Stories from Other Writers

The Great IKEA Game - Chapter 6

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Story Link :

https://batsandbugs.tumblr.com/post/640257711929507840/the-great-ikea-game-chapter-6-let-there-be

Masterpost Link :

https://batsandbugs.tumblr.com/post/644566288413392896/great-ikea-game-masterlist-you-can-read-it-here-on

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Let there be light.... and fire

"How will we find them?" Marinette asked as they made their way through the back hallways of the store. It was a little disconcerting no one tried to stop them, but besides from a harried man wearing a blue vest and dragging around an industrial-sized banana and a teen girl with vibrant pink hair who looked like she hadn't slept in two days, they hadn't run into anybody.

"Oh, I know where Drake is," replied Damian, who had his head bent looking at his phone, but for some reason was able to make a series of turns without running into a single wall. "Just trust me."

Eventually, they came to the end of the hall. The transition from dingy carpet to concrete and a box of vests and hats, and a sign above that read: "CAUTION! DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT SAFETY GEAR!" made it astoundingly clear they were about to enter a public workspace. An electronic door with a key code blocked their way. Through the door's screen glass window, they could see a giant warehouse filled floor to ceiling with metal shelves. Boxes piled on shelves, just like the customer warehouse section at the front of the store was. Marinette remembered the website boasting this IKEA was the distribution plant for the mid-northeast. The whole back wall was filled with giant shutter doors, big enough that semi-trucks could be loaded and unloaded. A group of about ten workers unloaded boxes off a truck.

"What now?" Marinette asked.

"My brothers, without a doubt, followed you back to our hiding spot, and they pulled up the same blueprints we did for the vent system." He handed his phone to her. "Now if you'll note, there are three locations where those vents end."

"Which means they most likely split up." It made sense it was what she would do if she tried to trap someone.

"Three locations: two in the back and one in public. Here in the distribution plant near the security office, one near the loading docks, and one near the children's daycare center. Grayson took the front, Drake the back-door entrance, and Todd the back lot," said Damian with a look of confidence that brokered no argument. Marinette was curious as to how he came to his conclusion but figured Damian knew his brothers well enough to reason out their strategy.

"Drake will watch the camera feed, so we need to stay out of the line of sight otherwise he'll know we're no longer in the vents."

"If he's in the back, he'll also stay out of the sight of the cameras too. So, no one in the security room will see he's out of bounds."

Damian nodded. "He'll be working in a limited range, watching the vent. We'll be working in an even smaller one." He tapped on another tab on his phone and showed her the screen, it cycled between all of the cameras for the distribution center. "Here, you familiarize yourself with this, while I disable the lock on the door."

Marinette wondered for a second how he gained access to the footage but considering his brothers tracked their younger sibling's credit card, it wasn't unreasonable to think they were all good with technology. She watched the screen noting the exits and entrances and possible places to hide from the camera's immediate reach. The vent entrance they were supposed to come out of was barely on camera, just a sliver, she figured Tim would be in that area. She noticed the cameras were all pointing down to the warehouse floor but not upwards.