Sigma/Star

Chapter 59.5: This One Night

This would be where things got tricky. Five floors to go, hoping not to encounter anyone. The stairwell was featureless, bland. It had security cameras nestled into the corners of the walls and Leif had to move carefully to slink underneath them. Once he was in their blind spot he could scale the wall a little by shimmying up the corner, and then he would attach a tiny interrupter device that sent the camera into displaying a loop of the empty stairwell.

Leif knocked out the first few cameras he encountered, pausing frequently to test for sounds. There didn't seem to be anyone ever using these stairs, just as he had been promised, and so he became slightly more relaxed in his actions. Leif wasn't sure if he was tense because of the gravity of the situation or tense with thoughts about having to actually inflict a violent act upon somebody.

Then he heard a door creak open beneath his feet. He was four floors down, just one more set of steps to go. And now, there was somebody coming into his stairwell, when he was just a few moments away from the goal.

In that moment that the hydraulic door hissed and the first footstep echoed into the almost-empty space, Leif froze. Everything froze. Time seemed to come down to a creeping tick, with every second stretched out to infinity. Somehow in this immobility, Leif felt his hand reaching down to the dagger at his side, the other one fumbling for his different devices he had brought for combating unique situations.

There was a bit of confusion at the doorway and some scuffling of feet before a pair of voices started talking to one another. Leif struggled to gulp down a lump in his throat and dared to look down over the edge of the stairwell down below at the guards who were chatting. One of them motioned upwards and Leif felt his chest tighten sharply, sweat dripping down onto the blade his fingers were wrapping around.

But the pair had a disagreement and split up, one going back into the floor and the other moving downwards, not up. Leif peered down at his own knuckles, seeing they had gone white squeezing the hilt of his weapon. He finally released his breath and his grip, getting up from his crouch along the wall to go take out the final security camera.

Leif made it onto Allyson's floor, feeling a sense of relief at one second and the burden of the task at hand the next second. He was surrounded by cells adorning every wall, with a laser grid making up each door. Most of the inmates were sleeping, while some eyed the stranger with contempt and suspicion.

The prisoners quickly caught on to what was happening but dared not make a sound. There was always the hope of a mass prison break, or that this person was going to spring one of them. They were also quick to take up a lookout job for Leif and he followed their lead, ducking down the different hallways whenever he heard the signal whistle that a guard was coming.

The map was quite useful, letting him navigate the maze of different halls and cells that formed a large rectangle. With the assistance of whistles, Leif had an easy time dodging any patrols and making his way to Allyson's cell.

He looked in through the glowing beams of energy at the love of his life lying motionless on her cot. Allyson's blonde hair was tattered and messy, clinging to portions of her face as she slept while some strands dangled off the edge of her bed.

Leif finally pulled himself away from watching the rise and fall of the young woman's body to withdraw the small metallic box he had clipped to the back of his belt. He placed it against the electronic panel next to Allyson's cell that controlled the door and tiny mechanical appendages sprung out from its sides, attaching the device to the wall.

The rectangle jumped into action, analyzing the lock code and flashing different lights as it attempted to break into the cell. Leif stepped back as it did, staring into the space where his love lay, thinking of all the memories he had with her, and all the ones they would now create. He would give anything to be with her and her alone forever, even if she would not do the same for him, for her beliefs about saving the world and freeing the people were too doubly ingrained in her mind.