The Decay

Chapter 25 - Lock-down

25

Benjamin crushed his cigarette in the ashtray. How did it come to this?, he thought, furious. “How the hell are 5 kids kicking our ass?!” he demanded furiously. His highest ranking captain had left to accompany John and the man in the dark silver suit to Boston, so he had asked the question to Daniel Reef, a hardened mercenary who had risen through the ranks at an early age. At the age of 28, he was now one of the few captains, the highest rank, above which was only Benjamin himself. He put a hand through his curly black hair. “I don't know sir. We were caught by surprise. We had never anticipated a frontal assault on our underground base.”

Benjamin grabbed a glass and lunged it against a wall. “Damn it all!” he shouted, as the glass shattered into pieces.

Benjamin and Daniel were located in a secure room in the west wing of the air force base. The room had been constructed in case of emergencies and was now serving its purpose for the first time ever. At the sound of the explosion, he had left his office in a hurry, securing all intel in the process. Staring at the security screens, Benjamin's rage grew. His men lay dead on the floor in the corridors. The only thing that gave him a remote hint of pleasure was the sight of Darius laying up against the remains of the metal door, lifeless.

Mike looked at Sam. “Well, Darius definitely won't be able to attract Benjamin out to the control room.” Sam shook his head. “So now what, kid?” “Don't worry Sam, I have a plan, follow me.”

Mike and Sam ran through the corridors, wary of any surviving mercenaries. As they got away from the battlefield, everything turned quiet, the sounds of gunshots left behind. “We need to get to the control room. I'm sure there's a speaker system set up in the facility.

Following the signs to the control room, Mike and Sam found themselves looking at a large transparent cube with intact electronics. The cube had a single transparent door with a small staircase connecting it to ground level. Yellow and blue neon lights shone into the cube, giving it a surreal lighting. “This is it, let's get inside.”

Mike looked at the electronics, trying to find some sort of microphone. The electronics were arranged in a peripheral manner, with a single central table upon which a large control panel was located. “Look, over here, kid,” said Sam, pointing to a piece of equipment in the corner nearest the door. “This has got to be it,” agreed Mike. “Pushing on a small read button, Mike leaned into the microphone and began, “Benjamin. I know you can hear me. You may not know me, but I know you. You have 5 minutes to get to the control room or I'll put the system into a complete lock-down.”

Benjamin, having heard Mike's words, slammed his fist on the table. He was hoping that Mike would threaten to blow up the control room. All that would do would be trigger the fail-safe of the secure room, allowing Benjamin to retain complete access of the facility. With a complete lock-down, however, he would not be able to override the system internally and would not even be able to unlock the door to the secure room from within. He'd be trapped.

In reality, he knew Mike. With all the trouble that it has caused his company, Benjamin had gathered a fair amount of intel on him. His home had been attacked and he had been one of the few, if not the only, survivor of the ordeal. Pressing on, he had made friends with the Sheriff and Camp Cedar Hill and from there, Epsilon had gotten involved.

With few options left, he stood up and typed the password on a small panel, unlocking the door. As the solid-steel door opened with a large creaking sound, he turned around. “Wait here. If I don't come back within 15 minutes, get out of here and make your way to the facility in Boston.” “Yes sir,” replied Daniel. Benjamin drew his gun, made sure it was loaded and removed the safety. He then stepped outside the secure room, closing the door behind him. You are going to die, Mike.