But those thoughts are fleeting as his hand links with mine. The guards close around us as we walk, and still, he doesn’t ask where we’re headed, just lets me guide him. Right to the front of an abandoned clinic.
“Why are we at the Harbor Clinic? It’s abandoned. Has been for decades.”
“Sure is.”
We look at the red tape across the door, and I nod toward the side of the dilapidated building. “Come on. This way.”
He wordlessly follows me, the guards as well, until I come to a stop near a rusted door. It looks sealed shut, an old lock on a thick chain through the door handle. I pull open my satchel and produce a key.
“Not even Ansel knows about this place. So don’t tell him, okay?”
His eyebrows rise as the door scrapes over the broken concrete. I pull out two flashlights, handing one to Brennan and keeping one for myself. Flicking it on, I step inside, the guards follow with their guns drawn, their bodies tense.
But even in the darkness, I feel safe.
Everything I have here is hidden. All mine. No one can find it except me.
And now Wylder.
Part of me once again nags that I should turn back now, not reveal anything to him, but the braver part of me eggs me on, telling me to continue moving forward. So I do, my feet crunching over dead bugs and broken glass as I make my way to the stairs. The ones that lead to the basement.
The door swings open, and the guards push through, moving down the stairs and into the large room beneath. This is where oldequipment was stored. Boxes line the walls, and rats scurry around them. When the guards finish sweeping the space, they step outside as I instructed before we left.
It leaves just Wylder and me, a single flashlight between us.
I nod toward the corner of the room, and he follows, the sound of his shoes clicking on the floor.
“What is this place?”
“You’ll see in a second.”
In the wall before us is another door, one that says Archives in bold letters. It has a large lock on the handle that I quickly open with another key.
“So, this used to be the medical records server room. Everyone forgot about it but me. It has everything I need for this…”
I hold my breath and then flick on the light switch.
Everything slowly comes to life, and I watch as the computers blink on. As the CPU fans whirl, dust picks up from the ground and swirls in the dim light.
I switch my flashlight off as Wylder takes it all in.
“It’s, um, well, it’s my identity coffin.”
His gaze moves to mine, and he cocks his head.
“Sorry, that makes no sense. This is where I lived for a while, where I worked. These are my servers. They’re safe. Bulletproof. But that’s not why I brought you here. Like I said, identity coffin.”
I move around several screens blinking to life, showing camera angles of the outside of the building, the guards lingering in the stairwell before coming to a stop on the other side of the room.
I bend down and remove a small, crumbling brick from the wall, pulling out a small lockbox. When I stand up, I brush the dusty metal off with my hand and hold it out to Wylder.
“Open it,” I say nervously.
He stares at it, holding it delicately, almost as if he knows how important this is.
Then his fingers pop the box open, and he stares down at the stack of faded pictures, a passport, and old school IDs. My birth certificate with my real name.
He lets out a long breath. “Neo. Are you sure?”
