Marshall jumped out of his seat when the screen lit up like a damn fireball was coming at him. After that, his monitors showed only static.
“Liz, what the hell just happened in there?” he yelled.
The door to his office opened and a harried looking young man entered. “Sir, we have a problem,” he panted.
“I saw, care to explain? Your job depends on it,” Marshall snarled.
“We think someone rigged Level 8 with explosives. Whoever it was also used our signal to watch what was happening. They triggered the explosion for the least amount of casualties meaning they wanted Dr. Covington alive, or there’s a spy among them.”
Marshall didn’t like this at all. His yacht was ready to go, all he had to do was pick up his man and Dr. Covington, then get the hell out of dodge. Now someone else was involved and he knew it wasn’t Hooks, the man was in the dark about everything, and an idiot to boot.
“Is there any way we can get the signal back?” Marshall asked, doubt laced his words.
The man shook his head. “Sir, the facility is crumbling as we speak. This attack wasn’t to knock out visual, but to take down the entire structure. I doubt we can get our team back at the rate it’s collapsing.”
“Get out of here and do something useful, back-up all the data and video footage we have of that place. I want to know who set the charges. I also want to know how the best minds, who I pay a hell of a lot of money for, didn’t notice someone hitching a ride on their damn system! And you find a way to get our team out of there or I’ll kill your whole damn division.”
The moment his door closed Marshall reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell.
“I was wondering when you’d call,” An all too calm voice answered.
“I need a team, and full protective gear. We need to be at the rendezvous point a.s.a.p.” Marshall tried to sound casual.
A laugh answered him, “You have enough money to cover that? You want us to go into a zone the military just sent out orders to nuke? We have two hours to get it done, if you’re people aren’t there I’m leaving, and keeping the money.”
The line went dead. Marshall stared at the device in shock. They were going to bomb the area in question? Things just escalated to a whole new level of scary. He tossed some papers in his briefcase and grabbed a few other items without thinking.
“Liz, get in here, dammit,” he yelled.
A woman with pale skin, deep frown lines, and a tight bun on the back of her head poked her face in. “Yes, Sir?”
“I want you to go home, get your family and set the yacht up for operation in ninety minutes.”
Liz nodded and turned as she shut the door. Marshall stared at the monitors willing them to come back on but nothing occurred. He grabbed his coat and walked out the door. Time to get his ass moving.
Arthur heard movement near him, but the disorientation from the blast made everything sound like he was underwater. He moved a bit and let out a groan. Moments later, he felt hands on him, fingers checking his head and wiping a thick layer of white powder off his mask, then someone yanking him to his feet.
He glanced around in a daze and saw Frank. He looked like hell, his arm bloody and an odd-looking cast on it. Selena looked beautiful, but something about her smile toward him didn’t seem right. Ever since she took him aside and said, they needed to work as a team, because the others didn’t understand what it was like for civilians, he felt as if she was always watching him.
He shook his head and noticed the others were talking to him, pointing to his ears he covered them and said he couldn’t hear them. They nodded in understanding and as a group moved to the lower level.
The damage was catastrophic. The stairs were non-existent and long portions of rebar stuck out all over the place. How more of them weren’t more seriously injured or dead boggled his mind.
As they passed what was left of Lightfoot, Arthur felt a bit of bile rise in his throat. He fought it as he looked at Frank’s mask and saw the bits of vomit on his face. Arthur didn’t want to spend whatever time he had left like that, so he forced the taste of bile down.
As they entered the level that he and Smith vacated earlier, the magnitude of the destruction hit him. The ceiling was nothing but a tangle of melted wire and wrinkled vents. Cinder blocks and other large bits of concrete once part of the walls were now spread all over the place.
Fire illuminated the room, bursts of gas leaking from exposed lines, or insulated cables that hadn’t fully disintegrated yet. Cracks lined the floor and certain sections were gone entirely, fallen into the abyss of the lower levels. Water dripped in some sections, gushed from others.
