(Quintiles 29, 59 / 9:10PM)

(Luke, Miles, Jack, and Stan)

(Miles) Jack! This is the place!

(Jack) Are you sure? It looks like a typical building to me—

(Miles) It’s the tallest tower in the city! Just park near it!

Outside of the Zirardge tower, Jack managed to park the van right in front of it.

Turning his head to see the tall tower from below, Jack noticed that the glass door to the building was broken down, with glass shattered all across the white cement. With Miles’s command, Jack turned off the van, switching the key ignition off as he pulled the key out.

Bringing his sniper rifle and stuff ready, Jack got out of the van as he and Miles made their way towards the back of the van, seeing the little pin code to put in. Looking at each other with nonchalant eyes, Jack brustled his hair as he slouched his head forward, his fingers grazing the top strands of his well-kept red hair.

(Jack) Are you going to punch in the code or not?

(Miles) I don’t know the code.

(Jack) Then who knows?

(Miles) Surprisingly, Gwen of all people.

Both came closer to the lock pin as they heard the sounds of rustling and footsteps inside the back of the van. Folding their arms as they looked at the lock intently, Jack continued to fondle his hair as he thought of the passcode, his temples bulging as a headache started to form.

Miles noticed the heavy thought process Jack was in and started to stare at the lock pin, but then he noticed the numbers upon the lock pin…

(Miles) Maybe we could put in the numbers that are the most used.

(Jack) Like how?

(Miles) Look at the number markings for each pin. Some of the paint is starting to wear off, so let’s just get lucky with a random combination number.

(Jack) Good idea.

Both men hunched their heads towards the lock pin, scanning the number markings on the lock steadily as they went through each marking together.

Tracing his fingers along the keypad of the lock, Miles looked towards Jack as he folded his arms again, his eyes softening at the man.

(Miles) Let’s see. 2, 5, and 6 are the only numbers that are the most painted off. Curious, it’s a four-number lock, right?

(Jack) Yeah, it’s four numbers.

(Miles’s thoughts) Well shit…

His face started to coat with hot sweat, scratching the side of his head with his right hand. Trying to find the most used number marking in the lockpin, his pupils lowered at each number marking.

(Miles) Hmmm … Can Luke hear me from here?

(Jack) Barely. This van is designated to be sound resilient from outside forces, so you couldn’t talk to Luke and the others even if you tried.

(Miles) What about those dents from our fight on the highway?

(Jack) It mostly works on noises that don’t affect the van physically.

An abundance of knocking can be heard coming from inside of the van, the knocking becoming louder as the van starts to shake. Jack pounded the back of the van door two times, having his fist on the metallic trunk.

Turning his head towards Miles, he put his left hand into his side jacket’s pocket, taking out a walkie-talkie as he flinched his head up towards the tower.

(Jack) Try to reach Gwen. You have a walkie-talkie, right?

(Miles) Yeah.

(Jack) Then that’s perfect. Tell her what the code is so that I could get these two bozos out.

(Miles) Sure thing.

Giving Jack a nod, Miles turned his body as he sprinted towards the glass shattered door that led into the tower. At the same time he was doing that, he pulled out a walkie-talkie with his left hand and pushed the button to activate the device.

Getting inside the darkened lobby, Miles stopped to notice the darkened lobby right in front of him, his legs quivering as his pupils started to dilate. Sniffing the air around him, Miles started to gag as he smelled the presence of a foul odor many feet in front of him, the smell of toe jam and rotten eggs provoking his throat to open up.

(Jack on Walkie Talkie) Hey Miles, are you in the elevator yet?

(Miles) Ugh! No! It’s almost pitch black in here!

Miles turned his head around, plucking his nostrils with his right hand. Unable to see the elevators, he started gripping the walkie-talkie.

(Miles’s thoughts) Just where the hell is the goddamn elevator—

An elevator bell rang right in back of him.

Flinching his body toward the direction of the bell, Miles let go of his nose and placed his right hand where his right holster was at. His eyes trying to squint right through the darkness, Miles saw with his own eyes a normal yellow light barely opening up right in front of him.

Or rather the door of an elevator sliding its door to welcome the dark-toned man.

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Pulling his right hand out of the holster, Miles slowly walked towards the opening elevator, not seeing anything out of the ordinary as no one was inside it.

(Miles) Found an elevator. Call me when you need me.

(Miles’s thoughts) I guess this is the way toward where Gwen and Luna are, but who bashed in the first-floor button?

______________________________________________________________________________

(Quintiles 29, 59 / 9:15PM)

(Miles) Gwen!

Miles sprinted through the completely trashed office floor as he saw the many carpet burns on the floor, the cubicles being destroyed with papers and typewriters heavily damaged.

Seeing that Gwen had a fire extinguisher in her hands, Miles waved his hands as he ran.

(Miles) Gwen! I need to speak to you!

Gwen turned her head to see that Miles was sprinting towards her. Having her hands still on the fire extinguisher, she put down the object to the right of her as she waved with her left hand.

