Stuck on the metal bed frame was two grey bricks. Two tiny red lights blinking in unison with three thin wires snaking their way away from the light and deep into the brick. It didn't take me long to recognize the bricks as high grade C4 explosives. The type I had only seen in my academy days or in the back of the elite tactical unit trucks. It was the kind that could level a skyscraper with half a brick, let alone the damage two full bricks could do. The panic rushed in like a raging river as I stared at the lights, scouring my brain of about how much time I had.
The lights suddenly stopped blinking, then went solid red before they began blinking in rapid succession, the beeping noise increasing in tempo. I lifted my head as I heard other beeps coming from other places in the room. The room and possibly the entire cottage had been wired with C4.
The explosives had already been triggered. I had less than thirty seconds to get Claire out of the cottage before it exploded
I screamed, "CLAIRE GET OUT OF THE HOUSE NOW!" Scrambling to my feet, my hands barely catching the handle of the bag of clothes, I ran out of the room. Throwing myself down the stairs, my hand keeping me steady as I slipped and missed two, three steps at a time.
Claire was standing in the front door, looking at me confused with her briefcase in her hand. "Kit?"
I barreled into her, shoving and pushing her out of the cottage with my body weight. I grabbed her arm, holding her up as I screamed, "Run! Run to the car and don't stop."
I half dragged, half carried Claire as we stumbled and ran towards the car, the SUV moving closer to us.
As I reached for the passenger door handle to open it and shove Claire inside, the air turned thick and hot. All of the sound was sucked out like a vacuum. I had enough time to move in front of Claire as the massive explosion threw us to the ground.
I covered Claire with my body, shielding her head with my arms as I felt debris begin to rain down all around us. There was one more explosion that quickly followed the first, the intense heat rolling over us in smothering waves. I felt hot chunks of debris burn through my clothes and singe my skin, forcing me to cover Claire with more of my body.
After a few seconds of not hearing another explosion, I opened my eyes. Claire had her arms over her head and was shaking. I ignored the pain settling in my limbs from the force of the blast and the burns, reaching for her, I yelled, "Are you okay?"
Claire moved to her knees, nodding her head as she forced air into her lungs. She looked up at me, tears rolling down her face, cutting clean tracks in the dirt and soot covering her skin. I smiled as I saw she was uninjured, I grabbed her arms, lifting her up, "Get in the car." She nodded weakly again, looking over my shoulder and gasping at what I already knew was there. A burning pile of rubble that used to be the small cottage. She covered her mouth to stifle the sob or scream that was on the edge of her lips.
I shook my head, meeting her eyes, "Get in the car, please, Claire." I pushed her harder, opening the door. Claire looked back down at me, "Kit, you're bleeding." Her voice trembled in a way that made me want to vomit, she went to reach for me with a shaking, dirty hand.
I finally gave in and shoved her into the car, "I know." I slammed the door closed on her, opening the back door long enough to throw the bag and briefcase into the backseat before running to the driver’s side. Crouching as I went to look under the SUV for any more grey bricks, I let out a breath when I spotted nothing. I cringed as I sat in the driver’s seat, the back of my legs were dotted in cuts and small burns. I gripped the steering wheel to funnel the pain elsewhere so I could focus on driving us the hell away from the cottage.
I only glanced at the burning rubble before starting the SUV and throwing it into drive. Squealing the tires as the wails of police sirens came up quickly behind us.
I raced through the small streets, looking in the rearview mirror as blue lights came to a halt in front of the still burning mess. I wiped at the small streaks of my blood dribbling down my forehead before looking over at Claire. Curled up against the door. I reached for her arm, shaking her out of shock, "Claire? Are you okay? Are you hurt?" There were spots of blood on her face and arms, but nothing that appeared to be an actively bleeding injury. I swallowed hard at the idea that it was only my blood on her. I breathed in through my nose to stay calm.
Claire shook her head slowly, looking over at me with red tear riddled blue green eyes. A look that I knew I would never be able to forget, no matter how long I lived. Claire lifted her right hand, covering mine with hers, "You're hurt, Kit."
