7 - Trapped
Aaron placed his laptop gently on Thompson's bed, watching the others gear up for the infiltration.
"So I've deployed a drone to the target couldn't get in but I noticed there were two cameras in the entrance."
"I could've sworn you said that already." Shane muttered, putting a second gun in his left shoe.
"Yeah, well the camera is active. I couldn't disable it remotely because I'm still unable to access the building. Whatever's drawing power into that place is also keeping intruders out. You'll have to manually disable it."
Thompson's brows furrowed. "Manually?"
Aaron turned to Thompson "You know what I mean, General. And I'll be in contact with you the entire time. Once I'm able to connect to your heat signatures when you get in there, I'll gain access to it all."
"I see." Hera continued. She inserted her earpiece into her ear, pushing it a little softer. "Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear."
"Okay, let's get out of here." Thompson mentioned when everyone else became ready. They headed out of the hotel and straight into the black and tinted SUV that's been procured for them by Jacob Russel.
"You would think the NSA providing us with a private jet meant we'll be able to get our own personal apartment as well." Shane mentioned, getting into the driver's seat. Thompson and Hera both sat at the back, plugging in their seat belts as the car began to move.
"Are you sure you know the way, Aaron." Shane called out, hoping the signal in his earpiece is strong enough to carry his voice.
It was.
"Trust me. I did not play a lot of Road Sim back in high school not to know how this works." Aaron's words floated like a breeze into his ears.
A slow frown covered Shane's face. "Road Sim?"
"Turn left." Aaron mentioned as they got closer to an intersection. "Yeah, Road Simulator? The arcade game?"
"You say that like I'm supposed to know what it is." Shane mentioned, loosening his grip around the steering wheel.
"Well, yeah. Everyone was playing it. What the hell were you doing in high school then?" The distress and confusion in Aaron's voice was evident.
"Going to parties and hooking up with girls." Shane said back, a snarky smile growing on his face.
"I'm just going to ignore that." Aaron whispered, his voice growing lower with each word. "But Road Simulator was a driving game that used real life data from cities in the United States. I remember taking a trip around Cincinnati once or twice. I'm pretty sure I know the terrain."
"Johnson, please tell me the knowledge of you playing some game in high school ten years ago isn't all we have to go on." Thompson called out, his fingers trailing his seatbelt.
"No. Like I said, I also have the map right here."
"Of Cincinnati or of Road Sim?" Shane asked, the amusement in his voice not going unnoticed.
"Go to hell, Emerson." Aaron said, his voice harsh against the static. A low laugh escaped Shane's lips.
Hera adjusted herself in the seat, her forlorn eyes looking through the windows at the buildings that sped past them. She turned around, her eyes catching Thompson staring at something. It was a picture. Her eyes scanned the picture for a while and she knew instantly what it was.
It was a photograph of a young girl, couldn't be up to five or six years old.
"The NSA told us about it at the first briefing." She started, her voice softening. "She's a pretty cool kid, huh?"
"Yeah." Thompson replied, giving Hera a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Her name's Ashley. But she insisted on people calling her Ash."
Thompson turned from Hera to stare at the photograph again. "You know, I took this picture with me before leaving five years ago. She's grown much older now."
Hera nodded, taking in Thompson's words one after the other.
"We'll find her, General."
Thompson nodded, grateful for Hera's words. Before he could open his mouth to give a response, the car stopped right in front of a desolate building. Thompson and Hera both looked through the window, taking in every possible view of the building before them, deciding their next cause of action.
"We're here." Shane announced, his voice low and cautious.
"Let's do this." Thompson whispered. Hera nodded and reached for the door.
The building before them was painted a rusty yellow and is lined with stones from a few yards out to the giant metal door at the entrance. At the top of the doors, a few meters apart, were two white CCTV cameras, rotating every thirty seconds.
"You guys get to the cameras yet?" Aaron asked, his voice low and plain.
"We're trying to get at it from a blind spot." Hera responded, reaching for her silencer. "You think it detected motion or sound?"
"Well, it didn't exactly detect my drone when I deployed it there this morning." Aaron responded.
Thompson turned to Hera as they approached the side of the building. "You good with this?"
Hera screwed on her silencer over the revolver and gave Thompson a quick nod. With determination and focus on her face, she raised the gun towards the first camera.
