20. Loot

We spent a further couple of hours in the safety of the security suite; I fought not to fall asleep while Harry flitted about to scavenge whatever he could from the little room. He recovered a half empty bag of potato chips, a bottle of stale water and some chocolate bars stashed in the desks (there were other bars, bizarrely, hidden behind one of the television sets). It wasn’t much – wasn’t enough by any means – but it might as well have been a feast for my empty stomach. By the time we left I was able to hold my own weight again without nausea forcing me to the ground, but I moved mostly because the meagre snack had awakened my appetite. Harry led the way with his chair leg to hand, but I waved him away from the door.

“Wait,” I said, and he raised an eyebrow over his shoulder at me. I walked carefully to the far wall, where a bird’s eye view map of the building hung behind some glass. Rather than smashing it like I figured Harry would have, I lowered it from the wall and delicately slid the paper out. Recognition dawned in his eyes and he followed me to the desk, where I used a pen to track our location down to the ground floor.

“It’s still a ways to go,” Harry said, but I wasn’t even looking at our destination. I circled an area a floor below us. “What are you… oh.” He laughed despite himself.

The cafeteria would be difficult to get to, but if we made it we might find ourselves with somewhere to sleep for the night and a decent meal on our hands.

“Let’s go,” I said, following Harry out through the door, vigilant for any small sound. We headed off down the corridor at a pace not quite faster than a hobble.

On the cameras, I failed to see the horde of hostiles piled up against the cafeteria doors.