THE FERALS Part 9
The door shut behind Pat and Silvy shrouding them in darkness. The alley was your typical one. Garbage bins lined the building on the other side while stagnate water sat in puddles all down the middle. Pat got her bearings and led them to the right.
Halfway down, Pat stopped and turned to Silvy. “Stay right behind me. Do as I do.” She reached up and tucked more of Silvy’s hair into her beanie. It was cold outside so no one in the theater even glanced their direction when they showed up in hats and hoodies. Now, however, they needed to be completely covered.
Pat continued to fuss over Silvy’s attire. She lifted the hood of her jacket over her head and snugged it down with the laces. “There. Now you might not glow in the dark.” Pat did the same with her outfit and then continued down the alley.
They walked in silence, staying in the shadows. Neither spoke again. When cars would pass along the street ahead, they stopped to make sure no one noticed their movements. Finally, at the end of the alley, they stopped. On the other side of the street was a ten-story glass building surrounded by fencing.
They stared up at the side of the building. Its front ran around to the right while its back was to the left. The latter was where Pat took them next. She grabbed Silvy’s hand and drug her across the street at a very fast run. Silvy was used to hard work but running wasn’t part of her daily routine.
Once on the other side, Pat didn’t slow down. Silvy could barely breathe, but she didn’t lag. Getting caught would be worse than being sore tomorrow.
They made it to the backside of the fence. Pat threw herself to the ground, so Silvy followed along. They inched along the ground to the left until they came to a large bush. Pat took out a big pair of cutters and cut the fence vertically right behind the bush. When it was large enough, they slipped through.
Pat left the cutters behind as they stayed low to the ground. Just across the short lawn was a back door. Silvy didn’t understand why every building had to have a back door. Maybe it was some kind of fire regulation, but she was glad for it at this moment.
The pair darted toward the door. Pat pulled out a black card that looked like a bank card and swiped it through the door’s keypad. It was strange that it had such an old school security pad. Normally it was done through biometrics but who was Silvy to complain at their continued luck?
With a soft click, the door popped open. Pat opened it a little more and took a quick look inside. She didn’t bother looking back at Silvy. Instead, she waved her hand for them to enter.
Inside was darker than the alley. Small green lights glowed from the ceiling causing Silvy to panic. Pat grabbed her, clearly hearing Silvy breathe harder, and did a circular movement with her hand. Silvy could barely see it, but the motion helped her to remember that Pat had already hacked into the cameras, putting them in a loop.
Relief flooded Silvy’s system. With new resolve and trust in her partner, she followed Pat down the black hallway. Several turns later brought them to a door. They hadn’t climbed any stairs, thankfully, but Silvy had expected the room they needed to be on the top floor. Clearly, she was wrong.
Another pad kept this door closed but it wasn’t an older model. This one was new like the rest of the city. Silvy wondered how they would get past this one.
Pat pulled out some kind of gadget from her bag. Wires hung from it at one end. She approached the pad and opened a side panel to the scanner, revealing similar wires. Pat quickly began to connect her gadget’s wires to the panel.
Footsteps sounded somewhere in the building. They were coming closer. Silvy nervously glanced from Pat to the encroaching sound. Any time now they would be found out. The seconds felt like minutes.
This time when the door popped open, it was thankfully silent. Pat ushered Silvy inside as she put the panel back together. Pat, then, slid inside and shut the door. Silvy’s heart pounded in her ears. That was too close. What if whoever those footsteps belonged to came in here to check?
Lights flared to life and Pat placed a hand on Silvy’s shoulder. In a whisper, she said, “They won’t come in here. Their arrogance is their weakness. This room is soundproof so they can’t hear us either. Stay here and if someone does try to open the door, run to me.”
All Silvy could do was nod. She was terrified yet exhilarated. She watched as Pat went down the stairs into what was now obviously the basement. When Pat glanced over her shoulder and saw the confusion on Silvy’s face, she came back over. “Heat rises. So, the best place for a room of servers is in a nice, cold basement.” She patted Silvy on her back and went down the stairs again. This time she didn’t turn around.
