13. 13 #2
I wanted to ignore him, to tell him that it wasn’t the appropriate time to make jokes, but I laughed anyway. It offset the near death experience I’d just had.
He peaked through the small window on the door, taking a deep breath. “We are going to book it to the control room, do you understand? A lot more people worked on this floor and I can see some of them roaming around right now.”
“Are there a lot?” I asked, wiping my sweaty palms on my pants.
“It’s not too bad, but pull out the magnum.” He holstered his pistol and took the rifle off of his back. “Just in case,” he added.
After a minute of rest, solely for my benefit, Elias opened the door and we ran.
It was bad.
While we were able to run past the majority, there was one directly in our path.
Elias slowed down, aiming down the sight still in motion.
He didn’t miss. The infected woman hit the floor, her head a bloody pulp decorating the space in front of us.
He fired a few shots across the hall, shattering a window, and the creatures retreated to the sound of the glass turning to glitter.
The control room wasn’t labeled, but Elias was correct in knowing which room it would be. I came in only a moment after him, and he slammed the door shut, turning a handle that looked like it belonged on a submarine. We were safe behind the thick metal door.
Power still flowed here, and I was sure Elias would tell me that it was essential in the “case of an emergency.” While he inspected the equipment, I was drawn to the massive wall of televisions.
The security cameras that were still active were shown here.
Labeled, I found the camera for Clean Manufacturing by recognizing the slew of equipment featured in the room.
That is where we would be going, and how we could ensure that whatever Elias was doing worked.
Elias was in the corner, flipping switches like a mad man, but his effort wasn’t reflected on a single screen. I walked over, and watched as he pulled fuses from one breaker and shoved them into a second. He studied the device on the wall, at one point, pulling away and scratching his head.
“Do you need me to get anything for you?” I asked, unsure how to be helpful.
“An electrician,” he said, squatting before the mess he’d made.
Pieces and parts were all over the ground, and I didn’t want to doubt his skill in saving our skins, but I had a hard time believing that he was going to piece this together.
He was muttering to himself. “This room. . . no, that doesn’t connect, we don’t need that one.”
I watched, one eye on the screens, and one on him.
It was like he was playing Tetris, but when he got a piece he didn’t like, he just threw it on the ground. “Check this out,” he said, putting the final fuse in place.
My eyes focused on the camera in Clean Manufacturing, and the lights on the equipment fired up. A beautiful display of color, red, green, and yellow lights began to flash, signaling a startup.
Elated, I ran to him, throwing my arms around his neck, kissing him. We separated slightly, and he tipped me backwards, dipping me like a dancer before pulling me back up to him, arms around my waist.
“You’re not supposed to kiss me until the end. I save the world, then the damsel in distress plants a fat one on me in thanks,” he said, smiling.
“Damsel in distress, huh?” I asked. “We’ll see about that when I’m the one saving the world. Quick question, do I have to do that maneuver you just did? You’re a bit heavy to be my damsel.”
“Damn, Cassie. You’re cold,” he joked.
The excitement of rerouting the power to the lab was distracting me, and it was getting difficult to step away from him, knowing that the moment the door opened I’d be running for my life again.
But I stepped away.
“It’s going to be difficult to get back there.” I motioned to the screen, and the horde was still hovering near where Elias had fired his gun in the basement.
“Big rifle,” he said, pointing to the gun on his back. “Big bullets.”
“If you say so,” I trailed off.
“Are you ready to run back there?” He asked, readying his big rifle.
I shook my head, “Not really, no.”
“Too bad. You get the door, I’m going out first.”
The door was sealed tight, and I gripped the lever with both hands, pushing it down. I groaned, straining as I unlocked it. With a final push, I let out a little woosh of air, and the door swung open faster than I meant for it to.
Elias stepped out, looking left, right, and forward, then back at me.
He took off, and I followed closely, narrowly missing the butt of his gun as he smacked an infected man with it.
I took a hard step to the right, and looked back to see the man’s nose pushed further into his skull than I would have thought possible after a single blow.
Running down the steps was much easier than running up them, but I could feel how weak my legs had grown from the exertion.
Before we opened the door to the basement, where the Clean Manufacturing room was located, Elias pulled the keycard from his pocket and handed it to me.
“I’ll do the shooting, so you’re going to need to get the door,” he said.
I nodded.
He wasn’t joking about shooting. He cleaned out the basement.
Firing into the horde, he eliminated the crowd that had gathered near the first creature we encountered, the one that had grabbed me. He shot in small bursts, focusing on those that were mostly still, thinning their numbers out rather quickly.
The more he shot, the more that appeared.
Elias was focused, and anything that was unfortunate enough to move in front of him was destroyed.
“Open the door, Cassia,” he ordered.
I couldn’t. He told me that I needed to but I couldn’t step away. I kept near, to his side, as he opened fire. He shuffled down the hall, moving toward the door slowly, his head cocked to the side, staring down the sights of his weapon.
I could see the force behind the gun as it tried to shove itself through Elias’s shoulder with each pull of the trigger.
He was done when we reached the door, and scanning the basement, it was clear that all movement had been stifled. He’d killed every last creature on this floor.
“Alright, pretty girl. Let’s do this,” he said.
I held the keycard to the small plastic reader, and the door beeped, opening for us.