Well?
Mar
12
I never did put a Cliffhanger note about Mokoto up, but I did wind up writing about her first meeting with the Weatherman on 52 Cards. Just thought I’d mention that here. That, and I miss posting here. Maybe CT2 will happen sooner than I thought.
Feb
28
That’s it. I reached the ending I (mostly) envisioned for Phil and Bob a year ago around this time. Thanks to everyone who read all or some of the tale.
I also want to thank my wonderful wife Kate for all her support in my writing. She’s happy the practice one is done. Now for the stuff she really wants me to write about.
The story is done, and this blog is going to take a nice, long break. I might pop back in with a story to two that fills in some gaps from the end, or more of what the characters are up to after one long South Dakota weekend.
Sometime in the future, I’ll revisit this story and begin editing it down into something more suited for print. I need a break from Bob and Phil for now, so that probably won’t happen for months. Feel free to check my other blogs: russ4life, Verbiage Dump, 52 cards, and 13 Shots.
Oh, and here’s what I forgot in the epilogue:
The end!
The end.
The…end?
Feb
27
The day after the EROS fire
“Good afternoon, time for a KELO news at noon. Officials say an electric surge caused a Sunday night fire at the EROS Data Center, just North of Sioux Falls. The center sustained some damage, but the center will continue to operate. Several severe injuries were reported, but officials have not released names or the condition of those hospitalized. We’ll have more on this story as it develops.”
“Police in Pierre have released the name of a suicide victim found by the Oahe Dam. The man has been identified as Sioux Falls resident Geoff Pryblinski. Police say the man left a note confessing to assisting in the murder of Sioux Falls Police Officer Jeff Stevens on Friday. Officials stress that Pryblinski was not involved in a small explosion that happened inside the dam Sunday Morning, which was the result of a blown power transformer.”
“A joyride that took a Highway Patrol car into the Badlands and off the road is a closed case, according to the state highway patrol. They have a man in custody, but he is badly injured in a Pierre hospital. His name has not been released.”
“Also, this weekend we asked your help in KELO land to find Robert Fulton and Phillip Anderton, who were wanted for questioning in connection with the death of officer Jeff Stevens. The Sioux Falls Police Department has issued a statement this morning that the men were found in Aberdeen on Sunday, where they had been all weekend. Both men were released after some questioning, and we’re told they are not persons of interest in the case. In fact, Police Captain Davan Hale told KELO that their names should not have been released, and the statewide APB was an error that the department would address internally.”
***
Fifteen months after the EROS fire
Bob scrolled through his DVR box, until he found last night’s KELO land news. He skipped over the news until the sports, and then he pressed play.
“…with KELO land sports. It’s hard to believe it was over ten years ago that Mitchell’s Phil Anderton was the brightest pitching prospect the state had ever seen. Arm troubles at USD seemingly ended Anderton’s career before it had even began. Last year that all began to change. After a series of shoulder and elbow operations, Anderton, who had been working in Human Resources in Sioux Falls, started to work on his pitching again. With his arm back to normal, Anderton flew to Florida on his own dime, and made this year’s Sioux Falls Canaries pitching staff. Anderton was the American Association’s best pitcher this year by far, but no longer. Last night Phil Anderton’s contract was purchased by the Kansas City Royals, who have him reporting to their double-A team this weekend.”
Bob felt his phone vibrating, and he paused the TV. “Yeah. I’m ready. You’re here already? Well…okay. Let me grab my bag.” Bob slowly closed his phone and walked into his room. He picked up his overnight bag and made his way to the street. He made eye contact with Mokoto, who was waiting her new car. He opened the passenger door and sat down. “A new Mustang? Doesn’t that attract attention at Augie?”
“Nothing I can’t handle. Did you hear from Phil yet?”
“No, but I got a call from Michelle. She’s moving their wedding to late October. It was at the end of the American Association season, but now she wants to wait until the end of the Major League season.”
“Those are some high hopes.” Mokoto said as she turned towards the Interstate.
“What did you do with your motorcycle?”
***
“Mommy mommy!” Sakura ran into the house, scattering stray papers and cats about. “She came back!”
