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The Weekend

"Pizcarro! That was his name! Pizcarro!" I say aloud. Wow, Monica was right. It did come to me when I wasn't thinking about it. Damn!

I rush out of my office and start running down the corridor to see if I can catch up with Monica. Not sure which direction she went, I take a chance and head to the lab. I stop at the elevator, but decide to take the stairs instead. I open the stair doorway and descend to the floor where the lab is located. After a few seconds of jumping down the stairs, I begin to find myself winded and decide to slow down my pace. After a few minutes go by, I reach the floor the lab is on and open the door.

When the door slams behind me, I jump. Damn it! I look down the corridor and notice that the lights are not very bright, due to the lack of people needed to trigger the sensors. Slowly, I take a step towards the lab and the sensor signals the lights to activate. Feeling more secure, I begin to jog towards the lab. Physically and emotionally out of shape, I reach the lab door and grab the handle, when suddenly, the door opens from within.

"John? What's up, man?" asks Ted.

Trying to catch my breath, I reply, "Oh, I just needed to get out of my office for a while. So, I decided to come down to the lab and see if there has been any new progress... or not."

Ted takes a hold of the door handle and steps out into the hallway, shutting the door behind him. I look at him and ask, "Is everything all right, Ted? Is there something, or someone in the lab that you don't want me to see?"

Not answering right away, Ted clears his throat, and says, "No, man. I'm just running some more tests on a few things to see if we've missed anything. Why do you ask?"

I continue to look into Ted's eyes and can sense that he's trying to hide something. I don't want him to think I'm suspicious. Even though I am, I have to make Ted think I'm not.

"Well, it seems like you don't want me to go in."

"No, man! Not at all! I was actually heading to the cafeteria to get some coffee. Do you want to join me?"

Still feeling like Ted's trying to hide something, I say, "Sure, Ted. I could use some coffee and probably something to eat, too."

"Great! Let's go," says Ted, as he throws his arm out for me to lead the way.

We start walking towards the elevator when I hear my name being called. "John! Wait up!" We both turn around and see Monica coming towards us.

"Where are you two going?" she asks.

"We're going to the cafeteria," volunteers Ted. "Do you want to come with us?"

"Sure, I could use some food," she replies.

"Okay. Let's go then," Ted says.

Ted glances at me, nods his head as the three of us go to the elevator and head to the cafeteria. When we reach the floor, Ted says, "Damn!"

"What?" I ask.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just wanted to take something over to... It doesn't matter. I can deal with it later. Come on. Let's go get some grub," he says, as he allows himself to be the first to enter the cafeteria. Monica looks at me as I allow her to enter first.

The cafeteria has enough seating for two thousand occupants. Today, there are about forty occupants who are doctors, researchers, data miners, guards, or other professionals which allowed them to be lucky enough to be in a safe haven, instead of being outside with the plague, or worse yet, with a starving populace.

Ted, Monica, and I fill our trays with food and drink, and then locate a table tucked away in a corner far from the others so we can talk. I look around to make sure no one can overhear our conversation. Monica takes our empty trays and stacks them next to the trash bin. Ted sits down and immediately devours his food.