administration offices, and were now prisons.
Rhys looked for signs of smoke and saw none. Good fucking job. It would take a lot to persuade him to enter a building on fire. Grief twisted in his chest. He had to hurry for Dave’s sake.
When Rhys caught up to Oscar, both his low level of fitness and smoke-impaired lungs prevented him from speaking to the man. His throat stuck when he swallowed, and he continued to gasp for air. He pointed back across the square and finally managed, “Did you just see that?”
Oscar stared at him.
“The helicopter , Oscar; the huge fucking helicopter with the trap beneath it.”
A glint sparkled in Oscar’s eyes. “Yeah, fucked up, wasn’t it?”
Words abandoned Rhys as he stared at the man. He looked like he knew something Rhys didn’t, almost like he got some kind of twisted pleasure from what he’d just witnessed. “What were they doing?”
A sharp shrug and Oscar said, “How the fuck would I know?” He looked around. “I’ve been standing here like a lemon waiting for you to turn up. I feel like zombie bait. So if you don’t mind, how about you open this fucking door and we get into the tower? Or do you want to see how much longer we can tempt fate before our luck runs out?”
The man’s directness ran unease straight to Rhys’ core. Sure, he’d be desperate to get into the tower too if he’d stood there waiting for that time, but yet again, Oscar’s behaviour seemed like a cover for something else. Despite all that Oscar had done for him, something sinister lurked beneath the surface of the man. He didn’t trust the fucker one little bit.
Still, Rhys needed Oscar. The Alpha Tower would no doubt be overflowing with diseased. If Rhys could choose anyone to have his back in a tight spot against them, Oscar came a close second only to Vicky. The guy knew how to fight them without a gun—leg injury or not—and right now, Rhys needed that from a companion more than anything else.
“Are you going to carry on staring at me,” Oscar said, “or are you going to open this fucking building? You can take a fucking picture of me for later if it’ll make you hurry up .”
Flynn’s Superman watch showed less than two and a half hours left. He looked at The Alpha Tower again and then back at Oscar.
Oscar shrugged. “ Well ?”
Oscar had helped Rhys every time he’d needed it. He had no reason to suspect him of anything untoward.
When Rhys pulled the map Vicky had drawn for him from his top pocket, he turned it around and showed it to Oscar. As he held it open, his hands shook.
“Vicky drew that for you, did she? She’s proven to be quite handy in all of this, wouldn’t you say?”
And then he goes and says something like that. Without the ability to rewind time, Rhys couldn’t know if he’d told Oscar Vicky’s name or not. It still jarred him to hear Oscar say it though. Not that it mattered what Oscar knew; the second the shutters came up, these two were done.
Rhys straightened the crinkles from the map as best as he could. The paper rustled in the near silence of the square. “We need to head straight for the elevator; that’ll take us to the top floor.” Although the map showed just a crude rendering of what they would no doubt find up there, it showed enough. “It looks like we have to head to the very end of the corridor we come out on. There are two rooms at the end.” A warble ran through Rhys’ voice and it threatened to expose his lie. “The room on the right has the computer to override the shutters.”
“And the one of the left?” Oscar said.
The rendered boxes represented the rooms at the end of the corridor and nothing more. Rhys focused on them as heat flushed his cheeks. “I dunno; let’s just worry about getting to that back room. I’m guessing it’s not important, otherwise Vicky would have said.”
Oscar pointed at the room on the right. “Don’t we need another clearance card to get into it?”
“Yes. Hopefully
Rhys looked for signs of smoke and saw none. Good fucking job. It would take a lot to persuade him to enter a building on fire. Grief twisted in his chest. He had to hurry for Dave’s sake.
When Rhys caught up to Oscar, both his low level of fitness and smoke-impaired lungs prevented him from speaking to the man. His throat stuck when he swallowed, and he continued to gasp for air. He pointed back across the square and finally managed, “Did you just see that?”
Oscar stared at him.
“The helicopter , Oscar; the huge fucking helicopter with the trap beneath it.”
A glint sparkled in Oscar’s eyes. “Yeah, fucked up, wasn’t it?”
Words abandoned Rhys as he stared at the man. He looked like he knew something Rhys didn’t, almost like he got some kind of twisted pleasure from what he’d just witnessed. “What were they doing?”
A sharp shrug and Oscar said, “How the fuck would I know?” He looked around. “I’ve been standing here like a lemon waiting for you to turn up. I feel like zombie bait. So if you don’t mind, how about you open this fucking door and we get into the tower? Or do you want to see how much longer we can tempt fate before our luck runs out?”
The man’s directness ran unease straight to Rhys’ core. Sure, he’d be desperate to get into the tower too if he’d stood there waiting for that time, but yet again, Oscar’s behaviour seemed like a cover for something else. Despite all that Oscar had done for him, something sinister lurked beneath the surface of the man. He didn’t trust the fucker one little bit.
Still, Rhys needed Oscar. The Alpha Tower would no doubt be overflowing with diseased. If Rhys could choose anyone to have his back in a tight spot against them, Oscar came a close second only to Vicky. The guy knew how to fight them without a gun—leg injury or not—and right now, Rhys needed that from a companion more than anything else.
“Are you going to carry on staring at me,” Oscar said, “or are you going to open this fucking building? You can take a fucking picture of me for later if it’ll make you hurry up .”
Flynn’s Superman watch showed less than two and a half hours left. He looked at The Alpha Tower again and then back at Oscar.
Oscar shrugged. “ Well ?”
Oscar had helped Rhys every time he’d needed it. He had no reason to suspect him of anything untoward.
When Rhys pulled the map Vicky had drawn for him from his top pocket, he turned it around and showed it to Oscar. As he held it open, his hands shook.
“Vicky drew that for you, did she? She’s proven to be quite handy in all of this, wouldn’t you say?”
And then he goes and says something like that. Without the ability to rewind time, Rhys couldn’t know if he’d told Oscar Vicky’s name or not. It still jarred him to hear Oscar say it though. Not that it mattered what Oscar knew; the second the shutters came up, these two were done.
Rhys straightened the crinkles from the map as best as he could. The paper rustled in the near silence of the square. “We need to head straight for the elevator; that’ll take us to the top floor.” Although the map showed just a crude rendering of what they would no doubt find up there, it showed enough. “It looks like we have to head to the very end of the corridor we come out on. There are two rooms at the end.” A warble ran through Rhys’ voice and it threatened to expose his lie. “The room on the right has the computer to override the shutters.”
“And the one of the left?” Oscar said.
The rendered boxes represented the rooms at the end of the corridor and nothing more. Rhys focused on them as heat flushed his cheeks. “I dunno; let’s just worry about getting to that back room. I’m guessing it’s not important, otherwise Vicky would have said.”
Oscar pointed at the room on the right. “Don’t we need another clearance card to get into it?”
“Yes. Hopefully
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