“Good. I’m going to need you to upload the facility’s blueprint to our HUDs.”

“One moment, sir.”

Seconds later a rectangular box popped up in the corner of their displays, followed by two tiny red dots representing their location.

“Where’s Secundo Casu?” Sophie asked.

“I am sorry, Dr. Winston, but unfortunately the blueprints to which I have access are outdated. White Sands is the largest decommissioned military installation in the United States, and—”

“Cut to the chase, Alexia,” Overton growled. “If you had to take a guess, where do you think NTC would have housed our Noah’s Ark?”

Another red dot appeared on their HUDs. Underneath it was a single number representing the distance to the potential location.

“That’s five miles away from here, Sophie!”

“What? You expected the bus to take you right to the front door? This isn’t elementary school, this is the big leagues now,” Sophie chuckled.

“That’s cute, really it is, but look around. The Organics beat us here! NTC beat us here! And that means Secundo Casu could be fucked!”

“We need to take a step back and focus on what we know. One, the RVM will protect us as long as the Organics don’t see us moving. Two, we have already made it over seven hundred miles. The hard part is over.”

Overton tossed Sophie one of the pulse rifles he had picked up. “Take this; you’re going to need it.”

She caught it gracefully and threw the strap around her back. With one more glance at the empty armor, she began the ascent up the staircase.

The connecting floor was pitch black. There were no red emergency lights here, just the darkness. The green glow of her night vision was beginning to make her dizzy. And with nothing to look at besides a jungle of wire and piping along the walls and ceiling, she was beginning to feel claustrophobic, too.

Sophie halted to take a deep breath. She was fatigued, hungry, and most of all, thirsty. It was possible her mind was beginning to play tricks on her.

“I’m taking five,” she said in a hushed voice.

Overton nodded and turned on his head lamps before unclipping his helmet. A pair of double lights illuminated the tunnel. He set the helmet down and reached for the small pack on his back to retrieve one of his canteens and an energy bar. It only took a minute for him to devour the chocolate and polish off half of the water.

“You better conserve that. We need to save some for the return trip,” Sophie said, chewing her way through a piece of beef jerky.

He scowled in the darkness. His face was hardly recognizable in the faint light, but Sophie caught the look. She held her tongue and decided to ignore her own advice. She finished off the jerky, washing it down with a few long gulps of the precious liquid.