Matthew pressed the lobby button as whirring noises from the elevator mechanics began. Meanwhile, the sounds of what seemed to be batons banging on the exterior elevator doors were heard from inside. However, they slowly faded away as the elevator began its descent to the lobby, together with their chance to detain the chairwoman. Their only opportunity to stop Yael before the outbreak would spark all over the country was shattered.
And that wasn't all.
For a reason initially unknown to the detectives, the elevator stopped halfway through its descent, although they weren't exactly close to halfway down the tower. The elevator went dark, and the mechanical whirring stopped. At first, it seemed as if the power supplied to the elevator had been cut.
Matthew began clicking random buttons for random floors, but none of them lit up or worked. The elevator just remained stationary for a few seconds. Eventually, the power returned, but the carriage didn't continue descending, and neither did the elevator buttons work anymore. Instead, the doors slid open as an automated voice announced, "Floor 92."
The first thing that the detectives saw was another corridor, identical to that of the floor that they were being held hostage in. There were several differences, however. The floor was significantly noisier, indicating that there might have been a lot more creatures present on the floor too. Additionally, there was red lighting all over—in the laboratories, corridors and even the light rods that hung over the elevator lobby. Not to mention, some fog was present in the room, so much so that the detectives couldn't see further than twenty feet ahead of them.
"H-how many such labs do they have in this building?" Megan stuttered, shuddering in fear as she looked out of the elevator anxiously. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying not to imagine the wicked things that were going on in the building.
"I don't know," Matthew said as he stepped out of the elevator to inspect the floor more closely. As he walked out, he noticed that most, if not all of the laboratories were empty. Some had broken glass panels, while others had their doors opened. Despite the emptiness of the rooms, groaning noises still reverberated around the floor.
"Something isn't right, Matthew," Megan commented as she looked at the empty rooms. "It's just like the hospital all over again. We don't know when some creatures will pop out of nowhere and kill us."
Meanwhile, Matthew stayed silent. He brought out his phone to use as a substitute for a torchlight as he shone it through the fog. Something about the nearing roaring noises wasn't right. He sensed that a creature was approaching them.
And he was right. Dual red lights began shining through the clouds of fog, signalling that a creature was indeed coming for them. But it wasn't just one. There were easily five pairs of lights shining, meaning a hoard was present.
Thus, Matthew pulled Megan by the hand, dragging her and himself into an empty room. He then swung the door shut, rapidly but quietly, so that it wouldn't attract the creatures. They stayed silent, making not a single sound. They knew they would only survive the car-and-mouse situation if they kept quiet.
As Matthew peered through the frosted glass panel, the red lighting, and the fog, he could see figures passing through. And indeed, they weren't human. Coordinated with their movement, the beastly beings made growling noises, quickly giving away their identity.
Meanwhile, Megan continued to keep silent as she inspected the room. There were some notes strewn all over a desk, accompanied by a computer beside it. She proceeded carefully to turn on the computer, which, unfortunately, required a passcode to be accessed.
Despite this setback, she tried a passcode that had been used before: 1280. And it happened to work. She then entered the computer, which wasn't a regular device. Instead, it redirected her to surveillance resources that managed the security cameras and other features on the 92nd floor. She then clicked on one of the features, which mapped out the floor plan and showed what seemed to be the heat levels of the living creatures moving through the floor.
"Matthew," she whispered, signalling to him. Matthew then turned around and moved towards her to see what she was seeing on the computer screen. "Take a look at this. It seems to be a map of the floor, equipped with a heat detector display. You can see some... beings moving through the corridor."
Matthew looked at the screen carefully for himself. And Megan's interpretation of the imaging on the screen was the same as his own. He could see the hotspots moving through the hallway—he could tell that they weren't regular humans by comparing their on-screen size with the detectives' own ones. And they mainly were roaming around the elevator lobby area.
"We've got to get them off this floor somehow, maybe kill them," he suggested, which was their only way to escape after all.
"But we don't have enough ammo. We probably have eight bullets left—maybe less. We'll have to find another way to eliminate them, although shooting them could assist us with a few kills," Megan informed Matthew.
Matthew thought for a moment. He tried to think up a new plan as quickly as possible, but the situation was putting him in a spot. Thus, he turned to previous occasions and the solutions they had used before. He tried desperately to avoid thinking about how Daniel had been secretly working against them even during the past events, but he couldn't. He managed to find a solution from their experience in the museum—wherein Daniel was present.
"Hey, Megan? Remember the museum in New York?" Matthew asked, diverting her attention away from the computer for a moment.
