Nucleic † Dennor

Tracked

As soon as Lukas knew the coast was clear he squeezed back in front of Mathias and began crawling again. Mathias followed silently as they took a right turn. The air duct was dusty and dark, and Lukas was finding it difficult to keep himself from sneezing and making a loud enough sound to alert their position to the chief. Lukas knew they were heading in the right direction as they began a slight incline.

"Do you know where we're going?" Mathias whispered as they continued crawling through the dimly lit space.

"Yes actually, this is how I get around the building during work. It's good for avoiding hallway traffic" Lukas shot back sarcastically, rolling his eyes as the incline abruptly stopped. They must've been on the same level as floor 15.

Mathias ignored the sarcasm and they continued crawling until they reached a right turn, which led to the vent on the 15th floor. "We're on the 15th floor so we're going to have to crawl for a while to get out of here. Are you doing alright?" Lukas asked, pausing as he looked back at Mathias. He hadn't even thought about it before forcing him into the vent, but he didn't know Mathias's physical state. He didn't know what they had injected the man with, and he wasn't sure if Mathias could do physical activity for an extended period of time.

"I'm fine, just a little tired. And hungry. And thirsty. And a little claustrophobic" Mathias stated, shooting Lukas a smile before they continued to crawl. "Also- If we're going up, why are the numbers of the floors going down?"

"We're underground" Lukas replied.

"Oh- thats not helping my claustrophobia" Mathias uttered, chuckling to himself as he continued following Lukas' lead.

The two continued until reaching the 2nd floor, where they heard the voice of the chief. Lukas told Mathias to stay put as he took a right turn towards the vent, where he peered out of the slits to see the man speaking to the other scientist that had been with him earlier.

"The tracker says the specimen is still in the building. We must search every floor. We can't have it escaping. Could you imagine the prison sentence?" the chief exclaimed, his limbs rigid as he spoke to the scientist.

"I'd imagine it'd be a life sentence sir" the scientist responded.

"So get moving you fucking moron!" the chief yelled, making Lukas tense as the scientist scurried away. Lukas watched as the chief stood there, hand on his forehead. He looked stressed. Lukas hoped to god that there weren't any cameras on floor 16. Or in the conference room for that matter. If the chief had seen Lukas steal his security pass on tape, there was no going back. He'd probably be on the run for the rest of his life.

Making sure to be as quiet as possible, Lukas turned back around until he was back with Mathias. Putting his finger up to his own mouth, Lukas made sure Mathias stayed silent as they began moving forward. As they began their final incline, Lukas began to feel nervous. He had been calm the majority of the time, but now he knew they were in big trouble.

When they reached the floor of the lobby, otherwise known as floor 1, there was an option to go upwards, right, or left. Upwards led to the above-ground second floor, right led to the 1st floor vent, which would lead right to the lobby, and left led to the end of the vent, which would lead to the area near the dumpsters and a loading dock where the hazmat company picked up the hazardous waste at the end of each day.

Figuring the dumpsters were the best option, Lukas turned left. Mathias followed, and they continued until they reached the end of the air duct. Above them was an opening with a vent. Lukas listened for anyone outside before taking the wrench out from earlier, sticking it in between the louvers, and prying them open.