“Who came back?” Sakura’s mom was confused once again at the rantings of her hyperactive daughter.
“The Japanese woman I saw last year. She gave me her motorcycle!”
“What?” Sakura’s mom followed her out to the driveway. A motorcycle was parked in the driveway, complete with a large bow on it. Sakura’s mom pulled the note from the bow and read it while Sakura ran circles around the motorcycle.
***
“Could we stop at the Badlands Sunday?” Mokoto watched the sign go by as the Mustang sailed across the prairie towards Rapid City.
“Sure. You’re driving.”
“It’s just…that’s where Jer bit it. I understand if…I mean…”
“Hey, he was my friend too.”
“We were more than friends Bob.”
“Listen…that was then.” Bob put his arm around Mokoto. “You don’t wish ill will on any of my exes, do you?”
“Well, there was the one…”
“Besides, they never found a body, did they? He might still be out there.”
“I think we’d know by now.”
“Speaking of a year ago…” Bob looked at Mokoto, who started to lose her happy face. “You said you might tell me a year after the fact.”
“Tell you what, exactly?”
“Were you going to shoot me in the sub-basement of the data center?”
“Bob…I know I said I’d tell you in a year. The honest truth is that I don’t know. I was at a point where I could have gone either way. I don’t take shooting someone lightly anymore.”
“Anymore?”
“You knew about the guys the Weatherman sent looking for me.”
“Yeah…uh….” Bob suddenly felt a rush of memories, including the ones where Mokoto was trying to harm him and/or kill him.
“Relax” Mokoto said as her smile returned. “The Weatherman and I have an understanding. That won’t happen again.” Bob tried not to look nervous for the moment, and he tried to think about anything else. “You still haven’t told me if your parents are going to like me.”
***
Bob opened the door slowly. He hated the smell of hospitals, and especially this one. Even after avoiding the place for almost ten years, the smell was overpowering as he took a few steps. He slowly sat down on the chair next to Holly. She was just as beautiful as the last time Bob had seen her before the mauling. Time and surgery had healed all of her scars, but her brain still refused to heal and regain lost beauty. “Hey Holly…Bob here. I know it has been a while. A long while…too long a while…listen. I miss you. I think about you a lot. I didn’t think I’d find anybody who made me feel the way you did. I hate to come here after all these years to tell you this, but…I found someone. I’ve started to forgive myself, and I hope you can forgive me as well. I promise I’ll stop by more often.” Bob lifted her hand and kissed it. Slowly, he stood up and walked out of the room. Holly was alone once again, but as the door closed something changed. The hand Bob kissed slowly began closing, until it was a fist. Then, it slowly released back to where it had been, all without anyone knowing.
***
“How much farther to Spearfish?” Mokoto asked as she passed Bob a large coffee.
“Not much farther. Less than an hour the way you drive” Bob said. The two started laughing as the Mustang left the parking spot by the hospital. A man in a blue Ford watched them drive away. He had followed Mokoto here, but he wasn’t following her anymore. The black Mustang disappeared into traffic as the man rubbed his sore shoulder.
Feb
26
Phil slowly rose to his feet. His right shoulder hurt like it had never hurt before. His right arm was dangling freely, with the only feeling in it being pain. Mokoto had walked right up to Bob, and was looking him right in the eyes. Phil had never noticed how tall Mokoto was, as she was exactly Bob’s height. Bob didn’t back down as she got right in his face. She exhaled loudly through her nose. Bob kept the sunglasses in his right hand behind his back. Her hand flashed like lightning towards Bob’s head, and her hands slapped loudly on his face. Phil looked around for something that could be used as a weapon to save his friend, but when he looked back Bob and Mokoto were locked in a passionate kiss. Her arms wrapped around Bob, and Bob’s free arm was around her. Phil felt very uncomfortable as the kiss lingered on.
***
“It looks like a server rack tipped over. We’re cut off.” Will said as he kicked glass out of the door.
“So I saved a few bullets for nothing?” Clayton asked. He took a step back and he heard an unusual squishing sound. He looked down and saw water creeping towards them. “I’d say the fire crews are here.”