I nodded once, turning my eyes back to the road, "Worry about me later." I turned back to her, my fear turning into pure rage and hatred, slowly morphing into an uncontrollable desire to find Halston now and make her suffer slowly, painfully. I squeezed Claire's arm to keep her with me and from falling deeper into shock.
Claire shifted in her seat, drawing her eyes to the front windshield, "It was Halston, wasn't it."
I sucked in a breath, racing around a tight corner and shifting as gravity forced me to put pressure on sore spots, "Yes. She got in the cottage." I clenched my jaw, "We will be safe in a few minutes." I reached to the center display of the SUV, hitting the call button to get in contact with Davey.
He answered on the second ring, "Kit, please tell me you and Claire are almost back to the compound. The local police are responding to a massive explosion and fire by the..."
"It was the cottage, Davey, Halston rigged the cottage with explosives. Claire and I are two minutes out. I need you to lock the Centre down then can you and Rebecca meet us in the garage, Claire needs to be looked at by the medical team."
I heard Davey utter a curse word, "How bad is she hurt?"
"I am fine, Davidek, its Kit that needs to be looked at," Claire's shaky voice barely made it to the speaker, but it was still firm as she looked at me with hard, frightened eyes. "Call Dr. Zehren and tell him to find the serum I created for protocol Y last month." Claire stared at me as tears rolled down her face. I let go of her arm, reaching up to brush the tears away, pressing my palm against her cheek.
Whispering to her as she leaned into it, "I am fine, Claire. Just scratches and a few bumps. Nothing to get worried about."
Davey's voice cut in, "Rebecca is on it. We are both on our way down to the garage. The Centre will be on Alpha directives until further notice. The place will be locked up tighter than the Pentagon by the second step you are in the building."
I hung up on Davey as the entrance to the garage came into sight. Letting out another deep breath, I let go of Claire's cheek and smiled weakly at Davey and Rebecca running towards us.
Less than a minute more and we would be safe.
____________________
I barely had the engine shut off when Davey yanked the driver’s door open, "Kit? You okay?" He grabbed me gingerly, lifting me forward to look over my dirty torn clothes, scanning holes edged with blood. I grimaced when he touched a few sore spots, "Yes." I tried to push past him to get out of the car, "Claire first, I can wait. We need to get her to a safer place." I held onto his upper arms as I swung out of the car, my feet hitting the concrete and jolting my body in a way that told me I had a few more issues than scrapes and bumps. I looked in his concerned copper eyes, "Halston, she’s here."
Davey whispered, "Fuck" Through his clenched teeth. He slid his arm in mine, helping me walk to Rebecca helping Claire out of the car. Rebecca looked up at me, nodded once in her way of saying thank you without actually verbalizing it. She moved to help steady Claire, "The Hive quarters are set up and ready." She held onto Claire's arm, "Dr. Zehren is waiting to check you two out."
I shook my head, "Take Claire, I want to go down to security, I need a gun and updates on the perimeter." I shifted, clenching my teeth as a wave of pain rolled over the back of my legs.
Claire, grabbed my arm, "You need to go, Kit. I'll come with you." She stared hard at me, her blue green eyes full of emotion. I could tell in the way she was bargaining with me.
I s
ucked in a breath, moving to stand in front of her, grabbing the sides of her face with both my hands, I smiled, "I will be right behind you. I promise, I just need to get a gun." I turned my head slightly to Davey, "Davey will go with you and I will make sure Rebecca keeps me for no more than five minutes before she escorts me down to the bunker." I looked back at Claire, catching Rebecca shaking her head no.
"Kit, I think it's best if you go with Janes and Claire." She scanned her eyes over my clothes, "I can get you a gun and meet you down there."
I went to open my mouth to rebuke her, when Davey pushed next to me, reaching for Claire, "Fuck this, I'm taking Claire now. You two get Kit her gun and grab a few extras for the rest of us. Five minutes and both of your asses need to be in that bunker sitting next to me and Claire." He shot Rebecca and I dirty look before gently pulling Claire to follow him. Claire reluctantly went with Davey, shock had taken hold and she couldn't think straight and her best friend had a strong grip.
