Three fucking years of hiding and constant moving. If I had the words to comfort her I would, but now wasn't the time.
I peeked over the window and saw that there were five rangers wearing red armoured suits with masks on, holding weapons that looked ready to kill. It was dark, and the only light we used in the room was the moonlight above.
I gave some fruits to Isabella and ate some myself.
"Are you familiar with this place at all?" I asked hurriedly.
"Not really, but there should be an emergency exit nearby." She whispered. I remember I saw a map on the ground level. All we had to do was retrieve it and make our way out of here.
I took another glance at the road and saw that the rangers were preoccupied with the buildings opposite from us. They were searching rapidly. Each man on different floors.
"Let's go while we still have a chance." I said.
Isabella was swallowing the last grape I had given her before getting up and exiting the room.
We rushed down the hallway. I remembered that the elevator was so loud that anyone could easily hear us from across the road. The only other option was the stairs.
We entered the staircase room. Cold with many cobwebs layered together, spiders in a network. I looked at the ceiling where a massive hole that had edges melted off staring into the floor above. 'what could have happened here?'
We made our way to the midpoint of the staircase until a buzzing sound that bleeped every once in a while caught my attention. Isabella froze on the spot.
"Whats that?" I asked quickly.
"Shhh, they have drones." Isabella whispered. It echoed. I gave her a nod and slowly tiptoed our way down the stairs to floor 1.
"Hmmph, I see." I whispered. After a while the sound of the drone disappeared. We then made it to the first floor and noticed that it was a very open space where most of the windows were broken.
I knew we couldn't stand here. I could smell a strong scent around the corner that seemed to be toxic. Even through my mask it was sour.
I titled my head around the corner and noticed that there was a lot of toxic mold residue left around.
"We have to go to floor 0 if we want to get to the emergency exit." I told Isabella. She looked at me wearily. It was like a light bulb showed up above her when I noticed her expression. "What are you thinking?".
"Can you distract the rangers?" She asked. I tried to wonder what she could be asking me, but we had no time. But then a spike of anxiety rode up my back.
"Don't think that'd work. They'd be curious and probably take me into questioning wondering what I was doing here." I said. "I can't take that risk. Especially not in the state I'm in currently."
"State you're currently in?" Isabella asked. Her eyebrows raised.
"It's a long story, we just have to figure out a way out of here." Glass from nearby sounded. Me and Isabella turned to look at the direction of the staircase. I turned back and nodded towards upstairs and followed behind me.
We crept slowly up the stairs until we heard the same sound from earlier. It was the drones. My palms were becoming more and more sweatier by the second.
"How many weapons do you have on you?" I asked.
"About two? I have a Y bracket and an Alpha-77". She responded.
"Hand over the Y-Bracket." I whispered.
"Alright." She gave me the gun but then pulled it back. "What are you going to do with it?".
"I'm going to take down the drones." She looked surprised, "IF they become an issue. Only then will I use it." I gave her a smile in reassurance. Isabella sighed.
"Okay, fine. I'll try to find a spot upstairs and hide away from the drones." Right after she said that, I realised that it would be a bad idea if we both separated and one of us was shot or even killed without the other knowing.
"No, it's too risky. Follow me." She was ready to argue against it but I raised my finger in disapproval. "Let's go before they find us."
We made it to the ground floor. The drone seemed to be done around this room and was nowhere in sight. The lobby was spacious.
"Okay, do you remember where the map was again?" I asked.
"I think it's somewhere near the entrance." Isabella said. I paused my steps and so did Isabella as we heard footsteps. I couldn't tell which direction so we slowly backed away from where we were standing.
"Stay calm,". A light in the corner of the lobby turned on. I pointed the Y bracket at the light wondering if it would reveal itself to be a drone or not.
To no one's surprise, it was. It came flying towards us with a red light zooming at a speed which was scary. I tried my hardest to point the gun while it flew in directions that I couldn't quite hit the target.
"SCANNING, SCANNING." The drone buzzed out. I covered my face and so did Isabella to avoid facial recognition. But I'm sure that wasn't enough to discourage rangers from the fact that there was activity happening in an abandoned building.
I peaked through my hands and saw the drone was floating still in the air. I whipped the Y-Bracket out and pointed it perfectly and made the shot.
It soon made its way to the ground and exploded. A large scale of fire came from such a small body. I supposed it was wired like that to detonate in a hostile situation. Neither of us were affected by the blast, but it was clear that we had to move immediately.
The sound of the blast could and would have definitely alerted whoever was nearby. If the sound of the elevator wasn't enough I'm sure this would have shaken their attention towards us.
Around the front of the lobby I could see that there was a map. I ran there but Infront of the door I could see that there were lights looking right at us. I grabbed Isabella and hid around the corner out of view.
"We need a new plan." I said. Gunshots tore through the walls and past our faces.
"ISABELLA, COME TO ME!" One of the rangers shouted. We stayed silent. "Get all the drones to search this building. We are not leaving until we find that fucking bitch."