Through the Lungs and Back

Chapter Seven

"Christian, I have a job for you." Ellis says as we walk away from the window. "What's that?" I ask. "I need you to find me a purple flash drive. That has all of the names and stuff on it. When you do, yell for me." Ellis tosses me a tiny circular speaker. "Press the red button, and it'll send a message to me. If it vibrates, press this blue button, and then you'll get a message from Aline, okay?" Ellis says, pointing to the buttons. Before he says anything else, he takes a white marker and labels the buttons. He writes "send" with an arrow pointing to the red button, and "get" with an arrow pointing to the blue button. "At the end of the volunteer testing hallway, there's a door with a golden handle. The room will be empty unless Aline tells you anything different. I'm going to raid the kitchen, then we're all going to camp out with Molly because that's the safest place to be. Aline is in the security camera room, and she'll tell you if something isn't right." Ellis starts walking away from me. "And don't be freaked out, because I'm doing the dangerous job." Ellis salutes me, and I return the gesture. He starts running towards the cafeteria. I head down the volunteer hallway, which is completely empty. Something about it creeps me out, but I want to be safe in the long run. I can see the end of the hallway from here, and it makes me feel better. The tiny speaker starts to vibrate, and I press the blue button.

"You're clear, Christian." Aline mumbles from the camera room. I turn to the nearest security camera, and I salute, then I continue with my mission. Being on a mission is pretty cool. It makes me feel like a secret agent or something. I get to the end of the hallway, and I find the gold handle. The speaker vibrates again, and I press the blue button again. "It's open, but there's a tripwire close to the door, so be careful." Aline says. I press the red button. "Got it. Thanks." I open the door with the golden handle, and I inspect the ground. I instantly see the tripwire. It's three feet off the ground, so I crawl under it. The speaker vibrates right when I stand up. "Feel free to trash the place if you need to. Take anything that looks important." Aline says after I accept the message. "Got it." I send back. I search through files on the front desk and I come up empty. I lift up the computer and I toss papers on the floor. Nothing. I make my way through the cabinets in the back of the room. I search through the top one, and I empty it out. I search through the next one, and it gives me nothing. I haven't found anything that we might need yet.

When I'm looking through the last cabinet, I find a small box. There's a lock on the top. Instead of searching for a key through the pile of papers I left on the floor, I stand on the desk and I throw it on the ground like any other logical person. I broke a hole in the corner. When I peek through it, I see a purple flash drive. I tilt the box so it falls out in my hand. Score! I slip back under the tripwire, then I leave the room. The hallway is still deserted, so that makes my job a lot easier. My speaker vibrates, so I press the blue button again. "Nice job. Back to Molly's." Aline says. I stuff it back in my pocket, and I wander towards the technology hallway. I decide that holding the flash drive would be better, so I don't lose it. I look out for door eleven when I make my way down the hallway. My speaker vibrates again, and I'm getting fed up with Aline talking to me. Either way, I press the blue button and let her speak. "Hurry up, Ellis needs help." She says. I shove the speaker back in my pocket, and I run for Molly's room. I almost pass it up when I get there. I knock rapidly on the door, and it opens.

"Kill codes? Flash drive." Molly's excited expression fades when she sees the flash drive. "How do you spell your last name?" She asks. "I'll put you in the system." She justifies, not waiting long enough for me to answer. I slowly spell it out for her. "Bianchi. Is that Italian?" She asks. "Probably." I reply. I've never really thought about my last name before. "Anyways, I've gotta go. Ellis needs help." I say. Molly closes the door, and I take off for the cafeteria. Even before I get there, I can hear people yelling.