I Took a Walk Final Episode Back to the Lab

Earning this bonus could cost Jimmy his life

Had it been his mistake? Or theirs? They would blame him, of course, but Jimmy wished he knew for sure and if his, how much had he been off?

He watched them use an unfamiliar device that lit up when they held it in a certain position to make two marks on the floor, then paint a line between them and then paint an X on the wall. Lastly, they painted 77’ next to it.

There was no yellow tape on the next basement but there were two men and the painted line.

Was it a different house than the one they planned?

The house after that had the yellow tape. He missed that yellow tape by less than a foot. His margin of error was one to five feet was what he did over the next twenty houses.

Major Pine stood in the basement of that twentieth house with a large monitor set up.

The lab basement is large enough to be in your margin of error. We didn’t point you at the machine, but the center of the basement to ensure you arrived. I’ll see you there.

Looking at Pine’s grim face, he suddenly understood that the man planned to arrest him the moment he could. Had they already arrested Griever and Eastland?

With that on his mind, he walked into the wall.

A worse worry occurred to him five steps in. Either Griever or Eastland could damage the machine, so it looked to be broken, and he wouldn’t be able to get back.

Both had to know he would throw them under the bus to save himself. It would be far better for each if he could not get back.

He needed to tell Pine everything before he entered that machine, in case he didn’t survive.

Damn them all!

They would be just the type to kill him, just as he thought he made it.

He began planning out just how he would make Pine understand he needed to talk to him  before going into the machine. Pine should get the hint if he went to a wall and began tracing out letters.

He needed to make sure they went to prison for murder, even if he had to lie to do so.

Stepping out of the wall into the basement, a red warning light was on. Eight minutes of power left. Nor did he recognize the area or equipment, but a door was across from him.

He rushed through it, once again, his breathing echoing in his helmet. Soldiers stood in the hall, and he recognized the door to Eastland’s lab standing open. He hurried in that direction. That alarm changed everything. He could never convey what he needed to in the time left.

Pine stood next to Eastland inside the lab. Everyone else in there had on MP armbands.

Trembling with fear, he walked through the side of the chamber. If they were going to kill him, there was little he could do now.

The moment he stood on the spot, a buzzing began, and the floor was no longer slippery. The speaker in his helmet came active and he could hear Griever. Unlike the last time, that buzzing didn’t end at once.

“Jimmy, I only have a minute. The military doesn’t know about you heading for Elmeron or me being here. As far as they know, you were only to go fifty yards out and turn around and head back. I have a dummy company in Morocco that owns a thirty-million-dollar yacht docked in Italy and a two-million-dollar home in France. That company is yours if you keep to that story.”

The buzzing ended, and the door opened.

If you like this consider reading my on going serial Donald of Mars.