Skeletons Chapter 5

Skeletons of the Past: Chapter 5 Sabotage
Chronicled by Ghasty

​Marius ran through Roanoke Base until he got to the mess hall. Eoin had drawn his pistol and almost fired it at Marius before realizing it was him. Marius wore a button down shirt with rolled up sleeves, with a dark gray vest over it. A faded, olive scarf was wrapped around his neck with a pair of goggles just below. He also wore an open brown jacket over his vest. He had fair skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. He also wore fingerless gloves, blue pants, and running shoes. He carried a rifle loaded with aeon darts.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you,” Marius joked.
“Sorry, just a little on edge,” Eoin apologized.
“Well before you accidentally shoot someone in the dark, we should probably get the lights running.”
“Good idea,” Eoin responded. They started walking through the halls to the lab. If the lights had been on, the aftermath of the shooting would have been visible. They entered the lab and walked towards the back of the lab. They found the back-up generator and Marius went to turn it on. A puff of smoke resulted but nothing more.
“Help me find something to provide light,” Marius ordered. They began to search through the cabinets.
“I think I found something!” Eoin said excitedly. He started to crank the hand crank flashlight and a small, dim beam shot forth. Eoin pointed the flashlight at the generator. The light revealed that the generator had been decimated. Entire chunks were missing, while other parts were mangled beyond repair.
“This probably isn’t going to work,” Eoin pointed out.
“Really, I thought it might work fine,” Marius said sarcastically.
“We might as well try the generator in the garage, hopefully that one isn’t decimated,” Eoin said. As they were leaving the lab, the light shone across something. This something was the aftermath of the shooting. A helmet was found sitting upon the floor. A pool of Mech’s blood glinted in the flashlight’s beam. Eoin hurried around it, hand to his mouth, not wanting to think more about it. A solitary tear streamed down Eoin’s cheek. Marius followed him. They walked through the halls until they reached the garage. A somber silence persisted while they walked. They crossed to the other side of the garage to where the other back-up generator was. It was in the same state as the other generator.
“We’re going to have to go down into the well,” Marius stated.
“We have a well?” Eoin asked.
“How else do you think we get our water?” Eoin shrugged in response. “Well, we have one.”
“How do we get to it?” Eoin inquired.
“Follow me,” Marius responded. They walked to a small door located in another part of the garage. The door was made of iron and had a brass handle. The usual dust which rested upon the handle had been disturbed recently. Marius noted this and wondered why anybody would need to come down here unless to fix something, and nothing had recently been fixed with the well. Marius opened the door, and he and Eoin entered. They stepped onto the landing of a spiraling staircase. Pipes and wires ran up the center of the staircase into the rest of the base. They slowly descended down the stairs into the consuming darkness. Their footsteps echoed throughout the small stairwell. The small, dim beam of the flashlight barely lit the steps in front of them in the corrupting darkness. They came to a landing at the end of the stairs. The landing was the lower level of the Roanoke base. The lower level consisted of the well, the water and electrical pipes which arose from the well, and the closed off holding cells. Nobody except Petra knew why the holding cells were closed off, and she refused to tell anyone why. Some speculated it to be because of the mysterious black box that had appeared within the base, but nobody knew for certain.
Eoin shone the flashlight’s beam across the room. An iron door could be seen next to them that lead into the holding cells. The metallic pipes reflected the light onto the walls which were seen to be made of concrete. The walls were old and some sections of them had begun to chip and crack. A section of the electrical piping near the floor had been opened and the wires inside had been tampered with.
“Do you know how to fix this?” Eoin asked.
“No, but I know someone who might,” Marius replied.
“Who?”
“Well, with Mech down for the count and Xanthia making sure he doesn’t die, the next person of choice is Jehan.”
“I don’t think I’ve met him.”
“Well you’re about too, we just have to find him.”
“Where do you think he’ll be?”
“Courtyard, most likely writing poetry, blissfully unaware of the turmoil around him.”
“They do say ignorance is bliss.”
