Had it been up to her, Alexis would have just sat there for a few moments to absorb everything Neil had just told her. She knew though that if she did that, it would look suspicious, so she grabbed a handful of the serviettes that Neil had brought and spread them out over her bed, placing a bit of food on each of them. Neil had been generous and brought her a taco, some pancakes, waffles, a mixture of snacks and party foods and a piece of chocolate cake.

Deciding it would be best to leave the smaller snacks on the plate, she distributed the larger objects onto the serviettes, taking extra care with the taco; she couldn't feel the key but imagined it was probably mixed in with the filling, if it was even in there at all.

She kind of wished that Neil had told her the time before he left, for she wanted to take her time and enjoy the food that he had brought her, but she knew she couldn't have luxury if she wanted to attain the higher luxury of escaping.

She ate the pancakes and the waffles first with a few of the snacks in between. Although the taco was her apparent salvation, she couldn't bring herself to eat it after the chocolate cake, and she imagined it would probably look suspicious if she ate in that order anyway. Who eats dessert before dinner?

Just as she picked up the taco, she shifted on the bed to adjust herself. What she didn't realise is that the plate of snacks was closer to the edge of the bed than she thought and with a loud Clang! it fell off the bed and onto the floor, creating a mess of snacks. Thankfully, the plate was plastic, so she was spared from having to pick up pieces of ceramics.

She was so surprised by the sudden loud noise that she jumped, and in a sudden lapse of judgment she leant over the edge of the bed, taco still in hand, to assess the amount of damage. That was the moment Neil's generously filled taco ended up spilling half of its contents onto the floor.

Cursing quietly to herself, she jumped off the bed, avoiding the mess on the floor, and knelt down. Flipping the plate the right way up, she placed the her half-empty taco on one side and started picking up and dumping the dirty floor food on the other side. As she started sifting through the taco filling, she felt the key – a long object which couldn't even be broken up by squeezing her fingers together. It was obviously not anything edible.

Holding onto it with her two fingers, she pulled it out and quickly wiped it on her sleeve; the glint of metal greeted her eyes as she quickly slipped it under the bed. With her heart beating erratically, she finished cleaning up the pieces of food, though the sauce remained due to the lack of cloth available. She sat back down on the bed.

She realised now that she had no need to bite from the taco anymore, a relief for her body as it did not do agree with any sorts of spicy, and so she went straight for the chocolate cake. She couldn't help but groan in appreciation on the first bite, for the icing on the cake was exquisite. It was her favourite part of a chocolate cake and this chef had perfected it.

Her heart started to beat faster again as she started to lick the remains of the chocolate cake off her fingers. She realised that now there was almost nothing standing between her and her escape, and she had plenty of energy from the big meal. Her escape was becoming a real possibility.

Getting up from the bed, she walked slowly over to the door and listened for the sound of anyone passing by. Once she was content that it was silent, she made a show of walking over to the bed and bending down to pick the key off the floor from underneath the bed.

Once she reached the door, she listened out again, and pretended to try the door handle anyway even though she knew that Neil had locked it. Now she just had to hope that Neil had given her the correct key.

Standing back a bit, she lifted her hand towards the lock, her hand shaking ever so slightly. The key reached the hole and she slowly moved it forward, just waiting and expecting some sort of hindrance to indicate that escape was impossible using this method.

But it never came.

The key slid in without a hitch.

Alexis held her breath as she turned the key, and she heard the familiar click of the lock in her door. She removed the key and held it tight in her fist as she grabbed the handle. She pushed it down, and she pulled the door towards her. It moved.

She took a deep breath as she continued to slowly pull the door towards her, and once there was a space wide enough to fit her head, she slid it through and looked both ways. It was completely empty – and oh so gratefully silent.

She opened it further, and soon the gap was big enough to let her body through. Once she was out in the hallway she turned back to the door and forced herself to close it slowly because no matter how excited she was, she needed it to close silently, just in case there was actually anyone nearby.

Then she locked it again for good measure.

She sped quietly down the hallway, having turned left from her door, and took the third door on the right as Neil had told her to. Even with the disguise he had told her the truth: lying on the shelf, which was just the right height for her, was a lab coat. When she opened it, the dust mask fell onto the ground.

She put on the lab coat and found it was the perfect size for her. She gave herself a hug for reassurance and strength for her next endeavour as she wondered just how much Neil knew about her bodily proportions.

