lose it again and he went into the hallway to try to calm her down.
“Hey, you’re forgetting the doors to go down don’t open. He couldn’t go to get you, so he probably went up to get help for us.” Arthur put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her.
“Alright, we’re done here folks. Let’s move up to the next floor. We need to assess the situation and decide what we’re going to do,” Dixon said.
As they started to move, Arthur glanced around. “Where’s Benson? He was supposed to clear out those offices over there.” Arthur pointed down the hall on the left side.
“I saw him go down there, but not sure what happened after. I was checking bodies for--” Smith choked out.
“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. He’s a big boy and can take care of himself. Dixon and I will go find him.” Arthur smiled.
Dixon sighed, but followed behind the scientist.
“You cleared the ones on the right side?” Dixon asked.
“Yeah, only discovered one contaminated. You took care of the break room, bathrooms and all that, right?” Arthur countered.
“Uh huh, you know that Benson guy rubs me the wrong way. Not sure what it is, but I don’t trust him,” Dixon said as he peered around the corner into one of the offices.
Arthur looked over his shoulder and saw Benson leap up from the chair he was sitting in. The glare of a computer screen lit up his face.
“What the hell are you guys doing? I thought we were meeting out front?” Benson asked, as he moved around the front of the desk.
Dixon put a beefy hand on the smaller man’s chest. “Why don’t you tell me what you were doing?”
Arthur ran around the desk to see if he could catch a glimpse of what Benson was doing, but nothing remained but a C: prompt. He awkwardly typed in a few commands, but everything came back as “invalid search.” He felt his stomach sink and wondered what new level of impossible Benson had just initiated into them.
“I was checking to see if there was an internet connection so I could send an SOS,” Benson replied with indignation.
“Funny, considering there isn’t even basic power. I don’t believe you. From now on, you stay where I can see you.” Dixon released the man and exited the room, waiting for Benson to follow.
Arthur went last and noticed Benson made some additions to his backpack, then again, Arthur did as well, so he couldn’t say anything about it. Though he knew, Benson did it for ulterior motives, unless he worked for a government agency that performed good deeds and protected people. Arthur had to stifle a laugh at the thought as they met up with Smith.
The three went up the stairs with heavy steps; all of them knowing someone was likely going to die on the next level if what Dixon said was true. Arthur stared at the door then at Dixon. A security floor he’d called it. Dozens of armed men in full gear. Why all the firepower and personnel for this place? Arthur’s mind kept circling around the possible reasons this facility had been built. His need to survive and escape renewed with each new bit of information he gathered.
When Dixon cracked the entryway, the danger was tangible. The emergency lights weren’t lit on this floor, not even a flicker or spark.
“Well, that’s not a good sign,” Dixon said, as he shut the door and leaned against it, a thoughtful look on his face.
The contaminated inside must have seen the sliver of light from the stairwell, because they started scratching and groaning on the other side of where Dixon’s back was. The handle started to turn and both Dixon and Arthur put their full weight into bracing it.
Smith sat on the stairs and stared into space, thoughts of her husband taking over, Arthur suspected. Benson watched them, and when he made eye contact with Arthur, he shrugged. “What, there’s not enough room for me to help,” Benson said defensively.
“Dixon, how many grenades do you have?” Arthur asked.
The big man shook his head. “Not enough to knock any sense into that idiot,” Dixon said with a smile.
“Just give me a number,” Arthur said in an impatient voice.
Dixon raised an eyebrow, but answered, “About seven, give or take.”
“That’ll work, and how well do you know the plan of this floor?”
“The part we’re about to go into is a changing slash ammo storage room. On the other side of the door, there’s an open room with several monitors watched by security personnel, as well as anywhere from twenty to forty men in full gear. As soon as the lockdown was triggered, they would have taken defensive positions,” Dixon answered.
“Any of those safety protocols, or whatever you called them, on this floor?” Arthur asked.
Dixon shook his head. “Not until Level 12.”
