The Gardener of Nahi

Chapter 17

I opened the exit door with the wave of my hand and was about to walk into the stairwell when I heard the dusting of footprints and the rattling of weaponry echoing from down below.  The sound came from a few levels beneath me, but blacksuits were definitely on their way up - closer than I had thought possible.

I quickly backtracked into the maze of chest-high cubicles, aware that half a dozen office workers were still motionless and staring at me from across the floor.  But then the explosion happened and everyone looked up as they fell to the floor in fear.

It came from the level above us, I knew.  The wave of energy travelled across the ceiling from the far corner all the way to directly above where I stood, many tiles blowing out from the pressure, falling randomly like gigantic autumn leaves.

An alarm started to ring out – a loud beeping which repeated every second – matched by bright flashing white lights on the walls and floors.  And then, my salvation – a clean agent started dispersing from the ceilings in every direction.

The white odorless gas was thick and heavy and soon I could barely see the flashing lights - the same lights which moments ago I had to turn away from due to their brightness.  Looking around, I could see the form of some office worker in the distance, his hand instinctively yet needlessly held to his mouth and nose.  And then I could no longer see him.

I immediately knew what I had to do.

Moving as fast as I could away from where I was, I looked up, trying to find the black gems on the ceiling.  I couldn’t see them, which meant the cameras could not see me.  I ran my hand against the soft cubicle walls, running into a person who was headed in the opposite direction – most likely toward the stairwell full of blacksuits.

Once I had progressed to the far side of the floor, I found an empty cubicle and did a final check of the ceiling.  The clean agent was still coming out – I could hear the hissing sound above me, and so I decided to abandon my charade.  Now was the time.

I took my right hand and brought it to the top of my head, feeling for the tiniest of cracks there.  For the briefest of seconds I couldn’t find it and I started to panic, fearing that I would run out of time and the clean agent would stop dispersing, but then I caught it.  Into the small indentation I placed my index finger and dug deep, pulling it away until I could place three of my other fingers underneath it.  Then with my fist clenched as if peeling an orange, I pulled hard.

As the egg’s skinning material tore easily from my face, I felt the familiar rush of cold pressurized air on my skin.  I could feel my hair rise up, but then all went back to normal as yet another part of my body felt the same wave of sensation.  First my head, then my neck and arms.  Finally my chest, waist and legs.  I worked frantically, pulling and tearing without remorse. 

In less than a minute’s time there was a transparent pool of film on the gray carpet near my feet:  the remnants of John.

I kicked them underneath the desk. 

Hearing commotion on the floor now, I knew the blacksuits were moving from aisle to aisle, clearing the level.  The commpatch was still in my ear, I realized then, and I stuck my index finger in and flicked it out, throwing it across a cube boundary.