To Be A Hero

Chapter 16: Wake Me Up Before You Go Go

"There it is!" Ellie gasps. "Hawksmill Museum and Special Study Center. So special that you weren't even allowed to find out what they had there. It was a bit famous when I was at college, the museum that never lets in any visitors. I sent letters three times, but no entry for Dr. Eleanor Anwar Maxted."

"Because it's not a museum," Veronica says.

"Well, we know that now," Nadia says. "I think Ellie was just reminiscing."

Ellie fiddles with her sleeve. "I-yes, I-that's what I do sometimes. I think whoever administered Hawskmill would have been pleased with the amount of work we've had to do to get here. First that list of Comansys labs and personal you found under Cynthia's-that's Moonchild's-guidance, Five."

"Memories," I lie, my voice hard and cold. "They were just memories. Moonchild is gone. It was what I remembered. She's not-it was my memories. Me."

She nods slowly, nervously. "Right."

"And then Owen!" Veronica says. "I never would have imagined that Owen-"

"He can seem like a bit of an idiot," Nadia says, and I my jaw drops at her bluntness.

"If he hadn't found this list of Netrophil agents in that farm, we'd had never seen that the woman who was working here had the word 'Vikings' scribbled next to her name. We'd have had no reason to come here."

"And they say bureaucracy and cross referencing is boring."

"It is a bit boring," Sam pipes up.

"But useful! Now we know that there was an active Netrophil agent working at this Comansys center on something about Vikings, which is promising."

"Really promising," Ellie says, grinning like a kid in a candy store. "We've translated the new version of the Edda of the Wakened Warriors. It's still very cryptic, but it had some specific place names from the Viking era that we haven't managed to decipher. I'm hoping the word 'Vikings' means they'll have some resources here to help us.

"And Cynthia definitely knew lots about how the zombie virus worked on the brain. If this was where her company did some of that research..." She looks over at Veronica, who has a gleam in her eye as we approach the door.

"Yes, I want to see what they were doing. Anything is helpful."

"Who knows what we could find here?" Ellie squeals. "Welcome to a secret black ops terrorist industrial complex hub!"

We open the door, scanning the lobby that is very clean, besides the gathering dust, of course. Pale walls with hardwood floors and tall ceilings with glimmering light fixtures are what surrounds us.

"Pretty," I mumble.

"It looks like a normal museum," Sam says. "Maybe that's a good thing, though. With what happened to you, Five-"

"Sam, it's been two days. I'm fine," I sigh, rolling my eyes while feeling slightly embarrassed at the raised brows Veronica and Ellie give me. "With everything that I've been through, panic attacks are normal. But even so, I brought an inhaler to help keep me calm."

"Yeah, but-"

"And while this may look like a normal museum, you seem to have missed the ten inch thick, keycard-locked steel door." I look over at Ellie. "Do you want me to do it or...?"

"Be my guest."

I stride over towards the door, grabbing the keycard from my pocket. Moonchild's all access keycard. She said it would come in handy in the future. I swipe the card, and the security system beeps.