Grandfather

by Anthony Wade

  I spent the next week keeping to myself, rarely leaving my room. When I did get out, I kept my eye out for Ashton. I wanted to stay as far away from his as possible. He continued eating with Dr. Mac, and he continued glaring at me. Eventually, I started giving it right back to him. Marley did her best to keep on common ground. “I like hanging out with both of you guys,” she told me. She liked hanging out with me? It was strange because nobody had ever said that. I wondered what I did to make her like me. I thought I was kind of a boring person.

  In other news, Edgar started to change. At least his appearance did. His foul attitude was exactly the same as before though. He started wearing clean pants and decent looking button-down shirts. His skin wasn’t as dirty either. The only thing that was the same was his missing tooth, of course. That wasn’t exactly something easily replaced, although he could’ve probably afforded it. Which begged another question: why didn’t he fix it?

  One afternoon, after I had finished my lunch, Edgar told me he wouldn’t make it to dinner but wanted me to stay there until he came to get me. He didn’t tell me what we were going to be doing, but I told him I would do so. Even if I refused and went to my room, he’d probably beat the door down.

  After I finished dinner, I waited for him to come and get me. I wondered what he possibly wanted and if it was just going to be me and him. I sure did hope not.

  Everyone left the dining room until it was just me sitting there. Marley offered to stay and keep my company, but I told her I’d be fine. After being alone for nearly ten minutes, I was starting to think Edgar had forgotten about me. That’s when I heard him complaining about something. I looked up to see him walk in through the double doors, followed by Belladonna and Robert. They all stopped.

  Edgar glared at me. “Said ya wanted to go with me. Here’s your chance.” He motioned for me to follow him, and I did so until we reached Belladonna’s meeting room. I followed them in to find somebody else was already there, sitting at the table. I froze. Great.

  It was Ashton.

  Things got even worse when Edgar pointed at the seat beside Ashton. “Sit,” he demanded. I did so. I didn’t acknowledge Ashton and he didn’t acknowledge me. Good. I wanted to keep it that way. Edgar looked at us curiously. Deciding not to question what was going on, he sat down across from me. Belladonna took a seat beside him and Robert stood behind her.

  “Basically,” Robert started. “We need your help . . . both of you.” I kept my eyes on Robert, forcing myself not to look at Ashton.

  “What is it?” Ashton asked. I noted excitement in his tone.

  “Well, I’ve been within the wall these past few days,” Robert said. “Grandfather is hiding something.”

  “Well, yeah, aren’t they hiding a lot of things?” Ashton asked.

  “Yes,” Robert replied. “But this . . . this is probably the most dangerous.”

  Here they were, once again, going on about Grandfather. I asked Robert what they were supposedly hiding.

  “I was following a couple of guys I knew to be followers,” Robert answered me. “After getting some information, I tracked the location of some secret vials.”

  “Vials?” Ashton and I asked at the same time. He gave me a quick, angry glance. I ignored him.

  “To make a long story short, they’re hiding vials with some sort of substance,” Robert told us.

  “Very dangerous,” Edgar added.

  “Listen,” I said. “How can you possibly assume the vials are the most dangerous thing they’re hiding?”

  Ashton turned to me. “Just be quiet,” he told me.

  “No,” I argued. “I want to know more and –”

  “Why is he here?” Ashton asked Edgar and Robert. Edgar looked taken aback. Robert shook his head as if in disappointment.

  “We don’t have time for this,” Edgar yelled at us. “You both been goin’ on about how you want to help. Here it is. Shut that damn mouth and listen.”

  Neither one of us were going to argue with Edgar. Sure, I wanted to. And I knew Ashton did too. I nodded at Robert, urging him to continue. He did so.

  “Anyways, I have learned that the vials have a substance in them . . . a disease. Virus. I overhead it could be airborne.”

  Edgar took out a map and laid it across the table. There were streets in every direction, and gray squares to represent buildings. It looked like a busy place, so I knew it had to be a map of the city within the wall. Edgar said, “Those sons of bitches could be planning to do anything with this. Could expose it to everybody in the city.”

  “They call it Sub X, and I know where they’re hiding it,” Robert told us with certainty. He placed a finger on one of the smaller gray squares on the map. “This is where they are hiding the vials. We need to steal them before they decide to use them.”