The areas of wall blown out exposed dirt, and the old missile bay in certain parts. Arthur wondered how much longer the place would hold. With explosions still reverberating through the ground beneath them and the likelihood that other levels were loaded with Semtex packages as well, Arthur knew their very own doomsday clock had moved up several notches.
Frank walked to a burnt out control panel and pried the cover off with his good hand. Arthur cringed at the string of words that came out of the man’s mouth. Using the elevator was out of the question. Then again, even if it was working by some miracle of God, Arthur wouldn’t get in it on the off chance that’s what whoever was playing with them was waiting. The fact the shaft was now home to tons of rock and other debris, another good reason.
“Frank, if I could just say something,” Arthur started.
“Dr. Covington, unless it has to do with a way to get out of here, I don’t want to hear it,” Frank said.
Arthur determined what he wanted to say had something to do with getting out of there, so went ahead, “Please call me Arthur, and the way I see it there are two opposing teams. One wants us to succeed, the other doesn’t. We get a message to come to this level only to get ourselves blown up.” Arthur stopped talking to investigate a portion of the floor beneath his feet. “Anyway, it would seem neither one of our spies knows who their master is either. Otherwise, they would have tried to talk us out of coming here. So, we need to proceed with caution and trust our guts.” Arthur finished.
Frank walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Like I said, unless it has something to do with getting out of here, I don’t want to hear it, Doc,” Frank said.
Arthur sighed. “Then we need to go up. If you noticed, there were no explosions above this point. But we need to hurry before the basic structure is weakened so much that it caves in on itself.”
“You heard the man, back up to the main room.” Frank dropped the panel from his hand and walked out.
Arthur followed behind and helped the man as they struggled over several tons of rubble to reach the entryway. They were short at least six feet since the stairs had crumbled to baseball-sized rocks, so they worked with one another to make a human ladder. Since Frank was the strongest, he remained against the wall as the rest of the group used him to reach the next level.
Carson reached his hand down and with Smith and Arthur holding onto his legs, helped Frank up. Once they stood together again, they discovered the blast from below must have caused the floor in the current room to shatter, but it maintained its form due to all the support beams and rods of metal running through the six feet of cement.
In the dark, using only one flashlight to save on batteries, they sidled against the wall to reach the door on the other side. Arthur wondered what they were going to do if it was locked, and if it wasn’t, how long until the traitor among them showed their true colors.
Frank’s arm throbbed and he fought to remain conscious. Every time he felt close to losing it, he thought of Selena. He’d read about tragedy and drama bringing two people together and wondered if that was going on with them. Whatever it was, he liked it.
As he led the group, he thought about Lightfoot and felt like an ass for even thinking he might be a traitor. He hoped his friend didn’t die thinking Frank doubted his allegiance. Then he wondered what they would do if the door was locked. They could use one of the Semtex devices from Carson’s bag. The one good thing about what happened below was a kink must have been put in the gas line that had been leaking up here.
About fifteen feet from the door, Frank shined the flashlight in the direction of some noise. The freezer door glinted back at him – open.
“Crap, be on the lookout people, we’ve got a nasty on the loose,” Frank warned them as he swung the light to and fro.
A scream made them all stop.
“It’s got Carson, I think.” Arthur yelled.
Frank left his position at the front and aimed the beam toward the back. Three nasties were on Carson, two latched onto his leg by the knife wound Frank gave him earlier. During the explosion, the bandage was shredded and fresh blood poured down his leg. A third nasty had its hands wrapped around Carson’s neck, ripping and tearing at the mask. Smith stood next to him staring in horror. Frank couldn’t take a shot without the risk of hitting Smith or Arthur.
“Either help him, or move it, you idiots. I need a clear shot.” Frank raised his FNP.
Arthur snapped out of his shock first and pulled Smith out of the way seconds before one of the nasties on the ground almost bit her hand. Frank fired and took down the one choking Carson as it tried to bite his face through the mask again and again.
