moments before. We now stood in his room, a small hospital room that he had set up for himself. I looked around the room, and seeing all the crates and boxes, and what they contained, I couldn’t do much but whistle and chuckle.
“I can see what you have stockpiled,” I remarked while snatching up a bottle of liquor and a carton of cigarettes. I looked over at him with a raised eyebrow and smiled.
“Yeah,” he replied. “It drives Wall mad. He’s been trying to figure out how I’m getting out of here for months now. But the way I see it, eventually someone is going to break from being confined in here, and when that happens, I want to be prepared.”
“So you really know how to get me out of here?” I asked him. I picked up a couple of packs of smokes and gave him a quick, questioning nod.
“Sure,” he said, “on both accounts. As you see, I have plenty. In regards to getting you out of this place, I can defiantly lead you out. I always thought it prudent to have an escape route. It’s a maintenance passage that ends up miles from here.”
“So why didn’t you ever tell Wall, or for that matter, why are you telling me?” I wanted to know, had to know, the answer to that question. I found it hard to trust people before all of this. Now it was just that much worse. Alec thought for just the briefest of moments before answering me.
“You are a father. Because I know what you are going through right now.”
I watched him as he turned away from me, readying a bag for my trip. I thought it prudent not to ask any more. I am by far not a stupid individual, and could guess at what happened to his wife, but his son was a different matter. If he lost his son somewhere in this apocalypse, I was not going to be the one to broach the topic. If he wanted to tell me, he would on his own time. I was pulled from thought when he spoke again.
“You ready for this?” he asked. I looked up and flinched as he tossed a backpack at me. I noticed he shouldered one himself.
“No,” I said to him, “I can’t ask you to put yourself in danger for me. Just show me where this way out is at. I’ll go on my own.”
“It’s not that simple,” he said to me. “It’s a passage that winds through four floors of this hospital, comes out on the ground level. As you heard from Wall’s little palaver earlier, the first, and much of the second floors, has been overran. If you go tearing through there, you’ll do nothing but end up getting killed. Plus, if you go through it on your own, you’re liable to get lost. It’ll be easier in the long run if I just show you.”
“I guess there is no talking you out of it then?” I asked Alec, but the question itself was futile, for the look on his face told me the answer. I nodded solemnly, and he returned the gesture, then we went out to the hall.
It was quiet at the moment, most of everyone was asleep. Alec led me through the halls, moving quickly, until we reached the elevator lobby that I had been at earlier that day. Two other men had replaced the ones that had been there. One sat with his back against the wall, snoring softly, the other seemed engrossed in a video playing on a small portable video player. Alec looked around for a few seconds, than shooed me back a little.
“Right on the other side of that door,” he told me, “is a small access hatch. It’s hidden behind a panel of the wall, which is why Wall probably has never found it. It’s an access hatch to the maintenance tunnels. They run throughout the hospital so work can be done on the elevators if needed.”
“And how did you come to find them?” I believed the question to be a valid one. He returned with a sly smile.
“I was a maintenance worker here. I know this place like my own body.”
“Does Wall know this?”
“No,” Alec responded, “he does not. I didn’t believe I needed to explain everything to him.”
I looked at the man, crouched down, looking every bit of a large cat ready to
“I can see what you have stockpiled,” I remarked while snatching up a bottle of liquor and a carton of cigarettes. I looked over at him with a raised eyebrow and smiled.
“Yeah,” he replied. “It drives Wall mad. He’s been trying to figure out how I’m getting out of here for months now. But the way I see it, eventually someone is going to break from being confined in here, and when that happens, I want to be prepared.”
“So you really know how to get me out of here?” I asked him. I picked up a couple of packs of smokes and gave him a quick, questioning nod.
“Sure,” he said, “on both accounts. As you see, I have plenty. In regards to getting you out of this place, I can defiantly lead you out. I always thought it prudent to have an escape route. It’s a maintenance passage that ends up miles from here.”
“So why didn’t you ever tell Wall, or for that matter, why are you telling me?” I wanted to know, had to know, the answer to that question. I found it hard to trust people before all of this. Now it was just that much worse. Alec thought for just the briefest of moments before answering me.
“You are a father. Because I know what you are going through right now.”
I watched him as he turned away from me, readying a bag for my trip. I thought it prudent not to ask any more. I am by far not a stupid individual, and could guess at what happened to his wife, but his son was a different matter. If he lost his son somewhere in this apocalypse, I was not going to be the one to broach the topic. If he wanted to tell me, he would on his own time. I was pulled from thought when he spoke again.
“You ready for this?” he asked. I looked up and flinched as he tossed a backpack at me. I noticed he shouldered one himself.
“No,” I said to him, “I can’t ask you to put yourself in danger for me. Just show me where this way out is at. I’ll go on my own.”
“It’s not that simple,” he said to me. “It’s a passage that winds through four floors of this hospital, comes out on the ground level. As you heard from Wall’s little palaver earlier, the first, and much of the second floors, has been overran. If you go tearing through there, you’ll do nothing but end up getting killed. Plus, if you go through it on your own, you’re liable to get lost. It’ll be easier in the long run if I just show you.”
“I guess there is no talking you out of it then?” I asked Alec, but the question itself was futile, for the look on his face told me the answer. I nodded solemnly, and he returned the gesture, then we went out to the hall.
It was quiet at the moment, most of everyone was asleep. Alec led me through the halls, moving quickly, until we reached the elevator lobby that I had been at earlier that day. Two other men had replaced the ones that had been there. One sat with his back against the wall, snoring softly, the other seemed engrossed in a video playing on a small portable video player. Alec looked around for a few seconds, than shooed me back a little.
“Right on the other side of that door,” he told me, “is a small access hatch. It’s hidden behind a panel of the wall, which is why Wall probably has never found it. It’s an access hatch to the maintenance tunnels. They run throughout the hospital so work can be done on the elevators if needed.”
“And how did you come to find them?” I believed the question to be a valid one. He returned with a sly smile.
“I was a maintenance worker here. I know this place like my own body.”
“Does Wall know this?”
“No,” Alec responded, “he does not. I didn’t believe I needed to explain everything to him.”
I looked at the man, crouched down, looking every bit of a large cat ready to
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