Walls

18

"Fuck!"

Abbie did not expect the word to ring so loudly inside the almost silent car. They were speeding towards more tall buildings and random people on the sidewalk, which was a clear indication that they were moving out of the greens into the greys of Angelora.

Abbie glanced at the timer on the phone, "Fuck!"

Elias gave her a side glance, looking like he was trying very hard to choose his next words, "What is the matter?"

"You don't want to hear it," she squeaked.

"Er...hear what?"

"Whatever is making me say 'Fuck' out loud."

Abbie wished that Elias would turn in his seat any minute now and laugh out so loud telling her that this was all a big joke. But no, he had his jaw set in a firm line and his eyes glued to the road. And Abbie could tell that he was waiting for her to give him a solid answer, judging by the way his ears were perked.

"I think I can handle anything at this point, Abbie," he rolled his eyes.

He did have a point, but every other time that Abbie had to give a similar piece of news to him, he ended up groaning with frustration and laughing at her. And also, he had gone as far as to call her a liar.

But the thing was, Abbie also realized that this was not the place to nurse her ego.

"I can't get into the server," she said in a low voice.

And just like she had expected, Elias let out a very loud frustrated groan, "Fuck! You gotta be kidding me!"

"I mean, I wish!"

"What is it this time? And if you say 'password' one more time, I might actually kill myself right now."

Abbie rolled her eyes. He was calling her a liar. Again!

"No, it is not a password," she sighed, "But do you have any idea? This thing is like a literal-"

"Fortress? Yeah, I've heard that before."

"Good, because it is a literal fortress!"

"Now what?" Elias sighed.

"Well, we're screwed. Also, if we want to install this new version of the software we have to make it to Acute Inc before the timer runs out."

"You really got to be kidding me. I'm driving over the speed limit and even with that, we need like an hour to get to Acute Inc. The timer is at...well, it is at like 45 minutes now."

Abbie knew that the fact her heart was not speeding up anymore meant only one thing. Even her nervous subconscious knew that everything was over. They were probably going to die because of a short-circuit in their brains.

Elias let out a deep growl that sounded like all life left his body, "I might have a way to get there, but this could not be okay with a few people."

"What do you mean?" After what felt like ages, her heart was picking up speed. Abbie knew the feeling - it was hope.

"Well, we already have one crazy person with a gun chasing us, imagine something like an army of them."

Abbie gulped. The look on Elias' face did not convey in any way that he was joking. His eyes looked like he just witnessed the end of the world. The amber rings in them had lost the fire Abbie had previously gotten herself lost in.

"Well, there is nothing to lose, right?" she squeaked.

Elias' jaw tightened, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. He set his eyes back on the road. Abbie turned back to the laptop, hoping that she had correctly reversed the program to save her colleagues.

*********

Elias knew that the world as he knew, was probably going to end. He was about to do the most reckless thing that he ever did.

Trespassing.

A word that never spiked his heart rate before - A word that had been synonymous with breathing for some time, but was now knocking the living daylights out of him.

The property he had in mind ran through the heart of Angelora, with no traffic or trains - just a flat piece of land that nobody knew about. That no one was supposed to know about. And knowing about it was enough to be the end of Elias Castaldo.

Elias gulped ever so slightly, not letting the thundering of his heart get to his head. He had to do it. He had lives to save.

The greenery had completely vanished and had given way to taller and taller skyscrapers - all grey and blue and not very green.

The first traffic light they encountered meant that the piece of land he was going to break into was only minutes away.

He took a deep breath.

"Actually the look on your face is scaring the hell out of me right now," Abbie said.

"You should be scared."

Abbie stared at him for a minute, her mouth hanging slightly open. She looked adorable. Elias would have taken the time to appreciate her features if what he was about to do was not scaring the hell out of him too.

The light turned green, and Elias pushed on the gas, bracing himself for what was to come. He turned to a small street that was narrower than any other street around the place.

As they reached the end of the road, there appeared a gate with a guard post positioned right beside it.

"Hold on tight," Elias said, speeding up the car.

His eyes fixed on the gate as he sped towards it at full speed. He needed to go at full speed because the last time he tried it, his car had bounced back.

The scream that erupted in Abbie's direction was drowned out by the noise of metal colliding on metal.

The gate swung outwards, crashing onto the ground with brutal force. Elias sped past it. Just like he expected, a series of gunshots erupted behind him.

Elias knew one thing - they were not trained marksmen. He could be out of the line of fire as long as he did not drive straight.

Abbie wheezed beside him, "Are you kidding me? The board outside the gate said 'Castaldo'."

"Yeah," Elias flinched, "This belongs to my dad."