They felt another impact. This time, it sounded as if someone had dropped a truck off a two-story balcony. The entire place shook. Hanna jumped back, nearly bumping shoulders with Russell. Russell looked down to Dimitri. Dimitri had stopped working to look down the hallway. Everyone was frozen.
Gail and Pierce reacted to the impact as though they were bracing for the roof to collapse. It was louder where they were. The lab vibrated for a few seconds before steadying. It felt like a small earthquake. Gail looked up at Pierce for a reaction. He looked back at her.
They both were thinking the same thing. Who is going to check it out?
Gail looked on with ambivalence. She didn’t want to go. She wanted him to do it.
However, unfortunately for the lieutenant, Pierce wasn’t known for his brash heroism. He was the last person in the world that would venture out for anyone, especially for people he didn’t know. But there was something else. It wasn’t just the sound of the impact in the facility that triggered concern. It was what they were up against. Pierce knew — and Gail knew, even though she didn’t want admit it.
It was still undecided who was going to check out the sound. By the look on Pierce’s face, he was staying. Gail shook her head with disbelief. Pierce’s cowardice astounded her. He had the knowledge and training to help people — that was his job. He was an obvious choice, but he remained a statue in front of the hallway door. Gail took in a sigh of regret and stepped toward the hallway.
Pierce stepped in front of the doorway, blocking her from the exit.
“Move,” she protested.
Pierce sighed. “There’s nothing you can do for them.”
“We have to warn them,” she continued.
Pierce did not budge. He placed his arm across the threshold like police caution tape over a crime scene. Gail flirted with the idea of punching him, but he seemed like the type who would enjoy that sort of attention from a woman.
“Get out of my way,” she replied sharply.
Pierce felt as if he had done his job — at least, enough to satisfy his own conscious. Perhaps it would be better if she did leave. Perhaps he would be better off on his own. Pierce dropped his arm, backed up, and let her through.
She stopped a few feet into the adjoining hallway. That was sure easy, she thought. He wasn’t going to fight her. He reached over and pushed the glass-windowed door open. “Out and to the left,” he muttered with a sarcastic tone.
What a prick. The man was the definition of a coward — less than a man. A fiend. She took in a deep breath and slowly started her exit into the dark facility.
The space outside the lab was a large open area filled with sealed wooden crates and rows of old office equipment dating back to the sixties. A line of office chairs looked as though it had been set up as a museum of different designs and furnishing throughout the years.
A large staircase sat a few yards from where Gail stood. That’s where we came up from. She quickly remembered how difficult it had been to get up the steps. Even though there were only three flights, it had felt like a million. At least I’m going down this time. She sighed with relief. Her legs were shaking. The space was still, lifeless, and intimidating. She glanced back one last time at Pierce as he stood comfortably in the threshold of the doorway. He used his shoulder to prop the door open as he watched her drift farther away from his eyesight.
As Gail inched toward the staircase, Pierce could only make out her silhouette against a large utility light that hung down about a foot from the high ceiling. The brightness of the light penetrated her like a backlight from the heavens. She was lost in it. He looked down to his hand resting on the door handle. He looked back up. What if? The consideration of the moment was plastered across his face. Gail was several yards away. She obviously wasn’t changing her mind.
Pierce had seen the kind of thing he had noticed on Gail’s neck. He remembered a few years back when a scientist had been quarantined for being exposed to a biological nerve agent — at least, that was what they had been told. Pierce had been responsible for protecting a team of doctors who were sent to process the scientist. He had seen the man, whose name he never knew, through a plastic sheet of translucent vinyl. He remembered seeing the man’s neck and bare back as the doctors examined him from afar. He wasn’t supposed to look, but he couldn’t help himself. The situation had been enough to make him worry about his safety every day since.
The lieutenant stopped a few feet from the dark staircase. She looked around. Was there anything she could use as a weapon? The woman flashed a discerning scowl back toward Pierce. She could have tried pulling rank to make him go, but there was very little to suggest he would have followed the order. She was ultimately powerless. Dimitri had the gun, and things on base were not in the usual order. Gail pivoted back toward the staircase and nudged a few steps forward.
Pierce struggled over his next move. Just keep walking, he thought impatiently. The second she hits those stairs, this door is closing.
Gail stopped again. She perused her surroundings and took in a shaky deep breath. Across the space, a hideous animallike bellow raced toward Gail from the darkness. She froze. This is crazy. Gail stepped back in a hurry.
Pierce had also heard the sound. He looked across the facility toward Gail. She slowly started to back up toward him. Pierce stepped back through the threshold into the hallway. She’s a liability. Fuck it! He immediately snapped into gear and slammed the door shut.
The impact of the slam from across the room nearly shook Gail out of her boots. It was the sound she was afraid of. She spun on a dime and scuttled back across the space toward the bright room. Her energy disintegrated with each step. The last few yards were the most difficult. The excitement had taken its toll on her. She arrived and shook the door handle. It was locked. It took Gail a moment to realize what was happening. Pierce had locked her out and wasn’t going to let her back inside.
He stared back at her through the glass. His face was stoic. Emotionless. The face of a cold bastard. He had planned it all along.
“What are you doing? Open up,” she pleaded.
Pierce looked off at the other room and stepped away. Gail shook the door handle again while banging on the glass with her other hand. “Open the door!” she shouted.
Pierce vanished from the hallway and into the laboratory. Gail pounded on the glass for a second time. It was thick. I could break it, she thought. What’s the point? In there. Out here. It’s all the same. The energy it took to protest had carved out her last bit of strength. She stepped back from the door with surrender. She leaned up against a metal utility box that was mounted on the wall a foot from the door and slid down to her ass. She stared off and contemplated her options. There were few. She could either take the risk of looking for the others or hope help was on the way.
She knew no one was coming to get them. And if they did, it could be days. The agony of sitting idly could be worse than death itself. I have to find the others or die trying. She slowly muscled the energy to stand up again.
Dimitri gave one last attempt at the panel. He wedged the screwdriver under the lip. The head started to bend. It was no match against four long bolts. The panel had obviously been designed to thwart tampering. The digs must be a special place to make a panel this goddamned stubborn. The pressure caused the screwdriver to jackknife outward. It slipped from Dimitri’s hands and crashed to the floor.