There is an old Native American quote. If you chase two rabbits, you’ll lose them both. In this scenario, if you chase four rabbits with an injured leg and a defective radio, you’re not going to get far. The guard was taken by surprise when the tiny child in brown overalls came out from behind the woman in the lab coat. He didn’t see her. He was more concerned with the tall woman with the dark red hair glaring at him, as if she was going to at any moment punch his lights out. And here he was hobbling around with his radio out, trying to call for help, with no idea where the trespassers ran off to.

Evelyn ran back. Her heart swelled with excitement as she continued to run down the long hallway. Her boots clanked loudly as they made contact with the hard floor. She then ducked around a corner and slammed her back against the wall. She was tired. She didn’t expect to be doing all this running and panicking today. Perhaps the events that unfolded in the jail cell earlier today should have been a clue. She took off her beanie and wiped her forehead with it. She started taking slow deep breaths. The combination of fear and excitement had gotten her nerves all worked up.

Her anxiety was certainly not going to take a break now as all of sudden a vent grate crashed in front of her from the ceiling. Evelyn jumped with surprise and slid onto her back. As she looked up she saw little Nyssia peeking out from inside the vents, looking down on her. How the hell did a small child escape the guard and crawl into a vent, navigate her way through back? Evelyn didn’t know but at this point in her day she decided not to question anything else weird or unusual. It was going to be one of those days.

Nyssia hopped down like a jack rabbit and smiled.

“Found you.” Nyssia said with a smile.

“You found me?” Evelyn said. Nyssia nodded.

“Hide and seek champion.” Nyssia said with a cunning grin on her face and a thumb up.

“Did you see Io when you were up there?”

Nyssia shook her head. Evelyn got a little worried.

Io and Samantha kept running down the hallway. The chrome walls shined their reflection as she bolted down. Io led the charge. This was nothing for her. Samantha on the other hand wasn’t as fit as Io was, so she slowed down a bit and had to catch her breath. Io contemplated picking the little one up like she was a firefighter and carrying her while running. She figured she could do it. Io thought that she probably did not weigh much and could run away from the guards with a light jog. But she decided against that. She slowed down so Samantha could catch up.

“Oh my stars. Why...why did that happen? Why did we run? Oh...my chest.” Samantha said as she placed her hands on her knees.

“A divergent.” Io said with confidence. That confidence soon faded as Io looked around. She then realized she was lost.

“Damn. Don’t know where I am.” Io said.

Samantha took another deep breath and pointed ahead of them.

“We need to go right up at the fork and then hang another right. Go down several paces and we should regroup with the others.” Samantha said as she stood up.

“The hell? You got a GPS on you?” Io asked. Samantha looked at her confused.

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“I remember seeing the map for this floor near the stairs.”

“And you remembered it!?” Io said a surprised tone. Io never really bothered much with maps. She always paid attention to landmarks but down here where everything is shiny and chrome, there were no distinguishable landmarks. Io could be at the center of the world for all she knew.

Samantha started walking.

“Come on. We need to see if the others are alright.” Samantha said as she led Io down the hallway. After several turns they met up with Evelyn and Nyssia.

“Followed?” Evelyn asked. Both Io and Samantha shook their heads.

“Well, we are going to have a bigger problem soon. In a few minutes we’re gonna have some heavily armed company. And I'm guessing they are not going to be as friendly as the last poor guy.” Evelyn said. “Now Samantha, if we get to your ship, can you pilot it out of here?”

“Umm...I guess..” Samantha said with uncertainty. She didn’t know what she did the first time. Things have escalated quickly for her to keep up with. She knew they were about to be cornered but if she can activate her ship again, she might just escape with her new friends safely.

“Okay let's do it.” Samantha said. Io raised her hands up.

“Whoa everyone, stop! So wait, we’re just gonna get her time machine and hope it works and time travel to wherever?” Io asked. She looked really confused.

“Eh, seems like the plan.” Evelyn said.

“Adventure!.....What's a time machine? Is that like a clock? Does it go tickty tockty tock?” Nyssia said.

“I got a bad feeling about this.” Io said as she rubbed her injured shoulder.

Down a long narrow hallway they approached a door, with a large window to the side, that looked highly futuristic. It had a card reader on one end and a keypad on the other. It looked like this door could slide either left or right. Evelyn inserted the keycard. Green lights flickered on from the card reader. The keypad lit up with blue lights.

“Fuck.” Evelyn said as she looked back to the group. “Password?” She said to Nyssia who only responded with a shake of her head. “Double fuck.” Evelyn responded. Samantha peaked over through the window and made a loud shrieking sound.

“Ah! It’s my ship!” Samantha cried out. The rest of the group huddled over to the window and looked.

Through the window sat a control center with several machines and computers analyzing and reading data. Beyond that through another large window was a dome shape room and in the center rested Samantha’s ship. The ship’s outer shell had been completely removed. The thick black wires were hanging from the ceiling. The inner workings of the ship looked like they were taken apart and fused together upside down. Some of the green glass had shattered and pieces scattered about the floor. Several people, in deep blue hazmat suits were inside the ship, passing tools back and forth and examining the inner parts of the ship. Occasionally green and yellow lights would flicker on and off.

“Holy sh-...smokes” Io said as she caught herself before she could curse. She gave Nyssia a quick look down to make sure she wasn't going to get hit again.

“Oh...Pretty lights.” Nyssia commented as she struggled to see through the window. She pulled out her tiny nun puppet and held it up as if the puppet too was taking a peek.

“Yeah, those pretty lights are definitely good signs of scientific achievement.” Evelyn said in a sardonic tone as she scratched her head. This was something way outside of her normal field. Engineering. She studied medicine and photography in college. But despite her lack of general knowledge in the realm of engineering, she had a funny feeling that this was not going to go well.

“Blondie…” Evelyn started. She gave a slight pause as she was concerned what the answer would be. “Did you mess with anything radioactive?” she asked. A fair question. Hazmat suits and glowing green and yellow lights all points to radiation, at least in Evelyn’s mind.

“Radiation?” Samantha asked as she looked back to Io for answers. Io gave a shrug.

“I’m not an expert here, blondie.” Io said.

“Yeah, neither am I.” Evelyn replied. “And with no passcode we can’t get further along.”

“But it is right there!” Samantha said as she pointed at the window. “No more than thirty feet away and...and we’re stuck. We’re stuck and the police are coming” Samantha said as she looked at Evelyn and Io. None of them seem to have an answer.

They figured they could try and crack the code but how many times can they try before someone on the other side sees them or the armed guards find them.They didn’t know. They all felt defeated.

“Any ideas, anyone? Cause I am fresh out.” Evelyn asked.

“I have a few good ideas.” A voice called out from behind.