CHAPTER 115
"Bryce, you're bleeding." Dianna said.
"I'm fine."
"No you're not. Let me see your hands." She turned her head and shouted, "hey, is there a first aid kit in here?"
"Over there on the wall." Guss pointed.
"Come on, Bryce." Dr. Johnson tugged him.
Ms. Murdock was at the door. "Ms. Bolton, the door locks." There was no response. Joan said again, louder this time, "Ms. Bolton, the security lock is not engaging."
When Carrie did answer she sounded annoyed and distressed. "None of them are!"
"What do you mean, none of them are?"
"The whole damn building is open. Shit. As far as I can tell every lock in the operations complex is out of commission. Just-" Carrie was frantically punching keys and clicking the mouse. "I'm working on it!"
"Quickly, Ms. Bolton." Joan stood by the door and peered through its narrow slice of window. Her eyes went up and down the hall.
As Dr. Johnson opened the first aid kit and began to wrap Bryce's hands she glanced at the unconscious lab tech who was sprawled on the floor and the woman hunched beside him. "What's your name again?"
The woman turned. "Dr. Ellis, but just call me Cameron."
"Right. Is he going to be ok?"
Dr. Ellis said, "he had a seizure, but I expect he'll be fine when he wakes up. He'll need to take it easy."
"That's not gonna happen." Dr. Conners said. "Look around. Just keep an eye on him when he does wake up. Can you do that, Cameron?"
She nodded.
Dr. Conners started getting to his feet.
"Bryce, I'm not done yet." Dianna said.
"It's fine. That's quite enough." He patted the bandages. "I don't want to over do it. I won't be able to get my palms around a gun handle."
"Dad?" Kyra had come over.
"Are you alright?" Bryce gave her a hug.
"Yeah. What's going on? Are we going to be ok?"
Seth had come up beside her. From the look on his face he wanted to know the same thing.
His mom diverted the question though. "How's Shelly holding up?"
Seth shrugged. "Fine, I guess. She's not saying much."
Dr. Conners cut in, "right now we just need the two of you to stay over there and keep an eye on her for us while we figure things out, ok?"
"You mean stay out of your hair." Kyra slumped.
"Kyra, please. Just-" Dr. Conners thrust a finger at the far end of the room.
"Alright. We're going."
Dr. Conners and Dr. Johnson made their way over to Carrie who was still frantically working at the terminal. Bryce was particularly delicate when he asked her, "What's the damage?"
"Damned if I know." Carrie slapped the keyboard and pushed away from the desk. "The whole god damned system is tweaking out. I can't even tell if the fences are still up and running. It's going to take me all night to sort this out, especially with just one terminal."
Bryce and Dianna looked at each other. Dianna said, "We have to evacuate."
Ms. Murdock pushed in, "are the telephones working, Ms. Bolton?"
"Actually, for the time being that seems to be one of the few systems that's operating just fine."
"Damn!" Ms. Murdock said.
"Why is that a bad thing?"
"Has anyone else tried to use the phones yet?"
Everyone shook their heads.
Joan explained, "every attempt I just made to make an outside call was directed straight to Peter Ludlow's personal answering machine."
"That's not on our end," Carrie said.
Bryce shook his head. "That son of a bitch."
Dianna asked, "Can't we radio the INGEN compound in San José?"
"Nobody is picking up." Joan looked grim.
Dr. Conners said, "Christ. What the hell do we do now?"
"I think it's quite obvious that we can't stay here." Joan looked around the room noticing a befalling silence and all eyes gravitating toward her.
"But the helipad is right here," Guss spoke up. "What if they come for us?"
"They're not!" Joan said. "Peter Ludlow has made you expendable for the sake of his own personal gain."
Dianna said, "I know Peter Ludlow is an ass, but this seems all too diabolical, even for him."
Ms. Murdock was swift to answer, "You're right, Dr. Johnson. Mr. Ludlow is quite the coward. I suspect someone else pulls his strings."
"Who?" Dr. Conners asked.
"That, Doctor, is beyond me."