The scavenger group didn't go out that same day so Alec stayed in his room and flipped through some more pages of the journal. He had slipped it back into his pocket when Lydia was calmly (if that's what you want to call it) telling them to get out of her office. If he hadn't, there was no telling if he would get another chance to take it back. So far she didn't come looking for it so she either forgot or just simply didn't care.
"Still looking through those pages?"
Alec looked up to see Magnus standing in the doorway. "Yeah. It's unbelievable. They conducted so many experiments on Forsaken and it all turned around to bite them in the ass. Both figuratively and literally. There was a scientist who actually got bit on the butt."
Magnus snorted with laughter as he sat down on the bed. "That must've been a sight. Did you learn anything else that doesn't involve getting teeth sunken into inappropriate places?"
Alec flipped open to a page he bookmarked earlier. "Here. I almost didn't want to believe it when I read it but the date can't be a coincidence. It's the same date as the storm that hit Alicante."
Magnus took the book to read the entry. "So? They might've did an experiment that day-"
"No, Magnus. They wrote about Alicante. It said they rounded up the dead residents for collection but they never got around to actually bringing them back to warehouse 9 and 10."
He wasn't wrong. When Magnus took his time and actually read the entry, he saw that Alec was right. The date was the exact same as the day they climbed out of the basement and saw the wreckage the storm had caused. Now that he thought about it, he remembered seeing the city hall doors chained up before the group gathered their supplies.
"You don't think it was them who chained the city hall, do you?" He asked Alec. "Because that was my first thought when I read this. That they were responsible for gathering up the dead residents and putting them in there."
Alec ran a tired hand through his hair. "I don't know what to think anymore. Just when we finally get some answers, more questions come up. I'm fucking sick and tired of it."
It was almost unbearable to see him frustrated so Magnus placed a gentle hand on Alec's shoulder. "Hey. Don't be so hard on yourself. As far as I'm concerned, you're the most hardworking and incredible human being I've ever met. You don't see anyone else busting their ass to solve this smart zombie mystery, do you?"
Alec chuckled. "No. Mainly because no one else knows about it. Just the two of us."
"Shut up. You're ruining our soft moment here." Magnus grinned, feeling his heart swell at the sight of Alec's broad smile. "I was doing some thinking earlier and maybe we should leave this place. Like as soon as possible."
Alec straightened his back in surprise. "Leave? Really?"
"Yes. Really. Alec, I know we have a good thing going here. Better than most but the secrets that this place has....it's going to turn around and bite these people in the ass. Maybe even literally and I honestly don't want to be a part of that or even be here when it happens."
Neither did Alec. When something does happen, and he had a funny feeling that it will, he needed to get his family out of there as soon as possible. "I get it. We need to start preparing for the worst. Stocking up on supplies whenever we can. So if that means stealing then we steal. Water. Food. Weapons. Whatever we need to make a run for it."
Magnus nodded in agreement. "Copy that, big guy. I'll start making my rounds around the supply room, starting with clothes first. No one will care if a couple shirts and socks are missing."
"Okay. I'll try and see if I can get a few things food wise. We can probably stash everything in here. The drawer will work for now so we'll hide our supplies there." Pausing, Alec glanced at the door before speaking in a low voice. "Tell Jace and Clary the plan too but only when you're both alone. We don't need anyone else knowing about what we're doing."
Magnus' shift started that evening, mostly watering the crops and cleaning the greenhouse, so Alec took this opportunity to slip into the food storage to see what he could take. Canned goods might be a problem to steal but he was going to see what he could do.
The woman behind the counter looked up at him when he entered the room. "Can I help you with something?"
Alec eyed the stocked shelves, thinking very carefully about what to say next. "I'm here to pick up some canned goods for the kitchen. They're running low for tonight's supper so they sent me to collect."
The woman looked him up and down. She didn't seem like she was buying what he was selling. "You're not the usual collector they send out. What happened to Gavin?"
"Gavin? Oh. He....has the flu. It's really bad so they asked me to lend a hand for tonight. Do you have a bag I can borrow?"
The woman finally caved in with a sigh. "Here. Knock yourself out. Just don't take what you don't need. It's all about conserving here."
Alec took the bag and thanked her. He wasn't going to steal much, at least not all in one day, plus he had to make it look like he was actually doing what he said he was here to do, which was collect food for supper. Appearances were everything.
