wish someone would R&R so I know if you like this and the direction I'm taking!
By the time I look back at Fernando, his eyes are rolling and he slumps to the console, banging his forehead.
Tris comes running into the room, with her mask firmly in place.
"What happened?" she shouts over the sirens.
"He tried to access the computer system," I say, putting a finger to the pulse point in Fernando's neck.
"Is he alive?"
"Yeah," I say. "But we have to get him out of here." I pull the chair back and hook my hands under Fernando's arms, dragging him out of the seat. He is not a small man, and I know right away we're in trouble. I don't see how we can carry him all the way back.
I glance up at Tris, who is at the door, and it's no longer responding to her touch. I drag Fernando over to the door and drop him next to her.
We look at each other.
"Maybe it will just stop, now that he's not trying to break in anymore," Tris says hopefully.
"We need to get out," I repeat, forcing myself to stay calm. "The masks are protecting us from the immediate effects, but this is probably a neurotoxin - it's going to get in through our skin eventually."
She nods, and turns back to the keypad next to the door, running her fingers over it. I wonder if Inez is trying it from the other side. Or maybe, I think with a cold finger of fear, there's no sign or sound on the outside of the chaos within. Tris frowns and glances up at me.
"What?"
"There's a little slot here," she observes, running her fingernail along the crease. Her eyes suddenly widen, and I know she's figured something out. She digs around in her jacket pocket, and comes out with the little square of plastic she found on the body. Turning it around, she lines it up against the slot and slides it in; it jams halfway, so she takes it out and flips it over. It goes in all the way this time.
"Access code," pops up on the pad, in blue lights.
"Access code?" she mutters.
"Don't try to guess." I warn. "That's what triggered this," I wave in the direction of the flashing lights.
She looks at me helplessly.
"Was there anything in his room that might have the code in it?" I ask desperately. "I can go back and look."
Tris gasps, stares at me, and quickly swings the bulging pack off her back. She rummages around in the front compartment. Finally, she pulls out a thick black book and begins frantically leafing through it.
I wait as patiently as I can for her to find whatever it is she's looking for.
"I found it under the mattress," she says breathlessly, "looks like Bruce kept a journal."
"Okay," I say, not sure how that helps, and then it hits me. "Codes are hard to remember."
Tris nods.
"Look at the second to last page," I offer.
She flips to the page, frowns, and then turns the little book upside down. There are rows of numbers and letters. Tris groans and closes her eyes. I can already feel a little numbness in my fingers and toes, and she probably weighs nearly half as much as I do, so she must really be feeling it.
"Try the first one," I say calmly. She stabs the numbers in with trembling fingers.
Access denied, flashes up on the small screen.
"Try the second one," I say, clenching my jaw hard.
She reaches again for the keypad, but now her hands are shaking violently. She blinks rapidly and holds the book out to me.
"You're going to have to do it, Tobias,"
I take the book from her and move to the keypad to try the second row of numbers when I notice something.
"What?" Tris demands sharply. "What is it?"
There's a row of numbers down at the very bottom of the page, apart from all the others. It's been crossed out and rewritten twice, and there's a "D" next to it. Could it be that simple?
I take a deep breath and punch the numbers in. The keypad flashes "open" and the sirens fall silent, the red lights abruptly returning to the cool blue as the door folds inward. Inez is lying on the ground outside, facing the door with her head propped up on her pack.
"About time," she grouses, shading her eyes against the setting sun. "It's going to be dark soon." She jumps up when she notices we're dragging Fernando out.
"Just a minute," Tris says, turning back into the building.
"What the hell are you doing?" I yell at her, but she ignores me and goes back in. I drop Fernando and head after her, nearly running her over as she comes back out.
She holds up the card and shoulders her pack. "I thought this might come in handy," she notes. "And I have some things in the pack we're going to want."
I sigh, and screw my eyes closed tightly, pressing my fists against my thighs. I take a deep breath in and exhale slowly, leaving a fog on the inside of the mask.
