Cole came in first, followed by his six the same order they'd held on the street. Michael closed the gate behind the last one, then stood in the lobby with seven new people, ran the pulse, and found the building still clear and the street behind the gate empty.
Cole observed the lobby. His eyes went to the perimeter panel first, then the gate mechanism, the stairwell door, the ceiling, and finally the floor. The whole sweep took about four seconds and covered everything worth noting.
"Is that a Generator?," he asked, hearing the hum.
"No it's just a backup system," Michael replied.
Cole nodded and looked at the gate again. "The mechanism is internal only."
"Yes."
"Smart." He looked at Michael. "You designed this."
"I built it," Michael said. "The design came first."
Cole looked at him and the almost-smile came back. "You're an engineer."
"No, data entry," Michael said.
Cole stared at him.
"Before the apocalypse I mean," Michael said.
