Into Ruin

Chapter 16 Suspicious

Even if he hadn't studied the maps, Matt wouldn't have had any trouble figuring out where he needed to be. Everyone on the labour line had a jumpsuit that immediately declared they were blue collar, awkward conversations avoided if for some reason a Mexican kid like him landed higher up the employment scale than this. He didn't mind for this mission though; it gave him access to larger areas that bordered to exits since the staff unloading incoming stock worked here.

Matt knew his true job was to take in as much as he could about the process and what they were manufacturing. The physical task required a bit of assembly in a big warehouse that they reached through an underground tunnel. Air shafts crawled along the ceiling and probably led to the surface, though the cameras would catch a person before they could reach them.

"Yo, where we workin' today?" Matt asked the guy with wicked scars who'd been rattling on about a girl, with very little self-respect, at least as far as he'd judged.

The guy, Rob, one of Manny's acquaintances answered, "Same place you always at," and the nod gave him the direction he needed. "Gonna share what you've been smoking, hombre?"

Matt smiled and laughed even though he wanted to smack the stereotype away. "You couldn't handle that shit."

He'd seen Manny's main workstation before but couldn't risk anyone with real authority seeing he didn't know what was going on if there was a switch. Surveillance indicated it could be a possibility. One co-worker thinking he was high was a good compromise. The security footage showed the workers going through the motions, but the team didn't have any information on what really went on down here. Everything was confidential.

Products came down the line and everyone had one repetitive task. They had to pour containers of vinegar into larger ones and reseal them. The new larger glass containers had no labels and were placed on a wheeled cart that other workers eventually came by to collect. Of all the things in the world they could be doing after a country-altering storm, he wondered why vinegar? How could this be helping anyone?

Later in the day, one of the workers wheeled a big container across the warehouse to the other side. From what he had judged earlier, more of the fans and ventilation were in that space. The workers also wore protective gloves and vests. The side of the large blue barrel read NaOCl. It took him a second to connect sodium hypochlorite with what he was working on. It could have been a coincidence as both were common enough products, but together...

His hands trembled enough to spill some of the vinegar onto the table. If the bleach and vinegar were intended to be used together, they could be playing with chlorine gas. In high enough concentrations, it could even be fatal, or at the very least quite damaging to the respiratory system. Whoever was in charge probably didn't expect many of the people here to connect the two dots. If he didn't have an interest in chemistry he wouldn't have either.

Were they preparing for an attack? All he could do was report it to Olivia and hope they weren't here longer than a week. The more distance he could put between himself and this place, the better.

A few days went by without any major incidents according to Olivia's nightly reports. Matt had grown sick of his co-workers but he made dull conversations to keep up appearances. At lunch hour, he spotted Gunnar much further up in the line with Travis' little brunette girlfriend. Everyone lined up for the food like they did at Nouveau Depart, but the jumpsuits like himself were always long after anyone in security. There must have been a completely different section for the higher-ups since Matt had yet to see one of those people.

"Something seems off with Travis lately," Rob commented. The smell of roast beef floated over to tease them. It had been a long time since he'd had any of that. Matt swallowed to wet his dry throat. His gaze had attracted attention to the last person who needed to be found out. Now he had to make sure they didn't suspect Gunnar.