appropriate forms, so if you could all come forward in an orderly manner.”
Olaf winked at Virginia, then suddenly sprang out of bed and grabbed the man in the next bed over. He yanked the man to the ground and put him in a stranglehold, and then braced himself for the security associates’ attack. “I’ll see you all in Hell!”
Olaf’s attack put the entire room into a panic, and the medical associate ran into the center of the room in an attempt to back up Security. The medical manager tackled a woman who ran ahead of Virginia in an attempt to escape, and by the time he turned to secure the door, Virginia and three others had already scattered.
The medical manager slipped out the door and locked it, making a mental note to let out his personnel as soon as the building was secure. “Security breach!” he yelled , running after a young man who was unfortunate enough to have slipped out last. The manager stopped at an emergency alarm station, catching his breath as he sounded the alarm.
“I need backup here!” the manager yelled as he chased the young man to a dead end. He tackled the young man, knocking him off his feet, and all nearby personnel moved to assist in his capture.
Virginia slipped unseen into an unlocked utility closet. The small room had a washer and dryer, bins of dirty laundry, and cleaning supplies arranged on open shelves. Knowing the search for her would be thorough, she considered her hiding places. If she simply knelt behind the dryer she was sure to be found, and the same likely went for hiding inside the hot machine. She hurried to the vent to the central heating duct, but found it tightly secured. She snatched a putty knife from a nearby shelf and used it to pry off the screen, then carefully slid off the vent and slipped inside the tight area, slamming the vent back into place behind her.
Virginia quietly wriggled back a few feet, and then froze as she heard the closet door open. She heard the security associate step through the room. The man checked the washer and dryer, and then poked through the piles of laundry. Virginia held her breath and closed her eyes as he peered through the vent, straining to see as far into the shadows as he could. After only a moment, the associate moved away from the vent and left the room. Virginia took a deep breath as the door shut behind him. She waited a few minutes, to ensure he hadn’t left just to get reinforcements, and then she worked her way back up to the vent.
She looked around the room, trying to determine whether she had any chance at escape. There didn’t seem like any way out. She could dig through the dirty linen on the chance that there was a pair of scrubs hidden in the bin, but she didn’t think that would be very likely. Even if she did find some type of medical associate uniform, her eye color would give her away before she could get down the hall.
She slid back as the door opened again, and she could just see into the closet as a sanitation associate came in with a rolling mop bucket.
The skinny young woman pushed the bucket into a corner and began a load of laundry with a groan. The washing machine was loud as it filled with hot water, the sound echoing through the narrow duct.
Virginia slid back up to the vent, getting a better look, and she realized that the sanitation associate was a deviant. Without another thought, in one quick motion, Virginia knocked out the vent and slid out of the duct. She slammed into the surprised young woman, pinning her against the far wall and covering her mouth.
“I need your help!” Virginia cried.
The sanitation associate nodded, and Virginia slowly let her go.
“You have to get me out of here!” Virginia continued. “I’m being held against my will!”
“ Y ou ’re one of the virus victims?”
Virginia hadn’t expected such a question to come from a sanitation associate, and she gave the deviant a suspicious eye. “How did