CHAPTER II: In the Science Complex

Sarah and Grace, together with the Scientist, roam and explore the vast science complex. It was full of laboratory apparatuses that are not sure if they are still working or not. Curtains and chairs were both covered in thick dust. The room was dirty, but it had electric power. It must have been solar power. It is unlikely that the humanoids did not find the place useful for them. They are in the middle of the room, and up above is an open view of the clear sky.

Grace looked up and wondered, "what is happening above us? Is there someone that got there already?" Sarah just tucked her shirt into her skinny jeans and shuddered, "if there is no one there, we have to be the first. We need to find a cure. Finding it means saving more, and if others become healthy and strong, then perhaps we could end this slavery."

They both looked into their team, their tired faces yet still full of hope despite the humanoids taking control of everything. Here they are, alive and thinking of a way to escape this madness. Sarah looked up again into the sky "it is going to be hard to steal a spaceship. Humanoids are not dumb. They are strong and unlucky and clever. We need to prepare in any way" Knowing that they don't have all the time, they decided to form two groups, Grace and the others would look for ways to make a cure, and Sarah, along with the rest, would find the spaceship.

Grace and her team explored the area. All of the rooms look the same. But one caught their attention—the empty space.

It doesn't have anything inside. Nothing. They decided to camp here and stored every ingredient they could find- anything that would be useful.

Grace is laying the basket full of empty vials on a push card. "Guys, anything is better than nothing. We have to be resourceful. We also have to be safe, at least until Sarah comes back. We can't let her and the others worry."

Dr. Scientist is blue suggesting, "At least we have to be in pairs. Nobody is allowed to roam alone. I also found a talkie walkie upstairs. It does not work. But we could make a battery."

"We need to find two different types of metal, some copper wires, and a conductive material. And then we'll try it if it works." Said the most in-style Scientist inside the room.  Not only does she look gorgeous in her scarf, but her heels make the rest think if a virus and slavery are going in around them because she looks like there is nothing wrong going on around.

Grace "That is good but let us not use it yet. It is better to be safe. We'll only use it during an emergency. Humanoids who have those might hear us too".

Some of them went and washed the vials. Some draped it clean while some had put some materials inside it—all of the materials that would be useful were stored in the empty room. They got so busy. Luckily they found some frozen noodles in one of the offices. It was inside the fridge. It was not enough for them, so they just shared it. They were thinking not to eat it yet, but they had no choice but to eat since they were tired and starving.

While they are together, they exchange comments on what they think about the place and make a list of what they got so far. They got nothing special, just useful tools and kinds of stuff, better than nothing. They were walking into the room when suddenly they noticed something on the floor. It feels empty. Which means there could be another room beneath them.

The Pursuit

Sarah went ahead with all her companions. They thought that they could not find a spaceship in the science complex. So they all decided to look into the nearby places. Save survivors they might find in the way that is not yet getting captured by the humanoids.

They prepared themselves with weapons, guns, loads, and at least a few grenades they got when they escaped. Getting too far is dangerous. They will look near the complex. It is the safest place they have now.

Time is ticking, and they still have no luck finding a spaceship. While on a break, Sarah decided to go to the nearby river and fetch some water. The water was cold, and her clothes were not getting any cleaner. So she decided to go back to the group and encourage them to clean themselves for just 5 minutes. They took a bath and hung some of their clothes in the shrubs.

"Where are we going to look for next?"

"We tried to look anywhere, but there was no luck. Maybe we have to go farther."

"No. We can't risk it. We have no plan yet?"

"If we got caught now, who knows? There won't be any chance left for us?"

Sarah was listening to her companions as she thought about where they could be hiding other spaceships. If they cannot steal one from a humanoid, they may find a place where they hide one—a spare spaceship.

Back when they were spaceship workers, two things they know for sure about the spaceship. First, humanoids can drive them. Two, they keep them because somehow being in the air makes them dizzy, which puts them at a disadvantage. They can chase but not that fast.

People do not get that weak in the air. Where could we possibly get one? She keeps on thinking that there is no spaceship on the science complex, and there is nothing even here near the river.

Caves do not have them either, and if they went farther, their mission might just come to an end. And nobody wants that to happen.

"Sarah, clothes are all dry now. Good thing the sun is shining."

"Come now, we have just one area to look for, and after that, we'll come back with the rest."

"Let us just pray we will find something there. I don't want the others to get sad."

The team was walking to their final destination. Sadly for them, they were not able to encounter any survivors, as many were dead. Either they died overworked from being a slave, or they died because of the disease. Both are unfortunate events.

The place was full of trees. Sadly, other humans who ceased to live cannot see and praise this beauty of nature anymore. They looked deeper into the place. They do not forget to look back and check whether the science complex is still in sight.

There is not anything. The ground does not have any openings. And if there is an opening, it is just a sewer. From which there are no rats crawling anymore.

"Maybe humanoids killed the rats too."

"Or maybe they died of hunger without our leftovers that feed them."

"Look, I think this extends from the Science Complex? We have not checked its basement. Maybe Grace and the others had to check it by now."

They got into the end, where it looks like it is way to the science museum. But the door won't open.

Sarah "It looks like we can only open this door from the inside. I think it is much better if we check it from there. Besides, the air here is getting damp, and it's hot as well."

