Where We Go | Book Three

13. Endless Onslaught

"What the fuck is that?" Chris shouted with his eyes wide, covering his ears.

"It's the panic alarm," Ben yelled back, looking around the room.

"You have a fucking panic alarm?" Chris pressed.

"Who pushed it?" I asked loudly, looking around. 

Pilot was searching the walls for a control panel, Sophia had her hands firmly clasped against the side of her head, and Julia had moved to the window, staring out beyond the glass. All of us were counted for in the room.

Ben ran to the hallway where the alarm seemed louder as it echoed off the bare walls. "It must've tripped itself," he tried to shout over the sound as he swung open a black, plastic box fixed to the wall.

"Well un-trip it!" Chris yelled.

Pilot was right beside him. "We're going to have every Infected in the damn country here if you don't figure out how to turn it off!"

Ben pushed buttons one after the other, none of them giving any response or quieting the alarm rattling our heads. 

"I'm fucking trying!" he yelled. Slamming his fist at the panel with force so hard the screen cracked, he shouted again. "It's fucking dead!"

"Try something else!" Julia urged.

"Is there not a main control?" I tried to think over the noise. "Is there one in the garage or the basement?"

Ben's eyes flashed with realisation, and he ran to the kitchen. In one swift movement, he grabbed a small torch from the countertop and held it as he swung open the door to the basement. Chris stood by the kitchen window, lifting himself onto his toes to see further over the counter.

"We've got company," he said to the glass.

Julia's neck snapped to the window. "What?"

Ben disappeared down the stairs, the door swinging on its hinges behind him. The alarm still blared around us, with no sign of letting up any time soon.

"We're so fucked," Pilot muttered beside me.

I shot him a glare as my heart hammered in my chest. "Don't say that," I spoke. 

Inhaling a deep breath, I tried to steady myself, finding a way to drown out the noise that pierced my skull. I looked to Chris and Julia who craned themselves against the window to get a better view and took a step forward. 

"Chris!" I shouted over the alarm. He turned instantly, his eyes wide and his face pale. "Take Julia and Sophia upstairs, get them to lock the door... Pilot keep watch on that window, we've still got time."

At the bottom of the basement stairs, it was dark like all the light would've been extinguished if the door had closed behind me. At the back of the room, Ben stood in front of the control panel. A torch was pressed between his teeth, lighting the controls in the metal box. Lights flashed red and green across his face like a poorly decorated Christmas tree, finding no elegant sequence. Ben's hands danced over the numbers on the small keypad, trying one combination after another.

"Nothing's working!" he shouted.

I reached behind into my waistband and pushed him to the side. "Stand back!" Aiming at the panel, I fired a series of shots at the switches. I had no confidence in my method but, after a few bursts, the red lights dulled to nothing, and everything fell quiet.

"Ah," Ben groaned, pressing a hand to his temple. "Why didn't I think of that?"

I lifted a lazy shoulder. "Probably because it was a reckless idea."