Resurrection Hour - Hidden in Ice(Nanowrimo)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Hannah continued pacing the medium sized room, moving in and out of the shelving units. Cheryl had Jewel wrapped in her arms, comforting the sobbing young woman, while they sat on the floor in the corner, farthest away from both doors. Darius was searching the room for things they could use as weapons and looking for an alternate way out at the same time.

"Have you been working here long, Darius?" Hannah asked.

"Three years."

She walked over to the door, and pressed her ear against it, listening for a moment before turning back to him. "How well do you know the station?"

"Well, I don't generally go anywhere else but the truckbay and the warehouse. My card doesn't have access to the engineering floor or the lab level, so sadly, not much."

She nodded at him, then turned to Jewel. "What about you."

"I'm the same as him, sorry."

"Damn, okay."

Back to the drawing board. None of them knew the station well enough to get somewhere safe. All she knew were the living quarters, the lab level and the main floor. And she didn't know the main floor that well, just enough to get to the conference room and back to the elevator.

A zombie pounded on the service tunnel door, making it rattle, and Hannah jumped, breaking her train of thought.

"They're going to get in here," Jewel cried.

Cheryl slapped a hand over her mouth, shushing her. "They will if you keep screaming."

The woman shook in her Cheryl's arms but went silent. Fear rampant in her eyes, as it was spreading like a wave through Hannah. She could hear the music of every horror movie in her mind. Taking a deep breath, she tried to reign in her senses, losing it now wouldn't do anyone any good.

Why wasn't Xavier coming for them? Why hadn't he tried contacting them? She clicked the button on her vocera and tried to call Xavier, but it just said he wasn't available. Was the system down? The station still had power, so it shouldn't be down.

"Try Kevin," Darius suggested.

She did, but received the same response. "Looks like we're on our own. Where's the emergency satellite phone?"

"There is one in engineering, one in the Director's office, and the last is in the Security room."

Hannah threw her hands up in the air. "Great, all areas we don't have access to."

"We're doomed," Jewel said, her chin wobbling.

"Not if I have anything to say about it. We need to find a practical place to hunker down until the security crew sorts this mess out," Darius said, his shoulders squaring.

"The cafeteria is the inside muster station. We're supposed to go there if we can't leave," Jewel said with a shaky voice. "That's where everyone will go."

"Our cards aren't working," Cheryl said. "And the elevators are down."

"Shit," Darius said as he punched the wall, making Jewel flinch. Little by little, the woman was withdrawing from them.

Hannah walked over to her and leaned down. "I know you're scared, but we're going to get through this, but we all need to work together, okay?"

Jewel nodded.

"Since we can't get off the floor, we need food and water. There's none in here."

"The lunchroom isn't going to work because it just has an arch and no actual door," Darius commented, then he jumped with fists raised when a cracking sound filled the room. "If we don't leave now, we'll be trapped in here on both sides."