  I looked at the map. The gray square was on the corner of two streets: Luther Drive and Cabella Street. I wondered if it was true. I definitely thought it was a little odd for somebody to hoard a bunch of vials filled with some sort of virus. Perhaps Robert misunderstood. The stern and serious look on his face told me he was very sure of himself. I had one more question. Ashton got to it before me.

  “So why do you need us?” Ashton asked.

  “Four of us are gonna sneak in,” Edgar said. “This building is storage space for the president and his councilmen. I know the layout. Was in there a lot back in the day.”

  I shot a quick glance at Ashton. He was smiling. The idea of stealing vials from Grandfather took away all of his anger. He looked at the map, his eyes twinkling.

  “I saw them put the code in at the door,” Robert said. “So we can get in.”

  “This is great,” Ashton said.

  Edgar seemed satisfied with Ashton’s excitement.

  “Why us?” I asked Robert.

  “Who’s gonna suspect two boys your age?” Edgar said. “You two will make us look like normal people from within the wall.”

  Within the wall. Not once in my life did I ever think I’d see what it looked like inside. And now, it seemed as if I was about to. I looked down at what I was wearing. There was one problem.

  “What is it?” Edgar asked. I guess I made it pretty obvious that I had some concerns. “I know you don’t believe in Grandfather yet, but you wanted to come with me. Here you are.”

  “We’re not dressed fancy,” I told Edgar. “They’ll notice us fast, even with me and Ashton there.”

  Robert shook his head. “That’s the easy part. We’ve already got suits for you. They should fit. Edgar and I already have one, of course.”

  Oh.

  “How are we carrying it all out?” Ashton asked.

  “That’s an easy part, too,” Robert answered.

  “We’ll have our own briefcases,” Edgar elaborated. “Robert says we’ll be able to carry it all.”

  I was about to ask why we were even bothering stealing the vials if there wasn’t a large supply but decided not to. I assumed that even just a small amount of the substance would be extremely harmful. Or so that was what Robert and Edgar were obviously thinking.

  “How are we getting there?” I asked.

  “Same way we got here,” Edgar said, sounding somewhat annoyed.

  Oh.

  “We have a driver always on standby,” Robert said. “I know the guy, but he is a bit odd.”

  “It’s best he doesn’t say anything,” Belladonna said. “He gets us where we need to go.”

  Well that certainly explained the driver’s silence.

  Edgar told us we’d be leaving that next evening, just before dark. Even though I was taking a trip with people who really annoyed me, I was actually excited for it, but wondered if the people hiding the vials actually planned to infect everybody with the virus. Of course, I questioned whether or not those hiding it were actually Grandfather members. Perhaps the vials were for educational purposes, and Edgar and Robert were making it a bigger deal than what it really was. There was only one thing th
at mattered: Learning more about the truth. Why was I so important? If the trip proved to me that Grandfather was real, then Edgar and Belladonna were right. If there was no proof, then everybody living underground was going to look even more like lunatics. Oh, and another thing. It looked like I was going to get to see what it looked like in the city. I was extremely eager about that part.

  That next evening came quickly. Edgar told Mae what was going on, and Marley came up to me to make sure I would be careful. She also told me that she talked to Ashton about leaving me alone while we were gone. I just hoped he actually did so.

  “That goes for you too,” she told me.

  I didn’t plan on even speaking to him, so that wasn’t going to be a problem.

  Before leaving, Edgar handed me a clean, black suit, complete with a white dress shirt and a black tie. I took it to my room and tried putting it on. I got everything except for the tie. I didn’t even know where to start. I still tried, only to form a jumbled up knot. As if knowing, Edgar knocked on my door. I let him in to find he was already dressed in his black suit. Whoa, did he look like a completely different person. “Here,” he said, taking my tie and tying it for me. I had never worn a suit before, and I had to give it to myself . . . I looked good.

  Edgar led me away to the meeting room. Robert and Ashton were already there, sitting at the table. They, too, had on black suits. Belladonna stood beside Robert, dressed in black pants and wearing a red turtleneck. There, in the middle of the table, were black briefcases, one for each of us.