"Yeah, I do. What about it?" she questioned back.
"Remember how we trapped Captain Jones after he got infected? He got him stuck in a room, yes?" Matthew reminded her.
Megan nodded her head, listening to his plan.
"Good. Now, I'm not thinking that we should try to do the exact same thing by locking all these creatures in a room. Instead, I think we should try to lure them out of the building. You see, if we're going to kill these creatures efficiently and effectively, we're going to make sure they plunge 17 hundred feet down to their deaths so that we can get out of here," he explained his motives.
Megan sighed, leaning her head against her left hand while resting her bandaged right hand on her table. It was an absurd plan, but she couldn't choose since there was only one way to go about it. As such, she nodded, closing her eyes for a moment as she tried to relax a little and calm herself down for the plan she was going to go through with Matthew.
"Let me just tell you this. If you're not quite confident about this, you can stay in the room, and I'll go lure the creatures towards the window," he offered. He then looked at the desk again before grabbing two of the four walkie-talkies on it. "Grab one of these. You can monitor the screen when I leave. If there's anything that you need to urgently warn me of, tell me through the walkie-talkie."
Megan nodded as she sat on the desk chair. She then focused on the screen, which indicated that the creatures were still crowding around the elevator lobby.
As such, their plan for their escape and, at the same time, the annihilation of the creatures had begun. Matthew got up and pulled the glass door open slightly, which allowed the fog to enter the room. He then pushed the door close as he held his pistol up, which still had a purpose despite having only five bullets left.
He then faced the elevator lobby, which he couldn't see clearly from his position. He wielded his gun, aiming it towards the silhouettes of the creatures that he could see through the fog. He laid his index finger on the trigger before placing pressure on it.
A bullet flew out of the gun and flew straight towards the creatures. Matthew couldn't tell if he had hit or missed any of them, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that he caught their attention by provoking them, and it did work out.
The creatures began their pursuit as they headed through the fog towards Matthew. Meanwhile, Matthew made a dash for the end of the corridor towards a glass window. He couldn't see where he was heading, but he knew there was a window at the end of the hallway because of the floor plan. And just like he had expected, a thick glass window sat at the edge of the corridor.
Matthew waited for the beasts to catch up a little. It wouldn't work if he moved to the side too early, as the creatures would be able to divert in time to get to him. As such, he shoved himself to the left only when they were just a few feet behind him.
As a result, the army of creatures slammed right into the glass window. One sole creature wouldn't have shattered the glass panel, but a dozen was more than enough. The pressure exerted against the glass smashed it into pieces instantly. And so, they all plummeted to their deaths, as expected.
Matthew heaved a sigh of relief as he stuck his head out the broken window to watch the creatures die. The strong wind caressing his face made him feel a little uneasy, but the reassurance that he and Megan were finally safe overwhelmed that feeling. Additionally, the fog could finally clear up as it slowly exited through the broken window.
"You got them, Matthew!" Megan spoke over the walkie-talkie for the first time. She was relieved to see that there were only two beings left projected onto the floor plan on the computer screen—Matthew and herself. That meant no more creatures. She continued to monitor the screen as she watched Matthew move through the corridor steadily, heading towards the surveillance room again.
It was then that things became complicated again.
"Hold it there, Matthew," Megan warned as she stared at the computer screen more closely. She rubbed her eyes, hoping there weren't any floaters in them messing with her vision. However, what she was seeing was real. And it was obvious to her that she could not only see the figure moving on the screen but also hear the approaching footsteps coming her way.
Hence, she rushed to a corner of the room and hid behind the desk. However, she realised that the computer was still on and would be a giveaway to any approaching person, be it a guard, officer or even the chairwoman, that someone was present. And so she quietly got up and put the computer to sleep mode such that the screen went blank.
And just after returning to her hiding spot, a figure passed by the room. The chairwoman. Megan then rushed to grab her walkie-talkie to contact Matthew. She made sure that the chairwoman was gone before speaking. "Matthew!" she whispered with urgency.
"Yes?" he whispered back, sensing that something was wrong by noticing the quietness of her voice.
"The chairwoman is coming your way!" she warned as she turned the computer back on. Unfortunately, the screen showed she was barely a few feet away from him, meaning she was directly behind him. And it was all too late for her to do anything to help her friend.
As Matthew silenced the walkie-talkie, he turned slowly. He had already noticed the footsteps from earlier, but it was too late when he tried to move away. When the sounds of the footsteps had stopped, he knew that she was right behind him. And as he turned to face her, a gun was held right in front of his face.
"Hello, Matthew. Looks like we meet again."