Maddie lifted her laser pistol. "Don't move," she said, getting out the first words.
The guard, a skinny guy with a buzz-cut, made a move anyway. Maddie figured he was going for his nightstick, in which case, she had the more powerful weapon.
But before she knew it, he'd drawn his magnetic gun and sent a blast at her. Immediately, her hands swung together, hard. She fumbled the gun and the tear gas grenades to the floor. With wide eyes, she looked at the guard, trying to anticipate his next move.
He wasn't looking at her, but past her.
Joseph.
The hallways were very dark, and the guard wasn't able to see Joseph very well. Maddie couldn't even see him that well. He'd moved into the shadows. Maddie looked around the floor. And he'd taken the tear gas.
"I have a bomb," came a high whisper.
It was Joseph.
Oh my gosh, Maddie thought,he's giving away his position.
"I will shoot," said the guard. Firm as ever.
"I have a bomb."
"Come out where I can see you?"
"Do as he says, Joseph," Maddie said.
"I'm going to blow us all up if you don't listen," came Joseph's voice. "Put the gun on the ground and step away."
Maddie looked at the guard. To her surprise, the guard was actually listening. He was lowering his gun to the ground.
"Now, turn around," said Joseph. "Faster! Or I'll blow us all up!"
The man turned.
"Maddie, tie him up."
Maddie picked up her laser pistol with both hands, since her wrists were practically glued together. "Take off your belt."
The man did as he was told. And just as before, she used the belt to tie his hands behind his back. Joseph helped her since her hands were bound. In a few minutes, the magnetic pulse would thin and her hands would be free.
"Now start walking down this hall," said Maddie.
She kept an eye on the guard and whispered to Joseph. "Good job bluffing about the bombs."
Joseph lifted one of the two tear gas grenades. "I thought thesewere bombs."
Maddie stifled a laugh. "No, silly, they're tear gas."
"Oh."
"You really thought they were bombs?"
"Yeah."
"You were gonna blow us up?"
"No. I didn't want to hurt Fred."
Maddie smiled. All the while, keeping her eyes on the guard.
"Who's Fred?"
"One of the dogs I saw in the forest."
"Oh, you saw dogs in the forest?"
"Yeah, but Fred was the best one."
Maddie smiled again. "So, you didn't blow us up to save Fred, huh? What about me?"
"And you too."
"Okay, good."
Maddie's wrists seemed less tight. There was a small invisible gap between them now. She tried pulling them apart, but it was no use.
"You'll never be able to escape," said the guard.
"Shut up," said Maddie.
Dejavu.
Two more long minutes of navigating dark halls and they came to the storage door. Maddie had Joseph hold the ream of keys toward her. She told him which color key--the light golden one--would most likely fit the lock. She was right, and Joseph opened the door.
Maddie nudged the guard inside.
Joseph closed the door and switched on the light.
The light made Maddie a little dizzy. She felt a slight pain on the side of her head. Then her eyes adjusted. Prodding the guard with her gun, she took him to the back corner of the reasonably sized room and redid his bindings, tying him to a storage rack. The storage rack towered over their heads and was bolted into the floor. She was sure he wouldn't escape.
Then she began searching the storage rack. Clothing, clothing, clothing galore. She found a decent long-sleeved shirt and tied it around the guard's mouth. Presto! He was now mute. And would be until the morning.
Now, if Maddie was going to pose as a prison inspector working for the government, she needed to dress like one. The lady she'd seen was wearing a suit--dress skirt and jacket, high heels, makeup, red lipstick.
Maddie scoured the racks. Some of the racks not only had clothes, but personal possessions. She located some lipstick, make up, and a hair brush. While she was looking, her wrist bindings fell apart. She was free once again.
"Over here," Joseph said. He held up some clothes.
It was their clothes. The ones they had had to trade in for their prison clothes.
Joseph took his clothes and went around a rack to change.
Maddie did likewise. Her clothes consisted of jeans, a red blouse, and a leather jacket. Now she just needed to find suit clothes to wear over the top of her casuals.
She managed to find a dress skirt that fit over her jeans. Perfect. She couldn't find a dress shirt, but her red blouse was good enough.
She found her tennis shoes and hid them in the waist band of the skirt. Then she located some dress shoes. That's when she realized her mistake. Her dress skirt fell just below her knees, giving way to her jeans.
She thumped herself in the head and tried to roll up her jeans. They were too tight, so she cut off the bottoms using the keys. Now she was wearing capris under the dress skirt.
Joseph appeared in her vision. He had his civvies on and a large jacket. Good boy, she thought. With a last glance at the guard, she turned to Joseph. "Where's the handheld?"
He pulled it out of his pocket.
Pockets.
Maddie was glad to have them back.
Taking the handheld, she pressed a few buttons and a holographic image of her new identification popped up. She closed it down and clutched the device in her hand. Then she picked up the laser pistol and tucked it into the inside pocket of her leather jacket. She had no place to put tear gas, so she'd have to leave it. She tucked the keys into her opposite inside jacket pocket.
She then turned the holo device on and placed it on a rack. She turned on the camera setting and used it as a mirror. It worked perfectly, and she applied makeup, lipstick, and brushed out her hair. There was no time to do anything more elaborate with her hair. Though she did pocket a few pony tails, to make things easier once they got out of here.
According to the holo device, it was twelve o'eight. They had seven minutes to get outside.