Soon, they had the lock broken open and were staring at a satellite phone and even a CB radio. Xavier's face split into a huge grin. "Bingo!"

Hannah wasn't quite as ecstatic. She wanted to hear the dial tone first before she got her hopes up. But that still didn't solve their predicament. The cabinet didn't have the codes to the doors.

Xavier picked up the phone and held it to his ear.

"Is there a dial tone?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Oh, thank god." She let out a sigh of relief. Maybe now they could get a hold of someone who could get them out of here and stop the pandemonium upstairs. "Who you gonna call?"

"Ghostbusters?" he said with a grin.

She slapped his shoulder and chuckled. "No, seriously."

"I'll try emergency services."

For the first time since everything happened, she felt a wave of peace wash over her. They were going to get out of this. They were going to go home. And she'd have a chance to finish living her life. Hopefully Cheryl was holding on upstairs, and they were still safely in the backroom.

"This is Xavier. We need help at the Finley's Research Station. A virus has taken over the base, and we are losing people. Please send armed forces to extract us from the base."

He paused a moment, seemingly listening to the voice on the other end, and suddenly the energy in the room shifted and she couldn't say why. "We're in the bomb shelter in the basement." He listened again. "No, we are trapped down here. We can't find the code to open the door."

Not much else was said before he hung up the phone and turned to face her, pulling Hannah into his arms. "There, sweetheart, help is on the way."

"Isn't that what they said before?" she asked. "And they never came."

"They said we should hear from them within 24 hours."

She pushed away from him, needing her space. "So help isn't on the way?"

"They have to follow procedure and protocol. They said they'll let us know soon what the ETA will be and what to expect."

"Are you sure?" Something didn't feel right in her gut. And her woman's intuition was often right on the money.

"Come on, let's relax and have a drink," he said, pulling her towards the couch in the lounge, tripping slightly over his feet. "We can have some fun while we wait."

She grinned wryly, despite the fears rushing through her. "You really are a lightweight, aren't you?"

He sat down and pulled her onto his lap. She didn't have the strength to fight him this time and settled comfortably on his lap. "What are we doing, Xavier?" she asked.

"I want to make you forget your worries for a little while," he said, slipping his hand behind her neck and running his thumb along the tender spot below her ear. "Did you know you have a freckle right here?" he asked, kissing it.

She shivered at the warmth of his lips against her skin and couldn't prevent a moan from escaping. It had been so long since she allowed a man to touch her before coming up here that she'd almost forgotten what it felt like. She'd never wanted it...couldn't stand it after what happened before. But Xavier never made her feel evil or worthless, unlike her family or other people they knew.

Wanting to forget all about the predicament she was in, she straddled him. She needed this...needed to know that she was more than her past mistakes and more than her present losses.

"Touch me, Xavier," she whispered.

"Don't have to ask me twice," he said, his hands diving into her hair as he pulled her close, brushing his lips against hers. His touch was gentle but eager as his hand slid down, his fingers grazing her nipples.

She shivered delightfully, letting her head fall back. She had every intention of enjoying herself and forgetting for just a few minutes that they were in a life or death situation. That her friend was upstairs, likely fighting for her life.

Hannah dropped her forehead to Xavier's shoulder and groaned. Of course, that's where her thoughts would go. They couldn't just let her enjoy the moment of safety away from the cannibals, not even for a few minutes.

"I know, hun, try not to think about it," he said, nuzzling her neck. "There isn't anything we can do."

Hannah shook her head, climbed off his lap, and ran a hand through her fiery red curls. "I refuse to believe that."

"We need this moment," he begged, trying to pull her back onto his lap, the bulge evident in his pants.

"I'm sorry. I know I started it this time, but I'm really worried about my friend. She's the only one I have left in the entire world."

He groaned, laying his head back on the couch before reaching up and taking her hand, giving it a squeeze. "Okay, I get it."

Again, they started to search every square inch of the bomb shelter. After emptying every cupboard and closet and turning over everything in every room, he said, "I'm sorry, hun. There isn't anything here that can help us."

