*03:45.*

I dropped Caleb onto the floor near the entrance.

“How do I stop it?” I asked, approaching the device.

“You can’t,” Caleb said, coughing. “It’s coded to my thumbprint.”

“Then we use your thumb,” I said.

I grabbed his hand and pulled him closer to the box.

His fingers were covered in dirt and dried blood.

“It won’t work if the reader is dirty,” Caleb said, trying to pull away.

I wiped his thumb on my sleeve, pressing hard.

“Press it,” I said, forcing his thumb onto the glass scanner on the card.

The scanner glowed green for a second, then beeped twice.

The red light on the box did not turn off.

The timer continued to tick down.

*03:22.*

“Why didn’t it stop?” I asked.

“It needs the manual bypass code,” Caleb said.

“What is the code?”

“I don’t know it,” he said. “They didn’t give it to me.”

“You’re lying,” I said, tightening my grip on his wrist.

“I swear to God, Adrian, I don’t know it,” he sobbed.

“They said they would handle the disarm remotely once I got out.”