I smiled at her, "Five minutes and I will be sitting next to you, letting you lecture me about how stupid I am as you dab alcohol on my cuts."
Claire smiled weakly, turning back to Davey as he grabbed hold of her with both arms, forcing her to jog next to him as the ran down the hall, bypassing the random security officers scrambling and yelling into radios. It was then I noticed the loud alarm sounding overhead and the flashing lights. I let out a breath looking back where we entered, Rebecca staring at me with daggers as she spoke into a radio.
Clicking off the mic, she spoke quickly, "This isn't a pissing match between you and I. You need medical attention and you need to be with Claire right now. For more reasons than you have burns and lacerations all over your back and legs, Claire needs your strength, Kit, before she cracks." Rebecca's pale blue eyes glinted with genuine care, "Plus I couldn't forgive myself if something happened to you that I could have prevented." She turned away from me, digging in her dress pant pockets for something.
I rolled my eyes, trying to break up the awkward emotional moment. Now wasn't the time for Rebecca and I to find a peaceful friendship, I moved closer to the woman, "I need a gun, Halston tore mine into little pieces leaving me a nice note with a horrific art project mural plastered all over Claire's bedroom wall." I softened towards Rebecca as she ceased all fidgeting hearing about the mural, "She is targeting all of us, every single one of us that is close to Claire. She has placed a bounty on." I lifted my arms to fold them, looking back out the open garage door. Black smoke billowing and filling up the bright blue late afternoon sky, "We need to close that door, lock it down and make sure every part of this building is sealed tight. We should call ahead to the local police and give them a heads up a terrorist is on the loose, it might slow Halston down." I looked back at Rebecca, holding a small device that looked like a touch screen garage door opener.
She mashed the buttons and shook her head, "The damn aftershock of the blast has messed with the motion sensors, the door is malfunctioning. She looked up at the door, smashing the keypad, finally getting a response as the thick steel garage door began to groan in compliance. "Fuck, finally."
I smirked at the bold display from the normally reserved and proper woman, looking back at the door as it trudged its way down, when something caught my eye.
Off in the near distance was a tall figure. Standing right at the crest of the hill before it dipped down to where the garage entrance was. Dressed in all black, I couldn't tell if it was a man or woman. I stared for a second, squinting to register more details, when the figure raised its arm and waved at me, its fingers moving independently like a child’s wave. That's when the only thing I could clearly make out, hit me. The black and red mask with a large white grin highlighted by bright white fang's covering the lower half of the figure's head.
A red, black, and white Kabuki mask.
I felt my heart jump against my chest as I rushed to Rebecca, screaming, "We have to run, now!" Grabbing for the woman's arm as the door continued to slide down, cutting off my view of Halston standing on the hill. Rebecca, startled, whipped her head towards me, confused, "Kit?"
I slapped the device out of her hands, grabbing her by the forearm and pulling her, "This is a trap, Halston wants us in here! We have to get to Claire and get her out!"
Rebecca spun with me, only taking two steps as it hit her quickly what I was screaming at her. Halston set the timers on the cottage, knowing it would give me enough time to get Claire to safety. Knowing I would drive her straight to the Centre and lock it down, thinking Halston was on the outside wanting to get it.
Seeing Halston on that hill, I was wrong. We all played right into her hand, drove Claire right into her trap and now we were locked inside. I glanced back at Rebecca as we began to run, "Call Davey on the radio tell him to move her out..."
I never finished my sentence before the first explosion went off to the right of us. Pulling Rebecca and I to look as the wall of the second garage bubbled out from the force and the building shook. Debris falling as the walls weakened and buckled. Rebecca slowed a step, shoving me in front of her, "Go to the left, there's a series of tunnels that will lead directly to the hive." She met my eyes, fear pouring in the blue irises of the woman as she lifted the radio to call Davey.
The second blast was nothing like I had ever experienced and unlike any action movie could hope to recreate. I slammed my eyes shut as the bright orange flames spiked. I felt the intense heat bristle my skin as I was thrown to the ground purposefully. A small weight, human weight pressing against me, taking me to the ground and tucking my head against a chest with a heart that was pounding like a drumline against my ear.
