Page 8 of Captive Beta
“Good luck.” Timothy calls after us.
He’s the one keeping an eye on everything from the van and he’s the contact with the outside world, while Derrick is with the team that’s expecting the most trouble and the weakest point in our plan. Mathew and I will be joining one of the other teams, so that they can help us sneak onto the research complex and into the right building as efficiently as possible.
I do a mental and physical check, making sure all my weapons are where I expect them to be, the action soothing the last of my nerves.
This is a mission. No different from any of the other missions I’ve been on, apart from one significant element, I’m doing this one with Mathew and his organisation. Which is a pretty big change, as they’re much better organised and they’ve got much better gear than I usually have, which is interesting but also slightly uneasy. Lots of changes at once. Maybe I should have only made a few changes, not everything…
But we’ll have to see about that at the end of the evening. Too late to change anything now.
Getting into the complex shouldn’t be too complicated, but getting into the lab we need is trickier. The entrance to the lab is in the middle of the building, no windows to the outside, only one way in and out. They protected the lab as much as possible.
Which is definitely suspicious.
Mathew made me promise that I can’t hover over him and that I have to let him do his job, no matter how dangerous things get.
It didn’t seem like that hard of a promise at the time, but as we make our way through the trees to join our team, I notice I’m starting to walk ahead of him, keeping my eyes on our surroundings, instinctively protecting him.
He hasn’t told me off yet, but I slow down and walk a step behind him. I’m pretty sure that walking ahead of him is breaking the rules. He’s in charge, he’s the boss, I’m simply following his instructions.
The team we’re joining is where they’re supposed to be and Mathew exchanges a few words with them before he starts walking again and they follow him. I’m staying at the back of the group, giving me a better view of our surroundings and hopefully letting me control my need to be near Mathew better.
Before we left, everyone took temporary pheromone suppressants and once we got here, we sprayed masking products all over us. That should help clear our pheromones as much as possible, which will help with people not noticing us, and not being able to recognise us by scent.
I’m lucky Mathew doesn’t have pheromones normally, or this could be really uncomfortable right now. I’m used to him not having them, which means this is something that isn’t a big change for me, luckily.
The complex is not too far from here, and we have to move carefully to not attract the attention from the guards. There aren’t too many cameras on the outside, only really around the entrances, but they have guards patrol just inside the fence around the complex.
My heart rate stabilises and my head slips into ‘work’ mode, I stop thinking and instead focus on what’s going on around me. I know the plan, I know what everyone is supposed to do, the only thing we have to do now is execute it.
There’s an area of the fence that’s out of view of the cameras and will be easy to breach. It’s near the parking lot and has a maintenance building close to it, too near for guards to bother walking between it and the fence. The area is also in deep shadows, as a bright light on the other side of the maintenance building makes the shadows very pronounced here.
It’s a simple wire fence, no electricity on it or any other security measures. Two people from the team will cut the wires, the rest keeping an eye out for the guards. Then, we’ll sneak through and make our way to the building that’s to the side of the parking lot using the coverage of that to make our way to the building that houses the labs.
From the corner of my eyes, two guards come into view and I track their movements.
Neither of them are paying attention to their surroundings, deep in conversation. They glance from side to side once in a while, but with the way their heads move, it’s more of an automatic action and meant to appear that they’re doing their jobs, than them taking real notice of what they’re seeing.
We’re in the shadows of the trees on the other side of the fence, where the lights from the complex won’t reach us, and with them standing right under the lights, it’s even harder for them to see what’s going on outside of the fence. An extra safety measure for us.
We chose this moment because it’s right before the night shift starts, these guards have been on shift for most of the day, they’ll be at their least attentive and most tired.
One of the guards nods to one of the cars that’s parked close to the maintenance building and they come closer and closer, still in conversation, but it will be easier to spot us if they get too close…
I let my breath out slowly, focusing on the guards, waiting for any sign that they’ve spotted us. My fingers slide down to my gun, carefully taking the safety off as I let it hang to my side, not wanting to move too abruptly unless I really have to.
Abrupt movements attract attention, so I have to move in fluid and deliberate motions.
The guards look at the back of one of the cars, commenting on something, something they don’t like by the faces they’re making, before they walk closer to the maintenance building. They’re near enough that we can now hear their low voices, though not the words.
If they get any closer…
“Whisper, don’t.” Mathew’s voice is close, his breath warm on my cheek.
I jolt, suddenly aware I’ve come out of the trees and am walking to the guards, my gun trained on them.
Oh, fuck, that wasn’t part of the plan.
Mathew’s hand is on my arm holding the gun, his other arm around my waist as he pulls me back into cover.
