The building was larger than Nella had expected and seemed a giant cube of black glass planted in a large clearing. It was surrounded by old forest that seemed to be spreading its fingers toward the building. Even the gravel parking lot was almost invisible, covered by early grass and unopened dandelion heads. Nella had been outside of the City many times with the Cure team, and she had seen the roads and buildings begin to decay, to be drawn back into the ground, swallowed by grass and trees. But this place felt almost surreal. It looked so untouched. No windows were broken that she could see. The roof looked whole and wasn't sagging. There was no paint to peel, because it was all glass and she couldn't see if there were any disorder within because the windows were reflective. It was intimidating, this thing that stood impervious to the devastation that had spread around it, from it even, if Dr. Pazzo was to be believed.
"What if she isn't here?" asked Frank as they reached the dark, smooth rotating door.
"She left Dr. Carton's lab seven weeks ago now. Unless she's living here I doubt that she will be here."
"Then why are we here?"
"I want to make sure the vial isn't in the vault. And maybe Dr. Schneider left some clue where she went. She wouldn't have been very careful, she had no idea she'd be followed."
Frank began to push on the door and Nella stopped him. "Be careful," she said softly, "we can't see inside. We have no idea if anyone else is in there."
He pulled the pistol out of the pack and gripped it tight. They turned the door together, entering the building at a slow, careful crawl. It was still inside and completely spotless. As if it were all waiting for the light switches to be turned on and it would all start up again.
"The scavenge scouts were right. No one's touched this place in all these years," Nella said.
"I doubt anyone even knew this place existed, except for the people who worked here."
"And we know what happened to them. But why is the lobby so immaculate?"
"I'm sure Carton sent them home at the first signs of Infection. He was better equipped to recognize them than others," Frank said, his voice a dry, bitter rind between them.
"But he said he watched them from the lab for a week before fleeing."
"I imagine there were great crowds of people both sick and well moving on the road past here. Some of them were bound to wander by here. Some probably knocked on this door for help. And he just watched them get killed." Frank's mouth had tightened and she could see the edge of his jaw pulse as he ground his teeth. "Come on, Nella, let's get this over with, this place gives me the creeps."
He stepped behind the reception desk and finding an empty shelf, stowed the pack. He kept the pistol and handed the lantern to Nella.
"Is it okay if you carry that?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm fine." She held up the pale light and it made a pitifully small circle in the large lobby. "Frank, maybe we should find someplace to sleep and go over the whole place in the morning. We could miss something in the dark. And I didn't see anywhere else since we left the farmhouse."
Frank frowned. "I know it's not ideal," she said, "and I don't want to stay overnight anymore than you do, but I don't really see any alternative. And I'm exhausted."
"Okay," he agreed, "but first we take precautions." He picked up a lobby chair and wedged it in the rotating door so that it couldn't move at all. "Let's see if we can find a first aid station and change your bandages. Maybe we'll even find antibiotics."
They made their way across the dark lobby and down a glassed in hallway. Nella tried nervously to block the lantern on one side with her body until she remembered that the glass was one way. Still, when they reached the first floor offices she felt somewhat more secure. The silence made Nella want to hold her breath. They tried each door along the hall, finding only desk after empty desk.
"There may not be a first aid station on this level," Nella whispered, "They may be on the lab floors."
"In a place this big you'd think there would be something on each level- surely a security office or something. They wouldn't have left something like this unguarded. Even my tiny law firm had a security office."
They had almost reached the end of the corridor, where it branched off to the right and Nella caught a flicker of blue out of the corner of her eye. She froze and switched the lantern off with one finger.
"Nella, what-" started Frank. She shook her head and he was quiet. There was another flicker, like the flashing reflection of water. Nella looked down the side hallway. It was a slim tube of night, blank, unmoving, dead. Every door was closed except the last. Blue and gray light burst and receded across that corner of the hallway. There was no sound, just the moving flashes. Frank gently pushed past her, one long arm pulling her protectively behind his slim frame, the other holding the pistol. They were slow, as if it were a dream, a nightmare of endless swimming. Nella held the lantern in her aching right arm and let the fingers of her left hand brush one wall so she wouldn't fall if she tripped on something unseen.
The flashes made the darkness worse. Her eyes couldn't adjust. She felt sweat pool in the inside of her elbow and at her neck.
There was a loud screech and Nella's knees locked, cramping almost instantly. She saw Frank straighten and freeze for a few seconds. It's an office chair, she realized, someone stretching in an old swivel office chair.
Frank started forward again and she tried not to stumble as she took an extra few steps to catch up with him. They were only halfway down the hall.
She had time to wonder what he was going to do if it was someone dangerous. Was he really ready to fire the gun? He hadn't been last time. She felt a twisting thread of pain spiral down her arm, as if it were being bitten all over again. She wished it were she carrying the weapon. But a wave of shame burnt away the oily fear that clung to her. He was trying to protect her. He had protected her yesterday, even if it was a little late.
They neared the door and Frank pressed her gently against the wall and out of sight. He swung the door open and stood in the frame. Nella shut her eyes, bracing herself for the gunshot. At the same time she made a fervent wish that he wouldn't be forced to use it.
"Dr. Schneider?" he asked, his voice panicked and unbelieving.
"Who are you? How do you know me? Are you here from the government?" The woman's voice sounded tired and there was another screech as she stood up from the office chair.
"No- well, yes, but we're not here for the reason you think," said Frank, lowering the gun.
"We?"
Nella stepped into the fluttering blue light. "Dr. Schneider, you have no idea how relieved we are to find you here."
Gerta Schneider