Letting the Days Go By...

This is Crazy

If this mystery woman had been hurt, she didn't act as if she had been in a terrible situation at all, though maybe it was shock that was making her expressions hard to read. He sighed, "I shouldn't've let you go with that freak."

A blank stare was all he was given before she spoke again, "Do you know anything at all about this place?"

It was asked more as a statement disguised as a question.

This mystery woman didn't seem to be harmful, and he could at least tell her what he knew.

"I mean, we don't know much about this place – don't get me wrong, we've only been here for a couple days – but I think Richtofen knows more about what's going on than it seems. Guessing he didn't tell ya, considering you're out here. That shady son of a b**ch."

There was a brief pause of uncomfortable silence. Not the most awkward conversation he had ever experienced...

Maybe that bastard had done something to her.

"Okay."

With that quick resolution, she quickly turned and walked away from him.

He called out after her, "Hey, wait! I didn't catch your name!"

He didn't dare move away from his position to chase after her; He just hoped that it didn't attract the attention of anything unwanted.

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Chloe had decided to get back to where she had been sitting earlier, though opted to take the much safer, longer way around.

The conversation had gleamed no new information, other than the fact that the American man didn't seem very fond of the sciences.

Through the automotive garage and up the stairs, she instead decided to explore the other side; walking up the non-broken staircase to the right, she turned to face teleporter room Z-B.

She knew that it would be better to find and question the others to hopefully gain a better insight on the facility, but the call of curiosity was strong.

Then, she heard an unusual tune start up from her left and a yellow light appear.

Suddenly the steel bridge had begun to creak and groan. Steam escaping from the sides as the hydraulics released, letting the bridge down as smoothly as they could. Sparks of electricity jumped from the nearby generator; the facility's power supply was finally back online.

The one who had activated it stood at the bottom by the power switch, watching the bridge descend and connect. The doctor had come out of his office.

Chloe ducked behind the large air conditioning unit to not be seen. As much as she wished to talk to the man, she really wanted more information before she faced him again; She still needed a bit more time to figure out her plan of action on getting home, along with how the teleporters worked. And what the others knew was crucial to having the upper hand.

That was when she spotted something inside.

Hiding on the inner side of the unit, visible through a cracked grate, sat a few books: Two laying on the floor, one closed and one laying face-down, with the other haphazardly opened and resting on the inside of the wall.

She reached inside, being as gentle as possible. Fingers carefully extending to wrap around the open book nearest to her. Slowly she pulled her arm back, book in hand, out of the decaying grate.

The front cover was white on a faded brown background, printed with the logo of a hand clutching the nucleus of an atom, the numbers 935 in the middle. Below it, the words 'Field Operations Manual' printed in bold, blocky lettering.