LUPINE

Chapter 28

Seri walks ahead into Area 41, her trained eyes scanning every inch of the ground the second they trespass the tall barbed wired gates that separates the open land and the abandoned area. Maya stays behind, Mina in the middle as they walk in a formation, their eyes and ears focused on their surroundings.

Area 41 looks completely grim with old buildings with holes and cracks on their walls, broken furniture at every corner possible, dried leaves scattered on the road and on the brown grass at the side, some old torn clothes piled up in baskets and big torn plastics of all shapes and sized at the front of old shops. Clearly abandoned.

When they finally arrive at the designated spot, that's when they can see healthy green grass that seems so vibrant that the light from the morning sun seems to bounce from them. The trees seem to flourish on the soil, their leaves thick, flowers blooming in shades of colors and their roots so brown and sturdy.

"This is the spot from the map", Seri halts right in front of a small gate. "This is the entrance to the old factory, the one that is removed in the new map"

"A factory", Maya studies the 2-storey building made of pale red bricks, the round big windows completely bare with no glasses, the doors broken but apparently there is a wooden panel installed as a separator.

"I smell gas here", Mina turns to Maya, her hand waving in the air to gesture to the smell lingering around them. "If it is abandoned, why the gas smell"

"Inside", Maya points to the door as she turns around to scan the area for the third time, her senses completely high on alert to any possible threat that may come.

They move inside as stealthy as possible, hands on their weapons as they keep their formation. Passing through the small wooden walkway, they entered a large tall space with an open roof, the beaming sunlight hitting straight on the stained concrete ground, creating shadows and patterns. The small windows around the big space are covered with various clothes, like make-shift curtains. There are old cupboards and tables on each side, books and various junks piled on the surfaces.

In the middle of the big space, there is a round table - the only table with nothing on it. Nothing except a rumbling type of machinery covered with an old table cloth.

Maya puts up her left fist, signalling everyone to stop moving. "Something is not right"

Seri and Mina quickly look around, searching for any signs of danger. They looked at each window and door for any possible threat but found none.

"This space is warmer than the walkway", Maya steps closer to the round table then she swipes a finger on the surface. "No dust"

Mina's eyes shift to the bottom part of the table, her sharp eyes catching a glimpse of something that looks like a thread. "Maya, step back"

"I can smell smoke dust", Seri turns around, sniffing for the source. "It is getting warmer"

Maya steps back from the round table, her eyes going straight to the tight thread just an inch away from her legs. The thread is so thin it is almost invisible to the naked eyes. The thread connected from the left wall to the right wall is probably meant to separate the rest of the space and the round table. The table with this very strange machinery.

A trigger thread. A bomb.

"Maya, listen", Seri gulps as she stares at a small trunk just at the corner of the room.

All of them hold their breaths, ears focusing on the faint sound that is beginning to get clearer and clearer each second. At first it sounds like water dripping at a distance. But as the pin-drop silence envelopes them, the sound slowly begins to form a constant ticking sound. An even-paced ticking sounds like a metronome. Or a countdown. Or maybe, a timed bomb.