LifeWild

They decide to go right away. The entire drive will take close to three and a half hours. They can arrive around midnight if they leave within the next hour. James gathers a few tools and electronic devices he figures will come in handy and puts them in the trunk with some medical supplies and the dufflebag and backpack Arthur had been carrying.

James heats up some microwave dinners and they have a small meal before they are on their way. They eat quickly and quietly, each of them pondering what the next few hours will bring.

Soon, they are heading west on Highway 50. They will be on this road until they reach Grand Junction, around one-hundred and thirty miles away. The four of them fill James’ blue Civic to capacity. James is driving and Arthur is in the passenger seat, not being able to fit in the back seat. Jasele is behind Arthur and Haley is sitting behind James.

The drive is a rather scenic one in the daytime, driving through the Rocky Mountains and by the Blue Mesa Reservoir surrounded by national forests. In the waning light, however, it looks mostly like different shades of darkness on all sides. It is unknown whether it is caused by the darkness of their surroundings, or if it is because of the uncertainty of their mission, but they are silent for almost an hour.

“James,” Haley breaks the silence. “You said most of the other locations were filled close to capacity, right?”

“Yeah, all but the one we are headed toward. Why?”

“Well, one place has around one-hundred, one has sixty and the one we’re going to has thirty-three now. How many does the last one have?”

“That one had twenty like the one by Gunnison.”

“Well, with that one,” she pauses to add it all up in her head, “there are over two-hundred people like Arthur and Jasele out there.”

“Including the first group they sold, it’s probably closer to two-hundred and fifty.”

Arthur and Jasele are dumbfounded. Until recently, they thought there were only twenty of them in the world, and now, to find out there are over two-hundred is overwhelming.

“What’s going to happen to all of them if we are successful?”

“I don’t really know,” James seems sorry that he doesn’t have a better answer. “I hope they will all be taken care of and be able to integrate into our world, sooner or later. I am hoping I will be able to be a part of the lives of the ones from the Compound.”

Arthur and Jasele smile at this idea.

“We’d love that, James!” Arthur exclaims. “We’ve really grown to think of you as part of our family. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

Haley opens her mouth like she is about to ask him another question when she notices he is looking at her through the rear view mirror. She gets the impression he does not want her to ask her question, but she is not sure how he knows what it is. She closes her mouth and thinks about it some more. If what she was thinking is true, he probably would have brought it up already if he had wanted it made known. She decides her question can wait.

For the next hour, Arthur and Jasele take turns telling stories of growing up in the Compound. Arthur tells them about the first time he was able to lift one of the concrete blocks above his head. He was thirteen years old and he nearly scared the technicians out of the room because he had let out a loud roar as he was lifting it. He laughs again as he remembers the looks on their faces.

Jasele tells stories of running at top speed and what it feels like. She tells them she had to learn to look at least forty feet ahead or more while running. She jokes that before she learned that trick, she was forced to have intimate relationships with all of the trees and ditches around the compound.

Haley even tells the story of the one time she went skiing. Her parents had taken her up the mountain when she was seven. She had been shown the basics of snow plowing and how to fall correctly and how to get up again. She was full of excitement and confidence and shooed her parents away when she got to the top of the bunny slope. She proceeded to start down the hill and promptly forgot everything. She kept going faster and faster until she thought there was no way she was going to be able to stop. She panicked and fell forward causing her skis, poles and her body to do a series of somersaults until coming to rest in a heap at the foot of the slope.

She did not know then, but her parents were by her side the entire time ready to stop her if she were to get too far out of control. She also did not realize how small the bunny slope really was. The entire slope was only fifty feet long and her speed had only been barely above a walking pace. Apparently, she hadn’t even flipped over; she had just fallen forward and laid there. In her eyes, though, she had been careening out of control and nearly died on the slopes that day.

So, since then, she has never attempted to ski again. Of course, all of her fellow classmates at Crested Butte Community School thought it was the funniest thing that a girl whose parents owned a ski resort didn’t ski. Everyone in the car thought the story was funny as well, laughing the most when she had talked about how fast she really was going.