“Let’s see if we can get in the other door.”
***
*koffkoff*
Bob and Mokoto’s lips parted. The two opened their eyes slowly and gazed at each other. Phil coughed again, and Mokoto smiled as she moved her hands to Bob’s shoulders. She spun him around and gripped his right wrist. She saw the USB drive concealed in the sunglasses, and let go of his wrist. Bob turned his head so he could see her out of the corner of his eye. “What are you waiting for? You said it was over…so end it.”
“What if I don’t want it to end?” Bob said as he turned halfway around. Mokoto smiled wider and took a step back.
“Every ending is a new beginning.” Mokoto looked to the right and saw a small half-door. “I’ll find you. Now reset the codes and take the other escape tunnel.” Bob watched her run for the small half door on the wall where the server dominoes had come to a stop. The door had been left open a crack, and soon she had crawled inside and had shut the door behind her.
“Bob?” Phil walked up to Bob as he kept staring at the door.
“I’m all right.” Bob pressed the drive into the red USB port. All the monitors started blinking red letters, reading ‘CODES RESETTING/MEMORY PURGE’. Bob pulled the sunglasses out of the USB port, and then he followed Phil to the escape tunnel.
***
The stars in the night sky were bright, but not as bright as usual. Normally, their light (along with the half moon that had escaped a shroud of clouds) would be enough in this empty patch of South Dakota, but tonight they had help. At eye level, there was more than enough light. The sodium lights of the parking lot were still on, mostly. The orange glow around the EROS Data Center was a result of the parts of the fire that hadn’t been put out yet. The flashing lights of the firetrucks and police cars flung bursts of red and blue light in all directions. A TV crew was moving around, and their camera lights shot white streaks into the darkness whenever they moved. A lone figure stood a distance away from the parking lot, watching the spectacle of lights, fire, and activity all around. The figure shook its head, and turned away from the one patch of hustle and bustle within ten miles of Baltic. The grass crunched as the figure walked into a forgotten section of the government property. The figure looked down, and took a deep breath.
“So, I’m guessing you’re wondering what happens now?” Clayton Iron Horse looked down at Phil and Bob, who were handcuffed and kept far away from the chaos around the EROS Data Center. Clifford Crosby was standing nearby, but he seemed more engrossed in his phone call.
“That would be helpful. We’re willing to cooperate in any way possible.” Phil’s arm was still in pain, and having it pulled behind his back wasn’t helping at all.
“You should have gone to the police.”
“Really? Would Laura Black have interrogated us?” Bob sniped back. Clayton shook his head.
“Point you.”
“Mr. Iron Horse…a word” Crosby said. The two of them walked towards the parking lot of the data center.
“Well, I should probably thank you” Phil said with a laugh.
“Say what?”
“That was by far the most exciting weekend of my life. Too bad we’ll probably never get to tell anyone.”
“Yeah…kind of a waste when you put it that way.” Bob laughed a bit, then took a deep breath. “Again, I’m really sorry about the letter.”
“Ah, it all worked out. Detective Hetfield told me Michelle was safe and already back at the station giving a statement. I could hear her squeal with joy when he told her I was all right.”
“And…I’m sorry we got mixed up in this by entering Jer’s apartment.”
“I’m sorry Jer didn’t make it.”
“Yeah…yeah…thanks.” Bob said. He looked away as a few tears started down his face. Phil tried to think of the right thing to say, and realized the right thing to say was nothing at all. After a few minutes, he spotted Clifford Crosby walking towards them, and Clayton Iron Horse followed quickly behind. He was facing the Data Center and yelling at someone.
“Go! I’ve got this. Go see Tina!” Clayton yelled. Crosby didn’t speak until Clayton was standing behind them. “Hold still, I’ll get those cuffs off.”
“Off?” Phil said.
“Off” Clifford Crosby said. “I’ve been on the phone with the F.B.I. and somebody from the C.I.A. You two did a good thing. You accomplished Gerrard’s mission. There won’t be any charges filed against you, but you can’t tell anyone about this weekend.”