Arthur used the Sig to put down one as it tore a strip of flesh off the wounded man’s leg. Carson let out a scream as he took the head of the last nasty and smashed it into the wall behind him. Frank ran over and two more flashlights went on.
The first aid kit was taken out, but Carson put a hand up. “Frank, we both know I’m dead. Don’t let me become one of them.”
Frank didn’t know what to do. “Doc, do we have proof a bite leads to infection?”
The lack of response was louder than anything he’d ever heard. Everything was going to hell and Frank needed to keep it together. Carson pulled off his mask and grabbed Frank’s hand pulling him close.
“Be careful, I have no idea who’s pulling the strings, but they’re playing for keeps. The only person they want is the doctor, so watch your back. If there’s another traitor, they’ll kill you before reaching the top.”
Frank opened his mouth to say something when he heard the shot and felt warm blood coat his neck and the front of his mask went crimson. With his good hand, he wiped the clear plastic as much as he could. He stood on shaky legs wondering more than ever how he was going to get everyone out of this nightmare alive.
“Smith, see what you can get from his pack and grab his weapon, we need all the extra ammo we can get.”
Arthur glanced away from the mess of Carson’s face. Part of him understood why the man took his own life. If it were him, he would have done the same thing, or at least hoped he’d have the guts to. Frank didn’t look good. Arthur wondered how long before panic and exhaustion tore their shrinking group apart.
He felt Selena at his side. “We really need to stick together, promise me. I don’t trust any of them. The traitor could be anyone.”
Arthur nodded, not wanting to make a verbal commitment. So lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t hear the moan behind him or the shuffling of feet. The smell of rot hit him a nanosecond before two large arms grabbed the back of his neck.
A scream to his left drowned out the groaning creature attached to him. Arthur swung his flashlight to the right to see Selena in the same predicament. He wrestled with his Sig, but knew it was too risky.
“Frank, Smith, could use some help here,” Arthur rasped as the hold on his throat tightened.
In the darkness, only the twitching beams of light could be seen. Sounds seemed louder and more ominous. Arthur heard Frank say a few choice words, and then a shot ended Selena’s pleas for help. A moment later, the weight was removed from his back and he heard something crunch. He turned in time to see Frank kick his boot against a wall trying to clear it of the skull fragments and brackish brain matter.
“Thanks,” Arthur managed to say.
“Don’t thank me yet, I need to check you over for bites.”
Arthur stood still as Frank inspected him and Selena for potential infection. After a few tense seconds, he declared them clear and moved toward the door.
Arthur followed him. “I thought you cleared this floor? And those didn’t have any burn marks on them. They weren’t up here when we blew open the door.”
Frank grabbed him by the elbow and led him to a corner without any regard to the integrity of the floor. “I did clear it with Smith and Lightfoot, so obviously one of them didn’t do what they were supposed to. As for the lack of burn marks, I have no idea. They might have wandered down here from somewhere else. I have no idea what to think or who to believe. All I know is you’re the prize, Doc, so stick close.”
Arthur rubbed his arm as the words sank in. The prize? He was just a scientist who wanted to study rocks and prove there was more in space than people ever imagined. He thought back to how things fell in place and he felt like an idiot.
Sunset Inc. had stolen the samples for him to work on. They wanted him to discover something. No, they expected him to discover something. He knelt and pulled off his backpack. After he unzipped it, he pulled all of the rocks out and tossed them. Whatever they might contain wasn’t worth the death of hundreds of people, perhaps more if this had spread outside the silo.
“What are you doing?” Smith whispered.
Arthur felt his chest seize and almost screamed at her words. Either she’d snuck up on him, or his reflexes needed some serious honing.
“I’m getting rid of these samples. Whatever’s in them is killing people.” Arthur stood and walked away, not caring what her response was.
He thought of the flash drives and data. He would protect them with his life. They were the only proof that something illegal happened. He felt a weight lift off his shoulders as he gained purpose. He needed to live so he could expose the company known for research and development as nothing but a modern day group of mad scientists. The samples needed to stay with him, so he went back and repacked them.
