Free LOCKED by Luis DaSilva Page B

head that I had just
received after being discovered as the “culprit”.
    “Ooh, sorry!” she winced.
After a few awkward moments of silence, Danni looked right into my eyes.
    "...yes, I do still
trust these guys." she grinned with the utmost sense of
smugness. I couldn’t help but tense up, but at the same time, new memories were
being made. The facility was up and running at one-hundred percent efficiency
again by the time the next morning came. For some reason or another, Danni and
I were never allowed in that assembly zone of the facility again.
     

     
    "UPUPUP! Gettup ! Gettup !" Eddy
could've been ringing a massive bell in my face for all I knew, because his
booming voice drowned out anything else. My eyes shot open, but I should have
been more used to the schedule after about a month of living in the facility.
    Eddy chuckled. I noticed
that the room was a little bit more brightly lit than before, but not by much.
It was still the rusty sort of light filtered through the dust. I groggily
swung my legs over the side of the cot, and lazily dragged my feet wherever
Eddy was leading me today. He pointed to several doors along the hallway.
    "Wash up and shower n'
stuff in here right now, get new clothes over there, get a hot meal in here,
and at the end of the hallway's the door where you'll meet up with me and
Danni. Today’s a little different." he directed. I nodded, and proceeded
to get my new day started.
    I took my shower and changed
into a new pair of jeans, a new shirt, and a light jacket. Next, I got my
"hot" meal (this oatmeal might have been hot five hours ago...). I
forced the heavy steel door open, and was in a lobby of sorts. A sigh-worthy,
wide open space with cafeteria tables in a few places and light sneaking,
filtering in from the ceiling, similar to that in Tank's room. It was so
reminiscent of the old, normal days. Danni and Eddy were sitting at one of the
tables and motioned me over. I sat down beside Danni, noticing that she had
changed into an aquamarine blouse and ripped jeans. Eddy was on the other side
of the table, wearing essentially the same outfit as every day before.
    "Ok! So... this being
your first REAL job at U.S.P.L., I just have to tell you how things go. I'll be
the one assigning you jobs, kinda like how I have
been so far. I'm basically your supervisor.” The new procedure seemed so formal
after a month of having cleaning duty…I guess Danni and I proved we were ready
for a promotion.
    "Ok, so... your first
task..." Eddy rubbed his temples and pulled out some documents before
continuing.
    "Um, let’s see…Ooh,
you're lucky! Tank is gonna join you on your trip.
First thing you've gotta know is that we have a
network. We send them money and supplies so they give us info and other stuff.
Sending ' em messages electronically is too dangerous,
so you've gotta send this to this address; it's on
the other side of what WAS the city. You’ll find your way." Eddy handed me
two different papers in both hands. One had a rough scribbling of an address,
and the other had what looked like a doctor's note:
    Need some antibacterial runnin low
pass Millerout
    That was all that was
scrawled on the paper. I looked up at Eddy questionably, but he didn’t seem
concerned.
    "And why do we need
Tank?" Danni inquired. She must have seen him and his startling
destruction already.
    "You're headin ' through the ruins of the city. You might find some
nasty guerillas, ya never know." Eddy explained.
He seemed to be done briefing us as he stood up and neatly filed the documents
(which seemed unlike him).
    "Ok, I got Tank ready
for you while you two were sleepin '. The way out is
over here." Eddy pointed to a large metal door, not unlike a massive
garage. It was already starting to open. Tank's back was to us, and we could
get a good glimpse at a few more details of his iron body, such as a large pack
that may have been used as a battery, and jets on his "ankles" which
may have been used to help him jump