The Biker Brothers went their separate ways - Jamie and Tonton to the old abandoned building that would be renovated to become the new Dr. Alvarado Medical Suites, while Kiko and Bogart to their school where the outbreak isolation camp was found."Are you really sure about this?" Jamie asked his friend as they were riding their bikes. It had been minutes since they separated and the rooftop of the abandoned building loomed from a distance.
"Yes," Tonton answered. "It is hard to explain but something in my guts told me to go there now."
"Has the construction started? I did not hear it from the news."
"I also don"t know. It"s crazy these days that we were not able to go in this part of the village."
"I hope it remains abandoned so we can sneak around."
Finally, they arrived at their destination but to their disappointment, several construction workers were already doing various jobs in the site. The two parked their bikes behind the bushes under a tree, several meters away from the building.
"They won"t see us from here, right?" Tonton asked.
"I think so. Once we escape later, I don"t think they will easily catch up with us."
"Well, we should not get caught."
Jamie grinned. Indeed, getting caught would be very troublesome. Slowly, they went near the building. It appeared the renovation job had just started. Most of the workers were on the first floor; only three men were on the upper floor. Except for three rooms, all doors in the lower floor were closed.
"We should go at the back," Jamie suggested. "Hopefully, there are no people there."
Tonton nodded. Along the way, they hid through bushes, heaps of building debris, and several construction equipment until they stealthily reached the back of the building. Fortunately, there were no people or activities at the area. The two sighed in relief.
They entered through a broken door, its hinge at the top was the only thing that held it on the jamb. It created an eerie creak when they opened it. Once inside, cobwebs and creepy crawlied waited the two friends. Thankfully, it was daytime that the building"s interior was not as creepy as it was supposed to be.
"What are we exactly looking for here?" Jamie asked.
"I honestly don"t know," Tonton replied.
They looked at each other in silence and then suddenly laughed. Having no exact plan was the ultimate adventure.
"What are your instincts telling you now?"
"Nothing for now."
They laughed once again, so hard that Jamie leaned his hands heavily on a beam. His action rocked the ceiling joists that dusts, sands, and crawlies fell on them. Alarmed, they stared at each other and to their surprise, they were covered in so much dirt that they looked like Halloween ghosts. They laughed out even louder and rolled in the ground.
"We are going crazy," Jamie said.
"Yeah, I think we are," Tonton said. "We have gone nuts. Like in my dream, I felt like I was in a mental hospital. They strapped me in bed while Dr. Alvarado is doing some experiment."
"That must have felt so traumatic."
"Yes, it was. I don"t want to have that dream again."
They walked farther inside the building. They were too careful in their treads so as not to create noise. Most of the men were just few meters away from them with only one wall separating them. When they reached the end of the building, Jamie noticed narrow concrete stairs leading downwards. It was not obvious because of the piles of wooden debris on top of them.
"Tonton, see this one."
His friend hurried to him and looked at what he was pointing. Tonton stepped back and feeling a chilly wind pa.s.sed by him, he hugged himself. He shuddered once and looked hard at his friend.
"There is something down there, " Tonton said.
Tonton went to the stairs and pushed aside a wide sheet of plywood, revealing a wide gap that led downstairs. There were cobwebs spanning the gap and it was dark inside.
"Are we going down there?" Jamie asked.
"Yes," Tonton answered. "Some force is pulling me to go downstairs."
"It looks scary."
"But it"s just fine. We have to go down."
Jamie swallowed a lump in his throat and reluctantly followed Tonton. They bowed low and entered the gap. They continued descending until they reached the last flight. It was darker inside since the only illumination was coming from the small overhead windows.
Clearly, they were in the bas.e.m.e.nt area. They could see the line of the ground on many windows. Gra.s.ses and rocks had covered some window panes. When their eyes entirely adjusted to the dimness, only then they realized that the bas.e.m.e.nt area was so huge. It seemed that only one room occupied the entire place. It was so s.p.a.cious that they could not see the end of the walls.
"What is this secret place?" Jamie wondered. "It is very big."
"It"s really large," Tonton agreed.
They looked around them but Tonton suddenly froze when he noticed a narrow bed near a wall. It had a small mattress covered with unwashed linen sheets.
Suddenly, Tonton closed his ears with his hands and squatted on the ground. He was terrified as his dream momentarily flashed inside his head. He was reminded that he had been used as laboratory mouse by Dr. Alvarado and his men.
Jamie quickly went to him and helped him up. He could fell Tonton"s tremors as he touched him. He let his friend breathed some air and once he relaxed, Jamie sensed the fear and panic in Tonton.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I was suddenly reminded of my dream, and I realized that this place was where I was being experimented by Dr. Alvarado."
"And if Bogart"s theory was right, then you are not actually the specimen. You were just made to experience what had happened to it."
"Or what will happen. Your visions spoke of what lies ahead."
"Does it mean that Dr. Alvarado is doing something to the aliens?"
"Possibly, they could be doing some tests to them."
"What a clever person! Where do you think he could be doing the experiments."
"Here. Maybe this place will be turned into a secret experimental laboratory."
"If that is the case, then he has not yet found the first alien."
Tonton nooded. Now, they were closer to the truth. They would be racing against Dr. Alvarado to find the alien.
Their reverie was suddenly disturbed by some footsteps coming from the stairs. Immediately, Jamie and Tonton ran and hid themselves behind a big old cabinet. They should not be caught now.....