He clicked off his flashlight and followed the beam from Frank’s at the door. Frank put his hand on the handle and lowered his head when it opened easily. He turned to look at Arthur. “They want you to go up. They’ll be waiting for you.”
Arthur nodded and smiled. “I know, but I’ll do whatever you think is right. I have no idea what they want from me. I didn’t find anything of significance in the few hours I was in the lab, so even if they do capture me, it’s not like I have anything to give up to them.”
“Well, I’ve had enough of this, time to finish it.” Frank pushed the door outward and walked out.
Arthur let Selena go after, followed by Smith. Taking up the rear, Arthur thought about the way the sliver of the sample shimmered in the light and about how the density readings were wrong. In fact, he was running a second diagnostic on the sample when the explosion happened, as well as testing a sample in the mass spectrometer.
If the machine was set to explode during a test in order to get the particles into the air and infect those inside the silo, Arthur realized in that scenario, he wasn’t the prize, he was collateral damage. A problem they would need to make sure went away and kept silent – forever.
“I can’t see a damn thing they’re doing in there, Barrow. What the hell’s going on? Who sent them a message to go to Level 8? I want you to use every satellite we have as well as every under the table, black market, behind the scenes dirty politician at our disposal to find out who the hell just sabotaged my ‘indestructible’ silo,” John yelled at his assistant.
Barrow nodded and wandered off to the corner to make the necessary calls. John didn’t know what to do. Up until this point, he’d been able to keep an eye on his team. His technicians were able to unlock the doors going down, so at least, he felt like he was helping them in some way.
He took another one of the white pills to ease the pain in his chest. The clock indicated only a couple of hours had gone by, but he felt as if he’d been going at this problem for a month straight.
“Sir, they say the explosion was massive, designed to take down all signals in or out. They were able to confirm it was an inside job. Someone on the original team set this in motion from the day the project broke ground.” Barrow slid his phone in his pocket and waited for his next set of orders.
“That Collins fellow, the one we talked to before. Did he seem off to you? I think he seemed nervous. In fact, I think he was lying”
Barrow nodded.
“Me too, get him back in here and let Mike question him.” John watched his assistant leave and hoped he’d get some answers. In his whole life, he’d never had a project go tits up like this one. If he was still the head of the company tomorrow, it would be a miracle. Though, if there was a company tomorrow, he would be surprised.
“And Barrows,” he yelled, “send a car for my wife. Get her over here now.”
Frank took each step one at a time. Cracks and other signs of weakness made him cautious. As they reached the door for Level 6, he cracked it open and shined his light inside. Several nasties roamed the floor, most of them naked. He thought back to when they came through here the first time and couldn’t remember who was supposed to take care of the showers. Didn’t matter now, there was a mess, and as usual he had to clean it up.
He pulled out his FNP, glad his preferred weapon fit in one hand, and whispered to the others, “We have some roamers in here, so use your light attachments and take these bastards out with short bursts.” Frank hated to make the ammunition sacrifice, but in such closed quarters, the risk of harm coming to Selena or the others was too great.
With the door fully open, Frank and Smith entered first, the sounds of gunfire attracting what was left of the mob toward them. This time they went in fast and hard, blowing off skullcaps, and shattering craniums. The sounds of bodies hitting the ground and the slopping of fluids had become static to them all; white noise in the background of a living nightmare.
Within seconds, the nasties were taken care of. Frank examined the floor as best he could, given the circumstances and waved them forward when he deemed it safe.
Ten feet away from the exit, something triggered his instincts. He slowed his steps and glanced around the room, that’s when it hit him. The door was open. Either something or someone came in after them, or left. If they left, he needed to hurry his group the hell up in case they were locking the place down after the person got out. Anyone who came in after them likely met the gathered flesh eaters and was no longer a concern.
