"Whatever traffic this road might have had," Hunter began, "it must have been carrying some pretty heavy stuff. Look at those tread marks!"
"Tanks?" Janine asked.
"Doubt that," I said. "What kind of company would need tanks at their research department?"
"What kind of company would hide their unlisted research center on an access road at the base of a mountain in the middle of nowhere?" Hunter countered.
I thought about that. He had a point, but I seriously doubted we'd run into any tanks out there. I only had one clip for the pistol that I was carrying, and the 40 caliber rounds that were in it wouldn't have the stopping power required to protect us in the event of an encounter with a tank. Or a large car, for that matter.
"Synchro Systems is up to a little more than even we've suspected," Janine observed.
Hunter nodded, stepping under a low hanging branch.
We arrived at the end of the access road a short while later. The road ended in a small clearing, about three times as wide as the road had been. There was a gate in front of us, and after that, a large, empty concrete lot. A two storied, mostly glass building was at the far end of the paved yard, and a couple of smaller buildings made of brick were beside it on each side.
Hunter walked up to the gate.
"It looks like this fence runs the perimeter of the complex," he said, pointing to the coiled razor wires at the top of the fence. "The bad news is that there's razor wire up there. Worse news than that is that the whole damn thing appears to be electrified."
I noticed a small sign next to the access gate that served as a warning about the danger. Whoever put the fence up really didn't want people wandering into the complex, but they didn't seem very concerned about warning trespassers about the consequences of going in, either.
"We shouldn't be here," Janine said, concerned. "We could get into a lot of trouble for going in there."
"Well, I think that's probably the building we want to get into," I nodded towards the glass building. "We've just got to figure out a way to get to the door."
"There's no key card swipe on the access box for this gate," Hunter pointed out. "Just a manual keypad. I can try to guess the combination." He began punching in numbers.
"I have a bad feeling about this whole place," Janine reiterated.
He ignored her, continuing his attempt to unlock the manual gate lock. I walked beside the fence to where it entered into the heavier woods beside us.
"This can't be the only entrance to the complex," I said. "How far around do you think that this fence goes?"
"Too far to walk around before we get kicked out of here," Janine said. "You can't even see the other side of the complex from here. There's just that wall of trees behind the buildings. We don't know how far the fence goes back into the woods, either."
"Maybe there's no fence on the other side," Hunter suggested. "Maybe there's not even any electricity in it."
"I'm not going to grab it just to find out," Janine grew wide-eyed, stepping back. "That's just stupid."
I looked back over at Hunter. I didn't intend to grab the fence, either. It was possible that the fence ended somewhere in the woods beside us, but I doubted it. Why bother putting a fence up in the first place, if someone could just walk around it?
"Security seems pretty relaxed," Hunter said. "This place looks like a ghost town."
It was true. There were no vehicles in the lot, no security patrols had arrived to tell us to leave the area, and there didn't appear to be any human activity going on around any of the buildings at all.
"We must be at the wrong place," Janine decided.
‘"We're not at the wrong place," Hunter argued with her. "This is the only place out here!"
"Don't be a jerk," she said to him, scowling. "You don't know me well enough to act like that."
"That's exactly why I can act like that, kid. If you forgot, I'm the one who gave you a ride out here and destroyed my ride all in the name of finding his missing girlfriend, so I'd be careful who you're calling a jerk!" Hunter exclaimed. "Now that we're here, let's do this. Otherwise, why'd we even bother?"
I looked back to her. She looked like she was about to cry. I felt uncomfortable with Hunter bringing up his doubts about things, but I knew that they were legitimate. I felt guilty about what had happened to his RV, but we needed to get into that building somehow, and the two of them fighting wasn't going to make that happen.
"We don't have all day," I said, changing the subject. "You might want to hurry up and get to work on that." I pointed at the keypad to reiterate my request. Hunter continued to examine the pad, randomly hitting numbers in the hopes he'd get lucky and find the right combination.
"Try entering code number 809," I suggested.
To our surprise, the red status light switched over to green, and we heard the lock click open.
Hunter let out a low whistle.
"That's a pretty good guess, dude."
"Psychic one," Janine said, slugging me in the arm.
I pushed open the gate, and it made a loud creaking sound that echoed out across the laboratory yards.
"Hopefully they don't have any security dogs around here," I said, looking around.
"And hopefully the guards are still asleep," Janine added.
We stayed in the shadows to be sure that no one would see us, if anyone were indeed around us in the first place. All signs pointed to the facility being completely unmanned, but that didn't mean that the security or stationed employees weren't around - they just weren't in our corner of the complex.
Janine coughed a little and then wiped her nose.
"I think that I'm catching a cold," she said, sniffling. She buttoned the top button of the wool military-style coat she'd picked out of Hunter's things the night before. The coat was more than a few sizes too big for her and made her look like a little kid wearing her father's clothes.
And so we moved across the long stretches of concrete and asphalt, the sound of our footsteps echoing off of the seemingly lifeless buildings that made up the unlisted Synchro Systems research facility. The closest building seemed like the best place to start, and I mentioned as much to Hunter and Janine. They agreed, so we walked up to the front doors.
