Ch 1015 - Ep 1015 - Stuck in the Air Vent

Stuck in the Air Vent
Christopher looked up at the ceiling of the bathroom Alex had shepherded him into.
Alex pointed up, directly at an air vent. "We'll crawl through the ventilation system. That way, we could spy on what's going on within Enrichment without anyone seeing us."
Christopher scoffed. "I am not crawling in the vents."
Ignoring his friend's protest, Alex rolled up his sleeves. "We really don't have much of a choice."
He propped himself up on the sink, and after punching the grate a few times, it fell off the vent.
Christopher's eyes widened as he watched his friend in disbelief. "What if the vent breaks?"
Alex looked into the hole in the ceiling, scoping out the air duct. "It won't break." He chuckled. "It'll be big enough for us to squeeze in here."
Christopher frantically gripped the sides of his head. "Alex, how could you be so sure?"
Alex shrugged, his face displaying a smug, confident smirk. "I guess I'm not. We just have to hope for the best."
Before he hoisted himself up into the ceiling, he looked down at his friend. "Are you coming?"
Christopher groaned. "Fine, but this is ridiculous."
Alex crawled up into the ceiling as Christopher propped a foot up on the sink.
He nearly slipped on the way up. "I'm going to die in the ventilation system."
Alex's voice emanated from the ceiling. "Don't be so dramatic. Get up here."
Christopher scoffed as he gripped onto the sides of the air duct. "I'm coming."
Alex and Christopher both managed to pull themselves up into the ventilation system. It was a tight squeeze. They barely fit. The two men crawled on their hands and knees through the small opening.
Alex kept his voice to a low whisper. He didn't want to alarm any of the Enrichment employees. "Okay, when we get to a room, we'll stop and look around. Then, if we don't see my mother, we keep going."
Christopher pursed his lips. "And how are we going to get to the next floor?"
Alex hadn't thought about that. He uttered the first thing that popped into his head. "We'll ride on the top of the elevator."
Christopher's body went rigid with tension. "Are you kidding me?"
Alex attempted to stifle his chuckle. "Oh, come on man. It'll work."
Christopher shook his head. "We're two grown men. We can't ride on top of an elevator."
Alex crawled forward. "Okay, fine. We'll see who's right when we crawl on top of the elevator. If it plummets, you can say I told you so."
Christopher brought a hand to his head. "Oh, my god. I miss having amnesia. My life was so much easier than."
After crawling for what felt like an eternity, the two found themselves stationed above a huge conference room.
Alex hushed Christopher as he looked out through the grates of the vents.
Although his view was obscured, he could see several Enrichment employees gathered around a long table. A slideshow presentation illuminated a screen behind the table. He wasn't able to read what it said.
One woman in a purple suit sat at the head of the table. "Alright, now it's time to talk about Project Wipe Out the Parks. We have confirmation that we can buy the lot on Clifton Park in order to change into a new apartment complex."
Alex's heart sank. He tried to keep his voice low. He could barely hear himself over the beating of his heart. "What? Clifton Park is a historical landmark. It's one of the most beautiful places in the city. What do they mean they're going to buy a lot? They can't do that."
Alex returned his gaze out of the vent, squinting in order to get a better look.
The businesswoman clicked a pen in her hand. "Tell us, John, how did you make this possible? Because this is a huge win for us."
One of the businessmen leaned forward in his chair. "I was able to bribe Councilman Zapotski to approve the lease."
The woman at the head of the table smiled from ear to ear. "I knew the city just needed a little convincing. That's exactly what Link told me."
Alex furrowed his brow. He tried to look over his shoulder at Christopher, but the vent was too tight. "Link? Who's Link? Is that what my grandfather is calling himself now?"
The businesswoman glanced up at the other employees. "Did someone say something?"
The question snapped Alex back to reality. He shut his mouth as he glanced back down into the room.
Thankfully, everyone at the table in the conference room shook their heads, and the businesswoman shrugged it off. "I guess I'm hearing things."
Alex gritted his teeth. "I have to go down and stop this."
