When All The Adults Were Gone

Chapter 5 - Mission

I stared at the square piece of paper. 'Take these to the offices'... Did he mean the files? I'm pretty sure he did. I looked over at the files. These had just become the most important pieces of paper but I just didn't know it yet. I picked them up and just held them. Why are these physics equations so important? What has experiment 103 got to do with anything right now? But most importantly... Why did my dad leave the note to me?

With so many questions racing through my mind I wandered out of the office, forgetting completely about the phone. I found Jamie sitting on the stairs waiting for me. "What's that?" he asked pointing to the large pile of papers in my hands. "I don't exactly know. But I can tell they are important. Dad left me a note", I showed him the post-it. "What does it say?" He asked looking very confused. I forgot he couldn't read very well. He had been acting so much like an adult. "It says he wants me to take these", I flourished the papers, "to the offices. And I have to find someone who understands what all of this means." I knew he wouldn't fully understand what I had just said but he gave me a look to say he did understand.

"Ok. Are we going now?" Jamie asked. He turned to the front door where his shoes were lying where he had last taken them off. He sat on the floor and started to pull on his small trainers. Astounded at his eagerness I said "Yes. But I don't know what we'll find. Or who we'll see out there." I slid my arms into my navy coat and wrapped a blue scarf around my neck. I felt around in my pockets looking for my gloves. They weren't in there. So I turned to Jamie, gave him the files and said "I'll be right back. I just need to get my gloves." I sprinted up the stairs and threw open the door to my room. There they were lying on top of my dresser. I grabbed them and spotted my rucksack lying on the floor. I picked it up and tipped out the contents. I would need to carry the papers in something in case the wind blew them out of my hands. I looked down at my school supplies wondering if I would ever need to use my calculator or my pencil case again. I decided to put the calculator and pencil case back into my bag and grabbed a torch just in case. I felt like I was going on some sort of spy mission. Maybe I was on some sort of mission.

I swung my rucksack on my back and trotted down the stairs. When I reached the bottom I found Jamie looking at the papers. "Can I put them in my bag?" I asked him and held my hand out for them. Much to my surprise he shook his head and pointed to a small scribble on the left hand corner of one of the papers. "I've seen this before." He told me. He spoke so plainly and bluntly that I had to take him seriously. I looked closer at the scribble and it was a triangle with a atom symbol inside. It looked completely unfamiliar to me but Jamie was staring at it in wonder and concentration.

"I haven't. Maybe you'll remember where you've seen it or maybe someone at the offices can tell us." I told him. He handed me the files gently and I placed them in my rucksack and grabbed my keys from my pocket. I went to unlock the door but it was already unlocked. A new surge of panic rushed through me as I remembered that my parents were possibly murdered. I wrenched the door open and shuffled Jamie out of the door onto our driveway which was empty. Maybe the killers had stolen the cars as a getaway... I stepped out onto the drive myself and locked the door behind me. I led Jamie up the drive past our small lawn and row of flower beds. The rest of our street was obscured by a large hedge. But before we could reach the top of the driveway, we heard a loud, piercing scream.