Chapter 12 - Into the Dark
Shaw doesn't have much of a sense of time, besides the light and the dark so 'checking in with Root' is a lot harder than she anticipated. Instead she uses her energy as a makeshift gauge. If Shaw starts to feel the inky blackness pulling her back she goes back to Root until she feels like herself again and she can go back out. It takes three tries before she's able to make it to the empty lot. Once she does she's certain that, whatever's going on is definitely underneath. She can feel it, like a kind of vibration underneath her. There's a strange familiarity about it, but she can't quite figure out why.
She's about to go back to Root again when a memory suddenly pops into her head, hitting her full force and surprising her with it's intensity. It was when she lay in her apartment, bleeding out from a bullet wound that was a parting gift from an intruder. The strange energy and vibration had been present then. She also remembers something else, but it's right before she passed out so the memory is fuzzy.
There was a light. A green light and a strange beeping sound.
Green flash, beep, green flash, beep.
Red light.
Shaw suddenly remembers what she has to do.
Root starts to get worried when nearly twenty minutes tick by and Shaw doesn't come back. She sits anxiously, fiddling with a taser she found under the seat.
"I'm sure everything is fine" Carter says but she shakes her head.
"She should have been back by now."
"She will be soon, you'll see."
The comms crackle back to life, Fusco's voice coming through choppily.
"Everything okay coca puffs?"
"Shaw seems to be a little MIA at the moment" Carter replies. There's a burst of static and then Fusco's voice comes through in short bursts.
"Wh….didn't qui….get tha….can yo…repeat?"
"I said Shaw is MIA" Carter replies, carefully pronouncing each word. The static seems to be getting worse and it's giving her a bad feeling. If there's one thing serving in the line of duty has taught her it's to always trust her instincts. Right now those instincts are telling her that Root is right: something's wrong.
There's no reply and the two women look at each other.
"Should we check it out?" Root asks, gripping the taser a little bit tighter in her hand.
"Perhaps just a quick look. Can you get hold of Finch?" Root pulls out her phone but there's no reception.
"Huh, that's strange. No reception, I don't like this" she says, putting it away and grabbing her laptop. The signal on there is dead as well.
"Anything?" Carter asks and she shakes her head, slowly grabbing the taser before she decides her gun might be a better idea. Carter doesn't say anything as Root checks her clip, finding it full.
"We should go check on the boys first, make sure everything's okay. Maybe someone spotted them and they're jamming the signal?" Root nods and Carter starts the engine. It splutters before it dies.
"What the hell?" She mumbles. Root watches as her laptop also goes down, and she checks her phone to find it dead as well.
"Did they do this?" Carter asks and Root shakes her head.
"In theory they could mess with the comms and electronics but not the car. They would have to manually disable the battery or something."
"So what, this is just a coincidence?"
"I don't believe in coincidences, especially not right now. If they know we're here then heading back towards the boys might not be such a good idea, it might give them away."
"That's if they don't already have them" Carter replies.
"Then why hasn't anyone come for us yet?" Then a thought occurs to Root.
"Sameen, sweetie is this you?" She asks, receiving only silence in reply.
"Why would she do this?" Carter asks.
"Maybe she found something and she doesn't want to put us in danger?"
"But why not just tell us?"
"You're right. She's the only one who could do something like this though."
"Maybe not" Carter replies, swallowing nervously.
"What do you mean?"
"Well Shaw can't be the only ghost that exists, can she?"
"Wait, you think that…?"
"We can't rule anything out. Right now I think we need to move, we'll only be a target if we stay here. Grab any weapons you can and lets go. Oh, and please stay behind me." Any other time Root would have made a snarky remark but right now her nerves are too on edge. She grabs the taser and tucks it into the small of her back. She also grabs her backpack, tucking her laptop into it in case it starts working again. They try the comms one last time but there's nothing but silence.
"Ready?" Carter asks and Root nods, taking up position behind her. She counts backwards from three and swings open the doors. The cold night air rushes in to greet them and Root shivers, wishing she had worn more than just a flimsy hoodie.
Carter clicks on her police issue flashlight and Root is relieved when it stays on. That makes the possibility of another ghost a little less likely.
They carefully step out, gravel crunching under their feet as they cross the abandoned road, into the trees on the other side. They pause there and Root pulls off her backpack, rummaging through in the dark before she finds what she's looking for: the night vision goggles.
"Anything?" Carter whispers as she scans the empty lot, warehouse and surrounding trees.
"Nothing. Can we get a better vantage point so I can see the van?" Root whispers back.
"Sure. Stick to the trees and try not to make too much noise. I'm going to turn off the flashlight so it doesn't give us away, you can lead us with those."
Root re-zips her bag as quietly as she can and swings it back on, feeling it bump against the taser.
"Ready?" She whispers, adjusting herself so she has the goggles on and the gun out in front of her.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
