Woman of the Past

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

All six of them stood in front of an old abandoned hospital as the soft spring rain did its best to wash away the grime that covered the building. Peyton remembered this hospital. They had rushed there after she’d fallen from the monkey bars at recess, breaking her arm. Looking at it now was difficult. The once gleaming white outer surface now littered with graffiti, telling the Doctors of yesterday how epically they had failed. Someone had boarded up all of the glass doors and windows. The doors in front of them had thick chains, held together by a sturdy lock, preventing anyone from entering.

Jaxon ignored the litter, glass, and other debris as he pulled out his keys and unlocked the chains. The heavy chains fell into his hands and he opened the door ushering the others inside. Once in he turned and rewrapped the chains around the door, pulling until the opening was only large enough for his hands to get through.

They were all silent and waiting, “This way.” He told them quietly. He led them around the corner from the front lobby and up a flight of stairs. You could really see the dust and neglect of the lobby. The higher they climbed, the worse it looked. Over an inch of dust covered every surface she could see. At the top, they turned right and walked down another hallway until Jaxon stopped in front of a door to the left. Opening the door, he revealed another set of stairs. His face was neutral as he spoke, “One more flight of stairs.”

They followed him up, one after another. The stairs went up two more flights but the stopped at a door marked “3rd Floor” on a small grimy plaque. Just entering through the door made Peyton certain that Jaxon spent a lot of time here. A shelf with a couple of flashlights sat directly across the hall. It was free from the layers of dust she’d seen downstairs. The tile floor looked as if it had recently seen the love and attention of a good broom and mop. Jaxon grabbed one of the flashlights and led them down the wide empty corridor, the only sound coming from their wet feet squeaking as they walked along.

Logan apparently couldn’t stand the silence, “This is feeling more and more like a horrible slasher film. I swear Jaxon, if you’re leading us to a man in a mask I’m going to push you and run away screaming like a little girl.”

The comment did its job and they all laughed, “Thank goodness you said it first. I thought I was the only one.” Carter piped in.

Peyton jumped onto Law and he caught her up bridal style, “Save me baby brother!” She cried out dramatically while pretending to feint. Law started laughing so hard he nearly dropped her. She managed to spin out of his arms instead. Mason caught her shoulder to keep her from bashing into the wall. She looked up to thank him but he let go of her as if she’d caught on fire and turned away.

He’d been ignoring her all week. Ever since she had coaxed Jaxon into telling them his theories on what was going on with the other women. She knew it was weird but she wished he’d go back to fighting with her. She missed it somehow. She theorized that her brain was becoming mush from sleeping on the couch this last week. It had nothing to do with the fact that she thought he looked hot when they argued. At least that was what she kept telling herself.

Jaxon finally smiled, “I guess it does look bad, but I had to do these tests outside of the Safe Zone, and this place already had the equipment here.” He turned and opened a door. The room was dark until he reached in and flipped a switch. Fluorescent lights flickered to life above them. “They also had solar panels set up on the roof. I had to replace a few and reroute the power to this lab only. The best part is the old time CP’s are too outdated to be hacked by the new CP’s.”

“Not necessarily, I’ll get to work setting up firewalls and alerts for everything. Something this sensitive has to have some protection.

“Peyton these are from your time. You went to college for this stuff. Give Mason a hand, would you?” Law asked her nodding his head towards Mason’s retreating form as he walked towards the back where the CP consoles were stored.