"Can you hurry it up a little bit? My shift gets over in five minutes," the woman called from the front desk.
"Almost finished! Just looking for canned corn-ah! Found it!" He quickly shoved the can into his bag as he made his way to the front desk. "Thank you. I'll let the kitchen know that you really helped them out today."
She seemed to perk up at this. "Alright. Thanks. Maybe they'll see this as a gesture of goodwill and give me extra helpings?"
"You never know!" Alec forced a laugh. "I'll put in a good word for you anyway. Thanks again!"
He bypassed the kitchen entirely and made a beeline for his bedroom in the basement. Thankfully the door was already unlocked so slipping in and locking it behind him was a breeze. Once that was done he hid the food in the dresser drawer under their clothes. Naturally he was going to lock the bedroom door when he left so no one could get in and steal anything.
Jace met him out in the hall just as he was locking up. "Hey. You don't have a shift today?"
"No. Not until tomorrow. Scavenge group B are out getting supplies today. You?" Alec put the key in his pocket and crossed his arms over his chest.
"On my way there now. They moved me to weapons holding. I'm supposed to do a stock tally of what we have and what we don't have. Exciting," Jace said, rolling his eyes.
Weapons was exactly what they needed for their escape so Alec jumped at the opportunity to steal some away. "Hey. Listen....now that you're here, Magnus and I are planning on getting out of here soon before something happens so we're gathering the essentials. Food. Water. Weapons. And seeing how you're on weapons duty today....."
Jace raised a suspicious eyebrow up at him. "Before something happens? Like what?"
Alec sighed. Before explaining himself, he looked over his shoulder to make sure they were the only ones in the hallway but then decided to unlock his bedroom again. "In here. No one needs to hear our conversation."
In the room, Jace sat on the edge of the bed. He looked somewhat impatient, probably eager to get to his shift on time. "So what do you know that nobody else does, big brother? Are we about to be under attack?"
Alec clicked his tongue. "Something to that extent. Magnus and I were trapped in the sewer a few weeks ago-"
"I know this story."
"Okay. Well what you don't know is the entire story." Alec ran a hand over his tired face. "While we were down there, we came across a group of Forsaken. As we hid from them, one of them spoke."
Jace's body stiffened. "Spoke? As in talked? How is that even possible?"
Alec reached into the dresser and pulled out Doctor Branwell's journal. "Seems like the scientists here were experimenting on the zombies. Trying to militarize them. But it backfired and the experiments all escaped. Everything they did, it's all documented in that journal."
Jace looked the journal over. "So what does this have to do with you and Magnus escaping? It's not like we're being held prisoner here."
"I know," Alec whispered. "But he and I know too much. That's why we're getting out while we can before someone decides to kill us during the middle of the night so we can't open our mouths to anyone. Understand now?"
Nodding in understanding, Jace got to his feet to clap a hand on his older brother's shoulder. "I got your back, brother. I'll head to the weapons room now and see what I can do. I'll meet you back here at 10 tonight with the goods and with Clary too. I'll talk to her during her break." He paused by the door, a small smile on his face. "I've always wanted to say that. Meet you here with the goods...."
Alec just rolled his eyes as he followed Jace out to the hall and locked the door. He was just pleased that he managed to get Jace on board with the escape as well as Clary. It was just getting Simon on board was going to be a bit of a problem.
Simon worked in what was known as the "engineer room". This was where engineers and inventors gathered together and more or less designed machines that would help people around different parts of the Institute. They were the people responsible for the shifting roof of the greenhouses as well as keeping the boilers in the sub-basement maintainable. If Simon were to be found anywhere, it would be with the other engineers.
Because the boiler room was below the sub-basement, it was hot. The heat wasn't as stifling where their bedrooms were located but the engineers had it much worse being closer to the sickening heat. Whether or not they had some form of air conditioning where they worked, Alec had no idea. He'd never been down to this part of the basement before.
"Excuse me," he asked as he stopped an older gentleman in the hall. "Is Simon Lewis down here by any chance?"
The man thumbed over his shoulder. "You'll find him in that room with the candlelight. He's always inventing something, that one. He just doesn't stop these days."
That's probably my fault Alec thought. "Thank you. Sorry if I bothered you."
