This Can't Be Love

Chapter 28: Endgame, Part 3

They spread out as one group runs down the stairs and another group takes the short corridors through the main floor. The main group remains going straight forward in the facility. One of them stops to look into a room with a flickering light in it. He pulls his hand radio close to his face.

"You might wanna see this, sir."

Outside, Commissioner Russo responds on his hand radio.

"What is it..."

"It's a dead body. Tied to an operating chair of some sort. Looks like it's been here for months. Dried to the bone."

"Alright, I'm sending in forensics to get an ID. Keep moving."

A second transmission comes in to Commissioner Russo's communicator.

"East wing is clear, sir."

"Copy that."

He clicks another button on his radio before speaking again.

"Team Charlie, find anything?"

"We're down in the furnace, sir. All looks clear here."

Commissioner Russo shakes his head with a look of worry and desperation on his face.

In a very quiet tubular hallway, droplets of water randomly echo as Aaron walks through with measured urgency. Samantha is actually on his back with her legs and arms wrapped around him.

"Sam, this would be a lot faster for us if you get down and walk on your own, please, I am not kidding."

"I'm not kiddin' either. God knows what kinds of diseases existed back when this tunnel was full of crap. I'm not putting my feet down."

"You're wearing sneakers."

"Things can soak through. Just shut up and keep walking. How much longer?"

"Well I'm not sure, I've always studied these and their structure but I never took the walk. The tunnel is about four miles long, I'm not sure how many miles we've covered."

"Four miles long... So it's gonna be about an hour walk... Great, Aaron, just great. A full hour smelling dead animals and rotten poop and stale urine... This is gonna suck!"

"Having to carry you on my back and hearing you complain about it doesn't exactly make it easier, Sam."

"Oh don't you dare come at me like that, Aaron. I didn't want to come. I wanted to stay at the plant and get rescued by a sexy law enforcer."

"Wait, a what?!"

"You heard me! You literally dragged me into the crap, so now you have to deal with it. You ruined my chances of meeting a hot guy in a uniform, the least you can do is listen to me bitching about it."

"As inappropriate as it is for you to say any of that, on so many levels, I have to admit... It feels good to finally hear your weird sense of humor again... It's refreshing, Sam... I like it."

"Oh God... Listen, just hurry up and get us out of here."

Back at the outside lot of the manufacturing plant, Commissioner Russo throws his megaphone on the ground in anger, and kicks his car as several of the officers who have come back out from the facility speak to him.

"My apologies, sir. We are all very sorry. But every room in there was empty. The only thing we found was that body, nearly decomposing."

"Where the hell is the ID?!"

"Sir, it doesn't match anyone who's been reported missing, so they're gonna have to do some lab work."

A young man in a white lab coat comes hurrying toward Commissioner Russo.