I couldn't see inside of the building because of the reflective tint on the glass of the windows, but the automatic door sensors didn't trigger, and the doors wouldn't open even though we all tried to pull them apart.
"Now what?" Janine asked me.
"Next building, I guess," I said, reaching for my cigarettes.
"They're all going to be locked, you know," she said to me. I looked at Hunter and he shrugged.
"Won't know until we try. Like I said, man, we didn't come all this way for nothing."
"I still think we're at the wrong place," Janine said. "Look around. There aren't any Synchro logo signs up anywhere."
I ignored her and started walking towards a smaller building to our left.
I was surprised to see a rotating door in the entranceway of the second building when we arrived at it. The windows weren't tinted, either, and all of the lights inside were on. We paused for a moment, evaluating the structure.
"Looks like somebody's home," I observed, leaning up against the glass so that I could get a better view of the small lobby area on the other side of the revolving door. A reception desk was in the middle of the room. Behind that was a set of metal doors that looked like they belonged to an elevator, but I couldn't understand why anyone would put an elevator in a building that was only two stories tall. It seemed like a lot of effort to make the second story handicap accessible, if that was the case, since it was a private facility and it would have been cheaper to move whatever was upstairs to the first floor, I thought. There were two ficus trees in the room, one on each side of the reception desk, and they both seemed to be in good health. The placed looked clean, as if it had been occupied recently. "Even if no one's attending the desk," I added.
Hunter leaned up
against the glass, too.
"Yep. Nice elevator."
Janine raised an eyebrow, stepping back.
"This building isn't tall enough for an elevator, is it?" She asked.
"That's kind of what I was thinking," I said. "Unless the people that work here are really lazy."
"There's the possibility that the elevator goes down instead of up," Hunter suggested.
"Underground research elevator, of all things," I said to myself, and to the others: "Shall we see if we can talk to someone inside?"
"After you, man," Hunter said.
"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Janine asked me, grabbing my arm.
I pulled away from her.
"What's wrong with you, Janine?" I snapped. "Scared someone's going to tell us to leave? Better that than running away right when we're finally making some sort of progress! Better to go to jail than to not know anything at all!"
"Sometimes," she said quietly, looking at the ground.
"You're acting weird. Maybe you should wait out here. It will only take a minute or two," I said.
"Fine," she said, crossing her arms and scowling.
I entered the building and Hunter followed me.
The air inside of the building had a clean smell, as if it had been scrubbed and ionized and filtered relentlessly; it was a smell like the one you'd notice after a heavy rainstorm mixed with the antiseptic, medical odor of a hospital.
I walked to the reception desk, looking for a buzzer that would ring an attendant, if one were actually present. I didn't see a buzzer, but upon further inspection of the desk, I could see an array of monitors displaying security feeds from outside of the building as well as one that was looking down on us. I checked over my shoulder quickly but couldn't locate the camera, which must have been small given that the walls over the doors behind the desk were completely featureless.
"It's spooky quiet in here," Hunter commented. He was examining the ficus tree on the right side of the desk, and appeared to be trying to determine if it was a real tree or a very convincing fake.
I turned to check on Janine, momentarily concerned that she had wandered off to someplace else in the complex, but she was still outside of the building, shifting around, watching us through the glass. I gestured for her to come in, but she gave me an "as-if" look in response.
I turned back around, checking the doors for an access panel. I thought we'd be able to find a key card in the reception desk to open them and at least find out if they went upstairs or, as Hunter suspected, downstairs.
"There's no switch for the doors," I noted.
"You're right, but there's a call box right here, behind the desk," he replied.
I moved around to where he was standing, paused for a moment, and then looked at him. I'd somehow overlooked the call box on my first examination of the desk.
"So who do think it calls?" I asked.
"Only one way to find out," he answered, picking up the receiver. He waited, I waited, and outside, Janine waited, watching us with curiosity.
Nothing happened.
"Did anyone answer?" I asked.
He didn't look at me, studying the monitors instead.
"Nope," he replied.
"I think we should try another building," I began, but was interrupted by the sound of the metal doors behind me opening. I turned around quickly and took a step backwards, running into the desk. I expected the missing receptionist to exit from the doors, but I was mistaken. No one came out, though it did appear to be an elevator.
"On second thought," I said.
Janine entered the building through the revolving doors, then, asking how we had managed to open the elevator doors.
"Actually, they opened on their own," Hunter told her.
"That's not creepy or ominous," she quipped. "So who's waiting for us on the other end of the elevator?"
"Good question," I answered her, feeling a bit like someone was playing with us.
I stepped into the elevator, though, deciding that it was too late to turn back. I checked the control box inside; there was only one button available. There were no markings indicating whether the elevator went up or down, though, so I still wasn't sure who was going to win the debate about the direction it would travel in.
"Are you guys coming?" I asked them, waiting on them to get into the elevator with me.