“What about the news stories? We were all over KELO…” Phil said while rubbing his right wrist.
“Taken care of” Crosby said. “We’ll handle the spin, you two just go back to your daily lives. Don’t hesitate to call if anyone you encountered from this weekend pops back up. There are still a few of the Weatherman’s people unaccounted for.”
“So…what now?” Bob said.
“Clayton will give you a ride to Sioux Falls. You can pick up your Pontiac at the station and drive it home. My advice is to just get back to work and try to forget this ever happened.”
“Mainly because, officially, it didn’t” Clayton said.
***
The Weatherman heard the buzz of the intercom, but he didn’t answer it until the Weather Channel went to commercial. “Yes” he said as he picked up the receiver with a quick motion. “I see. No, no…we’ll sort it out later. You’ve earned some time off. No…no I’m not mad. If there’s one thing this kind of work requires, it is patience. All right, I have to go.” He hung the receiver back up and once again stared at the middle screen, just has his Local on the 8s came on.
***
The sun was shining through the lone window facing East. Jake was looking around to make sure everyone was at their cubicle to start the week. He stopped for a moment and took one step back. Phil was sitting at his cubicle, staring at a blank screen. He looked like he hadn’t shaved all weekend, and his clothes were haphazardly thrown on him. Jake watched him slowly pick up his right arm with his left. Phil placed his right hand on the mouse and his left on the keyboard, and then he tilted his head all the way back. “Phil…are you all right?”
“Huh?” Phil slowly turned towards his boss. “Sorry…long weekend. Really long.”
“Why don’t you call it a day?”
“You know…I think I’ll stay if that’s all right with you.”
***
Bob stumbled to the door as the pounding continued. “Hang on, hang on” he muttered as he undid the deadbolt. Bob opened the door. Clayton Iron Horse was standing in the doorway, and he looked a bit impatient. “Dude…morning…”
“Bob, it’s noon. I was just about to head back to Minneapolis, but I had something of yours.” He reached inside his coat pocket and handed him a baggie with both the USB sunglasses and the missing arm that fit over the USB connector. “We made sure you can’t use it as a drive again, but I convinced Crosby to let you keep them.”
“Thanks” Bob said, slowly getting more cognisent of his surroundings.
“Here’s my card. Don’t hesitate to call if you need me.”
“Can do. Thanks again.”
“No problem. Take care of yourself Bob.” Clayton walked down the hall as Bob closed the door. Bob opened the baggie and reassembled the glasses. He sat them on the kitchen counter and smiled. He slowly walked back into his bedroom and closed the door. He lifted the covers and crawled back into bed. His smile didn’t fade as he started to fall asleep. He felt the bed shift and an arm caress his chest.
“Who was that?” Mokoto said.
“Just another part of the ending” Bob said as he turned his head. They kissed and Mokoto snuggled up to him.
“I like beginnings better” she said as they both started to fall asleep.
[epilogue tomorrow]
Feb
25
Mokoto’s eyes were too late. The guard had lunged up from his chair and was already almost on top of her. His left hand grabbed her wrist and his weight pushed her off balance. Her gun went off and she went to the ground with the guard. The bullet struck the far wall, near the rack of servers by the second entrance. Laura didn’t see or hear the guard’s tackle, so she assumed she’d been spotted. She screamed as she spun away from her cover. Before her eyes could process what she was seeing she fired at Mokoto and the guard several times over.
***
“It sounds like a damn war zone in there” Will said. He poked his head around the corner and saw a glass door. “Well, the glass isn’t sound-proof. I wonder how it does against bullets?”
“I don’t have many left. You?”
“Whatever Hale left his office with, minus one.”
***
Bob was hugging the floor. The sealed room was echoing the gunfire around and amplifying it with every shot. Phil was also on the floor, and he was slinking towards Bob. “WHAT THE HELL ARE WE GOING TO DO?” Bob watched Mokoto go into a fetal position after she flipped the guard over. The guard took three shots to the chest, and Bob could see his face contort and wince with each impact.