"Okay," I breathe deeply again. "Okay. Okay. Let's figure out how we're going to get out of here." Tris smiles wanly at me and we both turn to Inez as the door slides shut silently behind us.
"What happened?"
"He tried to break into the computer system - set off security. He had his mask off, so he got the worst of the gas, but we're not so great, either." I nod at Tris, who is nearly swaying on her feet.
"Idiot," Inez mutters, looking down at Fernando with hard eyes.
"Yeah, well that idiot weighs a ton. How are we going to get him out of here?" I feel as though even the muscles in my face are sagging with exhaustion.
"We could just wait until he sleeps it off," Inez offers.
Tris and I look at each other uneasily.
"Linus said it could take days to wear off," I remind Inez.
"I think," Tris says slowly, "I think we need to get out of here as soon as possible. Maybe that's just because of what happened or because there's a dead guy in there," Inez's eyebrows shoot up, but other than that, she takes the news in stride, "but I don't think so. I have a bad feeling about this."
I nod. "I agree." I look around. Even with three of us, I don't think we can carry him very far, but there's nothing here - no tree branches or anything else we might be able to use to make a stretcher. It's an utterly barren landscape.
"Give me the card," I say holding my hand out.
"You're not going back in there?" Tris exclaims.
"Seriously?" I demand, glaring at her. She clutches the card to her chest defiantly.
"I'm not going back in," I snap, "unless I can't find anything else. I'm going to look around the rest of the building. I'm guessing there's more somewhere." I hold my hand out, and she reluctantly presses the card into my palm.
"I'll come with you."
I shake my head. "You can barely stand," I spit out. I stop myself and take another deep breath. "Just hang tight for a minute and see if you can get your strength back, okay?" I keep my voice soft and level.
She hesitates, tilting her chin up at me and narrowing her eyes. Then she takes a deep breath, too. "Okay," she says simply, and flops gracelessly to the ground.
"Be right back," I say to Inez, who nods at me, with an amused look. I scowl at her and turn away to start making my way around the building.
Back behind it, there's a second, smaller structure we couldn't see from the front. There's a keypad, and as I run my hands over the wall, I can tell that the door here is much larger than the door in the monitoring station. I flip open Bruce's journal to the page of codes. Will the same door code work for this building?Probably not, but I could try. I look through all the numbers carefully. One has a "C" written next to it, another a "U," and one and "L." There's also an "H," an "F," a "B," and an "HQ."
"This guy had a lot of passcodes," I say aloud.
I find the keypad and slip the ID into the slot. "Access code" in light blue pops up on the screen.
I try the door code first, but promptly get an "access denied." There will probably only be three attempts before a lockout, maybe five if I'm lucky. What would make sense? Think, Tobias. Well, what could this building possibly be for? Not living quarters, since those are in the other building, along with a kitchen and bathroom. There weren't any closets in the other building, no place to put anything other than the desk and filing cabinet. This has to be for storage - the big door would support that. Maintenance equipment, tools, maybe supplies. Could be "S" for supplies, or "T" for tools.
I try the "S" code. Access denied.
And then it hits me. I know what it is.
I punch in the code next to the "U," for "utility," and the keypad flashes "open." This door makes a whirring noise and doesn't immediately move, before slowly jerking open in fits and starts. Interesting. Why would the other door be in better working order? Unless someone has been in there more recently?
I poke my head into the building, and a harsh white light flickers on. All of the walls are full of shelves and lined with crates and boxes. There's a workbench along one side, with saws and other tools neatly hung on the wall above. And in the middle of the room, there are two cars. More like carts, really; they are open on the top with only two seats and a big flat bed in the back. The tires are huge and knobby, but the cart itself is fairly narrow - just big enough to get through the gate in the fence, I realize. Both are parked on top of some kind of contraption and there are solar panels on the hood, sides, and back.
I'm nervous about walking into this building, without anyone knowing where I've gone or having the code. I look around nervously and then squat down, scratching an arrow toward the building into the dirt, with the access code next to it. Then I enter the building quickly and grab the first box I see, putting it between the retracted doors.