They looked at each other and then Janine took a step in my direction, but Hunter grabbed her arm, holding her back.
"Is that really the best idea?" He questioned. "We don't really know where it's going, if there's anyone there, or how illegal this really is getting, even, considering that we're technically trespassing already. We've yet to see anyone who works here."
Janine made a funny face.
"We're already committed, Hunter, you said so yourself. You can't push us along this far then suddenly get cold feet," she reasoned. "Someone should take the elevator, anyway. It's not like it's going to be some trap or something. That creepy and ominous thing was just a joke. You guys know I've got a weird sense of humor, and regardless, I still think we're at the wrong place. It doesn't say anything about Synchro Systems anywhere in the complex!"
"Whatever guys," I said, annoyed with them. "Wait here. I'll be back in a couple of minutes." I pushed the button.
The doors closed.
And that was the last time that I saw Janine or Hunter.
There's the percussive sound of heavy rain on the roof and the windows. The rubber-meets-glass sound of windshield wipers while we're watching them, holding hands while the windows get foggy. She breathes near my ear, warm, humid. Her head, resting on my shoulder. She smells like lavender and tea leaves, like a new book. But then again, we're young; we're stupid thirsty blank pages, so it makes a little sense.
The dashboard is cracked and distorted from too many summers of baking in the sun. The black vinyl is peeling away from the door liners, the seats are patched with duct tape, there's rust on the metalwork. The radio is an original, an analog monster, push button presets ready to jar the needle across the unevenly illuminated dial.
"I love you," she says. "I love you more than anything or anyone on this earth," as she stares at the wiper blades… tock tock, screep. Tock tock, screep.
I don't move. I don't respond. I don't even breathe.
"But I can't wait any longer for you," she pauses, swallows. I hear her tongue touch her lips.
"I'm getting out of this place. I'm leaving."
Tock tock, screep. Tock tock, screep.
I blink. Twice. Without a word, I take my hand from hers. I want to throw up and die, choking on my vomit and bile. I want to curl up into a ball and vanish. I want to put my fist through all of the brittle plastic and dirty glass and pockmarked metal, so I can feel the bones breaking the skin tearing away. I want to kiss her on the mouth. I want to feel her sweaty hands raking their way across my back, drawing blood, hurting me. Just one last time. It's all so fucked up. I know that I should let her go, so I close my eyes, and I focus:
Tock tock, screep. Tock tock, screep.
"I hope you understand," she says, and I don't. Then again, we're young. We're stupid thirsty blank pages, so it makes a little sense.
Chapter 12
I must have traveled down at least three or four floors, given the amount of time it took for the elevator to stop. I was a little surprised that there were that many sub-levels in such a small building, but being so far underground meant that the ground floor might misrepresent the total size of the building. Maybe all of the buildings in the entire facility were connected underground and the ground level buildings were strictly administrative and storage areas, constructed for appearance.
It didn't matter. I intended to make a quick scan over wherever the elevator ended up stopping at, check some things out, see if there were signs that anyone was there (even though all signs pointed to that not being the case, as far as we'd seen). After that, I planned on returning back to the upper level and letting
Janine and Hunter know what I'd discovered, then see what they thought was the best course of action from there.
You get all kinds of ideas in your head, anyway, when you don't know what's going to happen next.
I imagined everything would go smoothly. The worst-case scenario that I came up with involved an aggressive security guard or two escorting us off of the property with a stern warning forbidding us from ever returning. I also considered the possibility that Janine and Hunter would agree to return downstairs with me after I informed them of the hypothetical vast wealth of information that I'd discovered on whatever sub-level of the small building that I ended up on. Of course, I thought all of that on the ride down, before the doors opened.
Then the elevator stopped. I pushed all of my ideas to the side.
The doors opened.
In front of me was a sterile room very similar to the one I'd left just a moment or two before. A reception desk was across from the elevator, and at it, a sharp looking woman dressed in black clothing sat. I noticed that she was staring at me as soon as the doors opened, and she didn't break her gaze as I stepped out of the elevator, quickly sized the room up, made note of the pair of glass doors behind her that appeared to lead to two separate hallways, and returned my attention to her.
"Um," I started, unsure of what to say to her. "Hi."
Her neutral expression didn't change, but she adjusted her glasses slightly and briefly looked at something behind the facade of the desk. I assumed that there were monitors of some sort embedded in the panel, as had been the case in the desk upstairs. I didn't have time to ponder what information she might be receiving, because she spoke.
"Welcome back, sir. We've been expecting you."
That really threw me off.
"You're kidding, right?" I asked. "You say that to everybody when you catch them breaking into your research complex don't you?"
She raised an eyebrow. I noticed her eye color, then: blue. It was a good color for her.
She avoided answering the question, probably because it was a stupid one. She typed something into a keypad on the desk and then returned her full attention to me, clearing her throat.
"We know who you're looking for. We have the answers."
My heart leaped into my throat and I felt dizzy and nervous. I could hear my pulse pounding in my ears. Blood pressure rising, anticipation. Anxiety.