Adrenaline

⌊Chapter 28⌉

"I can't fucking believe him," Atlantis growled, hitting the door one last time. She crumbled to the ground, hiding her face in her hands. "He's going to get himself killed. I actually had hope, but then he pulled this act and now we might as well accept his oncoming death."

"Well I have gathered he's quite independent and can fight," Natasha said.

"That's not the point," Atlantis pulled herself to her feet, stumbling slightly. "The microphone that Blake planted in Anthony's jacket probably picked up all our plans. How does he expect to survive out there alone? God, I wish Andy was here."

Jayla pursed her lips and leaned against the wall, her arms folded loosely over her chest. "I'm sure he'll make an appearance. Rich is like his son. I can't imagine that Andy is standing idle."

Atlantis sighed through her nose, shutting her eyes. "He was doing so well. I haven't heard him crack a stupid joke in a while. He's taking this so seriously, so I don't understand why he thinks this is okay. We're not just minions. We chose to help him and he's thrown our efforts away. I know he's trying to protect us, but we were in this together. For Alex. Hell, for Adelmir as a whole," she paused but then perked up a second later. "Wait, Natasha, can't you pick locks?"

Natasha thinned her lips with a shrug where her hands were held up. "I used to be really good at it but I don't really have much confidence in my skill nowadays."

"You might as well try. So we can actually do all that we can do instead of giving up. I'd try to break down the door, but that will draw attention. And... These are really strong doors. The Black family spared no expense in making this tower absolutely safe."

Natasha walked toward the door, removing a bobby pin from her hair. "You're right," she said, pushing it into the lock once she straightened it out. She spent a minute or so moving the pin around in the lock before a satisfying click resounded through the small room. She pushed open the door and the three filed out of the room.

"We shouldn't split ways. We're stronger with all of us," Jayla whispered. Atlantis and Natasha nodded and they made their way down the hall.

⇤⇥

The tower was like a maze of sorts. Rich had to have turned down twenty wrong hallways in a ten minute period. Somehow he kept finding himself in the middle, and he tried his best to continue east where the prison was. It was dark and hard for him to see, and he continued scaling the tower, looking for any prison door. He still looked at the maps, but there were so many rooms and paths that he couldn't memorise them and figure out where to go.

The halls rang with silence, occasionally broken up by footsteps of guards or aides patrolling the tower. Rich knew how to hold his breath for a long time, too, making it easier to hide and not be caught. So far no guards have spoken out trying to find him, so he had high hopes. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel bad for locking the girls in the security room, but he couldn't just let them die. If this mission had to kill someone, it had to be him.

As Rich turned down a new hall, hopeful that he was close now, he heard humming bouncing off the walls. He quickly hid in a storage closet as the hummin grew louder as well as echoing steps of what sounded like nice, dress shoes. For a moment, he wondered if the girls had escaped, but there was something about the mystery person's walk pattern that felt exceedingly familiar to him. He pressed himself against the back wall, watching the crack under the door to see the already dark light disappear more. There was a faint outline of a shadow standing outside the door, and Rich's heart was practically beating out of his chest. He wished Andy was there.

After a few seconds which felt like hours, there was a knock on the door. He heard no breathing from the other side, almost like it was a hallucination. His muscles tensed up as he heard a hand grab the door knob. He moved quietly to hide behind a tower of boxes, crumbling to the ground and hugging his knees to his chest to stay as hidden as possible. He carefully moved the boxes close to him to imitate them being right against the wall so it would seem like no one could hide there.