To Those in the Future, Part 8

Just as Kath had requested, John returned to the alcove at the appointed time. He climbed up the ladder and made his way inside, though he was surprised that there was nobody inside. Almost immediately, however, he heard the sounds of climbing from behind him, and turned to see Kath entering the alcove right behind him.

“You... Were you waiting for me to enter before you came in yourself?”

“It'd be harder for me to escape if I was in your position, after all. Now, shall we begin talking about my plan?”

“Yeah. That's what I came here to talk about, after all.”

Kath took out a long scroll of paper and unrolled it, revealing a giant map of the shelter. “This took me quite a few times to get down, especially without catching the guards' suspicion.”

John looked at the map himself. He couldn't tell how accurate it was considering he had never seen a map of the full shelter, but it was quite detailed. It seemed as if it was drawn as close to scale as possible, and there were even parts of the map he had no idea existed.

“How did you draw this?” John asked in wonder. “I mean, you've even got maintenance shafts in here.”

“It's not that crazy,” Kath mumbled, though she certainly seemed embarrassed by his praise. “I mean, it's not like I know where they go. But I thought it'd be good to mark them down as possible exits, so that's what I did.”

“I couldn't draw this, so at the very least, you've got that over me,” John replied as he pored over the map. “In any case, what's the plan?”

Kath pointed to a spot on the map. “Just as a reference point, that's where we are.” She then moved her finger across the map to another spot near the eastern end of the shelter. “This is where we need to go.”

John's eyes widened when he realized exactly what she was pointing at. “What – this is the Ackerton estate! You're going right to the final boss like that?”

“Who do you think has control over everything in this shelter? If we're going to find anything out, it's going to be in there.”

“Geez, you weren't lying when you said this'd be risky. Still, I thought you'd at least try to follow up on the missing window-washer.”

“There's no point. I doubt he's still there anyhow, and the workers in the infirmary won't talk.”

“So we have to put it all on the line, huh?” John's apprehension didn't go away one bit, but he had to admit that sneaking into the Ackertons' home was probably the best way to find out the truth. “When are we doing this?”

“Right now. There's no reason to delay, after all.”

“What? But I don't even have all the details yet!”

“Sorry. I still don't really trust you yet. You'll have to go with the flow, as it were.”

“Seriously? I can't even prepare for what's going to happen?”

“What preparations do you have to do? Are you going to get tactical gear from the quartermaster?”

John grumbled. She was making a lot of sense, but it didn't make him feel any better about this particular plan. His concern clear on his face, Kath decided to give him some comfort.

“Don't worry. It's not like the Ackertons brought any state-of-the-art security systems with them when they built the shelter. Just some guards and security cameras. Nothing we can't deal with.”

“How are we supposed to deal with the guards?” John asked warily. “They're all well-built, and they're strong enough to knock me out with a single blow.”

“Well, it won't matter so long as we don't get caught in the first place, right? Besides, I have a backup in place, so don't worry about it.”

“What about the cameras? You have something to take care of that?”

“Of course,” Kath turned around and began climbing out of the alcove. “Come on, it's time to get going. We'll lose time if we dawdle around.”

John sighed, but he begrudgingly followed Kath out of the alcove. It was true that they were losing “nighttime” talking like this, and the less people out and about, the easier it would be for them to sneak in undetected. Thankfully, the shelter was already starting to empty, and the two made the trek to the Ackerton estate without being seen by any guards.

They found a little corner to hide behind and peeked out to assess the situation. In front of the Ackerton estate was a giant gate, the kind that would have stood in front of a large mansion on the surface. Two guards stood in front of it, watching the entrance with a vigilant air.

“Ugh, how gaudy,” Kath said with a grimace. “I can't believe they bothered to build something like this in a shelter of all places.”

“So, how are we going to get in?” John asked. “That gate seems too tall to climb, and those guards would see us before we even got over.”

“Relax. Didn't I say I had a plan?”

“A plan you haven't told me about at all!”

“Shush!” Kath pulled something out of her pocket. “Now, go distract them. Hurry!”

“What?” Before John could even argue, Kath pushed him out of their hiding place, immediately catching the attention of the guards. They immediately shouted out at him.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing here?!”

John's mind raced for an excuse. “S-sorry! I got lost. Just trying to get to the bar...”

“The bar isn't anywhere near here! How could anyone possibly get turned around like that?”

“I wasn't watching where I was going and walked through the wrong door. It's a simple mistake, boss. I'll head back, okay?”

“Nuh-uh,” the guard responded with a wicked grin. “You gotta come with us for a bit. Sorry, but you seem a little too suspicious to me, so you're gonna have to answer some questions.”

John winced. He expected something like this, but he sure didn't have a way out of it. He simply hoped that Kath would get him out of this, and the sooner the better.

As if on cue, Kath snuck up from behind and thrust something into one of the guards, causing him to convulse violently. The other guard noticed immediately and turned around, but not in time to react to Kath striking him as well. The scuffle ended with the two guards on the ground, unconscious and shaking.

“What was that?” John asked with some bewilderment.

“This?” Kath waved the object she used to knock out the guards. “It's a taser. I rigged one up using leftover parts at my job in the shelter. It was only meant to be for self-defense, but it ended up being pretty useful, huh?”

“Just don't scare me like that again. I really thought I was going to get it.”

“Oh, don't be such a baby. Come on, let's go inside already.”

John looked up to the cameras pointed down at the gate. “We don't have to worry about being caught on camera?”

“Don't worry about that. I already hacked in and edited the footage to loop. So long as we don't take too much time, I doubt anyone will notice.”

“Is that so?” John was surprised. “You sure are versatile. Makes me wonder why you need me to begin with.”

“Don't be silly. This would have been impossible without a partner. Trust me, you've already contributed a lot.”

“I hope you don't just mean my contributions as bait.”

Kath smirked as the unlocked the gate. “No comment.”