The Rain (Book 2 - The Constant Fight)

Chapter 34 - Secrets et messages

"There are stairs and an elevator which can take you outside." The man spoke as he walked backwards. The group - including Alex - followed after him along with some other strangers that were supposed to have arrived a day or two ago.

He was middle aged. His hair bright blonde and thick. His eyes were a light brown and his lips were thin and barely noticeable. He was wearing a white lab coat like almost everyone else.

"Of course you can't get inside without a keycard." He lectured, gesturing to his which was clipped onto the pocket at his waist.

Ross and Alex sent a subtle nod to each other. They slowed their pace until everyone else had passed them while Jeanette sped up. The guide had turned around, his back to everyone else as he strode through the halls.

Jeanette started walking beside him, asking him questions and pointing to his left as they passed any sign or door. The man engaged in her conversation, loving the questions that were being thrown his way.

They continued for another five minutes until Jeanette politely pulled herself from the conversation and make her way back to Alex and Ross.

"Do you even know where it is?" Ross asked in a hushed tone, keeping his eyes on the path ahead. Jeanette sighed and looked to her left.

"I asked him and he said that it's on the other side of the building. There's a hall that we have to keep going along." Jeanette whispered back, sliding her hand into her pocket to hide the keycard she'd unclipped from his jacket.

"It's just us, right?" Alex asked hesitantly as his eyes landed on the back of Jane and Drew's heads. They were smiling, taking in every detail the man said about the zone. When it was founded. What it was for. The research they were studying. All they knew about the rain. Jane was in love, she knew that this could be home.

Jeanette saw the sign first. She stood up on her toes in preparation and nudged both the boys on either side of her.

"We're just coming up to the research labs and then we'll circle around back to the main hall." He called out over his shoulder. As the group continued following, Alex, Jeanette and Ross veered off to the side and marched down the hall.

They weaved between doctors and inhabitants until they finally reached the end of the hall, leading them to the room that Jeanette was interviewed in when she and Drew first arrived.

She told Alex and Ross during the tour that she remembered looking over her shoulder and seeing Dr Iver go into a room in the opposite direction. She remembered how Amelia nodded to the camera on her left and wrote three letters in blood red ink on the bottom of the page.

It was her idea to find a way to get inside the room. After finding out the doors locked at night and seeing doctors point and whisper at people in the cafeteria, Jeanette was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"This is the room where she asked me questions," Jeanette said, stopping outside the green door. The paint was peeling and was beginning to show the real brown colour underneath. Jeanette looked up the hall to the door that Amelia Iver had rushed into after they'd left.

She pointed at it. "That's the room that-"

"What are you doing?" An acerbic voice hissed from behind them. All three of them spun around in fear, expecting to see a doctor or even Amelia herself. They sighed in somewhat relief when they saw the untamed fiery hair.

"Shit, Jane," Alex hissed, holding his hand against his pounding heart. "Don't do that." He mumbled, trying to slow his pulse.

Jane ignored him and raised her brow at Jeanette and Ross. She repeated her question with a much more demanding tone. "What. Are. You. Doing?" She asked, emphasising every word while taking small steps forward each time.