Alexis took one more breath of fresh air before she placed the dust mask over her face and couldn't help but hope that it hid enough of her face; she couldn't check for herself as there was no mirror in the closet.

She left the small room and started making her way towards the exit. She wanted to walk faster now that her freedom was so close but she couldn't help feeling apprehensive that this was all a trap.

Her heartbeat increased more and more as she neared the exit of the building, and she could almost feel her eyes bulging out of their sockets in anticipation of the moment, because she highly doubted that the exit would be unguarded even for a moment.

Alexis reached the final corner before the exit and stopped, wanting to take a peek around the corner to check out the situation before she moved forward. Just as she'd anticipated, there was a man there, albeit scrawny, but the gun was enough to send a silent warning. One wrong move and she was done for.

The man hadn't seen her, and as she pulled back she took a deep breath to calm herself. She couldn't practice a hoarse voice for fear of revealing herself, so she instead focused her energy on appearing calm. She hoped it would work.

The sound of her shoes on the floor was quieter than she thought it would be once she started walking normally, and she was only 3 metres away from the guard when he finally noticed her presence and spoke up.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I was just at the party, I-" she coughed for a moment to emphasise her point and was hoping that her throat sounded hoarse enough. "I just started feeling worse and so I decided to go to the pharmacy and get something."

"And they don't have anything for you here?" he asked suspiciously.

"No, I-" she started, but couldn't think of what to say. She was starting to panic when she heard a voice from behind her.

"There's a doctor at the party who had a look at her upon my request. He recommended we go buy something in particular and suggest I escort her. I just had to go to the toilet quickly which is why she came here ahead of me."

She knew that was a lie, but he sounded so convincing. It didn't sound like Neil and she was in for a surprise when she turned around and came face to face with the man in the uniform – the other high ranking officer beside Nathaniel. Her heart was beating fast; this could not end well.

"Oh, forgive me, sir. I had no idea. Please, go right ahead and have a good night," the guard bowed as he finished speaking, and said no more as Alexis took the arm that the uniformed man offered and they walked outside. She almost couldn't believe it.

Even with the mask on her face she could feel the breeze on her face and the smell of the sea in the air. Had she been near the ocean the entire time this past year and not been able to go to the beach? Her heart almost crushed at the thought.

No matter how much she wanted to stop and relish in the fact that she was free and finally out of that building, she knew getting away as fast as possible was the best idea – and there was still the issue of this man that she was clinging to. Her hands unconsciously gripped his arm tighter in worry.

"Are you alright?" he asked her in a low voice as he continued leading her away from the building, down paths and through alleys she knew nothing about.

She smiled thinly in response to his question. "I am fine, and I will be even better once I am out of your presence and on my way. May I leave?"

"Leave? And go where?" he asked her, and she could feel him turn his head to look at her. "As much as you don't like it, you need my help, and I'm here offering it."

Alexis scoffed. "And I'm meant to trust one of the highest ranking officers?" she asked him as she let go of his arm and stopped walking, causing him to stop and turn to look at her. "How stupid do you take me to be? You don't attain such a high position of respect without being dedicated to the cause."

"Alexis..." he started, and her heart jumped when she realised that he really did know who she was after all. He moved closer to her but stopped when she took a step back. "You do realise that I'm not in a position that is dedicated to their cause right? I've been hired as external intelligence and protection. I'm a police officer, not a scientist. I hate this all just as much as you do."

She said nothing in response but remained silent. "Let me help you," he said. This time when he took a step closer she didn't move.

"Do you have weapons?" she asked him. He seemed confused at her question but started reaching for a gun at his belt. "Ah!" she said to get his attention. "Slowly. Put it on the ground."

He did as she asked and she went to pick it up, putting it inside her lab coat along with the key to her room. "Alexis, trust me, you don't know what this world has become, and the disease isn't making it better. This has become a world where you need someone to watch your back, and right now your only choice is me."

She was silent again for a few seconds before she started walking and walked past him, removing her dust mask as she went. He didn't move.

"Where are you going?" he asked her retreating figure as his eyes followed her.

"You're my only choice for now, and I need your help to fix that," Alexis responded.

"Excuse me?" he asked, confused. Alexis stopped walking and turned to look at him, a big smile suddenly on her face.

"I need you so that I can get in touch with my sister."

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So, Alexis is finally out! But now the most exciting parts begin (: I just hope I can write it all well. Please, please let me know what you think so far as I've never written anything like this so I'd really love some feedback, both on the writing and the idea! Even just a single press to vote lets me know that I'm doing alright!