Arielle replied unswervingly, “I’m not messing with you. I do know some programming, so maybe I can be of help. Trust me.” Vinson looked deeply into her bright eyes. They were crystal clear and yet icy-cold. Seeing there was no way to stop her, he obliged. “Okay, you can come with me.” They exchanged glances and then ran up to the first floor against the crowd. The elevator was out of order during emergency.
Both of them carefully avoided the gasoline on the floor until they reached the first floor. Although they had been very cautious, their feet were still injured to a certain extent. Ignoring his own wounds, Vinson noticed Arielle’s burnt ankle first. He stopped. “Your feet…” “Don’t bother, get the door to open first.” Arielle did not care about her injuries and continued rushing to the security room. Having left with no other option, Vinson followed suit. Soon, they arrived at the security door. Unfortunately, it was locked and bolted! “Take a step back,” Vinson commanded and did the same himself.
Then, he dashed to the door and landed a powerful kick on it. The door shook, but remained tightly shut. Right then, plumes of smoke filled the entire building, causing them to have breathing difficulty. Arielle started coughing. Suddenly, she recalled seeing a fire emergency kit at the corner of the stairwell. Her eyes lit up. “There’s an ax over there. Let me grab it!” She made a dart for the kit and found the ax. Without further ado, she broke the glass covering the kit and retrieved the ax. While reaching for the ax, she accidentally cut the back of her hand and blood gushed out of her wound.
“Darn it!” cursed Arielle. She hastily wiped the blood on her blouse and hurried back to Vinson. “The ax… is here…” She panted. The dense smoke rampaging in the air triggered her to cough severely. As it grew thicker, Arielle could feel the scalding heat engulfing her surroundings. Judging from the dreadful situation, it would not be long until they inhale too much smoke, suffocate, and die… Anxious, Vinson took the ax from her and asked,
“Are you okay? Why don’t you go down and wait for me?” Arielle insisted, “No need. Hurry up and open the door.” He clenched his jaw as he removed his gaze from her reluctantly and slammed the ax on the lock. He hit it once, twice… Finally, on the fifth time, it broke. Both of them sprinted into the security room and saw ten computers before them. They followed the labels in front of each computer to locate the one which controlled the main entrance.
Hovering over the keyboard, Vinson typed at lightning speed. Arielle could only catch the shadows of his finger movements for he was super-duper fast. In a flash, Vinson identified the problem. Pointing at a folder appearing on the screen, he announced, “This is where the hacker inserted a disruptive programming code and locked the door.”
“Can it be deleted?” Vinson shook his head. “I’ve tried, but to no avail. I’m not an expert in this area. Let me call Carter and consult him.” “Okay.” Arielle nodded and waited for Vinson to make the call. However, he realized that the phone line was not working because the signal in the building had been blocked.
