Nigel and Jony made their way to the entrance.

“I thought you were going to open these doors,” Nigel said.

“I did!”

Hopefully Alexei, Dahlia, and Hunter took those bastards out. Natasha . . . I can’t believe you are gone! Nigel’s eyes started watering as he thought about the battle. Then he started down the unexplored section of the hall, checking doors as he went.

Aargh, another dead end! Nigel thought.

Nigel was about to turn around when he heard muffled screams. Nigel turned and faced a door, the frosted glass preventing him from seeing what was behind it. He couldn’t quite make out what was being said, but the voice sounded familiar. He tried the door. It was locked, a light glowed from beside it.

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Hmm . . . a proximity card reader!

Nigel rummaged through his backpack and found what he was looking for. He unscrewed the cover off the proximity meter. Based on the codes written on the outside of the circuit board, the door reader was a PID model 3. Nigel was trying to remember what Milo had told him—something about door frequencies.

“Screw it,” Nigel muttered.

He hooked up the makeshift circuit that Milo built and tapped the “scan” button with the end of a small screwdriver. The device seemed dead. Further examination revealed that the battery connector had popped out. He reseated the battery. Seconds later, he was in business. It took a while, but he tried the door when he heard a beep. The door pushed open. He wasn’t prepared for what he found.