MINE

Chapter Twenty Eight

Nathan sprang to his feet as soon as the effects of the preventive shot wore off. He was greeted by Borgina who had been watching him sleep.

"Be careful out there." She said, looking at him with caring eyes as he walked out of the apartment.

The first problem with Nathan's plan was that the 'night' or 'lights out' as it was called on MoonEx, was bright. There was no darkness to shield him from the watchful eyes of the soldiers who patrolled the area. He had to pay extra attention to their location and walk behind buildings to avoid being seen. The second problem was Oxygen – or the lack thereof. Since MoonEx was a completely artificial environment, there were controls for everything and Nathan was sure the Colonel had reduced the amount of Oxygen going into the air outside on purpose.

The obvious strategy to employ considering his options would have been to get to the store and back as quickly as he could but walking too fast would attract the attention of the soldiers outside. He didn't want that so he had to play it cool. The consequences of getting caught were too grave to ignore.

By the time he got to the store, he was almost out of breath. His eyes were already turning red and he felt like his lungs were going to explode. He considered turning around and going back to the comfort of his apartment but that would render his attempt useless. All he needed to do was push himself some more and he would make it inside the store where the right amount of Oxygen would be available.

He snuck in through a small window at the back of the building and thanked his lucky stars he had decided to use that entrance. Had he walked in through the front door with the confidence of meeting an empty store, he would have been a dead man. Borgina's projection about the store being empty during lights out was wrong. There were MoonEx soldiers everywhere, moving materials from one location to another.