CHAPTER 15: FORGOTTEN PASSWORD

Hey Adam! Stop staring at me like that, I'm serious! Hannah said.

Alright! The zombies are still inside the room this is our chance to get the bottle, Adam uttered with hope.

Andre, son, I want you to stay here and observe. For sure there will be changes with their moves when they heard the bottle breaks a while ago. Hannah and Adam will go there and find the bottle. I am going to walk here in the opposite path to observe if there are zombies that might attack us from there, he discussed.

After three (3) minutes, the zombies came out. Hannah and Adam got the bottle and silently stepped forward to then they hide.

Andre observed that the zombies move faster than the usual time. His dad get back too and said, I think we are safe here in this area, he gasped.

I really tried to get back here as fast as I can to inform you that, he added.

Good news! Grandpa, Andre, we got the bottle, said Adam and Hannah putting their hands up.

Here's the small rolled paper inside the bottle. There's something written in here. She read, "It goes up and never comes down"

What? Elevator? said Adam unsure of it

Escalator? asked Andre with doubt.

Escalator can get us up and it can also get us down.. as well as stairs and elevators. I don't think one of those is the answer, said the old man.

Adam and Andre looked up and they saw the capital letters of the experiment room's label glowing and blinking "Anderson's Gate Experiment"

The two looked at each other and asked one another, do you think that's the answer?

We knew the answer! "AGE" they said.

Yes you're right. When we celebrated our birthday, our age goes up and there is no instances that it goes down, Hannah explained.

If that is the password how can we enter that in here? She pointed out the device to enter the password.

Guys it's pin code. Only numbers are here to encode the password, Hannah uttered.

Dad! Don't you remember the password with that of clues? Hayyysss. He took a deep breath.

They looked at the zombies doing the same moves faster than the usual.

How can we get inside in the experiment room to find the cure if we can't open it using your clues, Andre glared at his dad.

I'm sorry son! It's been years so I really don't remember it, said the old man sadly. He bowed his head because he felt like his son was disappointed in him.

Adam can't help but tap his chin many times and Hannah keeps her fingers move fast in her thigh. The mannerism of the two when they go deeper in details.

Until, Gotcha! said Hannah. Maybe the word "AGE" is an acronym which is related to your family!

Wait! Andre, Gertrude and Emerson.. that's our first name, Andre whispered. I knew it! he told himself.

Age is the right answer. I think it has something to do with your ages and we have to follow the arrangement of your names.

How old are you bro? Asked Adam referring to Andre.

14 years old. My mom is ... ??? My dad is ... ??? (Mentally blocked) Uuggghhh! Sorry I forgot their ages now, he apologized and bowed his head.

Ohhhh nooo! Adam scratched his head and just smiled at him. He tapped Andre's shoulder and said, "It's okay bro! Don't be sad."

Grandpa, what's your age and your wife's age? Asked Hannah.

I don't remember my age, the old man answered. It's been years when the last time I celebrated my birthday, Emerson said.

Ohhh! It's hard to get the pin code if you don't know your ages, Adam said. He thought of things that may help them how old is Emerson now. Then something came up into his mind...

When is your birthday grandpa? Do you still remember it? He asked.

Yes! I still remember my birthday. Who will forget that date, it's the day I first saw the world. It's September 2, 1958, Emerson answered.

How about your wife's birthday? Can you tell us her birthday? Hannah asked.

I don't remember it, Emerson scratched his head and bowed his head. Wait, I think what I remembered will help you find her age. All I know is that, we celebrated my wife's birthday 3 days after Andre was born. She turned 32 that time. That's what I remembered, he added. I'm sorry to make your mind blowing because of this, he apologized.

It's fine grandpa! We can do this. Four heads are better than one. Without of that idea you gave us we will not have an idea about your wife's age, Hannah motivated the old man.

I'm sorry, it feels like a bit memory of mine was lost because of what happened years ago. If the zombies didn't invade our town. Maybe, every year we are celebrating our birthdays together, Emerson uttered in a sad tone.

Hey dad! You're still genius than me even if you lost a little of your memory that is because of your age now, he said to his dad and they laughed in a soft voice so the zombies will not hear them talking to one another. Let's add my age with my mom's age when she gave birth to me, said Andre.

She's 46 years old now. Right. I got it. It's 46. Let's go and enter it to the device. They entered.. 144657 the device showed "password incorrect".

Look! The zombies, Andre pointed out the zombies approaching to get out of the room. Let's hide again, the zombies are coming out the room, he told them.

Yes, it is incorrect we don't even realized that the lab was abandoned for many years. Maybe their ages back then is the pin code for that, Hannah realized.

You are right Hannah, it was a decade ago when I started to build up the idea of having that device to secure my equipments and apparatus, the old man said.