“I’d say it’s time to bring him out of his blissful state,” Marius said, “follow me.” They walked through the halls in the deafening yet intensifying darkness. An iron door with a brass doorknob with a slightly corroded surface. Marius opened the door, and he and Eoin were almost blinded by the sharp contrast between the sunlight of the courtyard and the darkness of Roanoke Base. Eoin and Marius stepped out into the courtyard and waited for their eyes to adjust to the light. Once their eyes had adjusted they were standing in an open c-shaped area filled with solar panels. This open area was built around the central tower of the Roanoke Base. Five potted plants were scattered throughout the courtyard. These plants had been smuggled out of the Authority City. The outer walls of Roanoke Base encircled the courtyard, rising above it. Guards who were on duty at the outer walls sometimes snuck down into the courtyard to rest in the shade of a solar panel.
Jehan was found sitting under the shade of a solar panel reciting poetry, with a young woman sitting next to him. Jehan was a young man who wore a white dress shirt with a blue woolen vest over it. An open, blue overcoat, with a tricolor cockade on it and a silver pocket watch inside of it, was also worn by him. A red scarf with gold details was wrapped around his neck. He wore gray slacks and black dress shoes also. He had short, disheveled, brown hair, fair skin, and dark, blue eyes. Jehan wore a flower crown made from roses, carnations, dahlias, delphiniums, and chrysanthemums that had been grown by him. He carried a cane-sword with a silver lion’s head, and a blunderbuss. The young woman sitting next to him had straight, dyed, shoulder length purple hair, tanned skin, and brown eyes. She wore black ripped jeans, a white cropped t-shirt, and black skating shoes. She had long eyelashes and full lips. A pair of goggles hung around her neck. She wore a flower crown similar to Jehan’s. She wore a belt with a revolver holstered on her right side and a set of rainbow knives of different uses on her left side.
“Jehan we need your help for something,” Marius announced.
“What is it?” Jehan stood up from underneath the solar panel, an action shared by the woman.
“We need you to fix some electrical wiring down in the lower levels.”
“I surprised you didn’t get Mech or Xanthia to it instead.”
“They’re a bit … preoccupied at the moment.”
“Let me get my tools and you can show me to the problem,” Jehan said. Jehan started for the door and was surprised by the lack of light.
“What happened?” Jehan asked.
“Someone destroyed the backup generators and tampered with the wiring in the lower level cutting off power to the base. We believe the culprit is the same person who shot Mech,” Marius answered.
“Mech was shot?”
“Yes, Xanthia is getting him medical attention.”
“So that’s why you needed me.” Silence followed as they walked through the halls. They were a quarter of the way to the lab where Jehan kept his tools when the silence was broken.
“I don’t think I’ve met you, what’s your name?” Eoin asked turning to the woman.
“Gunn, Alexa Gunn. And yours?” the woman replied.
“Elmstone, Eoin Elmstone. I’m surprised I haven’t met you or Jehan before.”
“I’ve only been here for about three weeks, I’m relatively new.”
“Well, welcome,” Eoin said. They walked the rest of the way to the lab in silence. Eoin handed Jehan the flashlight and waited outside of the lab along with Marius. Jehan and Alexa entered the lab and came out a few seconds later. Jehan held a toolbox in his hand as he exited. They continued to walk down to the well. About halfway to the well, Marius finally got enough courage to ask a question.
“What’s with that thing on your head?” Marius asked, indicating to Jehan’s flower crown.
“Alexa made it for me with some flowers we’ve grow from seeds she had brought with her from the Authority City. Do you have a problem with it?” Jehan asked.
“No … it’s just a bit … odd,” Marius managed to reply. They continued to walk to the well in silence. They reached the well and Jehan got to work on repairing the electrical wiring.
“What’s behind that door?” Alexa inquired.
“Oh, we keep any prisoners we have in there,” Marius answered, “although we don’t have any at the moment.”
“Could I have a bit of quiet?” Jehan asked, “I need to concentrate so I don’t electrocute myself.”
“Sorry,” Alexa apologized. Alexa, Eoin, and Marius stood around in silence, observing Jehan as he worked on the wires. They stood around for a few minutes before a light came on near them.
“That should do it.” Jehan stood up. “Is there anything else that needs fixing?”
“Could you take a look at the back-up generators to see if anything is salvageable?” Marius asked.
“Sure, I can do that, I’ll get back to you with the information in a little while.”
“Excellent,” Marius turned and was about to leave, followed by Eoin, before Eoin turned back towards Alexa and Jehan.
“Have you happened to see a woman wearing an olive dress have you?” Eoin asked the two.
“No,” Jehan responded.
“Neither have I,” Alexa answered.
“Okay, well if you do, let either of us know,” Eoin said as he turned around again and walked off with Marius. sabotage