  “Just get the vials, and we’ll put them where nobody’ll find them,” Belladonna said, all business. Just as we were leaving, she told me to be careful. “And I hope you find something that helps you realize the truth. But if you don’t this time around, that’s completely fine.”

  Ashton looked at Belladonna with wide eyes, probably in disbelief it didn’t bother her that I didn’t believe. I had a smirk on my face as Ashton’s eyes met mine.

  “Better get going,” Edgar said. Belladonna told us to be careful once again while we each took a briefcase and left the room. Edgar and Robert took out their own flashlight and led the way back toward the entrance. Ashton and I walked side-by-side, following them. We didn’t say a word to each other.

  We soon reached the ladder that led us to the surface. Great . . . I was going to have to climb it again. First, Edgar went up so that he could open the door. Second was Robert, followed by Ashton, then me. I reached the surface and Edgar closed the hidden trap door.

  I was back in the forest. This time, the sun was going down and the forest was much darker. It would definitely be pitch black by the time we got back. I wasn’t looking forward to walking at night. Hopefully I didn’t go tripping on more roots.

  “We’ll get to the road . . . driver will be waiting,” Edgar said. He and Robert started walking. Ashton and I followed.

  We passed more arrows, and each time, we followed them. Each time we passed one, I looked at the other side of the tree to see another arrow. I finally got it. Two sets of arrows.

  Good thing, because I would’ve never found the road again.

  “Be sure to keep the suits clean,” Robert told us once we could see the road up ahead. I made sure I hadn’t gotten my suit dirty or anything. I was good . . . so far. That probably wouldn’t last long. Knowing me, I’d get something all over it.

  As soon as we reached the road, a car sped by. I lost grip of the briefcase and dropped it

  “Don’t be a dropping it,” Edgar shouted. “Do that with the vials in it . . . you’ll kill us all!”

  “Okay, okay,” I griped, making a mental note to be more careful.

  Giving me a worried look, Edgar headed toward the familiar white car sitting on the side of the road just a few yards ahead.

  “Aren’t you guys afraid somebody driving by will get suspicious?” I asked.

  “Nah,” Robert said. “People rarely leave the city. No reason to. And when they do, they’re more focused on getting to the next city. They don’t care what’s going on here.”

  “Mostly cab drivers,” Edgar said.

  Robert took the front seat, not even acknowledging the driver. I was stuck in the back, squished between Edgar and Ashton. “Corner of Luther and Cabella,” Robert said, more to himself than the driver. Immediately, the familiar 3D image floating up front zoomed out, revealing more of the mountain we were in. Finally, the screen passed over the landmarks, flying across the city wall before stopping and zooming back in on an intersection. The words ‘Luther’ and ‘Cabella’ were listed.

  The GPS was, by far, one of the coolest things I had seen. I just had to look at the others’ reaction, and of course Edgar and Robert didn’t seem surprised. Neither did Ashton, which made sense. He had been out a few times with the doctor.

  The car sped off, and just as expected, the driver didn’t say a word. None of us spoke that much. I wondered if all car rides were silent.

  It didn’t really bother me because it gave me a chance to enjoy the scenery. It was beautiful, though scary at times when the road got too close to a drop-off. The occasional vehicle would pass by, which I was used to. Soon, as we moved downhill, the forest grew sparse, and the familiar road leading straight to the orphanage came into view. The car passed up the street and eventually took a left. I looked over my shoulder at the road, wondering if people at the orphanage were searching for me. They probably wondered where I’d gone, but there was no way they would go out of their way to actually find me. Actually, the houseladies probably hadn’t even noticed.

  Up ahead, the street led straight to the tall wall. Man, it was huge. Probably twenty or thirty stories high. To our left, there was nothing but a flat, green field where cows grazed. It stretched until bordering the forest: the same forest we were just in. To our right, there were several trees blocking whatever was on the other side.

  The closer we got to the wall, the taller it became. I got even more excited. I was finally going to be able to see what was on the other side. I looked up ahead to see how far we were. Not even a mile ahead, there was a tunnel going through the wall. It was the first time I had ever seen the entrance. It was probably one of many. Ashton kept his cheeks against the window, looking straight up at the wall. Edgar and Robert looked straight ahead. I caught a glimpse of the driver’s eyes through the mirror. They stayed on the road.

