Security

CHAPTER ONE

I ran through corridor after corridor, searching for my next post. The only thoughts that ran through my head were where is it, where is it, where is it, I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!

I was no stranger to this building. I was assigned as a security guard last year, after my training, when I was 17 years old. The Major said that I'm a good fighter, strong with a will to protect.

"Ethan," He said, "You're going to be a strong young man. Lots of people will depend on your great skills! One day, I am sure you will become head of security. I believe in you." Then he collapsed on the floor and died.

I found out later that his heart had stopped, and his brain quickly shut down after. I did not care much about his death; he had always pushed me hard during training, but those last words made me more determined than ever to fulfill them.

I never really had a goal in life besides passing training, which I did, and even though security isn't that big of a job, I set my goal there.

It got me moving faster. Soon, I reached my designated place besides a vault containing important documents, and stood next to another security member.

"Hey, James," I said, out of breath. I had been running for a while.

"Late, as usual, I see," He said in reply. Then he smiled. "Did something happen? you're acting like you just ran a marathon."

He always made jokes like that. I never was a good runner. "You could say that," I said, rolling with his bad comedy. "Or maybe I was running from a snail."

We both chuckled. "Someday, you might just get kicked to the kitchen with your running skills." He looked at his watch. "Ah, look at the time. The General is coming to kick you there himself right now."
As if by magic, the General appeared around the corner.

"No time for jokes right now," He shouted to us. "There has been a breach at the wall. Two security guards will take your place in just a moment. In the meantime, follow me."

He turned around and went back the way he came. James and I looked at each other, and quickly followed.

We reached the main doors to the outside and stopped.

"Care to give us some details, sir?" James asked.

"Someone has used a grenade and blasted through a weak part in the wall we were planning to fix. And one of your security guard friends wasn't stationed there as ordered. Footprints trailed from the hole to the wall. Some men went to the second floor and found a crack in cement from something that dug in there, that we are assuming is a grappling hook. And we found no security stationed there, either."

"Um, sir," I interrupted, "Are you sure the intruders didn't take out the security and brought the bodies with them?"

"I have considered it, but why would they take them? They haven't really bothered to cover their tracks." He turned. "Come now, we will consider this later." He walked out the door.

The scene was a mess; pieces of rock everywhere from the explosion; deep footprints on the ground; security and searchers scanning the entire area. The intruders sure didn't bother to cover their tracks. If anything, they made them more visible.

"Why are the feet so weirdly shaped?" James asked, pointing to one of the footprints.

They weren't slightly curved, like a normal person's foot. It was flat, straight, and had no patterns on it. Strange.

"We are trying to search for the brand of the shoe," The General replied. "So far, there have been no matches.

"And, disappointingly," The General continued, "The tracks disappear when they reach the second floor. We even brought search dogs and they couldn't follow the smell."