Now I feel ready to explore.
The first thing I check is one of the carts, because if that still works, it could make a big difference for us right now. The contraption it's parked in looks like some kind of charging station, so that's promising, given that power is still clearly flowing in these buildings. I climb in the driver's seat and look at the console. There's large button next to the steering wheel, and I push it. Nothing happens. I try holding it down for a few minutes. Nothing. I push and flip every button and lever I can find, but nothing works.
I get out and take a look at the charging station. The control panel is showing that the vehicle is fully charged. I stare at it, scratching my head. A red button with a portal beneath it, down near the floor, catches my eye, and I crouch down to open it up. It's some kind of plug, which extends out.
I pull the coated wire over to the cart and look for a place to plug it in.
"Try under the hood," the voice comes from behind me, making me jump and drop the cord. I whirl around with my gun out.
"Inez," I bark out. "Dammit! Was that really necessary?" She's smirking at me.
"You've been gone too long," she says unapologetically. "Tris got nervous."
"And you didn't?" I snap back. "I could have killed you just now, you know."
She just smiles her lopsided grin and waves the gun in her own hand at me. "Nah, because you would have already been dead. Why don't you let me work on the cart?" she continues. "I've had to learn how to fix a lot of things, you know. Everything in Factionless starts out broken."
I draw in a breath to argue, and then think better of it. "Okay," I puff, picking up the cord and holding it out. "See if you can get it to work. I'll see what's in the boxes."
"Might as well load anything good in one of the carts, because I am going to get these bastards working."
"I bet you will," I respond, this time with a smile.
And so she does - all they needed was a jump start. The boxes range from office supplies to spare batteries, but they're mostly food. We load cartons of batteries and food and some of the tools into the cart, as well as a few odd-looking guns. Inez wants to fire them right away to see what they can do, but I persuade her to wait until we have a more controlled environment. There's also a first-aid kit, and in a small refrigerator under the workbench - which is still running and cold - there is serum.
"Should we take it?" I ask. "It might spoil before we can get it cooled, and we have no way of knowing what it is."
"Take it," she says. "Take the whole unit."
We chuck out a couple of food boxes to make room for it.
"Let's go get your girlfriend," she says.
"And your boyfriend," I add.
"Not my type," she snorts, and I laugh at her as we climb into the carts.
"We have to keep the headlights off," I say to Inez, and I barely have to raise my voice to be heard over the soft whine of the engines. She nods, and pulls out of the shed. I pause on the other side and retrieve Bruce's card, wiping out the arrow and the code I left scratched in the dirt.
It's gotten dark out, though the moon is rising bright in the sky, and we can see reasonably well. I'm worried about Tris, and as we round the building in the carts, I can see she's out cold. I jump out of the cart and put my fingers to her neck. Her pulse is strong, and her eyes flutter open as she yawns.
"Sorry," she says, a faint blush showing in the moonlight even through the mask. "I'm just so tired."
"It's okay," I say softly, offering her a hand up. "We found you a ride home."
Tris's eyes widen now as she looks over my shoulder at the carts, and then up at me, with a big smile. "I so wish I could kiss you right now," she says.
"Maybe later?" I respond. "In the meantime, let's see if the "F" in Bruce's book stands for fence. If it does, I'll need help putting the hinges back on the gate."
Inez turns on the headlights so we can see the keypad at the gate, and "F" does, indeed, stand for fence. It seems to take us a fraction of the time to put the hinges on that it took to get them off, and we're soon ready to load Fernando into one of the carts. He is still totally unresponsive, but at least he's alive. We wrestle him in the back, getting most of him in the cart, with his legs hanging out the back a bit.
"Let's get going," Inez says, wiping her hands absently on her pants, "and try not to hit any really big bumps."
"No promises," I say, rolling my eyes.
Tris opens the gate and jumps in the passenger seat of Inez's cart, and we drive through, closing the gate behind us.
