Gina - 1st

She had finally made it, the research institute. Here surely housed the researchers, the virus, the drug, whatever it was that caused all the madness, the freak deaths, the strange mutations that have been riddling the public for the last few years. Gina knew that this would be messy, and highly illegal, but it was her best bet to end all of it. No matter what the cost, she had to do this.

Sighing, she continued her track around the building, following the shadows (never knew when there would be armed guards to greet her). Finally, the ventilation ducts. Unscrewing the cover from its place, Gina slid inside, careful to pull the vent cover back into place. She needn't be attracting more attention. Satisfied that she had located the main duct, she dropped down into what seemed like an empty room and slipped into her gas mask. Pulling a container of compressed gas from her pocket, Gina chucked it as far down the vent as she could manage.

Keeping a mental inventory of the security cameras in use (thankful that she was mostly hidden by her life-saving mask), she waited several minutes for the gas to disperse, for the emergency sirens to sound in the building. Now it was time to move. Finding her way out, Gina was pleased to see several bodies line the corridor already. After checking their vitals, none of them were alive. She cased the building, shooting the stray survivors she found, ending their misery.

Before long, she came across a lab, surrounded entirely by glass with one small man sitting inside it in a corner. His hand was shaking over the emergency button (he had surely been the one to press it) and his eyes were fixated on a dead colleague, positioned just outside the glass. Intentionally making a noise, the man's gaze shot to her, fear evident in his eyes. He looked pathetic, weak, what with his long hair tied back behind him, thick, round glasses, and thin frame, his lab coat noticeably too large for him. Without much effort, she could probably break him over her knee...and that's just what she needed. Maybe she could use him, to stop this infernal noise in the least.

Gina slowly made her way towards man encased behind the glass, carefully so as not to make him start running in the other direction. Without him, she had no idea how to stop the alarm, which would cause who knew how many more people to come along and attempt to apprehend her. She had either one of two options in how she would act to get him to cooperate. She could either be the 'good cop' in this situation and persuade him to help her, or she could be the 'bad cop' and force him to. Considering how weak he looked, best not to insinuate any more fear into him. Ugh, I can't think with all of this commotion going on! she thought to herself, as she attempted to tune out the annoying alarm sound.

"Hey, you there!" she yelled out to the man, in an effort to gain his attention. "Will you turn that blasted thing off? It's giving me a headache!" she faltered at this attempt of a semi-normal conversation, she hoped that maybe if she got him to talk back it'd buy her enough time to figure out what to do next.

Allen strained to hear her against the alarm, but caught that that was exactly what she wanted. She wanted to alarm off. Walking up to the glass, he furrowed his brow and snapped, "Now why would I do that if you're just going to kill me? I'm sure I hate this place more than you do, but why should I let you go? Building's locked down. You can't get out, sweetheart. Not without me, you can't."

At the word sweetheart, Gina winced-she hated it when men used that word on her. Her feminist impulse was kicking in, and it didn't mix very well with the migraine she was getting, which all in all resulted in her becoming more and more pissed off. She yelled out in frustration, she needed to calm down and play her card right if she wanted to get this guy to cooperate. "Argh! Why are men always so frustratingly...useless?" she said mostly to herself. She walked closer towards the glass so that she didn't have to yell any louder than she needed to, "And what, pry tell, makes you think I won't just shoot you here and now? If I were you, I wouldn't feel too safe behind a stupid piece of glass there." She stated, then took out her gun and held up against the glass, abandoning her tactic to play it safe and calm. Obviously he had forgotten his fear from a moment ago, if he was going around called her 'sweetheart' along with trying to bend the odds in his favor.

Great, he thought, piss off the crazy girl with a gun because you're trying to not look scared shitless of her. Got too cocky after you'd realized it was just one little girl with a gun.