They ask James if he has any fun stories and he informs them he could not possibly top the ones he just heard. They continue to prod him until he decides to tell a story as well.

He recollects a time when he was about twelve and he and his parents had just moved to San Diego for a new business opportunity his father had gotten involved in. They were living in their car at the time and kept it parked in a parking lot by the beach.

James says he taught himself how to surf and would go out and surf each morning before the sun came up. He loved being out on the water when the sun came up over the mountains and would shine on him and his board as he rode toward the shore. To this day, he feels those moments were some of the most peaceful and enjoyable he has ever had.

One day, though, he had gone out as usual and had found a wave to ride just as the sun was starting to appear. He stood up and was coming in on the wave when he saw two figures standing on the shore. He was not sure who they were at first, but as he came closer, he realized it was his parents. They were waving wildly and cheering for him as he rode in. When he came to shore they grabbed him and hugged him and told him how proud they were of him. He says it was the best day of his childhood and he still thinks back on it whenever he is sad.

Everyone in the car is quiet. James looks at them and is embarrassed.

“I’m sorry if it wasn’t a funny story. I’m sure I can think of one if you give me a few more minutes.”

Haley hurries to correct him.

“James, your story is amazing. Don’t be sorry for a second.”

Jasele nods in agreement.

“She’s right,” Arthur adds. “I liked that story so much I think I am going to think about it when I am sad, too.”

James laughs at Arthur’s words, as do Haley and Jasele. James looks at Arthur and Jasele and smiles. He continues smiling as he looks into the rearview mirror at Haley. She smiles back and gives him a wink. He is amazed at how intuitive she is. He wonders if she knows everything about her own story yet.

About three hours after they started driving, James turns off of Highway 6 and begins to follow a narrow dirt road.

“I will drive about two-thirds of the way and find a place to hide the car. From there we will have to walk the last two or three miles. I have the coordinates plugged into a GPS, so we should be able to walk straight there.”

“You won’t need that,” Haley grins, “Arthur and Jasele are like living GPS machines. They could probably already tell us where the place is if we were to stop. It’s amazing!”

James looks at Arthur, who nods in agreement.

“We should come up with a plan.” James tells them. “We will be there soon, and we should probably all be on the same page.”

“I think when we get there, we should look for a rear entrance or service door. There will probably be one near where they keep the garbage. We will then carefully and quietly force open the door. At that point, I will head toward the main office area, where the computers should be. You three can stay together and find the rooms where everyone is being held. When I am done copying the files, I will flip the emergency release and call the police. At that point, you three can help everyone get up to the surface, and we can wait for the police to arrive.”

“What about the technicians?” Arthur is concerned that they were not mentioned. “How are we going to deal with the ones that are there when we come in?”

“There should not be more than one or two of them there at night, most likely only one. Whoever is there, will probably be in the main offices. I can easily subdue two or three of the technicians, especially in tight quarters like an office. If, by a twist of bad luck, there is a technician in the hallways on your way to the rooms, it shouldn’t be too hard for the three of you to neutralize him. The technicians at the Compound never carried weapons that could kill, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

James pauses for a moment.

“Well, what do you think? Will it work?”

Arthur seems positive.

“It sounds like a good idea, as long as the police arrive before the technicians come in the morning. They will be really upset. Everyone will be like sitting ducks up on the surface if the technicians get there before the police show up.”

“It shouldn’t be a problem, but we can double check the time when we get there.”

They drive for a few more minutes and then James finds a relatively flat section of forest floor and drives off of the road. He weaves between the trees for a few hundred feet and stops behind a rather thick bunch of pines. He turns off the motor and proceeds to step out of the car and head to the trunk. The others follow his lead and get out of the car also. Instantly, Jasele and Arthur are breathing in deeply, taking in the scents of the area.

“We’re close,” Arthur announces, “probably less than two miles. It’s just down the hillside.” He gestures in a southerly direction.

“They’re here, Arthur!” Jasele exclaims. “Laila, Timothy, Penelope, even the young ones. They’re all here!” She is finding it hard to stand still anymore.

