Sarah peeked around a corner. The hall ran clear and empty to a large room with an unmanned security desk. Behind the desk loomed the gigantic steel door of the closed vault, with its massive wheel that spun the many locking pins.
"Come on. Coast is clear."
She pulled the gurney around the corner while Jill pushed from behind. Jill had dropped the huge umbrella as soon as the sprinklers stopped. It had kept her and the sleeping Marilyn mostly dry.
Sarah hadn't been so lucky. The umbrella was big, but not that big. She wiped water out of her face and slowed as they approached the security desk.
"Tomas." she called softly.
Tomas popped up from behind the desk, and Sarah jumped with a cry of surprise. "Don't do that!"
He grinned. "Sorry. Just finishing disabling the vault door alarm." He typed a few keys on the keyboard hidden behind the desk. "We should be good to go."
"I hope you're right."
"Trust me."
Tomas strode to the vault, spun the large wheel to release the locks, and hauled the massive door open. He stepped through the eight foot wide door and flicked on an interior light.
"I thought the power was out."
"The vault's on an independent grid."
Tomas led the way inside. Despite her anxiety, Sarah couldn't help but look around with wonder at the huge space. Racks of what looked like safety deposit boxes rose over fifteen feet into the air and stretched back into the darkness beyond the lights.
Sarah stared at the boxes in horror. Could there really be people in all of them, faces removed, locked away in those tiny coffins?
Jill looked around and frowned. "I thought there were holding cells in here. What's with the bank stacks?"
"The holding cells are back there," Tomas said, pointing to an area concealed by deep shadows.
"Creepy."
Sarah pulled the gurney farther into the room. "What do we do now?"
Tomas ran to a single workstation and began to type quickly. After a moment he smiled and blew out a breath, looking relieved. "Got her."
"Her?"
"I'll be right back."
Without waiting for a reply, he dashed off into the darkness of the vault stacks. His voice called back to them. "There are three bodies in the closest transfer station. Wheel them in here. Then bring me one more empty gurney. Hurry."
YOU ARE READING
Saving Face
FantasyThere's no place like home. For Sarah, home is the body she grew up in, and she's gone far too often. In a near future where the renting of human bodies is possible, Sarah is a top model. She spends most of her time shuffling between temporary bod...
