Chapter 10

Robert put the gun up as he turned on his flashlight. So far there were only boxes of supplies down there. There was one box that was open. Several glass bottles and crow heads littered the floor around it as if someone had searched for a full bottle but had only found empty ones.

He ignored it and kept moving. The stairs were to his right, hopefully the doors weren't locked again.

In the hall he tried to figure out where he was. He pointed his flashlight towards the first door he saw and sighed when only the numbers of the room showed up. This obviously wasn't a place occupied by staff. Most likely a corner of the building that handled supplies. He'd never been down there before but it had to be close to the main areas of the building.

Surely, there was a map somewhere right? Every hall had a fire escape plan plastered on the walls and he could use that to figure out where he was.

For now, all he could do is pick a direction and start walking. The lights flickered for a moment and he thought that maybe they would turn back on. But he still wasn't surprised when they didn't. He wondered if Rosalind had found Elizabeth yet, hopefully they would be in her office… but maybe it would be safer for her to stay in the exam room.

Hopefully, Rosalind had realized that as well. Maybe he should find his way there. He decided and hurried down the hall, the faster he found the map, the faster he would find Rosalind. And then he'd lead them back to safety.

There was the sound of someone running and he stopped. Someone was on the floor above him running about. Maybe it was whatever had escaped… He couldn't be sure, but if he recalled he needed to go to the 2nd floor to reach the exam room. The first floor was nothing but offices and the cafeteria.

The lights came back on and whoever was running stopped. Robert took the opportunity to rush to the end of the hall. Right where he expected was the building map. He was in the loading dock on the opposite side of the building…

"Who designed this place?" he sighed. The building was a mess of twists and turns. He would have to navigate through 2 hallways before he reached a set of stairs that could take him up and even then he would still have a great distance to walk.

If he remembered correctly, the exam rooms were close to Suchong's lab. That didn't leave him feeling any better, it was possible that with the power malfunctioning as it was, something could escape from there too.

Robert only knew of the bird but he'd heard the screams many times over, people were being experimented on down there. He didn't know the specifics of what was being done, and honestly, he didn't want to know. He'd found the experiments with Elizabeth to be bad enough despite the fact that she wasn't being physically harmed.

A loud moan echoed from behind him and he decided that he'd stayed in one spot for too long. He tightened his grip on the gun, it only had 5 bullets in it so hopefully he wouldn't have to use it too much. Hopefully he wouldn't have to use it at all.

He walked down the hall, finding himself in an admin hall. Probably people who managed financing or funding. There were a few offices with tinted windows, probably so whoever was in charge could watch the workers without them knowing. There were several cubicles arranged around the place with papers left the way they were during the evacuation. He walked through cautiously, he didn't know if whatever had escaped was lurking in one of them. The moaning from earlier meant someone or something was nearby but he didn't know if it was a person who needed help or an experiment roaming the halls.

Robert heard the moaning again, the thing from before was following him. Without a thought, he slipped into one of the offices and waited. He watched out of the window for something to come by and after a minute, a man finally came stumbling by.

A worker it seemed was injured, "How much harm could he be?" Robert said quietlyto himself. The man stopped and turned back to speak to someone.

"Please, I don't know..." he said, "I just… I just do paperwork!" The man stepped back and Robert found himself moving closer to the glass. "Please!" The was a pause before several birds seemed to manifest and attack the man. Robert gasped as the man screamed and struggled against the birds.

He quickly glanced at the gun in his hands but it would be useless, there were far too many birds for him to actually help. Sure, he could shoot the man so he didn't have to be pecked to death by birds but… Then that would leave him wide open to the birds himself.

Robert turned away and waited for the screaming to stop. He couldn't go back out there, not yet. He didn't even know what had caused the birds to attack the man. Once the screaming stopped, he worked up the courage to turn back. He was shocked to find a man with a mask standing directly in front of the window. He covered his mouth and waited.

He couldn't tell if the man was staring at him but he was unsettled none the less. "Aye, do you think they have one in there?" he asked aloud.

"Nah, that was Jenny's office she ain't got nothing but corn in there." he answered his own question, turning his head slightly as if he were speaking to someone else.

"Do we need corn?" the man asked himself. He reached up and Robert noticed his hand was covered n bandages. He scratched the side of his head and Robert gagged as the blister popped and mucus began to ooze.

"Nah… not today." the man poked at the blister and stalked off. He was still mumbling to himself as he walked off and Robert waited until he couldn't hear anything else before allowing himself to relax even a little.

He sat down on the floor, weighing his options, if he went back out, that man could find him and he didn't want to know what would happen then. The birds could also attack him, but he wasn't sure how. They'd manifested out of nothing and it was more then possible that he could be attacked by them while he was hiding.

He gathered himself and took a deep breath, he needed to find Rosalind and Elizabeth before that man or the birds found them. He had the master key and he had a way out, he just needed to be careful.

Standing up, Robert walked to the door. The lights had gone off again but he didn't turn his flashlight on, he didn't want to draw any attention to himself. He exited the room, and looked around. There was no sign of the man and he had gone off in the opposite direction.

He hesitated for a moment, eying the dead man on the floor before rushing off into the next dark hallway.

0.o.0.o.0

Flambeau hid underneath a table in the kitchen. How he'd managed to be locked inside, he didn't know. Maybe he had spent too many minutes attempting to help everyone else out. He knew that with the power malfunctioning as it was, most people would get lost.

But then he himself had gotten lost. And while the bird was his main concern, he'd seen some people wandering about that made him second guess that. People had come rushing from Suchong's lab once the power went out and originally, they'd ignored him. Choosing to run by him in search of something else. Now, however, they were angry. They hadn't found what they were looking for and they were beginning to destroy things.

He'd managed to stay hidden as they stormed the kitchen and he could hear them outside smashing plates and breaking things. He wasn't safe, it was only a matter of time before one of them decided to check the kitchen and when they did, they would find him…

He could try to fight them off, he wasn't much of a fighter but he could hold his own in a fight. There were just so many of them roaming about, he wouldn't b able to take them all.

"They make stuff in there?" one woman said. He almost jumped out of his skin as he heard someone walking towards the kitchen.

"Maybe this is where they're keeping it..." A man responded. Flambeau had to think quickly, he rose from his spot underneath the table and grabbed the biggest knife he could find. He would fight back if they tried to harm him and if they didn't, he would simply find a new hiding place in the building.

He heard the door creak and he crouched down behind the table. "This is where they make food..." Footsteps entered the kitchen and he held his breath. Slowly moving out of vision as they circled the table. He wasn't sure how many people were outside but it was better for him to be able to escape. They'd just corner him if too many got inside.

"He thinks we can't see him." the woman laughed.

"We see ya down there." he ignored them, choosing instead to continue moving. "Hey… You work with him!" He glanced up, gasping as he saw the man's face. It was covered in lumps and dry flaky skin. "I know you!"

"I assure you, you don't." he responded. Flambeau stood up, taking in the other woman in the room. She was still in her work uniform. A janitor it seemed. Had Suchong been using workers as subjects. "I'm only trying to get outside."

"But you work with him!" the woman came closer and he backed towards the door.

"I work with Fink." he said. He was up against the door now but he wasn't sure what he'd find when he left the kitchen.

"He's trying to run." the man laughed, "You can't run! We know this building!" Of course they did, they were workers there. The workers that no one noticed had gone missing…

They were getting closer and he couldn't wait any longer. He turned and ran as fast as he could. He could hear the people following behind but he didn't stop, he knew exactly where to hide. Now if only he could make it there.