Letting out a cheerful smile from her face, she closed her eyes despite the entire office being beyond the need for repair. Followed by the ash and dirt clogging the office floor from the few holes that Gwen created, Gwen wrinkled her nose.

(Gwen) Hey Miles! Have something you need?

Miles managed to reach towards Gwen, his face panting and puffing with his hot breath reaching towards Gwen’s face. Bending down as his hands were on his knees, he looked down onto the burnt carpet, his breathing raspy and uncontrolled as he tried to speak.

Putting both of her hands onto Miles’s shoulders, Gwen rubbed his black leather jacket with her thumbs.

(Gwen) You looked tired. I guess both Harold and Ryan gave you guys a run for your money.

(Miles) I don’t … gasps … know about Ryan. But … pants … we took out Harold.

Miles looked towards the side of Gwen as he let out a huge gulp from his throat. Darkening her face, Gwen slightly tightened her grip on his shoulders, her palms getting sticky as they started to stick to the leather.

(Gwen) Don’t worry, we all are dealing with people that we all once knew.

(Miles) I’m scared that we have to confront Gary about him. But …

Looking up at Gwen’s freckled face, Miles wiped his mouth with his right-hand sleeve as a bit of drool and saliva started to come down from the corner of his lip. Standing up straight, his eyes peered down at Gwen, his eyelids sluggish with eyebags forming beneath his eyes.

His breathing calming down, followed by his chest heaving normally, he laid his hands motionless to the ground.

(Miles) I need the four-letter code for the back of the van.

(Gwen) Wait, what? That’s it?

Tilting her head to the right and placing her pointer finger along her cheek, Gwen’s eyes widened as she remained still, her heels locking into place into the carpet floor.

A bead of sweat rolled down her right temple, causing Gwen to let go of Miles’s shoulders, taking a step back as she looked down to the ground. Putting her right hand onto the nape of her neck, she caressed it with her fingertips.

(Gwen) hehe … so it’s just the code that you needed huh? Hehe…

Folding her arms, her hands started to tremble as she continued to look down at the carpet. Furrowing his brow upwards, Miles took a step forward as he towered over her, his right hand on his walkie-talkie starting to creak as his face slightly darkened.

His throat quivering with uneasiness, Miles put his left hand on Gwen’s shoulder, his eyes trying to make eye contact with hers.

(Miles) Please tell me you know the code.

(Gwen) Uhm … I uh … I … I don’t—

(Jack) There you guys are!

From out of the elevator doors opened up three men.

With Jack, Luke, and Stan exiting the elevator, they all ran towards both Miles and Gwen, their legs pushing off the unstable carpet as they noticed Miles’s widened eyes.

Putting both of his hands on the back of his head, even with his walkie-talkie in his right hand, Miles turned his head away for a second until he turned towards Jack again.

(Miles) What the hell?! How did you guys get here?

(Jack) Luke had a walkie-talkie, so he talked through to me from the other side. He managed to guess the code without you or Gwen’s help, with nothing but blind luck.

Letting out a heavy breath of relief as her chest loosened, Gwen had her right-hand trace along the back end of her hair. Making a warm smile towards the three of them, she put her hands to her thighs, her fingers calm and still compared to another person…

Miles' hands were raised towards Jack’s face, but he didn’t have a hold on him, almost like he wanted to strangle Jack with his own hands.

(Miles) You're a piece of shit! You never told me!

(Jack) Why are you angry at me!? Luke was the one that got himself and Stan out of the back of the van!

(Miles) That’s not the fucking point! I wasted my breath to come see Gwen and it was all just a joke!

Miles wrapped his large hands around Jack’s head, barely managing to have a firm grip on the top of his hair. With his fingertips digging themselves into his skull, Miles ground his teeth together.

Both Luke and Stan pulled Miles from doing any further playful damage to Jack, holding him back as he tried to push forward towards where he was.

(Stan) Dude, calm down. We’re all here and that’s all that matters.

(Luke) Come on Miles. I know he didn’t communicate, but it wasn’t his fault. Try to be the best man here.

Miles stopped his push forward as he turned his head towards Luke, his eyes widening. Loosening up his body, he let his hands go as his fists subdued to the hearing of Luke’s words.

Looking away, he avoided Luke’s eyes as he looked at the burnt carpet next to him, seeing the fabric spiking up from the friction it still held.

(Miles) Okay…

Letting go of Miles, all of them turned their attention to Gwen.

Stan, having his hands and arms folded, slouched his back as he looked around the room, noticing that there was one angry girl that was missing. Not only did he not find Luna, but he took a whiff of the ash smoke starting to pour in from above the clouds.

(Stan) So uh … how was your fight with the chainsaw sword freak? And where’s Luna?

(Gwen) About that…

A glass breaking from a window can be heard from the outside.

Their ears heard it from the front of the office floor, and all of them stopped as their feet remained still, not bulging a muscle from anywhere in their bodies. Noticing that the glass was falling to the left of the group, it was as if…

(Gwen’s thoughts) Oh shit!

Gwen instantly glided towards the front end of the office floor in less than a second, making the carpet packed with friction. Being in front of the shattered window, she looked up to see—