Chapter 21
Everything seemed to go into high alert as soon as I’d let those words slip out of my mouth. We’d stopped walking as Harry froze for a moment, and just stared at me, his green eyes wide like a deer in headlights. I thought I was going to have to shake him until he snapped out of his little trance.
“What’s our move?” Harry posed the question as we began to walk again, more quickly this time.
“They did an update on the security when I was here with my father. From what I remember, there are security officers on all sides of the building, when updates are happening and the lab that we need to get into is on the second floor. No traffic is allowed in or out of the lot while the computer license verification systems are being updated for security purposes, but the one vehicle that the security never stops are the armored trucks bringing in shipments of hazardous materials. So all we have to do is get into the truck.” I glanced over at Harry as I finished speaking to see him sending me a how-do-you-expect-to-do-that look. “My father’s company only works with one warehouse in the city, so we just need to take a cab there. Trucks are constantly taking shipments to the lab. Compared to the last twenty-four hours, this will be a piece of cake.”
Harry didn’t respond except to give me a slight nod, and I could immediately tell how worried he was. He didn’t need the words to say that. I picked up the pace even more until we were each jogging toward the gate doors. We were going to need every spare second that we could get in order to make this happen without getting caught. As much as I’d tried to play it off, I was worried about this plan, too. The information that I was using as plain Gospel was several years out of date. For all I knew, everything had changed, and I was leading us both on a mission that would put us in jail for burglary. I was less scared of that possibility than of the thought of getting something wrong when the time came to remove Harry’s cuff. One false move and I would lose the only person that I had left. I couldn’t bare the idea. I tried to push it away, but the images of Harry, tearing at his throat and becoming still and icy burned itself into my memory as if it were etched into stone.
No, I thought to myself. I won’t let that happen. I shook my head silently as I jogged alongside Harry. I tightened my grip on his hand and I cleared my mind of everything except this moment and the dull thudding of our footsteps on concrete. When we finally reached the steps to the gate doors, I climbed them first as Harry trailed close behind me. We walked up the expressway for private flights and came out inside a large, airport terminal. Sunlight filtered in through windows high above our heads, and glinted off the white tile floors. Grabbing ahold of Harry’s hand again, I pulled him along behind me as I made my way toward the automatic doors that constantly slid open and shut within the busy airport. I walked, not wanting to draw attention to Harry or myself, but the slowness of our pace was killing me. I desperately wanted to burst into a sprint and make up for lost time, but I couldn’t risk anyone stopping us to find out what was going on. God forbid they should get tangled up in this gigantic mess with us as well. It was bad enough that this was already happening to us.
Finally stepping outside again, Harry and I were greeted by the blinding sunlight glinting off the tops of bright yellow taxies. I threw my hand in the air and waived it vigorously, with Harry copying me after a moment. A vehicle pulled up along the curb and we quickly got inside.
“Where to?” The driver’s gruff voice sounded through the Plexiglas shield between the front and back seats.
“CBRS warehouse facility,” I said quickly without thinking. The driver glanced up at us in the rearview mirror and flashed me an incredulous look.
“What’re you going there for?” The driver kept his eyes locked on us while Harry and I sat in the upholstered back seat of the car. I felt extremely uncomfortable with this situation. I needed to focus on coming up with a good excuse to make this trip seem believable, but I couldn’t think of anything. Who was this man going to tell about us? I couldn’t think of anything besides the fact that he would make for a prime witness if our plan fell through and we were caught.
“We’re biochemists in from London, and we’re here to work with CBRS,” Harry piped up, saving me from having to answer. I let out a quiet sigh of relief. The driver seemed to believe Harry, and he shrugged before pulling away from the curb. The ride to the warehouse was silent. Harry and I couldn’t talk without being eavesdropped on by the nosy cab driver, and I didn’t want to risk any information about our plan falling into the wrong hands. Harry and I periodically exchanged glances, but there was otherwise no communication at all. Instead, I busied myself on my phone. I checked email and surfed the Internet until I could feel the taxi beginning to slow to a stop. Looking up, I glanced out the window to see that we had pulled along the right hand side of a massive, white metal building whose looks reminded me of an aircraft hangar.
