Saving Insanity

Chapter 14: The Empty Facility

"How do you plan on helping me get in if you are no longer a Sorter?"

Samoa was a child at heart. Her mindless chit chat had progressed further with every step on our way to the Facility. Her beauty was unmistakable, but her youth more so. I had been right, she was only fourteen years old. However, I did get repeatedly reminded that she was almost turning fifteen. She was a teenager, I expected nothing less than a rambling mouth and outgoing nature.

Yet Samoa still varied from the other young girls I had encountered. She had a distant vibe, like she wanted no one to see past her gorgeous face and bright green eyes. She wanted everyone to think she was nothing more than your typical teenage girl. But she was. She radiated with a certain intelligence, like she saw more about the world than any adult ever would.

"Earth to Ireland."

The impatience of a fourteen year old. I ran my hand across my forehead, "I'm sorry. I never said I could get you through the front doors. But I know this place inside and out." My eyes were already well adjusted to the dark night, the faint light of the lamp posts offering minimal assistance.

"So the back?" she asked, her voice rising. I let out a sigh as I led Samoa across the train tracks and into the area surrounding the Facility. "I think it will have to be a bit better than that," I said. The girl finally gave up on her questions and instead followed me in silence. I hadn't even bothered to ask her what her reasoning for breaking into the Facility really was, but at this point, silence was better than me knowing. It would only be a matter of minutes before I would be helping her on her hunt, anyways.

The Facility stood tall. It was a large skyscraper, reaching up to the sky with dozens of floors. Samoa and I might as well have been ants standing next to a giant. However, I was hoping that this building wouldn't step on us.

"I think we can get in this way," I stopped once we reached the backside of the Facility, the concrete structure shadowing us. The first floor windows were the kind you couldn't open. Yet for some reason I remembered a conversation about the rest of them being able to do so, which had been done several years ago after a horribly hot summer.

"Great, relying on the thinking of the first Sorter to get fired," Samoa muttered, smiling when I shot a glare at her. I ignored her sarcastic jabs and continued, "Help me up."

The small girl bent her knee and lifted me by the bottom of my heel. I stepped up onto the thin ledge hanging over the first floor windows. The ledge stood three feet above the ground, leaving only my full height and a couple added feet. I reached my arms high until I felt the security of them on the sill above me.

"How the hell am I supposed to get up there?" Samoa's voice echoed below me.

The sigh that erupted from my throat was loud. "One problem at a time, Samoa." Kicking off the ledge on which I stood I pulled myself up with my arms until I was dangling from the second floor window sill. I lifted one arm off the ledge, my other supporting my weight, and gave a strong push against the glass.

It creaked open. I exerted more force against the window, letting out small grunts until there was an opening large enough for my small form to fit through. I clambered up onto the sill and slipped through the hole. Landing on the floor of the Facility I let out a sharp sigh. Now it was Samoa's turn.

I moved quickly across the room and grabbed onto the chair, then after pulling it over to the window I stood up on it and peered out into the night. Samoa stood on the first ledge above the floor one window, the tips of her fingers barely able to reach the second ledge.

I held my hand out to her, grabbing firmly onto her wrist before I lifted her upper body onto the window. "Are you sure there isn't a back door?" she wheezed as she dropped down into the Facility.