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Salared at hi," Skyler said to her

They continued down the hallway and came to an alcove On one side they found an elevator, useless without power, but beside it an open door gave way to a dark stairwell

Takai approached another sign next to the elevator, covered by filthy glass He wiped a gloved hand across it to reveal a basicis basement three," he said "This is floor one"

Skyler nodded "There, see? Glad you’re here, Takai"

"Yes, delighted," Sao?" Skyler asked

The woman objected "We should clear this floor first"

"It’s fine, there’s nothing here"

"Clear this floor," she said, "then down"

Skyler stifled the urge to pull rank He nodded, instead

The next door proved unlocked, giving way to a conference roo oval table Mold grew everywhere Skyler covered his nose at the stench Chairs in various states of decay littered the floor

"That screen looks intact," Saefroed "Probably dead"

"Components are very useful," Takai said

"And very heavy We’ll grab it on the way out First priority is the goods on the list"

They moved back into the hallway Behind the last door they found a lobby and seared toward children Most were electronic Skyler remembered the list Prue canvas bag he kept folded in his pack Takai helped him shovel ultracapacitors of all sizes fro those ruined by exposure and time Skyler then found pairs of tay radios e, and bagged thelass case protecting high-end gaht be salvageable Skyler agreed, kicked in the glass, and grabbed the boxes

He glanced across the rest of the lobby, looking for anything else of value A receptionist’s desk appeared to be the only furniture not ruined from exposure The surface of it looked barren, save for a postal container covered in dust, packages still inside "Good enough, let’s move on"

They headed back for the stairs Takai left the bag of toys in the hallway Skyler felt hi, his confidence bolstered by the quiet as much as by Sam’s tactical attitude

The stairway led both up and down, pitch black in both directions On the landing one level up, Skyler’s flashlight ca dead Only fur and bone reo," Samantha said She kept the lead as they descended, boots thudding loudly on the hout the stairwell The sound caused Saer on their side

Jake’s voice suddenly came into Skyler’s ear, barely a whisper "Moverabbed Saht He tapped his earpiece "Subs?"

A tense ative If you can believe it, there’s a deer approaching the building"

Skyler let out his breath

"I can drop it if you want Scrawny little bugger, but there ht be some meat on it," Jake said

Skyler felt his sto away For now let’s keep things quiet out there"

"Copy that," said Jake

"What’s going on?" Sa"

She cohts of stairs they came across another locked door On Skyler’s silent order, Sanored it and continued down

Basement level three proved to be the bottommost floor Sae, so Skyler signaled for her to force it

One kick froainst the ith a loud thud The sound of it reverberated through the entire complex

Somewhere above, Skyler heard movement

Samantha dropped to a crouch and froze in place She turned her flashlight on the stairs above Skyler followed suit

He saw nothing, yet the sound, like s across sheet e rodent

"I think it’s in the crawl space between floors," Sa He crouched there, straining his ears until the sound receded

"This place is creepy as hell," Saet this over with"

She glanced into the space beyond the door and swung her shotgun and flashlight across it Skyler watched from over her shoulder

It appeared to be a vast library, about twenty reeted the

Skyler feared the shelves of ed beyond usefulness, until he noticed the cracks did not have the typical brown splotches that indicated long exposure Recent, then

Sam pushed inside, and Skyler followed

The rows of shelves extended all the way to the far wall, where they could see a single door, closed Skyler whispered to Samantha, "Sweep this first, then clear that back room, before we turn Takai loose"

"No shit"

He let the coineer’s eyes ide, his face sheet-white He ed a nod "I’ll follow"

Sa Most were stocked with a e data cube holders All appeared to be labeled and organized, a good sign assu Takai could be able to decipher the scheme used For now, he set his concerns aside and continued toward the back of the room, where Samantha waited by a door

He took up a position on the wall to the right of the entrance, a mirror of Sam’s stance on the left He nodded She turned the handle and pushed it open