Harry and I climbed out of the backseat of the taxi, and I slammed the door to the car shut with a loud bang out of habit. I mentally cursed myself as I looked around for any signs of disturbance while Harry paid the cab fare. The parking lot to the warehouse was mostly empty except for a loading dock toward the left hand side of the structure that was flooded with life. From where I was standing, I could see at least three armored vehicles and nearly a dozen people moving in and out of the back of them, stacking and packing each and every one to full capacity. As the cab pulled away, I tugged on Harry’s arm. Without using any words, I motioned to creep alongside the building. I hugged the metal structure as I inched along with Harry right behind me, letting my fingertips brush against the cold metal for support.
When Harry and I had reached the corner of the building, I held out my hand, signaling a full stop. Standing still in the shadow of the building where we were unseen, I rummaged around in my back pocket. Withdrawing my hand, I held out the small makeup mirror. After unlatching it, I stuck it around the side of the building ever so slightly. I looked around on the other side of the building for a few moments before deciding the coast was clear. I padded forward and I was about to round the corner when I heard a sharp yell. I jumped back nearly knocking Harry over thinking that I’d been spotted before the voice came again.
“What are you doing, Andy?” A man’s voice sounded loud from just around the corner. I closed my eyes and prayed silently that the man wouldn’t come around the corner.
“I’m rearranging the truck,” the voice of Andy replied. “There’s still space in here.” Brief sounds of shuffling followed, and I assumed that this Andy person was still moving boxes, but I didn’t know where the other man had gone. I opened the mirror again and stuck it just barely around the corner of the building. The man was nowhere to be seen. I waited silently preparing for the shuffling to stop. After a moment, Andy got out of the truck, and I could hear the door slam shut. Shit! How’re we going to get in the truck? Standing up, I ran around the side of the building satisfied that no one was nearby, and approached the back of the truck. I pulled on the handle of the door only to have my worst feeling realized.
The door was locked.
I began to panic for a moment. Then the thought occurred to me that the driver could’ve dropped the key. Frantically, I looked around on the ground searching for any sign of the key for the door until I realized that the door required a passcode.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath. We were running out of time. The truck was going to pull away any moment now, and Harry and I were still not any closer to being in it.
“What’s going on?” Harry’s voice sounded behind me causing me to jump slightly. My nerves were getting the better of me; I was wound so tightly from worrying about being caught, and standing in plain sight doing something that could get us arrested was certainly not helping the matter.
“I need a passcode to unlock the truck door,” I whispered back to him. I glanced over my shoulder to see Harry’s face contorted in a look of deep thought.
“Try 2277,” he said finally, looking over at me. I punched in the digits without thinking about it. There was no time for that now; it could wait. For a few terrifying seconds, we waited to see if the door would unlock. After what seemed like forever, the loud sound of the bolt opening filled the air, and we were quickly able to climb inside. There was hardly any space for us inside the back of the truck, but after careful situation, we were somehow able to find space on top of a couple of boxes within the cargo area. After a few minutes of sitting in cramped, dark silence praying that no one would check the back of the truck, I was relieved to feel the vehicle finally begin to move.
“How did you guess the code?” I looked over to where I guessed Harry was sitting, although I couldn’t tell in the suffocating blackness that filled the back of the truck.
“2277 spells CBRS,” Harry stated simply. “It was really just a guess, and I didn’t think it would work, but I guess I was wrong.” I heard a box across the room creak under Harry’s weight, and I pictured him shifting around in the darkness. “They really ought to change their passcode,” Harry muttered under his breath. I laughed a little; it was rather funny that two teenagers had been able to break into an armored truck. It was rather funny that two teenagers had been able to survive this far. It was rather funny that it was two teenagers that were in a life or death situation like this in the first place. The whole thing seemed like some elaborate joke on Punk’d, and I kept waiting for the host to jump out and tell me that it was all a prank. I was completely and utterly ready for this nightmare to be over. I was done fighting. I felt drained and empty. I didn’t have anything else left to fight with; all my strength had been taken away trying to accomplish what seemed like the impossible.
Everything I had was used up.
Gone.
I felt like I had nothing left to give. I was ready to quit, but I couldn’t. This battle wasn’t over, and if I gave up now the fate of the entire human race had been decided. I had to fight on. I had to push forward.
I had to keep going.
I was the only one who could stop this madness. I was the only one who could prevent the World Revolution from happening. Me. My spark felt like it was being reignited, and I wasn’t going to stop until every last one of those maniacs was done for.
Eradicated.
Restrained.
Dealt with.
I would finish them if it was the last thing I did.