As they were to climb back up, Sarah noticed something in her peripheral vision. The thing sits there on the corner, though it is placed in a blindspot angle that you would not notice at all. But she was an ex-spaceship worker, so she knows it- every angle of it. A spaceship battery. Right at the very corner.

She was stunned at what she was seeing. "Are you guys seeing what I am seeing?" They all look from where she is looking. "Is that a box?" They all went near it. And disappointment was seen on their faces.

Sarah exclaimed. "Are you guys not happy? We found a spaceship battery, a spaceship although super high-tech would not function without it!"

"Yes, Sarah, you are right. But where is the spaceship?"

"Have you forgotten? The spaceship will only fly if there are two of that battery? Where is its pair? "

"We walk so far, and what we only got is a pair of batteries? You think the others would be happy?"

They climb up, and one Scientist lends a hand to Sarah to carry the battery. They brought it as they were walking back to the science center.

Meanwhile, Grace and the others could not find a way to enter the empty room below them. They search for secret doors in the other rooms, but they cannot find one to their luck.

As they all rested back in the room, the Scientist in heels notices a space on the floor. Her heels fit the gap. She crouches to the floor and finds a tiny hole that forms a square. "Guys, I might have found the way down."

"We can't open it. What if there is a humanoid inside?"

"We have to. It may have what we need to make a cure." Said Grace.

They opened it, and one went inside to check with a flashlight in hand. The space was dark, but it was spacious. He hurried back upstairs and told the group his observation.

Sarah and the Scientist that was with her holding the battery got behind the group. The others looked like they arrived at the science complex. They did not mind the distance between as they were just going to the same destination.

Sarah is feeling restless. Somehow she has this feeling that someone is looking at her. Someone is watching from afar. But every time, she would look behind them. There is not anyone. She thought the situation made her paranoid.

They rested and stopped for a while. They looked behind, and they saw a humanoid in their midst. It was about to say something, but they hurried ahead and ran as fast as they could.

The Humanoid is not running for them. But they are still clearly being followed because it is walking in their direction.

They got inside the science complex. It does not take them too long to see the others and go in their direction. Sarah did not think that she was putting the others in danger. And it was too late now.

"Why do you look so pale?" Said the other one that was with her group earlier.

Sarah and the Scientist were panting as they kept on looking at their backs.

"Someone . . . "

"Humanoid .. . "

Grace was so confused. "What?"

And then they realized, "A humanoid followed you?"

Their eyes went big, and their mouths opened.

Suddenly there's a glass that broke not far from where they are. They all panicked.

Dr. Scientist in blue suggested, "I think we should all hide below."

They did not have enough time to argue so they did what he suggested.

The place was still dark, and if there was some switch, they still could not find them. They did not yet have time to explore the area.

"What if there's a humanoid here?"

"shhh, stop speaking. They might hear us."

After some time, maybe hours, they thought they lost the humanoids. That perhaps it looked somewhere else. So they relaxed a little.

"We should now get upstairs," said Sarah

"No, it is still too soon for that, and how could you let yourself get followed?"

"I don't know where it came from. It just popped out from nowhere. But one thing does not leave my mind. Why did the humanoids not shoot us? "

"And why did you not shoot it?"

"I don't know, Grace. It just looks different. Like not at all harmful."

"Not at all harmful? Are you crazy?! They are the reason why we are in this situation, or are you forgetting that?"

While Grace and Sarah are talking, the others try to open the latch.

"Guys, we could not open it."

"What?"

"Maybe it could only be open from the outside?"

They kept on opening and bumping the door. But it won't budge.

"Stop bumping it. The Humanoid might hear it, and it will expose our location." Grace was pissed. 

"Wait a minute. Earlier, we found a door in the sewer that may be connected to this room, but somehow the door can not be opened from the outside. Are you saying we are in the same situation as before? Only now we are locked in here?."  Sarah was now near shouting.

"What do you mean sewer? And what is it that you have with you? Is that what I think it is?" Grace is eyeing the battery.

"Yes, Grace, it is a spaceship battery. Now what we are missing is the other battery and a spaceship, which brings us to the possibility that it is near. We just have to double-check the places we've been to, and maybe we will find it. We need to go outside," Sarah said while clutching her fist.

"Okay, but if we can't go up, perhaps we could find the door you found in the sewer and get outside from there."

They Got Caught

They all agreed and walked more profound into the room, holding their dim flashlights.

As they are walking, Sarah feels like someone is watching again. And she was right as she looked back a Humanoid was at their back. Grace instantly let a bullet out of her gun, and suddenly the others went shouting and looked for cover. Sarah let a shot out of her rifle too, but the Humanoid would not attack. It would shield itself from the bullets while still advancing.

"Guys, I see the door!!"

"Hurry and open it. We'll hold it until we lock the door using whatever we may find there when we get outside. Go. Go"

They all hurried to the door while carrying their belongings and the other materials they found. While Sarah and Grace face the humanoids, walking backward, making sure they won't slip their defense if it attacks them.

The Scientist opened the door. And alas, Another Humanoid greeted them. It was waiting for them, outside the door.

Not only one but two humanoids are now in their midst. Both of them are getting near them, pinning them. They are all scared that they thought there is no more hope left for them. They have guns in their hands, but somehow their hands would not move anymore.

They were stunned.

The Humanoid looked like it would attack as it leaned its hands in the air and into the wall.  The whole place lit up. And behind them, a spaceship that is missing another battery.