Flip This Zombie - Jesse Petersen [62]
Since it had originally been a military facility, there were several observation rooms where privates had sat once upon a time and watched the television monitors for… I don’t know, whatever they thought was going to threaten the facility, I guess.
I’m thinking they didn’t have “zombies” on that list. Or maybe they did.
There were plenty of storage areas, too, stacked high with weaponry and equipment for a very long, very bad disaster (kind of like the one we were in). But I’ll admit, none of the supplies I saw shocked me. None screamed, “Secretly making bionic zombies, planning to kill you all! ”
On one side of the lab, there was a kitchen and a mess hall. The kitchen still functioned (as proven by that morning’s culinary delights), but the mess hall was dusty and empty. Apparently Kevin took his meals at his desk like every good overworked employee should.
“You really ought to get out more,” I laughed as he closed the mess hall door behind us.
He shrugged with a grin of his own. “I’ve heard there’s a lot of new sights in the world. But most of it isn’t worth seeing.”
“That’s true,” I said with a sigh. “But maybe we can change that.”
There was a moment’s hesitation. “Yeah, maybe. If we do, perhaps you can be my tour guide upon my triumphant return to the world.”
I cast a quick glance at him out of the corner of my eye, but didn’t respond. He’d been sort of half-assed flirting with me for the past half-hour. The worst part was that I sort of liked it.
Oh, don’t judge me. I wasn’t about to take him to one of the labs and latch him down on the table to have my way with him. But it was nice to be flirted with a little. In a post-apocalyptic world, you kind of end up missing whistling construction workers and inappropriate comments at work that get everyone sent to sexual harassment classes. It’s a normal part of life and when it’s gone you notice.
We turned down one of the many halls in the labyrinth of the lab and started to steer by a few closed doors. Kevin moved past me, whistling slightly as he maneuvered me toward another area, but I didn’t follow. Instead, I came to a stop.
“And what’s in here?”
He stopped in the middle of the hall and slowly pivoted on his heel to face me. “Er, lab rooms. Testing facilities. We’re mostly storing equipment in them now. It’s nothing you’d want to see, Sarah.”
I arched a brow at his reluctance. Maybe Dave was on to something with his mad scientist statements after all.
“Please don’t make me regret giving up my entire life to stay here and help you,” I said softly as I motioned to the door. “Open it.”
Kevin let out a put-upon sigh, but he did as I asked and swiped his key card through the scanner. Immediately the door popped open to reveal…
Nothing. Just an empty room with some equipment pushed to the far back wall of the area. I smiled with relief.
“See,” Kevin said with a knowing shake of his head. “Boring.”
“Still, I’d like to see more, thanks,” I said as I motioned to the next door.
He arched a brow. “Losing faith, Sarah?”
I frowned. “No. Just not losing my head over what very well might be pipe dreams.”
There wasn’t any more discussion as he started unlocking doors. One after another, he proved himself correct. They were just filled with supplies like food and medical items, paper and printer cartridges. After seeing about ten of them down two different hallways, I had to cry Uncle.
“Okay,” I said as he moved to the next door in the seemingly endless line. “I give. You’re right. Your lab is boring as hell. Don’t show me one more room of toner cartridges and cleaner fluid.”
He chuckled. “Well, then let me take you on the truncated tour, instead. Just the highlights, eh?”
I laughed as I followed him, this time ignoring