Frank scanned the room once more and entered the stairwell. He listened a moment trying to tune out the rumblings of the structure as it fell apart. He took the steps quicker this time, paying less attention to security, more concerned about being trapped. His thoughts ran toward being buried alive and panic drove him on.
The entry to Level 5 stood propped open. A leg was caught in between the door and frame preventing it from closing. He recalled the charred bodies and walking Roman candles. This leg, however, didn’t have so much as a tinge of soot on it.
“Wait for me there,” Frank said to the three behind him. Anger and irritation pushed him when all he wanted to do was give up.
The leg twitched when he neared it. The owner seemed to struggle when they heard him. Whether they wanted to eat him or outrun him was the question. He moved closer and with gun raised, he pulled the door open wide. A man in a mask rolled over and held his hands up. Frank kept his weapon up.
“Who the hell are you and where did you come from?”
“I was sent in after your team to extract some samples from Level 12. I repelled in with a team, but something went wrong. The explosions went off early and all the others were trapped. I planned to follow you until I got what I came for, but when the explosions went off on Level 8, I ran.”
Frank eyed the man. “If you’re working for someone else, and were sent in here to do bad things, you have to know confessing all that gives me grounds to kill you.”
“You’re not going to kill me. I’m the only one who can get you out of here. Plus, all surveillance capabilities as well as communications have been knocked out permanently, so my boss will have no idea I spilled. We work together and then go our separate ways on top,” the man said with a smug smile.
“Tell me who you’re working for,” Frank demanded.
The man shook his head. “Not a chance, but you can call me Ryan.”
Frank still held his weapon on the man, something didn’t add up. This guy, Ryan, was part of a team, but was weaponless and unable to free his leg, not to mention, he knew about the explosives that had been set.
Frank used the muzzle of his FNP to nudge Ryan’s leg. “What happened here? Why can’t you free yourself?”
The man rolled onto his back revealing two severely burned hands. “I can’t do much of anything right now. I’m at your mercy, but you need to make a decision soon. There’s a timer counting down, and when it hits zero, we’re never getting out of here.”
Frank called to the others as he helped Ryan to his feet. “Come on up, we got a new recruit, call him Ryan. He’s been sent here by a bad guy, but is willing to help us get out of here.”
The stairwell crumbled behind the Doc, the last one to enter. Frank motioned them forward. “Get moving.”
Arthur noticed they were on some sort of office floor. He scanned with his flashlight while Frank and the other guy worked on opening the other door. Ryan said people would be waiting for him at the top, so Arthur took a few moments to access the flash drives on the netbook.
The screen cracked at some point, but he could read bits and pieces, none of it good. The notes of a researcher named Dr. Kellerman indicated Sunset Inc. had been harvesting samples from space for years. An unidentified component in all of them was being studied for potential uses in all modes of scientific experiments. From cancer to Alzheimers, all the way to an airborne toxin for the military.
One of those uses was to help grafting of human body parts, curing diseases, and various other tests, which based on the collection of people hanging in bags indicated they didn’t go well. The doctor summarized their studies as being barbaric and of no use to the scientific community, but a new discovery by a Dr. Covington might inject some much needed help into these projects.
Arthur read over a few more pages before the screen crapped out and he closed it. The tests were outlined in horrific detail. Bodies stolen from morgues and put in freezers so their organs could be tested. Other people at death’s door signed over their lives in the hopes a cure would be found at the zero hour. The worst being what they started last week with the samples from Arthur’s probe.
A secondary unknown element was discovered. They harvested bits of it and tested it on a multitude of diseases and individuals. No progress had been made, but results “were promising,” according to one research assistant.
They lauded this new element and awaited the arrival of Dr. Covington to see if he could crack the code. What did he bring to Earth? The only things in his reports were based on speculation. He thought Pluto would be a good place to search for answers, because it was so far out. In addition, since it wasn’t a planet, but large enough to have an atmosphere, it was like a giant ball of dust collecting things from all over the galaxy for eons.