James has turned on his GPS, but upon hearing Arthur and Jasele’s revelations, he switches it off and places it back into the trunk.

“That is truly amazing. Can you tell how many technicians are there right now, also?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Arthur replies apprehensively. “The smells linger over time, so I can only tell who has been there over the last few days.”

“Still amazing, nonetheless.” James reassures.

“Are we ready?” Jasele asks, still jumping around like she is standing on hot coals. “Let’s go!”

As they begin to walk, they remain mostly silent. Jasele keeps running ahead of the group, waiting only until they are back in sight before sprinting forward again. After they have walked for about forty-five minutes, they see Jasele sitting on a large rock, nervously tapping her feet as she waits for them.

“It’s just up ahead.” She announces in a whisper. “I have circled it twice and I think I found a door we can get into. We’ll have to get through a gate, too, but it shouldn’t be too hard.”

They walk together for the last two hundred feet. As they get closer, they notice a light shining through the trees. After a few more steps, they reach a clearing in the trees and see the fence. It is almost identical to the fence the Compound had and the courtyard inside the fence is similar as well. The building itself is actually smaller than the other one and looks less like a warehouse and more like a big garage.

“I thought this place was supposed to be larger than the Compound?” Haley asks in a low voice.

“It is.” James answers in an equally low tone. “Most of these facilities are designed to be below ground level. The compound had one floor below the surface; this one probably has two or even three. That will probably add a little time to our search, but the designs are always simple; they have long straight hallways with lots of rooms.”

Jasele leads them around the perimeter, following the fence to the back of the building. She stops and points out a small door with two trash cans sitting neatly to its side.

“That should work.” James decides. “It probably leads down to the kitchen area. From there we should be able to find the areas we are looking for fairly easily.”

James grabs some metal shears out of his bag and begins cutting through the links to the fence. After he cuts a strip about three feet long, he replaces the shears into his bag and turns to Arthur.

“Would you like to do the honors?”

Arthur walks up and pulls on the two sides of the fence. They separate like two pieces of paper. When the gap is about two feet wide, he lets go of the fence and steps back, gesturing for the others to go through first.

James steps through first and waits on the other side as Jasele follows behind him. Haley comes through after her, and Arthur is last. Once they are through, they walk quietly to the doorway. James tries the handle and finds it locked.

“Wishful thinking,” he says in such a quiet voice they almost do not hear him.

He grabs a crowbar from the bag and quietly wedges it into the door right above the latch. He signals for Arthur. Arthur grabs the crowbar and shifts his weight against the bar in a way that will hopefully pry the door from the frame. After a few seconds, the metal frame surrounding the door begins to bend. Arthur continues to push slowly but forcefully until the metal is bent enough that the latch is able to pop out from the frame and the door swings open.

The hallway revealed by the open door is dark. They step inside and swing the door shut behind them, pausing after to let their eyes adjust to the darkness.

James signals for them to lean in so he can whisper.

“The main office is probably on the level right below us. I will look around here. The others are most likely on the lower floors. With a building this size, there is probably a stairway here in the middle and once you are down a level, I’d guess there is also one on each end of the hallway. Find the nearest set of stairs and head down quietly. I’m guessing your sense of smell will be able to lead you to them quite easily. Once you are there, wait until you hear the door locks release. In the meantime, be watching out in case a technician is walking around the area. Good luck. I’ll see you all outside, hopefully in a few minutes.”

They walk down the hallway together until they come to the doorway leading to the stairs. Like the time before, James inserts the crowbar and Arthur quickly forces the door open. The stairs are dimly lit from the floor below. As one, they walk slowly down the stairway to the next level. The hallway is brightly lit from above by fluorescent lighting and it appears the lower levels are the same way.

James watches as the rest of the group quietly descends the next stairway and he stays until they are no longer in sight. He begins to walk down the hallway listening and looking for signs of any of the technicians. As he continues down the hallway, he carefully looks into each room. The first room he sees is the kitchen, like he had assumed. Further down the hallway is the dining area. The next few rooms are lined with shelves full of glassware and furnished with counters covered with a variety of electronic equipment. He recognizes them to be the lab rooms and continues along. He sees there are only three rooms left and then a stairway at the end of the hall. He guesses one will be a viewing room, another a classroom and the third will be the main office. He slowly and quietly approaches the next room and looks inside.