Simon was seated at a table while hunched over a stack of papers, seemingly unaware that Alec was in the doorway. He only looked up when someone cleared their throat and scowled when he saw who it was.
"Oh. It's just you. What do you want?" He grumbled.
"I won't be here long. I just need a moment of your time." Alec took a seat beside him. He noticed that the papers were blueprints for a new water tower of some sort but didn't ask any questions about it. "Magnus and I are getting out of here and we want you to join us."
Simon's gaze flickered up. "Why? I like it here. I actually feel appreciated and wanted. Unlike some groups that I know of. They never really made me feel welcome."
"Don't say that. We've always appreciated you," Alec told him. "Without you, Alicante would've fell long ago. You're the one who kept it on its feet."
Simon continued to scribble on the papers in front of him. "Compliments aren't going to change my mind, Alec. My answer is no. I'm staying. You and Magnus can go run off into the sunset together but I'm not following you guys this time. I'm done being a lackey that's only there for when you need me."
Alec pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Is there anything I can do to change your mind?"
Finally setting down his pencil, Simon turned to face Alec in his chair. "You killed the only woman in my life that I ever loved. So unless you can bring her back then that's the only way you can convince me to come. Can you do that?" When Alec didn't reply, Simon scoffed. "Didn't think so. Now get out and leave me alone."
Getting to his feet, Alec towered over the younger man for a moment before speaking. "Jace is going. Clary might be too. She'd be devastated if she found out you were staying behind."
Simon's head turned ever so slightly in his direction. "Clary might be going?"
"Yes. We're gathering supplies and hopefully meeting up later in my room."
The papers in front of Simon became forgotten for a moment as he sighed and nodded. "I'll think about it. Clary is my best friend. I don't want her to feel hurt because of me."
Alec nodded. "Think about it. If you do decide to come with us, at least you know where we're meeting later."
A commotion out in the hall grabbed their attention. The men that had been working in the other rooms were suddenly racing to the exit, yelling indiscernibly. Alec was nearly shoved to the ground by one of them as they ran by.
"What's going on?!" Simon hollered over the noise. "Why is everyone running?"
One of the men looked back with a look of pure terror on his face. "It's the greenhouses! It's being under attack by Forsaken!"
Alec felt his heart leap into his throat. "The greenhouse? Magnus is there!" He shot Simon a look that said 'I need to go to him!'
Simon got the message. "Come on. Let's go get him together-but this doesn't mean we're on friendly terms again!"
The greenhouse was in a state of panic when they got there. Bodies strewn across the ground, both human and Forsaken, people running in terror, armed guards scrambling around to make sure whatever zombies that entered the safe zone were found and taken out. It was chaos.
"Where's Magnus?!" Panic coursed through Alec's veins like fire. "Magnus! I can't see him, Simon!"
"I know. I can't see him either-hey!" He yelled at one of the greenhouse workers. "Have you seen Magnus anywhere?"
The worker laughed hysterically. "I was trying to save my own ass! I wasn't paying any attention to anyone else!"
Alec felt bile rise into his mouth but managed to swallow it back down. "Oh god. What if he's-he can't be...."
He grasped his hair while pacing the ground. Simon tried to calm him but nothing was getting through. All he could think about was-
"Magnus!"
Alec perked up at the sound of Simon's voice calling out the name. When he looked in the direction that Simon was staring in, sure enough a figure was limping their way out from behind a compost bin, bloodied but alive.
It was Magnus.
"Magnus!" Alec ran towards the beaten form of his boyfriend and embraced him in a hug. "Holy shit. I thought you were dead."
Magnus laughed but it was cut short by a cough. "It's going to take a lot more than a few Forsaken to kill me, Alexander. Even if they are the smart kind."
Simon made a face of confusion. "I'm sorry. What? What did he mean by 'the smart kind'?"
Alec shook his head. "It's a long story. I'll save it for when you join us later-"
"Alec," Magnus said in a low voice. "There won't be a later."
Alec switched his gaze to Magnus. "What do you mean by that?"
A weary sigh escaped Magnus. "The Forsaken. One of them said something like 'underground' so I think they're planning an attack on the Institute from beneath-"
Screams cut them off, followed by a flurry of people running away from the building in fear.
"Well then," Magnus sighed. "I guess they weren't lying about the attack underground. Let's go inside and see the mess they made, shall we?"