“Get up! All of you! Especially you Moko-” Laura’s speech stopped as she heard bullets hitting glass behind her. She kept her gun on Mokoto as she backed into a space between two server racks. She could see through the wires and metal that the door she had used was spidering badly, and would soon cease being a door.
“Now what?” Phil asked.
“The cavalry?” Bob replied. He looked over at the guard, who was curled up into a ball. There was no blood on the floor. “I need to get one of those vests after this weekend.”
“They’re bulky and don’t flex well” Mokoto said. “I’m glad he was wearing one.” She looked at the wall where Laura was hiding, and saw rack after rack of servers. Suddenly, she slid the guard’s gun at Bob. “Cover me!”
“What?” Bob said. Mokoto rolled to her feet and ran for the door that wasn’t being shot up. Bob picked up the gun and started shooting near where Laura was. Laura backed away as Bob fired wildly in her direction.
“SIOUX FALLS POLICE! HOLD YOUR FIRE!” Bob heard the faint shouting, but he kept firing. He heard a loud clang, then another, then another. The server racks started tipping over like dominoes, and Bob screamed as he emptied the clip near where Laura was pinned back. The gun began clicking as the rack near her tipped. He heard a scream followed by the sound of another rack hitting the concrete wall just before hitting the floor. Bob stood up as Mokoto walked back over, but Phil continued to hug the floor. Bob tossed the gun away as Mokoto got closer.
“It’s over” Bob said.
“Oh no” Mokoto said.
Feb
24
“Moore, what’s the status?” Moore took a few gasps before he began talking. Captain Hale had been watching him run all around, and he was quite surprised at how well Felix was taking charge.
“All the injured people that we know are on the way to Sioux Falls. Fire crews should be here in a few minutes, and we’re getting the cars moved to the lot. That Cadillac over there flags as stolen from the Pierre area, and the Aztek belongs to Eli Elson.”
“Have we found him?” Hale asked.
“I talked to Bucholz…he has both Elson and Julio Perez.”
“Perez? The railroad security guy?”
“Yes sir. They cut down a utility pole that provided power to data center. That combined with someone hacking the grid took out power, but it should be back on soon.”
“Railroad security?” Crosby asked.
“Long story” Hale replied. “Let’s keep moving these cars. We need that fire out so we can find Hetfield and Iron Horse!”
***
“No?” Mokoto was expecting Bob to say several things, but a simple ‘no’ wasn’t one of them. Since the day she rode into Sioux Falls nothing about this assignment has gone the way she expected.
“No. I don’t know if you heard, but Jer’s car went off a ledge in the Badlands. He’s probably dead. This mission was his life, and I’m going to see it through.”
“I can’t let…” Mokoto’s voice trailed off and she lowered her gun. Phil’s eyes darted from Bob to Mokoto rapidly as he slowly sidestepped towards the console in between Bob and the seated guard.
“You’ve hesitated before when you should have killed me. Why should I believe you will now?”
BLAM
***
Laura heard the shot and took the opportunity. The glass door was open just a crack, and she swung it open and then closed it behind her. A rack of servers was by the door, and her back hugged the electrical warmth.
***
“That was a shot” Will said.
“I heard it” Clayton replied.
“I think I heard something else around the right corner.”
“Are you sure? It all sounds the same to me.”
“The shot was loud but it was also not in this hall. There must be a room of some kind around one of those corners. I say we go right.”
“Your ideas have been getting better. Lead on.”
***
Phil had never remembered biting down so hard in his life. The shot that had been fired was louder than any shot he’d heard so far. The shot was followed by an eerie silence, and then the sound of a casing hitting the concrete floor and bouncing several times. His eyes slowly moved to the left. Bob hadn’t moved, but the monitor over his right shoulder was now dark. “I won’t miss again.” Mokoto’s voice was unmistakable, but Phil didn’t want to look at her.
“You didn’t miss. You’re bluffing” Bob said. Phil shook his head frantically. He was focused on Bob and his ears weren’t picking up any sound that wasn’t Bob or Mokoto.