  The tunnel grew closer and closer. My excitement grew more and more. What was it going to be like? What were the people like? Then, I remembered how most people didn’t like the rich people. I had to be prepared to hate what I saw.

  I didn’t have to wait much longer. The car finally entered the brightly lit tunnel. There were four lanes going one way, and four going the other. Hardly any vehicles entered or left. I knew it was because people usually stayed inside the city. They didn’t leave. A shiny red car drove beside us. It was curvy and beautiful. I imagined myself driving. Of course I didn’t know how to, but I could maybe learn.

  The wall was pretty thick. I’d say it took us ten seconds just to get through. And when we did leave the tunnel, I got my first look at the city. It was absolutely amazing. I’m gonna try to explain it as best as I can, but it’s just something you’d have to see with your own eyes.

  First of all, as soon as we exited the tunnel, there were tons of roads going in every direction. Some were several feet in the air while others disappeared into tunnels going underground. These roads were crowded with tons of cars, all perfect and clean. The driver took a specific exit that was smaller than the others. The skyscrapers towered the city, gazing at the vast amount of people. Other buildings reflected off of the skyscrapers’ shiny surfaces. The reflection of the sun bounced off the tallest. As I remembered, it was in the very middle. I may have seen the city from far off with Marley, but these buildings were much bigger than what I’d thought. They could hold thousands of people! And they looked brand new too. They were all silver and slick-looking.

 
; The driver took a few more turns until we entered a much busier street located directly among the skyscrapers. People filled the sidewalks, rushing in and out of different stores, in all different directions. They moved at a much quicker pace than the people around the orphanage. Many of them also carried large bags. I wondered what they had in them.

  Some of the people talked and laughed with others. Many held a clear rectangle device to their ear and talked. It looked like a piece of glass with smooth edges. I assumed they were cell phones. I had heard of them, but I had never actually seen one.

  I noticed that almost everybody walking was smiling. Nobody looked like they were having a bad time . . . not one single person. To no surprise, they stood up straighter than anybody I had seen. They dressed in elegant clothing ranging from suits like ours to the nicest shirts and sweaters with all sorts of unique designs. Most of the women wore extravagant dresses and skirts and jewelry. Their hair was fixed in very complicated ways. I even saw a few people with hair colors like blue, green, and purple. Very different.

  Ashton looked just as amazed as I did. Of course he did. This was his first time in the city also. He and Dr. Mac may have seen the technology in vehicles, but from what Marley said, they picked up the medicine outside the wall.

  I caught Edgar looking back at us. He seemed entertained by our reactions.

  Traffic grew denser as we got closer to the center of the city, forcing our driver to slow down. I continued watching the rich people interact with the city, fascinated by them. Everything they did was completely different from what I was used to seeing. It was as if the rich and poor were two completely different breeds. Interesting but scary.

  There’s something else I should mention. It was really cool. Almost every skyscraper had a huge green logo at the top: a green infinity sign. It looked pretty cool.

  The car made a turn onto a small street with less traffic. The buildings were less tall so I assumed we were driving away from the city center. Then, the driver came to a stop at an intersection. I looked at the electronic signs with the road names on them. One read Cabella. The other read Luther. We had arrived.

  The GPS announced our arrival, and we exited as Robert told the driver to wait. I took the time to observe the people. They didn’t pay any attention to us.

  “The new one comes out next week,” a girl around my age was casually telling an older woman. I imagined it was her mom. “Can I get it?”

  “We’re all getting it,” the woman replied as they walked away.

  “We’ll get a steak dinner,” an older man said onto his phone as he passed by. I tried getting a better look at his phone since I had never seen one before, but it just looked like a thin piece of glass. When the man took the phone away from his ear, the piece of glass lit up, revealing several numbers. Amazing.

  “Should be dark soon,” Edgar said.

  “We need to wait until it’s completely dark,” Robert said. “Safer then.”

  Edgar agreed. “Been here many times. There’s a coffee shop around the corner.”

  We all followed Edgar, not saying a word. Ashton and I were still using our time to take in the city life. I wondered if others could easily notice we were from outside the wall. Our facial expressions probably gave it away . . . if they were paying attention to us. I had a feeling the city life was something I’d never get used to. But apparently it was possible since Edgar and Robert didn’t pay much attention to everything going on around us.

