“Hey Pam! Burning the Midnight oil, I see!”

 With a start, Pam glanced away from her computer to see her coworkers packed up and heading for the door. “Yeah...I need to get these data reports analyzed...we can’t progress with the experiments tomorrow without them.”

 “Okay, we’ll don’t stay up too late...we need you functional tomorrow too, you know.” With a few more goodbyes, the rest of the researchers left, leaving Pam alone in the now still and quiet lab. With a quiet sigh, she turned her attention back to the computer and the charts and graphs with the data from the labs previous experience the last few months.  

 Time dragged on slowly, as she collated and filed away the information they would need to continue the research. It was slow, tedious work. She was still nowhere near finished when she found her eyes glazing over, the numbers on the screen seemingly unable to stay and place and let her read them. “I need some coffee…” She muttered, sliding back from the desk. At this rate, she wouldn’t be finished until well after midnight.

 She got up from the chair, adjusting the white lab coat she wore. She ran the fingers of one hand through her long, auburn hair, brushing back a few loose strands which had escaped the bun she normally wore it up in while in the lab.

 Stifling a yawn, Pam headed towards the door and the long hallway which ran the length of the building, intending to head to the break room and the precious coffee within. Instead, she’d gone about two steps out into the hallway when she nearly ran headlong into the masked figure that had stealthily been making their way up in in the opposite direction.

 Pam fell back, giving a startled cry. The figure did as well, taken completely by surprise by her sudden appearance. Unfortunately for the young woman, the second figure, coming up behind the first was not quite as startled. Well before she had recovered her wits, the tall burly figure had rushed forward, getting one arm around her torso. The other arm came around and clamped tight over her mouth, muffling the scream she’d been about to make.

 “Shit!” The figure, a man said, the curse slightly muffled by the thick balaclava covering his mouth. “The hell are you doing here? The labs were supposed to be empty!” The question must have been rhetorical, since he didn’t bother releasing the grip his hand had on her mouth, meaning her explanation about working late was garbled beyond the point of incomprehensibility.

 The first figure, having now recovered from the surprise came forward and spoke, in a woman’s voice. “Listen, we don’t want to hurt you. We just wanted access to your computer systems. Once we’ve got that, we’ll be on our way…” She paused a second and spoke again, a little hesitantly. “but I’m afraid, we need to make sure you don’t try anything or raise the alarm once we’ve gone.”

 Pam grunted frantically through the handgag. She didn’t like the idea of being tied up, but it seemed neither of the intruders were interested in her opinion. The man holding her moved, dragging her along with him while the female intruder followed. They entered the lab she’d just come from. While the man held his struggling captive in a firm grip, his partner scoured the tables and desks for something she could use to tie up their prisoner. A minute later, she came back.

 “Sorry about this…” She apologized as Pam was forced down to the ground, her back to the leg of one table. Her hands were pulled back around it and quickly bound with a cord taken from one of the computers. Another cable was used to bind her ankles out in front of her. A roll of medical bandages from the lab’s first aid box was wrapped around Pam’s mouth, muffling her frightened whimpers.

 “Don’t go anywhere!” The intruders said, with a laugh. She squirmed, listening to them depart, but after a few minutes of struggling, she was forced to concede the futility of it. Somewhere off in the lab, a clock chimed the hour, midnight. She had a long night left ahead before anyone came to find her in the morning...