“I don’t bluff” Mokoto steely replied. She slowly moved her arm to the left as a knot grew in her stomach. Her finger started to pull back on the trigger…
Feb
23
“No answer” Bob said as he lowered his phone. He took a deep breath and took a step towards the center of a long computer console. Phil followed for a moment.
“That’s far enough. Don’t move” came a stern voice from behind them. Phil glanced backward, and spotted a guard who looked a lot like the one with the broken nose in the hallway.
“So freakin’ close” Phil said. Bob held his sunglasses tightly.
“Please. This is an urgent matter. We were sent to reset the system with a USB drive.”
“Yeah, sure you were. Hands up. I’m not playing here.” The guard had a smug smile on his face. He was more than ready to shoot Bob without a second thought. His mood dampened quickly as he felt a gun press against his neck.
“Shoot him and I promise you won’t live to see him drop.”
***
“…four…FIVE!” Clayton spun around the corner, knowing he was exposing way too much of himself. Will poked just enough of his arm and head around the corner to cover his half of the hallway.
“SIOUX FALLS POLICE! THE BUILDING IS SURROUNDED AND S.W.A.T. IS ON THE WAY!” Will took a deep breath after he had shouted his warning, but there was no response of any kind.
“Man, I hate this” Clayton said. “I mean, at least shoot back. Silence is not good.”
“Over there…on the ground. See that guy?” Clayton looked to the left and saw the unconscious guard in the elevator doorway.
“He’s out, but I don’t see any bullet wounds.”
“There are spent casings near the corner.”
“Same thing on the other side” Clayton said as he turned back to the right.
“So…yeah…do we wait for my S.W.A.T. team or move on?”
Clayton shook his head. “I think they can catch up.”
***
“Phil, grab his gun. NOW! By the barrel and slowly.” Phil lowered his hands and walked over to the guard. The guard’s frown bristled out his chin beard, and his eyes never left Phil as Phil slowly took the gun from him.
“Now what?” Phil asked. Mokoto held out her left hand, and Phil considered his options. He looked at Bob, and then put the gun in Mokoto’s hand. She dropped her gun and quickly moved the guard’s gun to the spot where hers had been.
“Are you for real? It was empty?” The guard’s voice was angry and echoed throughout the room.
“That one was. Only you know if this one is. Since I’m guessing it is, why don’t you sit on that chair up ahead.” The guard slowly walked forward and sat at a computer station. The screen above him had satellite imagery of South America on display. “Where are the techs?”
“They got the signal to clear out through the two escape tunnels. I was told to detain anyone who followed. Where’s Munson?”
“He’s not dead” Mokoto said. “He’ll live. You’ll all live. I just need one thing and you’ll never see me again.” She kept the gun on the guard, but she turned her attention to Bob. “I’ll need the data now.”
“No.”
Feb
22
Bob and Phil heard a pinging sound, and slowly the bars on the other side of the glass retracted back into the wall. The sound of compressed air being released came from the handle, and Bob gave it a tug. The door easily opened, and Bob looked at Phil. “Now or never” he said. Phil grabbed his arm with his still-working left hand.
“Don’t forget the drives.” Phil was keeping his game-face on, which was more than Bob was doing at the moment. Phil could see how worried he looked as he fumbled for the sunglasses and stick drive. The two men walked into the room, which still had power. There were large computer screens on the walls, and the smell of hot electronics was everywhere, even as the room’s temperature felt cooler than any room they had been in all weekend.
“Where…which…” Bob said as he looked around.
“Eli said it was the main terminal. There would be a slot on the main console. I think. You were paying more attention than me.”
Bob shook his head and pulled out his phone. “I have one bar. Let’s hope I can dial out of here.”
***
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT
Eli Elson looked at his pants pocket. His phone was vibrating strongly, but he was in no position to answer it. He was sitting in a ditch with his hands cuffed behind his back. Julio Perez was sitting beside him, and he was also looking at Eli’s pocket.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT
“Are you going to get that?” Julio asked.
“Yeah…I think this is the part of the day where I reveal I’m not a contortionist or escape artist.”
“Maybe Travis can unlock you.”
