Nation 27

CH 31: Clues

[Mike]

[Highest floor of the annex building]

An unknown, chilling silence fell upon the group as Brien continued to stare at the rough carving of a flower on the wooden furniture. Even the usually assertive David watched quietly as their leader continued to grieve. It was the first time in a long while since we’ve seen David in such a loss and despair.

‘He has the same expression when we found out that all of our comrades of Sector 4 have perished… Does that mean that Boyan is dead?’

The silence continued as the zombies on the bottom floor groaned in unison. A couple of minutes passed before Louis broke the silence within the group.

“What is it? Does the flower mean something?” Louis asked.

But Brien remained subdued. For a moment longer, he stood somewhat frozen, his eyes still fixated on the craving. Then as if something snapped within him, he abruptly straightened up as his eyes darted around the small space they were standing in.

There was a mixture of anger and determination in his eyes as he stepped carefully around the mess and blood stains. However, instead of searching inside the drawers and shelves, or the fallen stationeries and writing materials, Brien was actively looking at the support beams and top of shelves.

“Brien, what are you looking for?” Mike asked in a hushed tone.

For some reason, he suspected that Brien was not in the obliging mood of letting the entire group learn of his goal- at least, not at that very second.

“A vantage point. One that has enough space for a person to-” Brien suddenly stopped. He was staring at the top of the furthest shelf within that space.

It was dark and narrow looking but upon closer inspection, there was a hole in the ceiling as parts of the ceiling have collapsed over time.

“You don’t think that-”

Without turning back to look, Brien raised his right arm. It was the same gesture the military have grown accustomed to whenever they were on a mission. It was a sign to stop and keep quiet.

“Mike, I’ll go check it out. I want you and David to keep an eye on the young ones,” Brien calmly ordered in a quiet tone.

‘Strange… He didn’t say “look after the young ones” but to keep an eye on them. That’s not how he usually phrases things whenever we need to protect children and innocent civilians,’ Mike thought as he relayed the order to David.

David nodded attentively while Adam swallowed nervously. 

‘Both are expected reactions except for…’

“Oh, what’s Brien up to?” Louis asked as he tried to move closer to the shelf Brien was going to check out.

To an onlooker, Louis seemed nothing more than a curious boy. But after their first encounter when the boy had strategically gained the upper hand, Mike knew better than to believe in the boy’s innocent, angelic appearance. 

“Was the carving a clue from your friend?” Louis prompted when Mike had not answered his earlier question.

“Oh, maybe. Your guess is as good as mine,” Mike replied. Although it was indeed the truth, something told him to remain vigilant and not socialize.

“Hm,” Louis pouted slightly and then turned to David, “What do you think?”

“Are you seriously asking me?” David asked in a gruffed tone. Due to their first encounter, the hothead was never keen on talking to Louis. It was not so much about being outsmarted but simply the fact that Brien’s life was threatened.

‘He is really loyal to a fault,’ Mike mused as he turned to see what Brien was doing.

The former commander was done checking out the bloodstains alongside the shelves and sidestepped the heaps of fallen books. Fishing out a small torchlight from his vest pocket, he shone the light toward the hole in the ceiling. When there was seemingly nothing, Brien started softly tapping at the side of the shelf.

“What is he doing?” Adam asked.

“He’s checking if there are zombies in the ceiling,” David answered.

“Huh? By knocking on the shelf?” Adam asked again.

“Yes, zombies are attracted to sound and movement,” David replied.

“Oh? I see… I didn’t know about the sound part. They just started chasing Clara and me while we were in the woods. We were lucky to stumble across an opening into the building…” Adam trailed off and trembled slightly as if he had just vividly recalled the entire incident.

“Opening? You mean the entrance?” David asked.

“No… Well, sort of? It was the entrance to the basement. It was all barred and sealed off but there was a small crack between the metal bar and huge door. I guess that in all the chaos and hurry to shut the entire building down, the staff didn’t take care to ensure the doorway was fully clear of crates… We saw a heavy-looking crate that was about my height jammed at the door.”

“So you kids must have blocked that entry point later, right? I don’t remember seeing any holes during our sweep through the entire building.”

“Yes, we blocked it up with crates and a couple of heavy shelves,” Adam affirmed.

“Oh? How-”

But David stopped midsentence upon seeing Brien climb down from the top of the shelf.

“Did Brien go up into that hole?!” David asked in shock.

“No, he just peeked a little,” Mike answered.

“So nothing happened. That’s good, well n-” David quietened when Brien approached the group. His face was solemn.

“W-What happened…?” Adam asked.

Without answering, Brien showed the small group what he held in his hand.

Recognizing one of the items in Brien’s hand, Mike and David gasped.

“Isn’t that a military tag?” Adam asked as he tilted his head in curiosity.

“Yes, it belonged to Boyan,” Brien replied.

“But the torn bloodied surgical glove that Brien is also holding doesn’t belong to Boyan,” Mike mumbled.

“Sam…” Louis uttered softly.

“Why were these items in the ceiling? Does that mean that they’re both-” David placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder to stop the boy from finishing his question.

“Let’s search a little more before returning to the main facility. Whatever it is, our friends are no longer here…” Brien declared as he descended the stairs to the floor below, not waiting to see if the others were following.

“Come on, guys. We’ll check another floor or two before returning,” Mike sighed.

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[Question time:]

Judging by Brien’s reaction, Boyan and Samantha are most likely dead, but who do you think did the heinous act? Or was it perhaps an unfortunate sequence of events where Boyan and Samantha were trapped in the annex building and infected by the zombie virus? …It’s doubtful that the two are still alive, right?

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