Holding his hands up though he really didn't have to, Allen returned, "Well for one, I wouldn't do that. This stuff is bulletproof, you'd be lucky if it didn't ricochet and hit you, for one. Two, the building is locked down. That means no one in or out. All thanks to that gas you poured down the vent. Federal agents will be here when the gas disperses...in depending on the volume you released, anywhere from two to twenty-four hours. The alarm should stop in.." Pausing, he looked at his watch. "Another two minutes. Bureaucracy, I tell you. By the thirty minute mark, they think everyone in the building is already dead...Don't want to pay for anything more, no more electricity. That also means that in two minutes, if I'm not out of this room, I'm not getting out until this place is stormed. So, if you want to get out of here in one piece with a helluva lot more information about this whole organization, I suggest you let me come out with you peaceably. I can take you out the back entrance, one they won't enter, once the feds switch the power back on to survey the situation."

Two minutes, huh? That doesn't give me very much time...Gina pondered. For a split second she thought of attempting to blow up the glass with one of her portable bombs she used to blow up doors when they turned out to be too heavy duty to kick in. But after her raid of the place, she only had a few left, which she would like to use to get out of here, rather than waste it on some kid. She still didn't trust what he was saying either, if he was in this kind if institution why should she believe him? And what good would it to him to give her information? Unless he was just willing to trade it so that she'd let him leave-but it didn't seem like he was altogether scared of her, and that little snippet was really starting to get on her nerves.
"What's your name?" she called out to him, figuring if he really did have information to offer, she might as well hear what he had to say, not to mention he could be useful in finding a way out of here. The place was like a maze, and she was just another experimental lab rat.

"Allen Cooper," he announced as he walked to the back of his lab and opened a cabinet, pulling a gas mask from the drawer. Walking back over, he stopped just before the door, which was locked by a keypad, and held the mask up. "You're wondering if you can trust me, aren't you? And what with this line of work, I don't blame you. I don't trust myself half the time, but here I am. I'm rather safe in here, I hope you realize. I could just stay and let them get you, but that benefits neither of us. I'd still be stuck here in this godforsaken lab, and you'd be lucky to be rotting away without a trial." Hoping that that sealed the deal, he asked, "And you are?"

Gina blushed behind the gas mask, and for once she was thankful that he couldn't see. She hated it that he read her so well, if anything, she really didn't want to become an open book for him to read. She sighed and hesitated before telling him. Allen Cooper, huh? she wondered if that was his real name, and if it was a wise idea to give him hers. She still didn't know him that well-but the way he talked about this place made her feel a bit more at ease, it seemed like he didn't really care for the place after all-so what was he doing here? "I'm-" did she dare give him her real name? How much smarter of her would it be to just simply use an alias? "Just call me Gina." she finally stated, unwilling to give up her last name along with any other information about herself.

"Just Gina, eh? Sounds like it could make a fantastic song," he grinned. Checking his watch, a minute left, he persisted, "By this, I'm assuming we have a deal? I walk out of here with this on and you don't shoot me. Or maim me...Or in any way make attempts at my life...In exchange for my getting us both out of here. Sound fair?"

She was a bit taken aback with his response, she felt her blood boiling as it rushed into her cheeks, deepening her blush. "Idiot," she muttered mostly to herself. For an idiot, however he was very punctual in what he was saying, if not just a bit paranoid sounding. "Tell you what. I won't end your life just yet-not here, anyways. But once we get out, you're going to tell me what you know, and then I'll decide whether or not to kill you, got it? In other words, don't think your going to get out of this deal and run away without telling me anything. Because I will find you. And. I. Will. Kill. You." she stated, with an edge in her voice. She was desperately trying to stay in control, it bothered her that he seemed to be the one making all the deals and all the plans.

Smiling, Allen slipped into his gas mask and tapped the code into the pad beside the door. Face now finally covered, he released a sigh, thankful that that bluff had worked. This glass was durable, but had she shot him? He would have been a goner. Which wouldn't be too bad, faster than the gas that had killed his colleagues, but still not all that good. He couldn't let this building go down without the truth getting out, killing him would be a waste, the last witness. Taking another deep, shuddering breath, he calmed himself down. This woman didn't seem bothered in the slightest that she had murdered about 30 people, several of which he'd considered friends. He'd heard the gunshots, he thought it was a siege, that they were being relocated, that their project was being terminated...That they'd finally come to kill him.

