Page 39 of G8
“What we could,” Sheriff Korris answered.
“Let me guess,” Ingrid added. “Lots of locked drawers and doors.”
Chief Adams hefted the axe he carried. “We banged on all the doors, but we didn’t hear anything. We’ll eventually get to inspecting those later, but right now our main concern is in the lower levels.
G8 checked the two sheriffs to see if they were carrying any other equipment. Korris had a pry bar, but Biggs looked to be emptyhanded. However, both men wore their holsters with their firearms belted around their hips.
Before they entered the stairwell, Ingrid held out a hand to the fire chief. “I noticed you putting a large magic marker in your pocket. May I borrow it, please?”
“Why would you need it?” G8 asked.
The man removed it from a pocket and gave it to her. “When we enter a place we’re unfamiliar with, we mark the walls to show the way out, or to let ourselves and others know of spaces we’ve checked and cleared.”
She moved over to the elevators and used the doors’ stainless steel surface to draw on. The lights from their suits’ helmets cast a soft glow over the smooth gray doors. She began with a horizontal rectangle. Below it, she drew a row of four more, adding a vertical line between each.
“Okay. There are five levels below us. The floor directly below us is marked as B1 on the elevator button, it’s basically all storage.” She wrote the word STORAGE inside the rectangle. “It’s where we’d go to get the diapers and baby formula. In fact, every delivery brought in is placed and kept there, including the food for the cafeterias.” She looked back at them. “This prevented outsiders from going into the lower levels.”
“What stopped someone from hitting a different button?” Biggs asked.
“All incoming deliveries had to check in with security at the front desk. They were given a badge to swipe when they got inside the elevator. The elevators won’t, wouldn’t move until you swiped your badge and hit the button for the floor you wanted. If you hit the button for a floor you weren’t given clearance to, a voice came over the overhead speaker telling you you didn’t have access to that area and to try again.”
“What’s on the second level?” P8 inquired.
“Examination rooms. The hospital. Basically, the medical units.” She wrote MEDICAL in the box.
“We’ll need to check there,” Adams noted.
“Is that where the babies were kept?” G8 queried.
She shook her head. “No. They were kept on the fourth level.”
“So what’s on the third level?” Biggs questioned.
Ingrid cast her eyes to G8. “The dorms. The gym. The floor where you guys were kept.” The word CHILDREN was added to that rectangle.
“Does that include our workroom and cafeteria?” G8 added.
“Yeah, although there’s a cafeteria on levels B2 and B4.”
F8 broke in. “Does Cydney know all this?”
“Probably, but she may not have had access to every level. I was only cleared for levels one, two, and four.”
“Let me see if I understand what you’re telling us,” Korris commented. “You were told or given insight as to what each level contained, but you may not have had direct contact or access to all those levels. Is that correct?”
“Correct.”
“So you can’t corroborate that what you were told is actually the truth?” the sheriff confirmed.
“Itisthe truth,” Ingrid countered.
“How can you be sure?” Korris pressed.
“Because we talk to each other. The employees talk to each other. We meet other employees who have access to levels we don’t, and we ask our own questions about what goes on there. Sometimes they can tell us. Sometimes they can’t. Most of the time they hedge a bit, give a hint about what they’re doing, but they have to be very, very careful about what they say.”
“Because somebody might tell on them?” Adams figured.
“No. Because their badges are bugged,” P8 said. “When Cydney got us out of this place, I kept hearing a buzz-like noise. I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from until I realized it had a listening device in it. It also had a tracker.”