  We rounded the corner, and the crowd became denser. It must’ve been a popular area. The noise of people talking and laughing filled the air. Edgar and Robert snaked their way through the crowd pretty easily while Ashton and I were pushed and shoved in every direction. People may have looked nice, but they sure didn’t act it toward strangers.

  Finally, we reached the coffee shop Edgar was talking about. I read the sign. Starbucks. Never heard of it. Some fast-paced song I had never heard of was playing when we entered. There were several people sitting at different tables focused on different types of electronic devices. Most of them were just small boxes in which a light jet out of a small hole, projecting a hologramic screen into the air in front of them. People used their fingers to navigate. We may have never seen much technology around the orphanage, but most of us had read about it. I remembered reading about computers, which were described much similar to what I saw in that coffee shop. Awesome.

  We walked up front to where a short blond-headed woman in a green uniform stood, smiling at us. In a friendly and confident voice, she asked, “How may I help you?”

  “I’ll take a cappuccino, grande,” Robert said.

  “Make that four,” Edgar said. He turned around to look at me and Ashton. “I know you two don’t know what ya want,” he said, smiling.

  Yeah, he was right.

  I watched the order appear on a transparent screen next to the woman. She didn’t even do anything. “Names?” the woman asked.

  “Robert.”

  “Edgar,”

  “Uh . . . Carsyn,” I said slowly.

  “Ashton.” He also spoke slowly.

  Each time we spoke, our name appeared on the screen.

  Edgar laughed at us, and the tone of his voice was even happier. It was as if the city changed him. I bet he missed the city life. I wanted to learn more about his previous life but didn’t think it would be a good idea to ask.

  Me, Ashton, and Robert took a seat while Edgar paid. When I heard the woman say it was nearly twenty bitcoin, my eyes widened. Edgar didn’t even seem to mind. How much bitcoin did this guy have anyways?

  After a few minutes of waiting in silence, the woman called our names, and we each grabbed our green cups filled with whatever cappuccino was.

  “Watch out now,” Edgar started to say as we reclaimed our table, but I took a drink before letting him finish. Ashton did the same thing.

  Big mistake.

  We both jumped, spitting back up what we didn’t swallow. My tongue and throat felt like they were on fire.

  “Hot,” I said in pain.

  Edgar and Robert just laughed at us.

  “It’s hot,” Edgar finished. I guessed I should have let him finish.

  I wiped the cappuccino off of my chin and looked down to see I had spit some onto my suit.

  “Dammit,” Robert said. “Not the suit. Both of you.” Ashton apparently did the exact same thing.

  Then Edgar said casually as he took a small sip. “Doesn’t matter.”

  I tried again, this time going much slower. I allowed the cappuccino to come out of the cup and gently touch my tongue. I slowly swallowed the small amount. My chest warmed up immediately. I had never had a drink like it, and it was pretty amazing.

  “Good, isn’t it?” Robert asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. Ashton loved it too.

  “I used to come here all of the time,” Edgar said. “Miss those days.”

  “Maybe you can after Grandfa –” Ashton started to say but was interrupted.

  “Shhhhhh,” Edgar and Robert said at the same time.

  Edgar nearly jumped out of his seat, as if he was ready to tackle Ashton. “What the hell ya think you’re doing?” he whispered, looking around to see if anybody had heard. They all kept their eyes on the screens floating in front of them. They didn’t care about us.

  “Oops,” Ashton said, putting his head down. “Didn’t mean to.”

  “We know,” Robert said, forgiving him pretty quickly. “Just remember where we are.”

  “That goes for you too, Carsyn,” Edgar said.

  I nodded, showing him I understood.

  We finished our cappuccinos while Edgar told us stories about what he would do in the city. Apparently they had movie theaters, places called malls that had hundreds of stores all in one place, and even a place where they could go and play games. He called them arcades. “Arcades were my favorite places to go to as a kid,” he said. Edgar having fun? Impossible. But then again,
he was a kid.

  The sky grew darker and darker until the sun had completely vanished, leaving the fluorescent lights coming from the city structures as the only light source. The dark sure didn’t stop the people from walking outside. It was just as busy.

