Reset

Nora watched him walk to the wall space a few feet from the door. She aided him in shining her lights. John flipped open a metal cover and after an ‘A ha!’ began flipping switches.

They clicked and shifted as he did and with each breaker he switched on, lights came on.

“Oh, wow.” Nora said and turned.

The room was spacious. It held six, eight seat tables, a counter and refrigerator were against the far wall, along with other kitchen items.

“We found our dining room,” said John.

Nora noted the rooms. Five on the bottom, five on the top. Positioned on one side of the dining room. No other exit doors. At least not that she could see. The other side of the room was just a wall.

“They expected us all to survive,” John said. “What do you remember, Nora?”

“Not much. I remember being put in unit and feeling very panicky. I believe I have a husband and children, but I don’t know if it is a dream or real. It doesn’t feel it.”

“According to that video, you’ll know in two days. Hopefully.”

“Hopefully.”

“I think after everyone gets mentally oriented, we should sit down and start talking about what we remember.”

“Piece it together,” Nora said.

“Exactly. Pin down the president.”

“He says he doesn’t remember.”

“He’s full of shit. “

“Jason believes him.”

“Jason is a preacher.”

“No.” Nora said.

“Yes. Sounds odd, doesn’t it?” John asked. “I mean, really, one would think if he dedicated his life to God, even if he didn’t remember his life, spiritually he is vested enough to know he has a connection to the big guy.”

“That’s true. But it makes sense. Jason is very kind. What about Malcolm?”

“Don’t know. I do know the president is here. This was a government thing.”

“What if it was a terrorist thing? A kidnapping. Something new.”

“It’s possible,” John said. “Whatever happened, we were in the same place. All of us. Or at least you and I.”

“I’m so sorry I don’t remember. Were we talking?”

“Laughing,” John said. “I don’t remember, but you said something funny.”

“Really? Where were we?”

“New York.”

“But I’m from…” Nora paused. A slight lightheadedness hit her. “Wait. Wait. I was in New York.”

“You remember.”

“Not why. I know I was there. I just can’t recall the reason.”

“It’ll come. Let’s go check out these rooms.”

Nora agreed. “Do you think its day or night? There are no windows.”

“It’s afternoon. Mid afternoon. Close to four by now.”

“How do you know?”

“The clock at the bottom of the monitor. I looked for a date and saw the time,” John said. “The message played at 3:22 PM.”

Nora was impressed that he had done that. It was simple, yet something she herself didn’t think of.

They began to explore.

Of the ten rooms, eight of them contained lockers. Each with a number. John guessed and told her since there were forty-eight lockers; he supposed they were numbered according to the rooms.

They were locked.

“Where are the keys?” Nora asked. “Do you think there are any?”

“I’m gonna guess they are in our rooms or storage. I mean, have we had the chance to check?”

Nora shook her head. “No. We haven’t been up all that long.”

They left the locker rooms. Not much they could do there. The final room on the top floor was locked, and something they knew they had to investigate. And the last room checked, on the bottom floor, was a computer room. None of which were turned on. There were file cabinets and boxes.

“Should we dive in?” Nora asked.

“I would love to, but we should check back with the others. Maybe see if anyone else wants to come back. Also, we need to look for keys. They’re here somewhere.”

“Maybe behind the locked door?”

“That’s possible.”

“The video said we might not comprehend. I know I’m not thinking clearly,” Nora said. “When we all have our wits then…”

“Hello?” Jason’s voice called to them.

Nora and John stepped from the small computer lab.

“Look at this place,” Jason said. “What is it?”

“Near as we can tell,” John explained. “This is our dining area. We have locker rooms with lockers that are… locked. Yet numbered.”

“Forty-eight?” Jason asked.

“Yep.” Then John pointed up. “A locked door up there. And behind us,” he indicted. “A computer room. My guess, that’s where a lot of our answers lie.”

“This is amazing, thank you for finding it,” Jason said. “Did you by chance touch something? Turn something on.”

John glanced at Nora with a quizzical expression and smiled. “Just the circuit box. I flipped the switches.”

“That’s what I thought.” Jason turned. “Come here.”

“What is it?” John asked.

“It’s easier to show you than explain.”

Curious, Nora followed the two men. The small hall was now lit and the door that was propped with the ax was marked Block B. She turned to look back at the door that led to the dining area. It was marked Block C.

Where was Block A.

The second they stepped back into The Hall, Malcolm raced forward.

“Guys, you did something, right?”

“What are you talking about?” John asked.

“That.” Jason pointed. “You weren’t gone five minutes. We heard the humming of electronics and then that.”