"Should be a cake-walk." She took the first and second shot, sending the camera tumbling towards the floor in pieces.
"Nice!" Shane applauded, a little behind them. Hera aimed at the second camera and did the same.
"Is that it?" Aaron's voice floated into her ears.
"Yes. Johnson. The cameras have been manually disabled."
Thompson turned to Shane, who was already digging into his pocket. "Your turn, Emerson."
Shane nodded and walked gently towards the lined path leading to the entrance. He reached for the body cam strapped to his chest and twisted the lens.
"Alright I have visual." Aaron announced. "Give me a few seconds."
They all waited in silence with Shane crouched down before the path.
"Okay, I can't find any pressure plates underneath. I think you're good to go."
"I need you to be sure, Aaron." Shane said, his voice low.
Aaron drew a sigh. "Fine. I'm sure you're good to go."
Shane threw a quick nod to Thompson and Hera and reached for his sidearm. Slowly, they moved to the entrance, wary of their surroundings and the ground. Shane leaned against the door and listened in.
"I don't hear anything." He whispered to Thompson and Hera, who were standing close behind him.
Thompson nodded and they all fell back. Shane raised his right heel and with all the force in him, pushed it against the door. It budged but didn't give way completely.
"Emerson—" Thompson called.
"I've got this, General." Shane breathed. He raised his heel again and slammed it against the door. It creaked open anticlimactically.
They all proceeded after Shane pushed the door open and walked in. The first room in the building is dusty, clear and filled with the smell of urine for some reason. As they looked around, they noticed the cracks in the cement floor and the paintings on the walls around them.
Hera dug into her pocket and pulled out a mini camera. Slowly she started to take pictures of their surroundings.
"First room is clear. We'll proceed to the inner room." Shane announced and they made their way towards the only available door they could find.
"Something about this doesn't feel right." Aaron said, his voice hollow in their ears. "It's too—quiet."
"Whatever's drawing the power has to be in the other room." Hera mentioned, putting the camera back in her bag.
Thompson nodded and reached for his gun. "We have to proceed with caution here."
They all began to walk slowly again towards the other room. It had no door, just a dirty curtain hanging on the doorway. Shane, who was leading the other two, pull the curtain to the side as quietly as he could and walked in.
The other room was nothing like the first. For one, it was not a room. It was wider. It was a literal dry field.
"You've got to be kidding me." Hera whispered, watching the field stretch out for yards as the sun appeared on their faces one more time.
At the far end of the field was what looked like a giant locked box.
"Is that a vault?" Aaron asked. Shane turned to the direction of the box, letting Aaron get a full view through his body cam. Connected to the lockbox are several wires leading to several parts to the field. Some of the wires led back into the first room.
"I'm guessing whatever's in there is drawing the power." Hera mentioned, taking out her camera once again.
Scattered across the fields were empty and rusty drums, giant wooden boards, erected into the ground. It was like a field ready for gunshot target practice.
"That's not the only thing here." Thompson whispered, looking around. Behind the locked box was what looked like a shed. After receiving the order to proceed from Thompson, they all made their way towards the shed. Shane was the first to get in a few seconds later, his eyes scanning the little space shielded from the sun. There was nothing in the shed except a computer, displaying a green screen with endless lines of code continuing to run on it.
"What the hell is going on here?" Shane called, looking around. He took a step closer to the vault.
A shrill and loud siren sound from the ceiling froze them all in place.
"Aaron, what's going on?" Hera called, blocking her ears with her palms.
"I—i don't know." The anxiety in Aaron's voice was palpable. "You guys must have triggered something and i—oh God."
"Aaron?" Thompson screamed, trying to find the alarm in the room.
"So you remember when I said my drone couldn't detect any guard around the building?"
"Yeah?" Shane shouted, blocking his ears as well. It felt like the shrill alarm was getting denser and the sound was only getting louder.
"That was because they weren't around the building. They were under it."
Thompson's eyes widened. "Johnson, what the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm detecting seven other heat signatures right now from the space underground. Guys—they're headed your way, and I'm sure they're armed." Aaron announced, panic infused in his voice.
Thompson exchanged confused and worried looks with Shane and Hera.
"We're trapped." Hera mentioned, her voice almost in a lowly whisper.
Perfect.