The door closed behind him, and he felt his safety fall in an instant. However, to his advantage, she was nervous, and he could keep at it. "Why wait until we get out? We'll be here a while. I hope you've a light on you because this place gets dark."

Already he was irritating her. "Ha!" she blurted out, "with this blasted noise still going off, and you want to talk? I already have a headache, I don't need you going and making it worse with whatever nonsense you plan on pulling." She reached around for her gun, and held it close to her-if the place was going to be dark, she at least wanted to have a chance with a weapon at her side. Having it close by made her calm down a bit, and she already felt safer with it in her hand. She tried to think about a source of light-she had her small explosives, but those wouldn't last long. She was hardly a smoker, the only few times she smoked a cigarette were when the other party offered her one whenever she had to have a serious conversation with anyone important. She tried rummaging through her pockets, but still found nothing.

The first set of lights went out. Leaving the place looking dim, and not leaving her with much time. "Argh! What makes you think I have any source of-" she stopped and sighed. How could I be so stupid. She chastised herself for it. She rolled back her sleeve to reveal her wrist. She had a thick black braclelet on, and in the middle was smooth surface, revealing the face of what looked like a watch. On the edges were various buttons. It wasn't much, but her watch would at least provide some light-she just hoped that it wouldn't be too noticeable.

The second set of lights went off, leaving them in complete darkness. This made her feel vulnerable and was very careful in listening for Allen's movements. A second later she had her watch turned on, the numbers were projected into the air, revealing the time as a holograph. Her watch wasn't just a watch of course, she could switch the screen to reveal anything really, such as the weather or some other kind of cheap, useless app. The only thing she really liked it for, besides the time was the timer on it. It came in handy whenever she was handling bombs.

"Well, now that that 'blasted noise' gone, I hope you'll find me more tolerable," he mumbled as the alarm silenced, pausing for a moment. "And I take offense to that! I don't pull 'nonsense'. Okay, it might seem a little mad at first, but I've a reason! And you're the crazy one, breaking in here and not bringing so much as a flashlight!"

As the lights completely shut off, Allen fumbled for a moment, trying to recall just where everything was. He knew there had to be something around here that could be a portable light-producer. Everything in his lab had been electrically attached, that much he knew for certain. This was going to be more than difficult. Once Gina managed to turn her watch on, Allen muttered, "Nice trick there." Pondering for a moment, an idea finally struck him. "I need you to trust me for a bit. We're going to walk to the cafeteria. I need you to stay close, alright?"

Gina rolled her eyes at his response. Who needs a flashlight when you're already going in blind? she thought to herself.

"Trust you?" She asked unbelievably, "Why should I? I don't need your help you know...Just-lead the way and I'll follow. There's no way I'm going to stand too close to you, who knows what you're going to pull."

"Fine, fine," he sighed. "Just keep your wrist up or something...and try and keep me from running into things. I don't see too well in this light. At all. Couldn't really 'pull' anything if I tried." Sure enough, as Allen walked he stumbled into various tables and tripped over a stray body, clamoring to the floor with a thud. Groaning, he sat up and tried to identify the man he tripped over. After staring for a few seconds, he confirmed it. Jim Caswell, his best friend here. Reaching over, he closed the man's open eyelids and muttered, "You know, we didn't choose to work here..."

Gina stifled her laughter when Allen tripped.

Her smile instantly disappeared as soon as he got all serious when it came to the stiff on the floor. An awkward silenced followed what he had to say, since she didn't really know what to say herself. She just thought of the guy on the floor as some other unimportant person that wasn't needed in this world, yet Allen seemed to see him as someone who actually served some sort of purpose in life. "Sorry..." she mumbled, even thought she wasn't entirely sure she meant it. She was the one to kill him, after all....