Sunset Inc. must have assumed, or hoped, he would discover something and bet on him, and they were right.
“Doc, get a move on, the door’s open. Must’ve warped or something,” Frank yelled.
Arthur packed everything up and in seconds he was trailing behind Smith who’d been strangely quiet since Ryan joined their group. He wondered if she was the other traitor, or if it could be Selena. Everyone was a possibility.
Frank raced up the stairs with Ryan in his sights and within moments, they reached Level 1.
“Alright, people, grab any magazines left and get ready for a real fight.” Frank slipped a new magazine into place and smiled.
“Hey, are these night vision goggles?” Arthur asked.
“Yep, but we can’t use them with the masks,” Frank replied instantly.
Arthur nodded sadly, as he put a pair down.
Frank watched as Ryan forced his crusty hands around the handle of a weapon, tears evident in his eyes. The man was determined.
Within moments, all of them were ready. “Ryan and I will take the front, Smith you’re next, Doc and Selena take up the rear. Try ato keep your heads down, I have no idea how many people they sent in, but these guys are going to be firing back, which is a whole lot different than what you’ve been dealing with.”
Frank led the way, Ryan close, and the hesitant sounds of the others footsteps behind them. Frank held the handle of the door to Level 1. “Get ready, these are real people you’re going to be fighting, if you can’t handle it, hang back here.”
The room was dark, but Frank didn’t dare turn on his flashlight. He knew the layout well enough, there were few places to hide. Ryan whispered at his side, “Why aren’t they firing?”
Frank didn’t respond, because he had no idea. Maybe there wasn’t anyone on the floor? Perhaps Ryan, Benson, or whoever else was in on this had lied to them all. Then the telltale moaning started. Frank sighed as he flipped the switch on his flashlight, but cupped it with his hand. Enough illumination escaped to let him see at least twenty armor wearing Sunset Inc. security guards in night goggles. The idiots didn’t put on the masks. They must have thought the ventilation system took care of any airborne threats or that it dissipated with time.
“Dammit, change of plans. We have a lot of nasties walking around and they’re suited up. Aim for the face, bullets won’t penetrate the helmets.”
“Frank, how did this happen? Why would they send your own people down here to kill you?” Selena asked.
The answer died on Frank’s lips. He was now considered a loose end to tie up in case the press got wind of this mess.
Arthur chimed in. “We don’t know when they were sent in or why. They might be backup when the powers that be realized the gravity of the situation. Plus, not all of them are wearing the same uniform.”
Frank glanced around with a more critical eye and realized the doc was right. At least a dozen were mercenaries, like him. Two different people sent in teams. Both of them were now infected with something in the air. When he got out of here, not if, then he was going to figure out what the hell was going on.
The doc fired the first bullet into the neck of one of the things only two feet away from Frank. Black blood and bits of shredded flesh splattered everything, but it kept coming. Another shot, this time through the mouth, took it down.
Another flashlight went on, Ryan’s. Frank didn’t question Selena, but was curious about Smith, she liked hunting them. Putting all other thoughts out of his mind, Frank took aim, put a bullet into the left eye of one, and saw the shadows of the brain as it flew out the back of its head.
With three guns firing in different directions, and multiple beams of light continually changing direction, it appeared as if they were putting on the worlds most demented shadow puppet show. Frank ignored what he could, firing shot after shot. Each one required a few tries, because his arm ached and his aim was deteriorating.
Arthur held his own, but Ryan was all over the place. Frank shook his head at the trembling man. Nerves were getting the better of him. He needed Smith or they’d be overtaken. “Smith, get your ass in here.”
Frank put three bullets into the gaping maw of one of the things and watched as rotten flesh and spittle dotted the air. Movement to his side alerted him that Smith decided to show up. Then he felt the pain. He glanced over to see one of the nasties chowing down on his bandaged arm; it wasn’t Smith after all.
“Christ, Smith, where are you?” Frank yelled, as he put the FNP into the mouth of the thing and squeezed the trigger.