  “It’s about that time,” Edgar said, growing serious once again. We all threw away our empty cups and followed Edgar outside and around the corner to where the white vehicle was still sitting. Once again, Edgar and Robert slithered their way through the crowd while Ashton and I were pushed and shoved. I didn’t know if I could ever get used to the city life as Edgar and Robert had. But I guessed I didn’t have to worry about that since I was living under a mountain.

  Once we were out of the way of people, Edgar stopped. We all huddled together. “That’s it over there,” Edgar said, pointing at a building across the road. It was a good thing we were on a road not very popular, or else there would’ve been people all around, making it difficult for us to get in.

  The building was a lot shorter than the other buildings. Ten stories high. All the lights were off with the exception of a few on the top floor. I was trying to figure out how in the world we were going to track small vials. “This building is huge,” I told Edgar. “It’s going to take us forever.”

  “You think this is huge?” Robert asked.

  Edgar laughed. “Easy,” he said. “I know exactly where to go. Came here many times for my job.”

  Ashton pointed at the floor where the lights were on. “It looks like there are people there,” he said.

  “Doubt it,” Edgar said. “Those are offices. Lights always stay on.”

  “And besides,” Robert said in a reassuring tone. “Most people have gone home for the day. It’s 8:00.”

  “Exactly,” Edgar said.

  I wanted to argue, of course, but they knew more about what was going on. I was just along for the ride.

  “Come on,” Edgar said, crossing the road. We all followed him. I glanced around to make sure nobody was watching. The only people I saw were those passing by on the main road where the Starbucks was. They weren’t paying attention to us. I kind of felt like everybody was just oblivious to everything around them. Oh well. It worked in our favor. That’s all that mattered.

  Edgar approached a door. Beside the door handle was a keypad with touch screen numbered buttons. “What’s the code?” he asked, looking around to also make sure nobody was watching.

  “0-6-0-5-2-0-7-6,” Robert answered.

  Edgar pushed each one, and the door clicked. I checked one last time to make sure nobody was watching. I was being paranoid. We were in the clear.

  “That passcode,” Edgar whispered as he led us inside. “That’s the date of the President’s assassination.”

  “June, 5th,” Robert said. “I didn’t even think about that.

  Interesting.

  Edgar closed the door behind us. It was dark inside the building. Edgar reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small flashlight. He turned it on, revealing nicely painted white walls, the clean beige tiles, and the shiny, slick furniture all matching. I wished the lights were on so I could get a better look at the room, but it made sense to use flashlights. It could look suspicious if somebody saw a light on, I guess.

  “Follow me,” Edgar said. He led us to what seemed like a metal door. Beside it, on the wall, was a small screen. Edgar waved his hand across it, revealing a lit up arrow pointing up and another arrow pointing down. Edgar tapped the down button. It turned green. Above the door, there was a green number ‘7.’ It changed to a ‘6’, followed by a ‘5’.

  “What’s this?” Ashton whispered.

  “Elevator,” Edgar whispered back. “We need to get to the bottom floor.”

  “And this will take us there?” Ashton asked.

  Edgar nodded.

  “Wait,” I said. “How do you know where we need to go?”

  “Didn’t I tell ya I been here many times before,” Edgar asked, annoyed. That sounded more like the Edgar I knew. “The basement is where they store their most important things.”

  “Well, these vials certainly would be something extremely important to Grandfather,” Robert said with a snicker. “So that’s probably exactly where it is.”

  The number above the door stopped at ‘1’. There was a ding as the doors opened, revealing a small, bright closet. Once inside, I noticed a much larger lit up screen. This one had several numbered buttons. Edgar tapped a button reading‘B3.’ The doors shut quickly, and my insides shifted downward with the elevator. So surreal.

  “You were whispering. You sure nobody will be here?” I asked.

  “Edgar’s sure,” Robert said. “Whispering is an instinct when you’re robbing somebody.”

  “We’ll steal the vials and get out quickly.”

  Ashton smiled. “I’m just glad to be stealing from Grandfather,” he said. His eyes met mine and his expression became hard. “I guess you wouldn’t care.”

  My hatred toward him was building. “Can’t you shut up about that?” I asked. “Worry about what you think, not what I think. And besides –”

  “Quit this nonsense,” Edgar said angrily as the elevator stopped and the door slid open with another ding. “I don’t give a damn what’s going on between ya. Now’s not the time.”

