kept you alive, but his gut decided to cut communications with him regarding the woman.
“Alright, this level should be clear of all of the nasties, and the safeguard should be done with, so we’re in the clear,” Frank said.
Carson grabbed his shoulder. “How can you be so sure?”
Frank moved as he turned to face the group. “This is the first server floor; the mechanism is self-destruction by fire. Each one only has enough fuel to insure the machine is useless.”
Carson pressed on. “But how can you be sure they didn’t change something, make it so they whole place blows, or rabid chickens come after us? Or that the nasties are all dead?”
Frank stood back and took a good look at Carson. The guy was starting to unravel. Great, just what he needed. “Just trust me; this one will be a piece of cake.”
“Famous last words,” Lightfoot mumbled just loud enough for Frank to hear.
Frank turned the knob unprepared for the blast that forced the door open. Once more they landed in a pile with Frank on top, though this time he found himself face to face with Selena, and his gut was not the one talking to him.
“Is that a gun in your pocket or are you happy to see me?” Selena asked, a playful smile visible behind the mask.
Frank pushed himself up and off the woman. “Actually, it’s a--” Another wave came out of the room and Frank felt intense heat. Flames licked at him, and Selena screamed. Frank glanced down and saw blisters on her legs, which ruptured from the intense heat.
Lightfoot sprang into motion and moved people out of the way, as he slammed the door shut.
“Okay, boss, I think some of those nasties are walking around setting off flame throwers or something, they made some upgrades to the system without telling you. It looks like a bunch of walking Roman candles in there.”
Frank froze. What was he supposed to do? Look after Selena? Figure out a way to battle flamethrowers, and nasties on fire? At the moment, he just wanted a drink and something for the burns on his back and legs.
Selena pushed herself against the wall, tears streamed down her face and Frank watched as she reached up to remove her mask.
“No, don’t take it off,” he yelled in a voice not his own. There was worry and concern laced with something he couldn’t identify. He wrote it off as an adrenaline induced comment.
Selena reacted as if she’d been slapped, but lowered her hand just the same.
“I’m sorry I yelled, it’s just we think one of the ways to get infected is by breathing the air.” Frank leaned against the door in case any more blasts came their way, not to stop them, just lessen them perhaps.
“That’s a good theory, and to be honest I thought so too. I wasn’t thinking when I went to remove it, sorry, it won’t happen again. Though, if you’re right we have a problem. There’s no way to get out of here without exposing the rest of the world.” A note of resignation hung in her voice.
“It’s a bit late for that, sweetheart, we cracked open the doors into this place on Level 1 and didn’t shut them. Air has been getting out for almost an hour now,” Carson said.
Frank let his head fall back and it hit the solid metal behind him. A bit of warmth came through, but not the searing heat they’d felt when the door was open. He thought about what Carson said and realized he was right. Even if they managed to find a way out of here, what the hell kind of welcome would they receive?
Selena’s hiss of pain reminded him of her wounds and he grabbed his pack. A second later, he was at her side, tending to the blisters and burns with the utmost of care. He put some ointment on them and wrapped the worst.
When he finished she smiled at him and he couldn’t help but return it. Damn it, this was not the time. He went his whole life without giving a damn about anyone, but himself. Then he finds a woman with allergies in a pile of debris that his stomach decided to do flip-flops over that is about as useful as a glass of water to a drowning man. He ignored the fact he didn’t know if she could be trusted because she was likely a double agent.
“Well, they certainly changed something since I approved the blueprints for this level. It looks like they must be set to fire in bursts to save on fuel when they sense motion,” Frank said with a heavy sigh.
“What the hell is it with you and motion sensors, damn,” Carson whined.
“I didn’t want sensors on this floor, just something simple to destroy the data. What they put in there is overkill and I have no idea why,” Frank replied.
Carson laughed, “You don’t know why? Are you really our leader and yet that stupid? Do you have any idea what kind of crap they have going on in here? That data would be worth millions and put Hooks in prison for his next fifty lifetimes. You bet your ass he made sure they incinerated this floor.”
Frank didn’t say or do anything as Carson’s comment sunk in. The idiot was right again. Frank hated that, but at the moment, Hooks was at the top of his hit list. When, not if, he got out of here, he would pay a special visit to that creep.
“We can’t wait here, there has to be something we can do,” Lightfoot said.
“Yeah, you can go in the room and find out if you’re fireproof. Let us know how that works out,” Carson taunted.
“Enough, I don’t have the time, energy, or patience to deal with your crap. We’ll give it a couple more minutes and check in again.” Frank went back to his spot against the door as he glanced at his watch. Every minute felt like an eternity.
“I only took this job for the cash. I wanted to save up and go back to school,” Selena said wistfully.
Frank tilted his head and smiled. “You’ll go to school, don’t worry. I’ve been in worse situations than this.” He smiled as he lied to her. “What are you going to study?” he asked, trying to keep her hopes up.
“Out of curiosity, what situations have you even been in worse than a skinny ass silo, with no way to go but down, booby traps on every damn level, and the friggin undead coming at you?” Carson asked casually.
“Shut up, Selena was about to answer a question, you pig.” Frank smiled again, something he found himself doing a lot the last few minutes. Either he was going to die soon or he’d been infected.
With a coy grin, Selena answered, “Medicine, I have my nursing license, but I want to be a doctor. My employer got an offer to come here and continue his research and asked me to come with him. Now I wish…well it doesn’t matter, does it?” The smile she forced onto her face told Frank more than words could, she’d given up.
Time’s up, he thought, as he saw the numbers on his watch tick by. “It does matter,” he said as he stood to check the door. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lightfoot with a knowing grin on his face.
“Lightfoot, wipe that smile off your face.”
“Yes, sir.” He even saluted, which both Selena and Frank chuckled at.
The door opened and the change in temperature was noticeable. No more nasties running around which was good, and when he focused, he could hear a clicking sound, but nothing happened.
“I’m pretty sure it’s safe, but I’m going to make sure first. If you hear me scream…”
“We’ll make sure to shut the door and leave you in there,” Lightfoot cut him off.
“No, come and see what the hell is wrong and save me.” Frank winked at Selena as he entered the room, his newly loaded FNP at the ready.
The floor was littered with ash and charred bits of things, he’d rather assume were once office chairs or desks. The walls were completely destroyed, then again that’s how security was designed. As soon as the alarm went off, tiny signals were sent to micro-bombs in the wall. There were no roof, so this left anything within the office exposed to the flames, including the scientists. Frank wondered if Selena’s boss was in here, he hoped not.
He cursed himself again. Attachment caused you to think in terms he couldn’t afford in his line of work. Then again, if things happened the way he suspected they would, nothing would matter in a couple of hours.
Something hit him from behind and he spun to see one of the nasties coming at him. Bright white teeth against a blackened face. All the clothes and skin were gone from its body, only a few well-done organs hung within a well-done ribcage.
A bony hand reached out as it fell to the floor. Frank kicked its head across the room and willed his heart to stop pounding. In the center of the room, the air thickened with soot and ash. Frank was thankful for the mask, but irritated at how much it cut down on his visibility.
He heard a click and jumped in the opposite direction to huddle behind the frame of a filing cabinet. When
