Surface R: Reunion

Part 04.2

::THOMAS::

Watching the bluenette sleeping soundly, while less annoying than dealing with him awake, is starting to get boring and I'm getting restless. Now that I think about it, even if it was risky, maybe that's why Nina opted to go along with Doctor Roland, cause it's better than sitting, waiting, and worrying—being a cynic.

To sum up, being me.

But with the silence, I guess it's given me an opportunity to think real well of what we're about to do and what may happen. The number one thing I'm hoping for is that we don't die on the get go. Surely, it wasn't that bad. At least, the guards can still fool around and act like the idiots they are, so whatever is up there can't be traumatizing enough.

Which begs the question, why can't we work on getting back up there?

There must be something up there which the Councilors don't know yet so it's enough to make them cautious. After all, the unknown is always something scary. Like not knowing how long will we survive down here. What will happen to us if the whole system collapse down here? I mean, I'm sure it wouldn't entirely collapse just because who took the maintainer, otherwise Lindsay wouldn't consider it humane, to save Sean's life but ending up annihilating the entire human species down here—

Jeez, I slapped my forehead. I can't be left alone with my thoughts. Stop thinking dark, Tom.

I started glancing repeatedly at the Digital clock, pacing around the room. I'm no longer really watching Sean, like I'm supposed to. What's the worse he could do anyway? He's asleep, so he won't be any trouble.

I wonder if Nina and Doctor Roland has encountered trouble though. I looked back at Sean—well, maybe the back of the sofa he was laying on rather than Sean himself. He's been quiet all this time, so he's not going to wake anytime soon. I decided to at least check on the guards nearby, if there were trouble anywhere, they would hear about it.

. . .

Nope, no trouble at all. But there was definitely something wrong with those in charge of guarding our city playing cards and betting on corn chips, of all things. Fucking seriously, the entire human civilization is relying on some doormats to guard their only refuge from the dangers of the surface?

Why not just go ahead and start betting on human lives? I grumbled, heading right back. One good thing about leaving is at least I get count on myself to survive.

I stopped in my tracks, realizing something. How am I gonna do that?

We don't even have weapons... I looked around, remembering I'm in Level 01, where the weaponry is being kept. Maybe I can find some over—

"Yeah, new rifle models got delivered."

"But we can't test them till tomorrow, it sucks."

I heard guard voices and panicked, finding the nearest quarter. Good thing I still had Lindsay's key card. I tapped it in and got in. I held my breath, too panicked to think that with the airtight door, they wouldn't even hear me scream.

I closed my eyes. When no one tried barging in, I guess I was pretty home free. I exhaled deeply, That was close... The last thing I need is questioning.

That was when I realized that there were surface rifles behind some glass, locked in there. But the key card of it was on a slot just next to that shelf. It would be easy to take them, they've got to have some bags lying around somewhere. But my fingerprints would be left in the key card.

Then again, once I'm at the surface, knowing who took them would be useless.

Still... Now that I think of it, there are no security cameras in this room, they wouldn't know who broke down the glass. If someone, indeed, decided to break them.

"Don't be stupid, Tom," I scolded myself. "You're gonna need something hard or really heavy. It may be glass but it looks sturdy enough. Your fists can't possibly..."

But there happened to be a nice, fire extinguisher in the corner that's heavy enough to break the glass.

"I should really rethink my life choices..." I narrowed my eyes before groaning, and going over to pick up the extinguisher. I grunted a bit, thinking of all those lost times and missed chances to try gym workouts, before heading in front of the glass case. "I hope I live long enough to regret this..."