Two guards stepped outside the doors. They looked around, puzzled, trying to figure out where their fellow guard had gone.
"Shouldn't he be around here?" inquired one of them, a white bear-like creature that would have been fairly docile-looking if it wasn't for the assault rifle held by it.
"He should. But he isn't." answered the other, a robotic-like Digimon.
"So what? Should we leave 'em?"
"No. We'll get a demerit. Let's go look for him." the robot suggested.
As the robot and the bear began down the path and past our hiding place, Matt turned to me.
"The Guardromon is the same guard that was speaking on the radio. Hand it over again."
"Huh?" I asked, though it obviously wasn't the best time to question. Matt grabbed my backpack away and fished out the radio.
"Make ferocious noises." Matt said simply. "But make them close to the radio. Don't want them to hear us from this bush."
"Huh?" I asked again, very confused. He sighed, annoyed, and pulled me closer to the radio.
Matt pushed the 'talk' button again.
"Goma to base! Goma to base!" Matt yelled into the radio, imitating the rock Digimon yet again, but this time in a much more frightened voice. "I'm under attack!"
"Base to Goma! What the heck is going on?" yelled back the robot guard onto his radio. I could still see him with his companion down the road.
"I - I'm being attacked by a freaky…" Matt looked at me. "…lizard scum!!"
Matt drew the radio close to my snout, and mouthed 'Your cue.'
I blushed a bit, but considering the seriousness of the situation, I readily complied.
"Raaawr-roooar-raaaar!" I yelled into the speaker, then backed away.
Matt gave me a small grin, then turned serious again and spoke into the radio again. "He's…he's too much for me!! Help!"
"Where are you?!" responded the robot. I looked down the road again, and could tell from their movements that the guards were buying it - and were quite agitated.
"West of the hospital! I was pursued by the creature a long distance!" Matt responded back.
The guards were off running. I suddenly understood why Matt had told them that direction. It led them both away from us, and away from the knocked-out guard.
"We'll call for backu-"
"No! There's no time!" Matt stated in a disdainful, rushed voice. "Hurry!"
"Okay! Okay!" the guard yelled again.
"Oh no!" Matt shouted, acting suddenly surprised. "He's going to-"
Without another moment, Matt drew his claws and slashed into the radio. It sizzled lightly for a moment, then nothing.
"There." Matt grinned, throwing the trashed radio to the ground. "Now they won't bug us anymore, either."
I smiled, impressed with Mark. But quickly it turned to a frown. "'Freaky lizard scum?' That wasn't too nice."
The Gabumon boy shrugged. "Hey, it worked."
I sighed. "Thanks to me."
"Danks to ya both." Ro, after an unusually long bout of silence, spoke up with reason. "Let's not fight an' stuff, okie?"
I smiled to my little pet, and extended my paw to pet him. "Alright, alright, Ro."
Mark shrugged, then looked back to the open doorway. "The door of opportunity is open…"
Understanding what he was implying, I stood up and situated the backpack on my back. "Then let's take the opportunity."
Ro sniffed inside, then bounded in cautiously. We followed.
The hospital entrance was vacant, but large and luxurious. A dark red carpet covered the ground, well suited to the light wood beams and grey marble desk that was also present in the room.
The air was the usual recycled hospital air that I had smelled so undesirably before. An intercom was occasionally coming on, calling doctors to different rooms.
"This place seems to be running smoothly. If I didn't know any better, I might think that everything was back to normal."
Mark only nodded. He scanned the room. "No security cameras."
I realized the thought hadn't even come to mind, and was thankful that Mark had come up with the idea to check.
I walked up to a sign showing the layout of the hospital. I quickly note the immense size of the building. There were a total of four floors: the first floor, which we were on, held the lobby, cafeteria, offices, and a few patient rooms. The second floor was dedicated to patient rooms. The third floor held a nursery, some meeting rooms, and some vacant rooms. Lastly, the basement floor, which held a number of labs and engineering departments.
"Where exactly would Tai be..?" I pondered.
"Hmmmmmm." Ro mumbled.
I glanced at him. "You can read?"
"No, but I thought it be fun to look at it and go 'hmmmmm'."
I sighed again. Matt came up to the map and studied it for a while.
"This is a problem." he said quietly.
"You don't know where Tai is, either." I predicted.
Matt nodded, scratching his head. "The labs seem like a good possibility. But so do the patient rooms. And unfortunately…"
"The patient rooms are on the first and second floors, and the labs in the basement." I noted. "It's going to take way too long to cover that much ground."
"And who knows how many guards there are. Or where they are." Matt added.
I waved my tail anxiously. "So…"
"We jus' gotta split up an' look around and stuff." Ro reasoned.
"That would work…" Matt began, and thought for a moment. "Okay. I'll take the second floor. Ro, you take this floor. And Xaiver…the labs are all yours."
I nodded slowly, somewhat frustrated by Matt's in-charge attitude. "Alright. I suppose we should tread carefully…"
"Dere could be guards anywheres?" Ro asked.
"Pretty much. Play it safe. Don't get yourself seen." Matt explained. "When you've checked out your floor, go outside to that bush we were in and wait for the rest of us. If you find Tai, get him out if you can." He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, looking determined. "Let's go."