Allen gave his friend a pat on the chest and swallowed the lump in his throat, fighting back tears. It was finally starting to hit him. Absolutely everyone in his life since winding up here after graduate school was dead, and he was helping their killer. Her weak sorry meant nothing to him, and he didn't know what to feel anymore. "At least they're free..." he muttered. "From all this." Standing, Allen shifted towards the cafeteria, slightly envious of his friend. Why couldn't he be dead, too? Why did he have to be the one on shift, in that lab? Jim would have been stronger, would have been able to get out and defeat everyone they'd worked for.

Upon finally reaching his destination, he opened the cupboard on the far left and was pleased to find Larry's stash of Mountain Dew. Plucking two bottles of the stuff, he placed them on the counter. Shifting down a paces along the counter top, he grabbed two glasses and a spoon, placing them beside the soda. After opening the fridge, Allen felt around for some baking soda and dipped under the sink for some hydrogen peroxide. Perfect.

After pouring out about 3/4 of the soda in each bottle, he added a smidge of baking soda and three caps of hydrogen peroxide to each. Capping the bottles, he shook them, and within seconds, they both produced a bright glow. "Here, one for you," Allen said, offering one of the bottles to her. "We should probably go find the security camera hub and...take care of that. No one needs to know that you're here and that I'm actually alive."

Gina took the bottle and nodded. For once she was glad that he was starting to actually become useful to her. "How'd you know how to do that?" she asked, referring to the glow sticks in a bottle. She was never really good at science. She was more suited to the mechanics of things, such as how a bomb worked, or how to take apart a gun and then put it back together.

Allen laughed at her simplistic question. Not how does this work? No, how'd you know how to do that? "I may not look competent, but I do have my doctorate in Chemistry...And I'm not too shabby with a few other areas. This is just...Me trying to figure out what I could easily find and mix?" Shrugging, he scratched the back of his neck nervously. Just what was it he was getting himself into now? "Now the security hub is locked by those doors with the passcodes. Even if the power were on, I couldn't get us inside..."

Gina smiled now that he was done showing her up. It was her time to shine now. "Well, luckily for you-I'm not too shabby when it comes blowing up doors." She said, but she was a bit too over confident. "Just keep a lookout for me, will you?" she took out on her miniature explosives and started towards the doors.

Allen's eyes widened at the prospect, and he immediately rushed her from behind, grabbing her shoulders to gain her attention. "No! You can't do that! You'll blow us both up! You GASSED this place, remember?!" he shouted.

"So what?" she snapped, then attempted to shake him off. Gas plus explosives-she still didn't really get it, science was always dull to her, even the mundane things. "It'll open the door won't it? It's not like I can simply kick the door in!"

Allen fell off without much of a struggle, and scrambled back to his feet, springing in front of the door, defending it like an activist would a tree. "It'll open the door, sure, but you can't! Gas explosions. You set that off, the air will burn and explode around us and we will die!" he warned, eyes growing wider. She couldn't possible be crazy enough to blow them both up.

Gina put her hands on her hips, and sighed. "Got any better ideas?" she challenged, "What with the power off, I can't very well hack into the place, now can I? So unless this place has a back up generator-and you'd better tell me if it does-this is the only best option I can come up with! I mean-do you know how to take this door apart? It's freakin' bolted shut!" She kicked the door in an attempt to prove her point, and also to let out some frustration that was starting to build up.

Slumping against the door, Allen slid down it a moment, slightly terrified of the girl in front of him. A backup generator, of course there was always a back-up generator. They had to preserve the experiments, even if all the employees died. "I don't know...And we...well, we do, we have a backup...It's for preserving the experiments...in the fridges and freezers and things, but it's behind another one of these," he sighed. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything, what if he'd just made her madder? Shrinking down further, he squeaked, "We could...you know, just wait here until the gas dissipates?"