The inside of the house was remarkably worse than the outside. Wallpaper was peeling away in long strips, the carpet had worn bare in patches, exposing the floorboards, and rat droppings littered the floor. Stains covered the ceilings and an odd puddle here and there hinted at water damage or a more sinister liquid. My mind flicked back to my original thoughts of murder weapons. Stop that April Jay Winters! There is not a psychotic kleptomaniac inhabiting this house. Jack and I continued to stalk through the house. His footsteps not producing a single murmur from the ancient floorboards. A ticking noise sounded from one of the back rooms. I switched my glasses on and scanned through the walls.
"See anything?" Jack whispered in my ear.
My eyes caught on a solid metal box in one of the rooms. I'd seen shapes like this many times before, but never when they were alive and dangerous.
"Run," I breathed before turning on my heel and sprinting.
"What? Why are we running," Jack panted as he followed behind me.
"We're running because there's a b-" I was abuptly cut off when a fiery explosion ripped apart the hallway behind us.
Jack found a new burst of speed when the shock wave of the oncoming inferno hit us. He grabbed my wrist as he passed and towed me from the building.
We didn't slow until we were safely away from the burning building.
"How did you know about the bomb?" Jack panted in my ear.
"I saw it through the walls," I panted back.
Jack led me down a narrow alleyway. He slowed down to a stop part way down the alley.
"Why have we stopped?" I asked breathlessly.
"There's an entrance to the Lab here somewhere," Jack replied as he ran his hand down the rough brickwork.
A resounding click from one of the bricks startled me.
"Relax April, I'm just opening the secret passage," Jack grinned at me.
"Ladies first," he ushered me through the passage.
"Great idea, send the on edge female into the damp, dark passageway first," I said sarcastically.
Jack smiled lopsidedly at me as he handed me an ancient oil lantern.
"And disguise her as Florence Nightingale as well," I grimaced and held the light up next to my head.
"Dead ringer," Jack grinned, "maybe you should think about working as a nurse in your spare time."
"Shut up," I said in an effort to disguise my smile.
"So have you ever been inside the main facilities?" Jack asked curiously.
"Once a few years ago to receive my equipment, but I can hardly remember it," I answered.
"Did you happen to meet Lacey on that trip?" Jack pryed further into the details of my visit.
"No, just this nerdy guy named Freddie, but I've heard rumours about Lacey," I provided Jack the information he was after.
"Don't worry, the one about her being a fire-breathing demon from the bowels of hell is only half true," Jack joked.
"She really that bad?" I asked uncertainly.
"Nah, not once you get to know her," Jack reassured me.
The narrow tunnel ahead of us gradually widened as we travelled deeper into the city. Occasionally we passed other tunnels branching off towards unknown destinations.
"There's a whole hidden network down here," I observed.
"Yeah, it was originally used as a delivery system so the suppliers could ship their goods to stores without worrying about traffic," Jack explained.
"What traffic," I snorted.
It was true, most people had sold their cars by now and never left their houses unless absolutely neccassary. The idea behind it was so that the city appeared abandoned to invaders. So far it had been effective. We'd managed to avoid any trouble with hostile forces. All of a sudden a bright white glow appeared at the end of the tunnel. Jack picked up his pace and travelled quickly towards the light.
"Where are we going exactly," I asked Jack as I hurried to catch up.
"The Lab," Jack answered.