“Don’t move!” Yelled one of the handgun-wielding intruders.

  But before the words had finished leaving his mouth, the guard was already leaping backwards to create distance, his hand flying to the sidearm at his waist. Unfortunately, the intruders held the initiative in that moment and proceeded to open-fire into the guard’s chest. Splatters of red and the smell of gunpowder showed the obvious result of the conflict as the guard’s body hit the ground with a dull thump.

  Grant and Derek took advantage of the guard’s unwitting sacrifice, flinging themselves into the open closet as the first shots rang out, allowing them to avoid the gunfire. There was nowhere to run, however, this office being a secure point and the closet only having the one entrance that lead to death-by-handgun. So, the pair could only watch as the guard was gunned down and the killers approached their refuge.

  “Alright you two, get up, and this is your last warning to not make any sudden moves. Try anything and you’ll end up like your friend out here.” One of the intruders stated as they lined their sites on Grant and Derek.

  Having no choice in the matter, the two slowly pulled themselves to their feet and held their hands up in a presentation of surrender. Seeing that the duo would not be causing any problems like their previous victim, the same intruder decided to explain their expectations.

  “Here’s the situation. That guard was supposed to be our hostage incase our plan goes south, but two unarmed janitors will probably be better anyway. So, here’s what’s going to happen, you two are going to exit this room and follow the hall, we’ll be right behind you the whole way, providing directions from my little map. Turn left, turn right – that sort of thing. Do you understand?”

  Grant and Derek exchange a glance, before nodding their heads, both understanding that this was likely their only chance to leave this facility alive. With a gesture from the intruder – this one Grant decided to think of as Map and the other Duffel, on account of his bulky duffel bag, since they likely wouldn’t reveal their identity – Grant and Derek dropped their arms and walked out of the office into the hall. As they made their way through the halls, at the intruder’s direction, Grant decided to speak up in an attempt to understand the situation.

  “Why are you doing this?” He asked, “you can’t possibly believe that Area 51 is really hoarding alien technology somewhere. And in this building of all places? I’ve been all over this place and it’s just random offices and filing rooms. There’s nothing that could pull a literal horde of people and two gunmen here. So, why’s everybody going crazy?”

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  This outburst caused the two intruders to look at each other. Then surprisingly, the so-far silent one, Duffel, let out a loud laugh and proceeded to actually respond to Grant.

  “Ha! Have you really not heard the news? You have to be just about the only man in America who hasn’t heard Musk’s speech.”

  “Speec-?” Grant began, before being abruptly cut off.

  “Three-billion dollars! The man promised to personally reward the first person to bring him an authentic piece of alien technology, and the reward is a nice, fat, three-billion dollars.”

  “And you may think you have seen every part of this building, but just wait and see. You’ll find that there’s a lot of secrets hiding beneath the surface.” Map interjected after Duffel’s revelation. Duffel just chuckled as if Map had told a lame joke.

  The group continued walking, Grant silently contemplating this new information, before Map held up a hand and brought them to a halt.

  “Stop, we’re here. You two stand off to the side with me; while my friend does his part.” He said, as Duffel steps away from the group.

  Grant looked around and realized where they had ended up. Their destination had apparently been the janitor supply closet on the basement level of the building, a place he had visited every day since he began his job at the facility.

  As he wondered why they would possibly stop here, Duffel opened the door to the closet and dropped his duffel bag to the floor before pulling off his backpack. From the backpack he pulled several chrome-colored bars and proceeded to string them together in the middle of the closet. After they were bound tightly together, Duffel unzipped the duffel bag to reveal what looked like a super heavy-duty cloche – one of those domes that rich people use to cover food – and drill, which he plugged into the closets power outlet. He then covered the bars with the dome and proceeded to mount it entirely to the floor with the drill and some really big screws.

  After he had completed his work, the invaders pulled Grant and Derek down the hall and around the corner where Duffel pulled out a detonator and a cell phone, shushing the hostages to ensure they stayed silent, before dialing a number and speaking into the mouthpiece.

  “Team Two, this is Team One, detonating charge in 3. 2. 1.”

  Duffel pressed the detonator, which was followed by a muffled explosion, a loud, metallic, clattering and the floor briefly shaking. The group walked back to the closet as the dust was settling to reveal the door blown off its hinges, the entryway and interior covered in a sooty blast mark, and the metal dome jammed into the ceiling over a messy hole in the ground.

  Before anybody could step forward to investigate the hole, the gunmen pushed their hostages forward and gracelessly forced them through the jagged opening in the ground.