"Why the heck would they make a room you can't get out of?" It was worse than the escape rooms she had been to. There was a puzzle to solve, and it involved the items in the room. But this. This didn't appear to have any connecting themes or rhyme or reason to the madness.

"I think they designed it this way to keep you in until the danger has passed. The building is going to detonate in 48 hours."

Hannah's legs shook as that realization shook her to her core. She already knew it, of course. She'd heard the countdown, but she wasn't ready to forfeit her friend's life yet. Her safety meant nothing if her friend died. "Cheryl," she cried, her voice cracking. 

Xavier wrapped his arms around her and held her close, his hand calmly stroking her hair, telling her to cry it out. God damn it. She was going to make him cry. He hated that there was nothing he could do. They were stuck. And the pain in her cry made him feel like he'd been sucker punched in the gut. He had hoped for an exit out of the shelter, but there wasn't one.

That's when he knew the purpose for which it was designed. There was no leaving until the threat was destroyed, disintegrated by the force of the explosion. Turning the power on in the shelter had triggered the fail-safe. That had to be the key. 

"There is one more thing we can try," he said. "But I don't know what will happen if we do."

She tilted her head to look up at him, her eyes puffy and red and filled with despair.

"Since turning the power on seemed to have triggered this chain of events, maybe turning it back off will do the opposite."

"Do you think that will actually work?"

"Maybe. But you have to understand that once that door opens, they might be out there and it may also mean spontaneous combustion."

"I don't care. Let's do it."

"I'm not so certain we should," he said, taking a step away from her should she try to deck him.

Sure enough, her hands balled into fists and she took a step towards him. "Why the hell not?"

"Because I'm not ready to die yet. I think we should wait and see if help comes before risking our lives any further." He planned to live to a ripe old age, and preferably have all his limbs intact.

"Then why the hell put that option on the table?"

"Just letting you know it might be an option if we get down to the wire."

"My friends are already down to the wire."

"But we're not. Help could come," he said.

"Get your head out of your ass. Help isn't coming. I know it and you know it. They've left us here to die."

"We don't know that."

"Think about it. The higher ups knew what we were doing here. They already knew about the plague. Why do you think this station was used? We're in the middle of nowhere."

He didn't want to accept her statement as fact, but she was right. It was too carefully planned. Even the director had had private meetings that no one else could attend, and a guard was often posted outside the room so that no one would enter. The United Nations maybe?

"This reeks of area 51," Hannah said. "We need to chance it. Get out of here and tell the world what they had us working on. Oh god, you don't think this has happened anywhere else, do you?"

"Likely not. The only other new discovery is in China, and I don't think that is even remotely the same."

Hannah placed her hands on her hips, fingers facing her back as she bit down on her bottom lip. Man, he wanted to kiss those lips and lose himself in her depths before the world came to an end. But he knew that wouldn't happen, so he shook his head, trying to clear away the image that he had of them in the janitor's room.

"I still think we need to turn the power off and see what happens. We have to try to get out of here."

"Let's give it a few hours. I'm dead on my feet right now and need some sleep."

"How can you even think about sleeping with our friends up there?"

"Because I know if I don't have a clear head, we'll get ourselves killed and I plan to live another day, at least."

"Fine," she said, holding up two fingers. "Two hours."

"Yes, Ms. Demandy," he said, winking at her as he took a purpose-filled step towards her.

"No." She wagged her finger at him. "You said sleep."

He laughed. "Party pooper."

"You sleep in there. I'll sleep over there," she said, pointing to two different rooms.

He was really just joking. Sort of. Sex would feel so good, but sleep was paramount because his brain was turning to mush and not functioning as sharply as it should. And she wasn't going back on her decision to get the door open. They both needed sleep, though, before any other decisions were officially made.

They walked to their respective doors and stopped. "Sleep tight, sexy," he said.

"Oh, shut up," she replied with a grin before shutting the door behind her.

----

Author's note

I do want to apologize for not updating sooner and more often. Life hasn't been an easy one and my job doesn't allow me to write anymore, but I'm really trying to build a better schedule around work and my writing. But please know, I haven't abandoned this story. It really is written, I just have to transfer it from paper to electronic. Hope you enjoy what you've read so far.