They passed through her office and unlocked the door into a long hallway that separated the supply elevator and her office from the kitchen and the cafeteria.
At the supply elevator, and the emergency exit at the end of the hallway, she made sure the doors were locked and the outside shutters were still down. “Someone here has to have the codes in case something happens to me. I’m going to trust you and Mark with them but neither of you are allowed to use them without my permission. Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll pass them on to Mark.”
Grace nodded. “Okay, this is the supply elevator we used earlier. As you know it has two doors. This one opens into this hallway and the storage room on the lower level. Another set of doors on the opposite side open to the dock. I’ve already locked the outer shutter with a new code. After we used the elevator to bring in the supplies, I locked it into place and locked the doors and the lowered shutter. I’ll give you those codes later. Right now we need to change the code on this shutter.”
She pointed to a number above the door. “This is door one. The other doors are also numbered. The new code is an ampersand followed by the year the academy opened, a percent sign, an asterisk, and the door number last.”
Luke nodded. “Okay, I’ve got it.”
She had Luke change the code on the supply elevator while she watched him. He keyed it in correctly reassuring her that he was the right student to trust. They passed into the cafeteria and changed the code at the front doors then secured the other doors and returned to her office where she grabbed a stack of books before they returned to the lower level.
She set the books on a table and checked on the other cadets. Neal had the situation under control having served Megan, Sherry and John bowls of cobbler and ice cream. She sent him an approving smile before she led Luke away.
She pointed to the far wall. “You all know where the dorms and showers are located.” She smiled. “One for females and one for males. The Edgars don’t really believe in the coed life.”
Luke smiled. “No kidding.”
Grace nodded. “I’m going to show you three areas that only I know about.” She led Luke through the storage room to the back corner behind the shelves. Facing the wall she opened a concealed door and stepped through it. He followed her, and she gave him a few seconds to look around while she sat down and typed her password into a computer. She pulled up the security program and locked everyone but herself out of the system.
Luke sat down in the other chair and she told him her password and explained the system to him. “Mr. Edgar has always been paranoid about workers and cadets stealing food from the kitchens. This security system was installed in his office when the new cafeteria and emergency shelter were built. Mr. Manning put this one in the shelter without Mr. Edgar’s knowledge. I’ve just locked him out. Now, only we have access to the cameras on the inside and outside of this building. There’s also radio equipment in here and a manual. I haven’t had time to read it, so I don’t know how it works.”
“I know how to operate it and so do Mark and Neal.” Luke watched the bank of monitors. “Holy crap, what is that?” He leaned closer to the monitor then pointed at a figure on the dock. “Do you see that thing, Ms. Walker?”
She watched it for a moment. It still wore part of a pair of jeans. Shirtless, it had deep scratches and bite marks on its chest and arms. In some places pieces of flesh had been gouged out while in others places the skin and muscle had been torn away. The creature’s lips were circular like a lamprey eel’s. They constantly moved, puckering and relaxing, as if it couldn’t control the movement. Its eyes glowed a reddish-yellow, and she realized it was staring at the camera as if it knew they were watching it. “That’s the one that attacked Susan.”
“How many others did you see?”
“At least a dozen or more.”
“Can you turn off the dock lights from here.?”
Grace brought up the security program and typed in a command. The lights blinked off. “Let’s hope your uncle sends help by morning so we can get out of here.”
“I don’t know, Ms. Walker, from what Megan said it might take a while before he can do that.”
“We’ll see, but for now we’re in a secure building. We have food and water, and a TV.” She rolled the chair over to a cabinet, opened the doors and picked up a remote control. Using it she powered on the TV and tuned it to a major news station.
A well-known reporter appeared on the screen. Pale and scared she continuously glanced around her as she reported in a high-pitched voice. Behind her people ran while others were attacked by the same creatures they’d seen on the campus. Blood stained the street, the people and the creatures. A banner ran across the bottom of the screen advising people to stay in their homes and to lock their doors and windows.
“Look.” Luke pointed to a blood-covered man who staggered to his feet then ran toward the reporter. “They just attacked him and he’s already one of them.”
The man lunged at the reporter, knocking her to the ground and biting her neck. The cameraman set the camera on the ground and ran to help the reporter. It continued to broadcast as he was mobbed by a swarm of the creatures.
Grace watched for several more minutes then stood up. “Okay, let’s keep moving. All the cadets need to know how to get into this room as well as what I’m going to show you next.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Luke said.
She moved to the corner. “Watch.” She placed her feet on two floor tiles and pressed on the wall. Another concealed door opened to a three-foot wide passage. It went back fifty feet, ending in a vertical passage with a ladder attached to one wall. “This is the access to the roof. The hatch at the top can only be opened from the inside and it’s disguised as a vent. Cameras show the entire roof. If we ever need to go up there we can be sure it’s clear first.” She ended by telling him the key code.
“How thick are these walls?” Luke asked.
“Six feet thick around the lower floor and they extend six feet above ground. The walls on the upper level are two-foot thick reinforced concrete.” Grace moved to the wall on the other side of the ladder. Reaching down she pressed latches on the back of the first and third rungs. Another concealed door opened and a line of dim lights lit up a long, eight-foot-wide tunnel. “This opens a quarter mile beyond the campus wall. The hatch can only be opened from inside and there are cameras hidden in the trees so we can see if the area is clear.” She pointed to the ceiling. The center six feet was flat but each upper corner had a short diagonal wall that ran from the ceiling to the wall about a foot down. “I’ll tell you about those in a few minutes.” She closed the door, and they returned to the security room. “Get Mark. I’ll show the two of you the rest of the shelter and then he can monitor the cameras and television. We also need to get the radios working and begin a log of the information we gather.”
He left to get him and she watched the news as more scenes of horror were shown from all over the country. By the time they returned she knew for sure that they were in extreme danger and she couldn’t help but wonder if they were already on their own. Chicago was hundreds of miles away but the infection had already reached Colorado, and many other cities.
Luke did a quick overview of the system and showed Mark the way to the roof and the tunnel. They returned and Mark watched the news while Luke secured the passage.
Grace beckoned them to follow her. In the hallway, she opened another door. “This is the battery room for the solar panels on the roof. The system is set up to work automatically if we lose public power. First the solar system will turn on and keep us going for up to six days depending on how conservative we use it. If it’s cloudy and they can’t charge, then a generator will automatically take over. Several panels and a generator and propane tank behind the faculty garage supply energy to the upper level. She smiled. “A more powerful generator is buried in a sound proof room a hundred feet from us. The fuel tanks that feed it are buried outside the wall. They hold enough fuel for two years—longer if we conserve it. The wiring for the generator and the supply lines for water and propane are located inside the escape tunnel in the upper corners. They can’t be tampered with by anyone on the inside or outside.”