  Robert frowned at us. Ashton actually looked ashamed. I really didn’t care. His attitude was really going too far. I wasn’t just going to let somebody treat me like that.

  We stepped out of the elevator and into a large room with rows and rows of rectangular tables. On each of them, every few feet, were sinks, folders, and tubes filled with different colored liquids. Alongside the walls were large machines. They all had blinking lights on them. Of course, I had no idea what any of them did and what the lights meant. Edgar didn’t move as the elevator doors shut behind us. He flashed his light around the entire room. Caution is good.

  “What is it?” Robert asked when Edgar still didn’t move.

  “This room,” Edgar said. “It’s different than before.”

  “What?” Robert asked, worried. “Is it not here?”

  Edgar slowly walked down one of the aisles. We followed him. He looked at each table, and stopped to examine one of the machines. He picked up a clear tube with some sort of green liquid in it. His face cringed when he sniffed it.

  “What is it?” Ashton asked.

  Edgar sat the tube back onto the table, shaking his head. “Don’t know.”

  I moved along the table. I saw another tube, this one filled with a bluish greenish liquid. I wasn’t going to make the dumb mistake Edgar made. I looked at the other tables again. “There’s a bunch of different colors,” I said. “What is this?”

  “Yeah,” Edgar said, picking up another tube with purple liquid in it. “Experimenting.”

  “Experimenting?” Ashton asked. “On what?”

  “Don’t know,” Edgar said, setting the tube back down. “Looks like they’re trying to make something.”

  “And whatever it is,” Robert added, “it’s probably not good.”

  Edgar agreed.

  “Why are they all different colors?” Ashton asked.

  “Because,” Robert said. “They’ve not discovered an answer to whatever they’re trying to figure out.”

  “Exactly,” Edgar said, glancing around the room again. His eyes stopped past me. He pointed, so I followed his attention to see a glass door. It was dark on the other side, but blinking lights coming from what I assumed to be machines inside. Edgar walked to the door quickly. We did the same. He turned the knob. It didn’t open.

  “You think they’re in there?” Robert asked.

  “I bet they are,” Edgar said, placing a hand on the glass door.

  “What is this room?” Ashton asked.

  “It’s refrigerated,” Edgar said.

  I felt the glass door. It was cold.

  “Probably the best condition to store the virus,” Edgar
added. He kept his face close to the glass door, hoping to get a better look at what was inside. But it was too dark.

  “Look,” Ashton said. We all followed the direction of his finger to another small dark screen on the wall. “Will that help?”

  Edgar looked at it.

  “Maybe,” he said, waving a hand across it. The screen came to life. This time, I only saw a black square. No numbered buttons. Edgar put his thumb over the black square. A red line ran across the screen before making a beeping noise. The screen turned green.

  “Your fingerprint?” Robert asked. “How’s that possible?”

  Edgar smiled. “Can’t believe it. Guess they never took my fingerprints out the system once I quit. Surprising since I’ve not been working for a few years now.”

  “So you could get anywhere?” I asked.

  “Basically,” Edgar said. “But they’ll change it in the morning once they realize they’ve been robbed.” Edgar opened the door. The room lit up automatically as we walked in. Alongside the wall were several more strange machines. In the middle was a long table. A few other unfamiliar devices sat on it. This one, unlike those outside of the small room, didn’t have tubes of liquids on it.

  Robert nudged Edgar on the shoulder and pointed to the furthest corner. I followed the direction of his finger to see a round black device on the ceiling. On it, a red light flashed every second.

  “We’ll be on video,” Robert said.

  “Don’t worry about that,” Edgar said, placing his briefcase on the table and walking around looking at the machines. “Their security system is one floor above us. I know how to delete every damn thing.” He walked around the table and stopped in front of a smaller glass door. It reminded me of a small refrigerator.

  “Is that it?” I asked.

  Edgar said nothing. He opened the glass door. A thick smoky vapor rose out. Edgar stuck his hand inside and brought out a silver vial about three inches long.

  “Open the briefcases,” Edgar said, slowly reaching for more. Robert sat his briefcase on the table and opened it. Ashton and I did the same. Edgar carefully began putting the vials in Robert’s briefcase.