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT
Eli gave Julio a long, angry look. “Sure. That’s a great idea. I’m sure he’s over me dropping an electric pole onto his squad car.”
“What if it’s your friend Bob?”
“Honestly Julio, I have no problem leaving him on his own. We have our own problems now.”
“Both of you, SHUT UP” Travis yelled.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT
***
Laura frantically jammed the next clip into her Glock. She started taking a few deep breaths and considering her options. The hallway was a stalemate until Mokoto used up all her ammo. She’d heard Mokoto yell something about not having many bullets left, but she wasn’t sure she believed it. She had a full gun, and two more clips on her belt. She looked over her shoulder, and saw that the glass door was now missing the bars that had blocked entry just a second ago. Her quick smile turned back around when she heard what sounded thuds from the elevator.
***
“What’s the situation?” Clayton asked. He was gasping for breath after the quick descent from a smoky hallway.
“Concrete and silence. Plus flickering fluorescent lights. Why do these secret places always have flickering lights?”
“Two routes, two of us. Do we split up or pick a direction?”
“Good question, but there’s no cover out there. The second either one of us walks out we’re dead to rights.”
“I’m going to count to three. We each pop around a corner and use the corners as much as we can, and ask them to surrender.”
“Really? That’s your plan?”
“Do you have a better one?”
“At least count to five. Three seems to sudden.” Will said as he took rapid deep breaths.
Feb
21
“Bingo” Clayton said. He was looking down an elevator shaft, and his key-chain light was just strong enough to see the car at the bottom, complete with kicked in access panel.
“That looks like a healthy drop.” Will tucked his gun into the back of his pants, and then he felt around the open doors. “I don’t feel a ladder. I thought these always had a ladder.”
“Well…it looks like we’re climbing down.”
“Are you nuts? The fire is spreading, and you still need to get Garrett out of here.”
Clayton looked around for a moment. There was a lot more smoke than there was just a second ago. “Take Garrett and get out of here. I’ll go down the elevator shaft and see what’s going on.”
“Here, your gun must be about empty. Take m-” A loud, shrill buzzing sounded all around them. The men cupped their ears as the elevator lights all turned on, and the doors slammed shut. The buzzing stopped, only to start again as a pulse of solid noise. Clayton uncupped his ears, and then went to work on opening the elevator doors. “CLAYTON! WE HAVE TO GO!”
‘NO WAY!” Clayton kept trying to force his fingers into the elevator door, and Will tried to help. The two men struggled as the smoke grew thicker.
***
Laura cranked Phil’s arm back even further. Phil could feel things ripping inside his arm as Laura kept twisting, to the point where it felt she was twisting it off. Then, without warning, she shoved him to the ground. He tried to brace his landing with his left arm, but he only halfway succeeded. His forehead and nose hit the floor hard, and he saw bits of blood when he lifted his head. Laura was walking backward with her gun aimed right at Mokoto. Phil pushed himself up to one knee and looked back towards Laura. She was less than a yard away from Bob’s wallet. Phil took a deep breath and pushed himself to his feet. With his right arm flopping about, he ran full speed to Mokoto and Bob, and then around the corner. “Go, GO!” Mokoto yelled as she pushed Bob around the corner. Laura’s gun echoed loudly as she began firing. Bob tumbled down the hall and Mokoto landed next to him. Phil was now leaning against the glass door, which now was in front of another steel door.
“I’ve got the glasses” Phil said. Bob scuffled along the floor until he was standing with Phil. Mokoto fired a wild shot around the corner. She looked back at Bob and thought about Jer, about Sakura, and about the advice she had pondered while soaking in a bathtub in Pierre. She pulled a stick drive out of her pocket and slid it along the floor at Bob.
“That should open the security door. It’s from the guard. Don’t ask or I’ll reconsider.” Mokoto fired another blind shot down the hallway. “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? I ONLY HAVE A FEW MORE SHOTS!” Bob picked up the stick drive, and Phil handed him the sunglasses. The panel near the door had two USB slots, and after a quick, deep inhale, Bob inserted the drives.