Christopher shook his head. He spoke in a voice even lower than a whisper. "No."
Alex's face scrunched up into a scowl. "Why not?"
Christopher groaned. "Because we're stuck in an air vent in order to look for your mother. Stay on task."
With that little bit of convincing, Alex reluctantly decided to move along.
He crawled forward, and Christopher followed behind.
After peering into multiple conference rooms, cubicle spaces, and riding on the top of the elevator, Christopher and Alex found nothing.
Well, they did find more shady business practices, a few coworkers gossiping, and overheard a few phone calls, but they didn't find Flora.
Growing claustrophobic, Christopher trudged along far behind Alex. "I don't think she's here, man."
Alex looked over his shoulder. "We're almost done. Just a few more rooms. If I know Lincoln, she's probably tied up in his office."
Christopher threw his head back, hitting the top of the metal shaft in the process. "What if she is in there? What are we going to do? Pop-out of the vent?"
Then, Alex and Christopher heard a voice from the room they sat above.
The clicking of a woman's heels stopped. "Did you hear something?"
A manly voice replied. "I thought you were mumbling something about the vents. You're always complaining it's too cold."
The woman sighed. "It is freezing. Would you mind turning up the heat?"
Christopher's eyes grew wide. "No."
The vent around them rumbled as if there were a train coming down the line. Alex furrowed his brow.
Warm air circulated through the vent. It was a little warm, but nothing Alex Ambrose couldn't handle. He glanced over his shoulder. "That's not too bad. We'll be fine."
But they weren't fine. It got hot.
The temperature rose fast. Sweat poured off their bodies as the two men crawled through the ventilation system.
Christopher took off his shirt and tied it around his head. "Alex, if I don't die of a heat stroke, I will kill you when we get out of here."
Alex panted. "Fat chance. You couldn't kill me if you tried."
Knowing he was right, Christopher didn't respond.
Soon, the two reached the end of the ventilation system. They peered into Lincoln's office through the grate. Unfortunately, they could only view a portion of the room.
Alex kicked the grate open, and he and Christopher dropped out of the ceiling.
All of the lights in the office were turned off. No one was there.
Nothing was there, not even a desk or the chairs that Debbie and Mark were tied to.
It was empty.
Alex dropped his head in his hands. "I don't understand. I was so sure that he was here. I ran over it a million times in my head."
Christopher bent over his knees, in an attempt to catch his breath. "She's not here."
Alex refused to believe that he made such a critical error. "No. She has to be here. Maybe we missed her. Maybe we didn't look through every room."
Christopher wiped his brow. "We looked in every room, Alex. She just isn't here. Maybe your grandfather has nothing to do with this. Maybe it is just Riley."
Alex peered down at his feet, shaking his head frantically. "No, Christopher. He has to be involved. I can't be wrong."
Christopher panted. His makeshift sweatband did little to keep sweat from falling into his eyes. "Alex, who cares if you're wrong? We just need to leave. I need water. You need water. We're so dehydrated that we're going to start hallucinating."
Alex lowered his hands to his sides. "Fine." He tilted his head up. "Back to the vents."
Christopher reached out. "NO! Absolutely not. We will take the elevator. I don't care who sees us. We're taking the elevator."
Alex didn't have enough strength in him to argue.
The two men hobbled toward the elevator. They rode down each floor, standing shoulder to shoulder with men in suits.
When they reached the lobby, everyone stopped to watch them strut out.
Alex turned to the receptionist, whose eyes were glued to the two sweaty individuals. Finally, he waved to the woman. "Thank you for your time."
***
When Riley detonated the super soldier facility, nearly every Naysmith Pharmacy building had been abandoned; however, one location at the edge of Baltimore had been shut down years prior. Its walls crumbled as the structure fell apart. Vegetations grew through the walls and floor.
Remnants of the early super soldier research were scattered throughout the back of the facility.
Riley tied Flora to a dirty, old chair. He smiled at her. "Well, you look like you have nowhere to go. What a pity."