There was no sound, the blast had replaced my hearing with muted ringing. Only the vibrations of the tremors and debris falling, told me this second blast was directly behind us. I tried to move, but found I couldn't. Strong, small arms held me tightly. A small body pressed me to the floor, covering me so I never felt one piece of rubble fall on me.
I kept my eyes closed, pressing my cheek against the cold floor as my head pounded, waiting for the vibrations to fade and my hearing to return. The only way I knew I was alive was because my palm was stuck under my chest, resting against my heart. A heart that was racing with fear and adrenaline.
A few more seconds that felt like an eternity passed, the body on top of me lifted up and rolled to my right side. I heard a small groan through the fading ringing of my ears. I opened my eyes, blinking away the dust and smoke. Shifting my hands from my chest to push myself up from the floor. The room was still lit, a few overhead lights flickering on and off amongst the destroyed ones. My head was pounding from the air pressure changed the explosion caused. I squinted through the smoke, trying to look around the garage.
The walls still stood, cracks in the concrete and tile, revealing the steel rods. I drug my legs up to sit up and look around before I attempted to get up. I ran a hand over my face wiping away dirt, then over my hair, pushing it out of my face. Blinking more to try and focus through the small clouds of hell around me.
Something wet touched my fingers when I reached for the back of my head. I pulled my fingers away to see the red mixed in with the black dirt and soot. I reached again at the back of my head, pressing fingers on my skull looking for a wound.
"It's not your blood, Kit, it's mine." The weak croak to my right, startled me. I looked down at the ground to see Rebecca laying on her back. Her face clean aside from the blood pouring out of her nose and mouth. She coughed, spewing more blood down her chin as she rolled her head to look at me.
I stumbled, crawling closer to her, "Rebecca! Where are you hurt?" I began pulling at her shirt edge, tearing at the buttons as I pulled it up.
Rebecca let out a painful gasp, her lungs audibly collapsed by the way she wheezed. "It doesn't matter, it's too much for my body to heal."
I shook my head, "Just tell me where you're injured." I looked around, spotting her radio. Still working as it crackled with the voices of panicked security o
fficers. I reached for it, "I'll get them down here."
Rebecca's hand shot out, grabbing my wrist, stopping me. I met her eyes as she swallowed hard, "There's not enough time." She motioned for me to roll her to sit up, "My body is confused."
I helped her up to sit in my arms, looking over her shoulder I failed to hold in my gasp and soft cry.
Rebecca's back was shredded open, she had taken the brunt of the falling lights and tiles. All breaking apart to fall down on her like a thousand sharp knives. Cutting into her skin like box cutters through tissue paper. Rebecca had thrown me to the ground and used her body as a shield, saving my life from the blast. The realization sunk in to the bottom of my stomach as I saw how rapidly the brunette was bleeding out in front of me. The woman I thought hated me, had just saved my life.
I went to tear my shirt into a rag to stop the bleeding and try to save her, when I noticed her wounds were trying to knit together like she had just taken a hit of Claire's serum. The jagged, ripped edges of skin coming together before splitting apart a second later. I could even see her blood vessels try to reconnect then dissolve and fall apart. I leaned back, swallowing down the tears and the fear. Rebecca was dying in my arms.
Rebecca shifted in my grip, leaning against my shoulder. She smiled softly, resigned to the fact she had minutes left to live. "Claire altered my DNA with the last heart regrowth. She gave me a regenerative addition, hoping that if the walls of my heart began to shed like they did before, I would continuously regrow new muscle tissue. Never having to worry about my bum heart." Rebecca coughed again, I quickly wiped away the blood that leaked out the corner of her mouth. I could feel the blood on my arm as I held it against Rebecca’s back to hold her up, "But this much damage, my body doesn't know what to do. It's confused and can't keep up."
I wiped away some of the blood around her face, trying to smile and comfort the woman, "Help is on the way, we will get you fixed up." I felt the tears slip free. I blinked them back even as Rebecca held my eyes. "Just hold on, Rebecca, Claire will take care of you." They were empty promises and we both knew it, I settled my hand against her cheek.
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