Beyond What We Know [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER 18 PART 1 - Beginning of the End

A few days later we were off to CyberGenetics. That morning, Locke had instructed Lee, CK and Kayla on what to do if anything happened with any member, but especially Rico. Rico, who, in turn, was actually feeling and looking a lot better; though, as Locke says, "it's best not to take unnecessary risks". In the late afternoon, we loaded fuel, food and water into the truck and were ready to go. As Locke turned on the car, CK approached my window, which I rolled down. "You guys be careful, alright? Oh, and Rico asked me to tell you to beware of "walls that aren't there"." We all nodded and waved as Locke drove off.

About an hour into the trip, I felt the urge to turn on the CD player, but immediately retracted my hand back to my lap. On the one hand, it would lighten up the mood a little bit, since everyone had been all too gloomy for the past week; but, on the other hand, part of me experienced guilt for attempting to put on music, as it would feel like we'd be treating this situation like a joke, or like something not worth worrying about, like a fun family trip, and therefore be ultimately disrespectful towards everyone, and especially towards Rico. So I ended up perishing the thought, and looking out the window. Suddenly, however, I heard the player being turned on. When I turned my head back around, I saw Locke pulling his hand away from the center console and get it back on the wheel, smiling at me. He looked at Diego and Erica through the rear-view mirror.

"Come on, guys, let's not make this harder for ourselves. We've still got a few hours left until we get there." Gradually, you could see the two of them start to sing along to the music, and eventually they even requesting songs. "I thought it'd be a good opportunity to loosen up", Locke looked at me for just a second before looking back at the road, and smiled once more.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I... I actually got him to stop being so serious! About damn time! And now the atmosphere wasn't so dense anymore. About half the way there, it was time to stop and call it a night. We had left the farm kind of late, at about 6 getting close to 7 PM, so when we stopped it was already almost 11. We parked in the outskirts of the city, on the exact opposite side from CyberGenetics, and shared the food we brought. We opened up the tailgate and sat in the back of the truck, having our little dinner and enjoying the starry night sky; I guess a positive thing about the downfall of humanity is the absolute lack of pollution, which allows us survivors to enjoy the bright, shiny dots that are out there travelling through the cosmos. Like I've said before, it's the little things, you know?

"And before I started actively learning, the first few times that Kayla came over to my house, I really wanted to impress her. So, stubborn as I am, I made sure that I was the one to cook whatever we'd eat. And then, my mom would get absolutely furious with me, because I burnt something every. Single. Time!" In good old Eaglecreek fashion, we were sharing never-before-told stories from when we were younger. And Erica, who doesn't participate in this activity very often, was just wrapping up hers. Through the sound of our collective laughter, she finished, "But yes, it had always been a passion of mine, and I guess Kayla gave me the little push I needed to actually put some effort into it."

"Alright, alright, now time to rest. Let's get back inside. No one's sleeping out here after what happened to Rico."

All four of us hopped back inside CK's truck, locked everything up, and made ourselves as comfortable as possible, considering we were about to spend the night in a car. "I know it's not the optimal sleeping spot, but it's safer in here", although I did want to make sure everyone was okay with our current circumstances before drifting off, it was more self-reassurance than anything, honestly, since we were all already very well aware of the community's predicament.

A few hours later, we woke up to the lovely coos of nearby mourning doves. And even though we were on an important mission, I almost felt tempted to ask for five more minutes before stretching, finally opening my eyes and seeing that I was the last one to wake up. Part of me wanted to call them out for not waking me up sooner so we could keep moving, but quite honestly I was actually enjoying my sleep, so they were off the hook this time. We quickly readied everything, refuelled the truck and took off through the city. "Yikes... Look at how decayed..." Erica took the words right out of my mouth. I couldn't quit looking through the window at the completely ruined city we once knew and loved. Buildings falling apart from lack of maintenance, stores absolutely trashed from scavengers, lots of grass and weeds and a few flowers growing through the sidewalk and cracked concrete where various bodies laid lifeless, rotting, decaying, forgotten. There was no wind, too, so a dreadful silence filled the air around us; really, the only sounds we could hear came from the truck. About three hours later, we exited the city and could already see what could only be assumed to be the CyberGenetics complex. In less than 30 minutes, we arrived.

