30 Association

A light dusting of snow rests on the overgrown lawn. The abandoned cars are blanketed with thin sheets of snowflakes. Flecks of snow are blown around in the wind. The grey sky reflects the dreary landscape.

ExplorerTech Industries, Coldstone headquarters stands silently as the fierce wind rolls by. The glass windows at the entrance tremble as gusts of frost knock against them repeatedly.

Beyond the front desk and up the escalators, Sia sits on the balcony overlooking the entrance of the lobby area eating. She has cannibalized some of the clothing she had found in the locker rooms to make a warm hat for herself, a scarf, and a thin pair of gloves. It's mostly tied together ripped clothe, but she had to find warmth from somewhere. She doesn't want to ask the device to alter her senses.

"These feelings remind me I am still alive." She mutters as she shivers.

Sia's teeth chatter as she puts the cap on her water. She sits it down and takes another bite from her last MRE pack. Her portable radio sits beside her thigh. The tiny screen on the radio is lit and numbers are constantly changing as it scans for other transmissions. Sia doesn't pay it any mind.

The first few days she had obsessively checked it, but now she doesn't expect any changes. She had thought that maybe she was the protagonist of a rescue adventure that ends with meeting someone handsome that she would marry and ….

Sia leans her head back on the glass railing behind her.

She now thinks that she is the protagonist of a survivalist adventure where the character is expected to get themselves out of the disaster and stumble across help after a courageous struggle against the elements. She has all her limbs, and she isn't marooned on an island, but it seems quite impossible to think of a plan to get out of these circumstances. None of those movies demonstrated how to get help while stranded in an apocalyptic future.

"Glaa…"

Sia bites the inside of her mouth and cringes as her tongue swipes at the small cut. It stings for a moment. Then the flesh slowly knits back together. Another swipe of her tongue reveals that the cut is gone.

SLAM

Sia scrambles away from the clear glass railing as she hears a noise from the entrance. She stays low and backs into the wall while eyeing the escalator. Her eyes widen as she listens for more noises.

EEEEEEERRRRRRRR

"I told you the doors were probably open. Put your gun down. You can't shatter this glass with the butt of a gun. What are you an idiot?" A male voice says.

"With a running start I could have done it," A different male voice replied.

"Get out the damn way the wind is tearing me up!" another male voice yells.

Sia slides over to the glass railing on her belly. She keeps her head pressed low to the floor and tries to catch sight of the men.

'Are these men here to save me?'

There are three men in the lobby. One of the men lets go of the door and stomps his feet a few times on the dusty mat. He wipes his feet and steps forward to the front desk. He hops up on the desk backwards to sit down and rubs his hand together. While he blows on his fingers, he looks out at the windy environment outside. It is still midday, but the cloudy sky makes it seem so much later.

A man with a hood on adjusts his grip on his gun as he turns on his flashlight. The flashlight is duct taped to his gun. He shines the light at the ground until he walks past the front desk. Then he inspects the lobby. He does a quick circuit around the lobby, checks the escalator stairs for any debris, and shines his light up to the balcony level.

Sia lays her head to the ground and stays still. The light reflects off the glass and lights the space in front of her.

The third man is loudly exclaiming about the weather and shaking himself. The snowflakes have already melted into his clothing.

"I'll never get used to this place. How do those crazies live out here?" Cranky grumbles as he pulls a flashlight from his cargo pants.

"You'd be surprised what people can adapt to," The man on the desk says before getting off the desk and turning to the man with a hoody, "See anything suspicious?"

"Besides this place being well preserved? No," Hoody says before stepping toward the halls to read the plaques on the wall.

"She could be anywhere around here," Cranky says before checking the side hallway.

"Well, it shouldn't be hard. It's almost time for her next broadcast. We can just search around while she is distracted. Her voice will carry in this place," Hoody says.

"I don't know. Turner said the girl is scary resourceful. We should search some spots to cross them off the list. By the time she starts broadcasting, we'll have a smaller area to search. The place has a weird structure. It probably has lower levels. We should start from there. Or at least cut off escape from them," the man says this while checking out the dried out decorative pond and waterfall.

At the mention of Turner, the mercenary, Sia stiffens and feels sick to her stomach. The mercenaries have tracked her down through her broadcasts.

"Hey! Ho! Guys get over here!" Cranky yells.

"Shut up! You'll alert her to our presence!" Hoody reprimands him.

The other two guys walk over to the side hallway toward Cranky's voice. Sia waits till she knows they are below and away from the balcony before getting up. She grabs her radio and water bottle. Her footsteps are silent as she puts her weight on the balls of her feet.

The balcony connects to a hallway that brings someone to the 2nd floor science wing. When Sia turns the first corner she goes into a run toward the stairwell. She skips steps until she gets to the 3rd floor and slips inside. The chemistry room door is kept open with a chair.

Gathering her things is quick. She walks over to the sink with her empty backpack and throws all the refilled water bottles into it. Then she puts it on her back. She grabs her second backpack and holds it from the top strap before giving the room a once over. She has nothing else.

'They mentioned Turner, so they must be with the mercenaries. I didn't think they would look for me for this long.'

She opens the stairwell door slowly and listens for noises.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

"Woah," Hoody breathes out.