  It was a good thing the inside of the briefcase was cushioned, I thought. Or else, the vials could easily break. But as Edgar placed them inside, I still became nervous. I mean, what if I somehow dropped one? Who knew what the substance would do to me. I pushed the thought out of mind in order to keep my head clear. Relax, I told myself.

  “What do they say on it?” Robert asked.

  “That’s the odd thing,” Edgar said. “They don’t say anything. You said this was their first batch, right?”

  Robert nodded. “Takes about a year to create it, from what I’ve learned.”

  “Good,” Edgar said, taking a break from handling the vials. “With any luck, this is all there is.”

  “Oh yes,” Robert said, joining Edgar to help him with the vials. They moved very slowly. “From what I heard, this is all there is.”

  Ashton and I just watched, hoping none of the vials would get knocked off onto the floor. .After he and Robert filled up the first briefcase, Edgar turned to us. “Make yourself useful. Go out there and see if there’s anything suspicious. Don’t want you handling these vials.”

  Ashton and I glanced at each other. Neither one of us wanted to be alone with the other. More importantly, everything looked suspicious to me. Ashton probably thought so too because we had never seen any of this. I didn’t know what Edgar wanted us to look for. But I didn’t argue.

  “And stay together,” Robert added, handing me a flashlight. He didn’t give Ashton one.

  Great. Now we had to stick together if we both wanted to see in the dark. Of course I could’ve just left Ashton in the dark. But I wasn’t going to be that mean. We left the room and walked toward the elevator without saying a word. I looked at the tubes again, wondering what was being experimented on. Perhaps it was a special kind of medicine. Or another virus.

  I noticed a hall leading to another room. I pointed at it. Ashton didn’t say anything. It was the same as the previous room: machines everywhere and tables filled with tubes of liquid.

  After a few minutes, Ashton finally said something. “This all looks pretty suspicious. You still don’t believe after seeing all of this?”

  I didn’t want to get into it again, so I ignored him. I shined the light up and down the tables.

  “Okay, okay,” he said. “I’ll be quiet.”

  “Please do,” I snapped. I knew I should have just kept my mouth shut.

  “So what is it?” he asked. “What is keeping you in denial like this?”

  I didn’t say anything.

  “I don’t even know why Edgar and Belladonna want to help you,” he said. “You’re basically a lost cause.”

  I stopped in front of another elevator and turned to Ashton, flashing the light directly in his eye. He closed them and swung his hand at mine, knocking the flashlight onto the ground. It flickered off, leaving us in the dark.

  “Why does it kill you that I don’t believe in Grandfather?” I asked, trying my best to stay calm. I didn’t even bother getting the flashlight. I didn’t want to see him.

  “Because you’re sleeping on our beds, drinking our water, and eating our food,” Ashton growled. “That stuff should only be for those who want to help. You don’t deserve to be one of us.”

  “What happened to you?” I asked angrily. “Why are you always so angry? I bet it has something to do with the scar.”

  Oh, bad idea. Ashton’s hands squeezed my shoulder tightly, as if he was ready to pick me up and throw me across the room. I mean, my whole arm went numb. I cringed, moving downward, trying to pull away. Finally, he let go, and I exhaled, rotating my shoulder around to rub off the pain.

  “Never, ever, ask me that again,” he said slowly. “Where’s the flashlight?”

  Whoa. Honestly, Ashton probably could’ve hurt me right then and there. He was bigger than me, and that grip of his told me he was extremely strong. I wasn’t complaining. He let me go. I was about to bend down and look for the flashlight when I heard footsteps. Two shadows walked in our direction. Ashton and I faced them.

  “It’s about time,” Ashton said.

  A hand reached around my body and covered my mouth. My first reaction was to jump forward and turn around, but whoever it was, they were strong. I tried elbowing them, but failed, once again. Ashton was struggling too, his feet scuffling against the floor while he tried to free himself. These people were too strong for him too. With nothing else to do, I looked back at the first two shadows we had seen. They were tall officers dressed in black uniforms, pointing a gun at us. “Come with us,” one of them said, tapping the elevator button pointing up.

  Oops. We weren’t along.

  Who were these people? And more importantly, where was Edgar and Robert?

  Chapter Six