Locke parked the truck near the building and we all stepped out, stopping for a second just to take everything in: we were now standing in front of a scientific research complex made up of one main building and two slightly smaller ones attached to each side, all broken and withered away, but surprisingly still standing. And it was time to walk in. Diego whipped out a gun we found in our early days but had kept stored for emergencies, and Locke tossed me his shotgun. "Erica and I will be in charge of looking for and checking out any documents we find. Does that sound alright to you?"

Diego and I looked at each other and then nodded at Locke. We both approached the main doors of the building, which were ajar, and stepped in with our guns aimed. "Clear", Diego lowered his gun, and I repeated and mimicked him. The first floor seemed to be just a lounging/reception area, and it was pretty damaged, so the only place to go was up. We thought about using the elevator, but upon walking up the emergency stairs to the second floor, we verified that the cables had been ripped apart and the elevator box was stuck on the first floor, busted and unusable. The next floors didn't have many rooms we could search, as most of them were empty or had caved in, but we did find an office on the fifth floor, which we assumed belonged to the person responsible, and an archive on the sixth floor. There was no valuable information in that office – every visible piece of paper had long been chewed and eaten away, silverfish potentially being the main culprits; after all, the majority of the windows throughout the building were broken, thus allowing high levels of humidity and even rain to make its way inside. However, whether fortunately or unfortunately, the archive on the sixth floor was secure inside a vault. All we had to do was force the old, rusty door open. Once the entrance was clear, Diego and I stood guard outside the door, with our backs to each other and pointing our guns to either end of the hallway, while Locke and Erica walked in. About 20 to 25 minutes in, I had to ask for an update. "Find anything yet?" I peeked through the door, waiting for an answer.

"No, not exactly—"

"Wait, I got something here", Erica interrupted Locke, "It's... Well, I'll be damned. They're files about us. And the outbreak. But they're all heavily redacted..." She handed to Locke so he could take a look.

"These should still give us enough information. I think we can go home now."

On the way down, we decided to check the other floors once more in case we had overlooked something important, some detail hidden in the debris, anything. And, well, that turned into an awful idea real quick. As we were looking around on the fourth floor, we heard things falling over on one end of the hallway. Diego and I ran outside to the hallway and aimed our guns, only to be momentarily taken aback by what was now charging straight at us: a god, damn, horde. Madmen, lots of them. Out of the blue. We didn't see a single one on the way up, and now they were all after us. We started shooting at them, while walking backwards to the other end of the hallway so we could get to the stairs, but they just kept coming.

"This isn't good, we'll burn through our ammo in the next few minutes if we keep this up. We need a way to clear them all out at once."

"We'll run, then. We'll reach the truck eventually. Come on!" I grabbed Diego's arm and began running towards the stairs, where Locke and Erica awaited us.

"What? Ella, there's too many of them, they'll catch up!" Suddenly, he yanked his arm free from my grasp and stopped moving. I turned back to him, visibly concerned about the horde that was about to lay its hands on us, and once more I saw the same face he made back at the farm. "You three go on ahead. I'll take care of these things, and at least we won't all die here." He pushed me towards Erica, who caught me before I fell, and turned his back to us. He then proceeded to make his way to the window farthest from us and closest to the horde and smashed it.

"Ella, don't let them get to Erica!" Locke told me before taking off.

I took a few steps forward so I'd stand in front of Erica and started shooting them. Regardless of having to aim at the madmen, I could still watch Diego as he attracted them and, as soon as they were locked on him and close enough, jumped through the window, making the madmen follow him out. "DIEGO, NO!" I gestured at Erica to walk with me to Locke, who was halfway out the window. Erica and I sighed in relief when we saw that Locke had thankfully caught Diego's arm before he could hit the ground. As for the madmen, the idiots all jumped out and were now sprawled on the pavement outside.

Diego looked up from the gory sight and his eyes met Locke's. "Locke, there's— There's something I need to tell you—"

"I know. Me too", Locke pulled the now dumbfounded soldier back inside.

"Now, let's please go back home and never do this again." I feel ya, Erica. I feel ya.