Loads of cockroach bodies are piled up against the stairwell door. The door is almost blocked from view.

"Let's check this way first," The leader orders, "Clear away the bodies so we can get to the stairs."

Cranky releases his grip on his rifle so it dangles at his side, before pushing at the bug remains. Hoody joins him while speaking to their leader, "You think she killed all these with the supplies left behind by Davis' crew?"

"Probably not. I don't see any bullet holes or charred areas," The leader says as he shines his light on the bodies discarded behind his men.

He keeps a wide berth, so he doesn't have to touch the creepy insects.

"I wonder what did this," Hoody utters.

Cranky grunts as he grabs the revealed doorknob and pulls it toward him to shove the remains aside all at once.

"I just hope there isn't any funny business like he said happened at the lake. You think she's a spy like the Wanderer said?" Cranky huffs.

"A spy? No, I don't think she is a spy," Their leader says.

Hoody slips into the dark corridor.

~~~~~~~``

Sia hears the first-floor door opening and releases her own door at the same time. The extra creaking doesn't seem to be noticed.

"Wanderers have seen some crazy sh%$. If he says she's a spy and uses the power of waters to defend herself. It probably is what it is," Cranky responds.

Sia hears the gruff voice echo from the lower floor. She carefully begins to climb to the 4th floor. She can see streams of light coming up the stairs. Her heart pounds in her ears as she slides her hand up the railing. She grips it tightly and focuses on keeping her balance.

"She's probably just from the Bay area. Competitors concubine that got lost, just like Ika and Eli thought. I don't know why she said she's from Washington City. Everyone knows that's a part of the wasteland zone," The leader says.

"Richard's Bay doesn't have explosive water grenades, or whatever she used," Hoody comments.

"Have you been to the Bay?" The leader asks.

"No," Cranky answers.

"Not yet," Hoody says.

"Me either, and that's why its more likely she comes from there. They already successfully keep everyone on this side out. They definitely have firepower," The leader hypothesizes.

"Underlings have firepower, too," Cranky points out.

Silence

The door to the second floor begins to open, and Sia scrambles to open her door at the same time.

Silence

"Underlings have no more business with Cinalia," The leader darkly states.

Light footsteps are heard going through a door and then their door shuts. Sia goes onto the 4th floor and slowly closes the door. The creak still happens, and she pauses as she listens for approaching footsteps.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~```

Eeeeeerrr

"You heard that?"

Pause

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~````

Sia turns on her radio and begins broadcasting.

"Not feeling too well today. OVER," Sia lowly says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~`````

Cranky jumps as Hoody's radio bursts with sound from his pocket.

"She's starting her broadcast early."

The leader walks over to Hoody as the radio is pulled out of his pocket. Cranky starts checking the windows of the rooms.

"I know you're out there," a female voice says over the radio.

The leader cocks a brow as he hears those words. He pulls a handgun from his pocket and checks his ammunition. Hoody shoves the radio into his pocket and raises his rifle. He looks around for cameras.

"I know life is going as good as always for all of you. Eating, drinking, sleeping in comfort. Things are going awful here. Real awful."

Hoody sighs and lowers his gun. The leader chuckles to himself.

"False alarm," He announces, "Let's keep looking. We should start to hear something if she is on this floor or the next."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`````

Sia smirks as she speaks into the radio, "I know you're out there."

She pauses a few moments and then continues speaking, "I know life is going as good as always for all of you. Eating, drinking, sleeping in comfort. Things are going awful here. Real awful. Kids are running off scared and alone from people that should be protecting them. You don't understand this. You're safe."

She starts legging it toward a room she prepared for escaping this memorial to her past life. Before she enters the escape room, she presses the elevator button. The elevator opens, and she presses the buttons for the 2nd and ground floor before exiting the elevator. The elevator doors close and it begins its descent down to the 2nd floor.

As she enters the open doorway, she presses on her handheld radio to continue talking.

"I bet if you truly wanted to call your family or friends they are a button away."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~```

The elevator dings, and Cranky yells for the attention of his companions.

"Hey! Ho!!! Elevator activated! Over here!"

"Shut the heck up! Stealth. Stealth. You idiot." Hoody yells at Cranky.

"I bet if you truly wanted to call your family or friends they are a button away," The female voice says over the radio.

The elevator opens to reveal an empty chamber. Cranky steps inside and looks up. It's completely empty. He steps back out of the elevator and shrugs.

"Did you knock into the button?"

"I just walked over here, and it dinged by itself."

"I don't like all this…." Hoody mumbles to himself and raises his rifle to look around the area.

The elevator closes, and they start back to the stairwell to go to the next floor. The leader thinks on the recent events and pulls out his gun once more.

"Let's split up. You two on the 3rd floor and I will go to the 4th floor. Moment you clear it, meet me there," the leader softly says.

The other two men nod.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~```

Sia stands in a windowless gap in the wall. She removed the window a few days ago. It overlooks a small landing at the back of the building. She can hop down and then jump off the edge of the landing to reach the ground. After she tosses down her backpacks, she continues speaking into the radio.

"It used to be like that for me before I got trapped here in this disgusting place. I can't breathe without a taste of dread. I just hope that you are safe in America, Aliyah. I love you. Please at least be safe."

As she finishes, the door to the 4th floor opens, and a man slips through.