Evelyn and Nyssia crawled out from under the stairways. Just then from down the hallway they heard arguing coming from a very boastful voice. They looked down the hallway and saw Io with her hand against the wall, talking to someone in a white lab coat. He had his hands up in defense as Io continued to glare at him.

“But miss…” His words stumbled as they fell from his mouth.

“I’m fine!” Io shouted.

“But your arm…”

“It was a badger! I’m fine! I’ve fought things way bigger than a badger.”

“Miss ...this looks like a nasty cut.”

Evelyn moved quickly. She could see Samantha standing on the opposite end of the hallway with her back against the wall. As soon as Evelyn and Nyssia turn the corner, Samantha gave Evelyn a look of relief.

“Excuse me.” Evelyn said as she approached the group. “Want to explain to me why you are harassing my patient?” Evelyn said as she folded her arms at the man. The man looked at her with a worried look. He had on a classic sweater vest with a cherry red tie going down the middle.

“Doctor, I was just saying to your...uhh..patient..” He said nervously. “That she shouldn’t be here. She should be over in the medical ward.”

Io glared at the man.

“Yes, Doctor. I agree. I was escorting my patient to the medical ward on orders from Doctor Parker.”

“But she's not part of the medical ward.”

“Regardless!” Evelyn said as she started to raise her voice. “I will escort her right away. Now don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

The man jumped a little bit and scampered off. Io took her weight off her arm.

“Alright Blu, nice work.” Io said with a smile. Her smile of pride quickly faded as soon as she looked down and saw Nyssia.

“What the…?” Io said as she pointed at Nyssia.

“Hola!” Nyssia said with enthusiasm as she waved.

“Hey! She's adorable! And tiny.” Io said with a warm smile. Nyssia smiled back. Samantha stepped up and looked at Evelyn with worry.

“You found a child?” Samantha asked.

“Uh...long story. I’ll tell ya later.” Evelyn said.

“But...where are her parents?”

“No padres.” Nyssia said. Her smile started to waver.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Oh my god” Io said with a mournful tone. Nyssia’s eyes widened and she reached into her pocket and pulled out her nun puppet and started to speak in a high pitched tone.

“Do not take the Lord's name in vain, puta” Nyssia said as she made the puppet dance back and forth. Then without warning, Nyssia, with the puppet, punched Io’s leg. Everyone was stunned and shocked. Evelyn and Samantha quickly jerked their heads to Io in fear of her reaction. Io looked stunned. She was not expecting some tiny child to come up to her and smack her leg. And on top of everything, the kid didn’t look scared at all. She just stood there, holding up her little nun puppet.

Io leaned back slightly and let out a bellowed laugh. A laugh that echoed throughout the hallways. Evelyn and Samantha were confused and it showed on their faces. To both of them, today was just a very weird day.

“I like this one,” Io said as she pointed down at Nyssia. “Alright small fry. Lo siento. I won’t take God’s name in vain again.”

“Promise?” Nyssia said in her high pitched voice while making the nun puppet dance slightly. Io gave a slight grin.

“Scouts honor.” Io said as she held up two fingers.

“You’re no scout!” Nyssia blared out as she stomped her foot.

“Sharp as a knife too. Can we keep her?” Io said as she looked at both Evelyn and Samantha.

The rest of the walk downstairs was a bit more awkward than before. Now Nyssia was shielding herself inside Evelyn’s stolen lab coat from the security guards, who appeared to get meaner and meaner looking the further down they went. Every time they came to a door, Nyssia would hand Evelyn the keycard and they were through. Samantha and Io stayed in the back of the group while Evelyn was in front along with Nyssia.

Several floors down and several more awkward stares later and they finally reached the lower level of the facility. The atmosphere grew tense as the bland white walls suddenly changed to a hard shiny grey. A security guard passing by reached out and grabbed Evelyn by her shoulder.

“Doctor, what are you doing? This is a restricted area. I don’t believe you have the credentials to be down here.” The guard asked. His eyes glanced back and forth between Evelyn and the rest of the group. His eyes narrowed with suspicion. Evelyn hesitated. She didn’t know what to say. Fear crept down her spine as the guard continued to look at her. Then she did the only thing she knew she could do, even if it wasn’t going to work. She reaches into her pocket and pulled out her ID badge from the morgue.

“My credentials are here, sir,” Evelyn said. Calling the guard ‘sir’ left an odd taste in her mouth. “And I am here with my friends, giving them a quick tour of the campus facility as authorized by Doctor Jane Parker.”

The guard blinked for a quick second and then reached for his radio.

“I’m going to have to verify this, Doctor...Aue,” The guard said as he looked at Evelyn's ID badge. Evelyn’s fear crept back up her spine as the guard looked more intently at her badge. And calling Jane to authorize this? She would never go along with it. And now she would have more reasons to be angry at her. The guard brought his radio to his face and held down the button.

“Yeah hey, Carl. Do we have a scheduled tour of the lower facility for a Doctor Aue and party...authorized by Doctor Parker?” The guard said. Carl on the other end seemed to react quickly.

“Doctor Parker? Doctor Jane Parker? Authorizing a tour? For the lower facility?” Carl called out. Static cut in between words. He was extremely surprised. As if something like this would never happen with Jane. “Hang on let me go ask her.” Carl said. The guard lowered down his radio and continued to look at the group.

This seemed like the end for their exploration. Jane was going to soon get a report from a guard asking about a tour. She would say no and Carl would inform the guard. The guard would then either escort them out or see to it that they get arrested for trespassing. Either way it would not go well. And all of this was very obvious with Evelyn. Her worry, fear and guilt painted the whole story on her face.

The radio chimed in. The guard picked it up. “Go ahead, Carl.” But all that was heard was static.

“Carl, repeat that. All I heard was static.” The guard said. He paused for a moment and let out a sigh. “Damn signal.I’m gonna need you all to come with me. I can’t leave you here.” The guard said as he attempted to speak into his radio. Almost everyone had the exact same thought at that moment. Run. The question that came up was, when. The guard led them to a fork in the hallway. Shiny chrome walls to the left, bland white walls to the right. Almost as if they coordinated everything together, Nyssia flew out of hiding, kicked the guard in the leg and shouted, “Scatter!”

The group broke off into several smaller groups. Nyssia ran right. Io grabbed Samantha and ran left. Meanwhile Evelyn took off running back where they came from.