Project HALO

Chapter 6

As we hurry down the hallway, Dr. Pratt pulls the strange device from his pocket again, directing it toward the camera closest to us. It's a few doors down, not focusing on us yet. He pushes a button on the device and places it back into his pocket.

"It's not necessary to take down the other cameras," Dr. Pratt says. "I've deactivated them. I only needed the footage from the camera in your room to use as proof."

I tense, my fingers tightening around the handle of the gun. "Proof for what?"

"Proof that won't get me into more trouble than I'm already in," he shakes his head. "I wish I had time to explain, but there's too much to be said. Too many decisions to defend."

I'm not sure what to say. He sounds defeated. But as long as his defeat gets me out of here, I don't care. My priority is to get the fuck away first, and then figure everything out.

"What about guards?" I ask after a while. They must have some kind of security system.

"Don't worry. Few guards work during the night, and the ones that are here will be busy trying to figure out the cameras." Though this information suggests that we don't have to hurry, his steps increase in speed for every second. "But that doesn't mean those few won't discover us eventually."

Dr. Pratt freezes before we turn the next corner. The gun ends up poking him in the back. I immediately pull it away, removing my finger from the trigger. Yeah, he asked me to shoot him, but not like this. Not until he's shown me the way to freedom. He holds his arm out in front of me while peeking around the corner. I hold my breath.

"Sorry, I thought I heard footsteps," Pratt finally whispers.

My shoulders move down from my ears as I exhale. These nerves can't be good for anyone. I just hope the doctor can keep his own nerves in check.

We walk into another hallway, and Dr. Pratt breaks into a jog. I follow suit, constantly turning my head to see if anyone is following. Dr. Pratt does the same. At the end of the hallway, he opens a door that leads into a dark room. When the door closes behind us, a bright ceiling light switches on. Sensor lighting. FLOOR 4 is written on a placket on the wall. There's a staircase in front of us, and Dr. Pratt is already on his way down. I follow, double-stepping all the way. We don't stop until we're at FLOOR 0.

In this room, there are several doors. I hear multiple beeps from the doctor's keycard and all the doors open at once. He waves at me to go through the one farthest to the left, and follows me after I do.

"Why did you open all of them?"

"So they can't tell which one we went through, in case they've got the system working again," he says. "This is the less obvious route, but it's quick enough. We just have to go through the lab first."

A dim, green light colors the following room, making it difficult to see. I glimpse bolted doors, a lot of computers, and syringes scattered on tables. Piping sounds come from the back, and I see cages. Cages with white rats in them. Next to them, there's a huge board with notes on it. I almost stop dead when I see PROJECT HALO written in big, red letters. The notes listed underneath are too small to read in this light and I don't have time to move closer.

Farther down the lab, a neon-yellow placket catches my attention. "BSL-3" is written on it, and a triangle with a symbol with sharp edges inside it is underneath. The biohazard symbol. Inside the glass room, the lighting is a cold blue and a frosty smoke lingers there, almost like a thin fog. Tubes filled with a dark-yellow liquid are spread evenly on the shelves, so many I can't even begin to count them.

Finally, we reach a door; a door with EXIT above it.

I sigh with relief.

He told the truth.

A smile creeps up on my face, but it slowly fades when the doctor talks.

"You must go alone from here," he says in short gasps. His face looks twisted underneath the green lights, sweat glinting off his dark forehead. "But I need you to promise me something."

"What, other than shooting you?" I ask a bit louder than I'd like. Who does he think he is? I don't take promises lightly, but right now I'm desperate enough to do anything to walk through that exit-door.

"This can make or break humanity, Charles." Pratt breathes heavily as he reaches a shaking hand into his breast pocket. "If this comes into the wrong hands, the world as we know it will end."

My eyebrows pull together. "What?"

He fishes out something that looks like a key. Nothing fancy or technological. A simple, regular key. What does he want me to do? Housesit and feed his cats?

He hands it to me. I hesitate for a moment, but his impatient gaze and my want for freedom make me grab it.

"I have a storage unit in the city where I store my most important files. You have to get the flash drive before anyone else can. Everything you need to know is on that flash drive, but no one can know you have it." He grabs my shoulder with a firm hand. "You can't trust anyone, you hear?"

"Then why should I trust you?" I defy, but put the key in my jean pocket.

"You have to. I know this isn't fair to you, but I'll explain more later." He swallows, his gaze unsteady. "But... if I don't make it, you have to get the drive to doctor Rioja. She'll know what to do. But until things calm down, I need you to keep it safe."

He scratches his head and press his lips together as if he's trying to hold something back, but then he continues, "I have people on the outside and they will find you, but you... You can't trust them. Not fully. Don't trust Will. She..." He glances at the ceiling, then finds my eyes in the darkness. "She wants to use this to her own advantage. I can't have that happen. You need to find the drive before anyone else, can you do that?"

I exhale. From the sound of it, this flash drive is a big deal. I have so many questions, and the loudest one forces its way through: "What if I don't?"

"Then freedom will be destroyed." Pratt pulls me closer. "You can do this. We wouldn't have brought you into this if we didn't have faith in you." He nods heavily as if he's trying to convince himself as much as he's trying to convince me. I'm mostly confused over the fact that he said 'we', making it sound like someone chose me.

If this was ever a choice, it should have been mine to make.

Dr. Pratt continues before I can chip in, "When you go through the door, you'll be on the backside of the building. Follow the fence until you see the river and climb over it. Then you run home. My people will find you." He clears his voice, blinking hard. "I'm truly am sorry, Charles. For everything."

I should ask more questions, but I can't get my mind straight. Freedom is on the other side of the door and it's all I can think about.

"You must promise me you won't tell anyone about the flash drive. Not even my people." His eyebrows lift. "Trust no one."

"I understand," I say, not really putting much heart into it. The flash drive might be important, but surely a tiny piece of electronics can't contain the fate of the world. "Where is it?"

"It's in Bergen, in a unit close to—"

A shrieking alarm cuts him off.