“I don’t see her anywhere,” Arthur said.
Frank fired several more shots as he thought about what might have happened. Terror gripped his heart as he thought about Selena. With renewed energy, he pulled out the FMG, ignoring the pain in his arm, and fired at the knees of the oncoming horde in an effort to slow them down. Only minutes left before they’d be overtaken and Ryan was useless. He sat there pulling the trigger on an empty gun with tears in his eyes.
“Doc, get Ryan the hell out of here and find the girls.” Frank cut the majority of them down, but they scratched and clawed their way toward them. A few stragglers in the corner caught his eye when he scanned the room with his flashlight, but he made quick work of them.
As he waited to hear about the Selena and Smith, he wandered through the room and put a bullet in the heads of those still moving. A gunshot followed by a female scream stopped him in his tracks and he ran to the entryway.
Ryan’s corpse was still sliding down the wall when he arrived. “What the hell happened?” Frank asked.
“He was mumbling and made no sense. He aimed the gun at us saying we were one of them,” Smith explained, “I had no choice but to defend myself.”
“His gun was empty! Do you know you’ve just killed our only way out of here? And where were you, by the way?” Frank demanded.
Smith took a defensive stance. “I was here with Selena, who if you would take two seconds to look at, isn’t doing well.”
Frank glanced at the woman in question and noticed she was pale and shaky. He should thank Smith, but didn’t want to come off as soft, not now. Moreover, she’d killed a defenceless man who was their ticket out.
“Whatever; get her taken care of. Doc, you and I have to make sure this floor is clear. The last thing I want to worry about is one of these bastards taking a chunk out of one of us.” Frank returned to the room and finished what he’d started. Toward the end, he felt a swell of anger well up inside him and he started stomping on the heads of the creatures as they moaned and crawled around his legs.
These things killed his entire team, and they would likely take his life as well. His skin crawled at the thought of being like them. Pathetic husks of human beings craving flesh with no thought process other than eating. No way would he go down like that, not a chance. He’d blow his brains out like Carson did before he’d let that happen.
When the section he stood in was clear, he made sure Arthur was doing what he’d been told. He examined his bandaged arm. The teeth didn’t sink through, and the wetness he felt was warm, his own blood. Frank crossed his fingers and hoped they didn’t get him.
With forced bravado, he continued his campaign of stomping heads. Some of them popped like grapes, exposing rotten brain matter. Others cracked open and liquefied remains poured out. He didn’t care about the differences, all he wanted was to kill them all. Eyes skittered out from beneath his boots and cartilage made a horrible grinding noise.
The moans became sparse and he clamped down on the anger surging through his veins. He went back to where Smith and Selena stood, and noticed Smith staring at Ryan. He glanced at the body and realized, she’d shot him in the chest.
“What the hell are you doing? Head shots, remember?” Frank told her.
Ryan chose that moment to let out a groan, as he lunged for Frank’s leg. He stepped out of the way and landed in something slick. His hands reached out for something to balance him, but found nothing to get purchase on. He watched helplessly as he fell backwards and Ryan moved toward Smith, who grabbed Selena and used her as a shield to put in Ryan’s path.
Frank hit the ground as a bang erupted from behind. Nothing was left of Ryan’s head, just a shredded neck with the tip of a spinal column jutting out.
“Sorry about that, but I figured the risk was worth it,” Arthur said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Frank looked from his position on the floor and realized the angle of the shot from behind meant Arthur came within millimeters of hitting Smith. Part of Frank wished he had. He stood and walked toward Selena. She looked worse than before and he had no idea what to do or say to make her feel better.
“Selena--” Frank started, but found her wrapped around him before he could finish. With care, he returned the embrace, wishing they weren’t in suits and masks.
“You almost shot me!” Smith yelled at Arthur.
“And you almost got Selena killed to save your own life. I’d say you got off lucky. If Frank was aiming…”
“Enough talk, let’s get out of here,” Frank said, as he stood with Selena still holding onto him.