He sees several desks in the room. Each one is equipped with a computer and a phone. Most of the desks have several piles of papers arranged in various levels of neatness.

Seeing no one in the room, James enters and sits at the desk farthest from the door. Since he has not encountered anyone yet, he must assume one of three things. First, this facility does not have anyone here at night. That would be ideal. Second, whoever is here is either sleeping or watching TV in the viewing room. That option is not so bad either. Third, they are walking around the lower levels. He does not like this option, he hates the idea Arthur, Jasele and Haley might be at risk. He decides, regardless of the option, he should be doing his job now, so he gets started.

The first thing he does is pick up the phone to dial the police. They are twenty miles away in Grand Junction, so it will take them close to a half hour to arrive. He tells the dispatch officer exactly who he is, where he is and what is happening here. He explains briefly about the genetic experimentation and the victims kept prisoner here. He assures them he has proof leading all the way up to the Department of Health and Human Services. He lets them know they should probably send as many officers as are available. There will be many scared individuals and the possibility of trouble in the morning, if they are still around. He lets them know he is a retired Marine Corps officer and gives his last rank and outpost, suggesting they call there to verify his background if the authenticity of his story is in question.

The next thing he does is turn on the computer. He types in the code he had created which lets him have access to any of the computers on this network. He finds the dummy file he created and begins downloading files to his flash drive. He sees that the process will be complete in twelve minutes. He decides to look over the message boards on the computer while he waits for the files to download. The message boards will let him know of any news relevant to them.

He sees an entry titled ‘Monster Sighting.’ He clicks on the words to read the message thread.

Just read an article in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. It states Dr. Modino, a doctor from Crested Butte, was attacked outside a gas station in Parlin. The station owner describes a huge beast, at least seven feet tall and twice as wide as a human nearly killed Modino before running off into the forest. Modino claims he was attempting to rescue a girl who appeared to have been abducted by the monster. Upon arrival in Parlin, Modino saw what looked like one of his patients being forced into the forest by two creatures. Before he could react, the smaller monster grabbed her and ran away with incredible speed while the larger monster attempted to kill him. Modino has implored the local communities to help find this innocent victim.

James clicks on a response to the thread. It states that the ‘monsters’ seem to be remarkably similar to the two missing from the Compound. He closes that thread and returns to the main message board. Before reading any other entries, he glances at the progress of the download. It has four minutes left until completion. He looks back at the messages.

He spots a more recent post entitled ‘Security Protocols.’ Sensing it might be relevant, he clicks on the thread.

The Director has mandated, due to the likelihood the two escapees from the Gunnison facility will try to gain access to the Molina facility, onsite personnel will be increased accordingly. During daytime hours, the personnel numbers are to increase to twenty and during nighttime hours, the personnel numbers are to increase to ten. This change is to take place immediately and remain in effect until further notice. Remain alert at all times and report any unusual activities to the office of the Director.

James is finding himself fighting off a slight panic. It is an unusual feeling for him. In the military he has been in many dangerous situations and has had to face the prospect of dying more times than he cares to remember, but he is rarely scared. Right now, knowing there are ten technicians somewhere in this building and Arthur, Jasele and Haley are a floor away with no knowledge of this information, James is genuinely worried. He has never had this much to lose.

He has to get to them as soon as possible. He checks the status of the download. Two minutes left. He can’t believe how long this is taking. He formulates a plan in his head. As soon as the files are downloaded, he will remove the flash drive, immediately hit the emergency door release on the wall by the door and make his way down to the others. He hopes they are still safe.

The viewing room is full. This is the first night since the new orders from the director, so there are ten technicians working tonight, eight more than usual. The Molina facility is still adjusting to the transfer of everyone from the Gunnison facility and now they are dealing with the paranoia of the Director. The ten in the room have decided since the last sighting was in Parlin, over one hundred and fifty miles away, they are in no real danger of a break in or an attack from the escapees, especially tonight. They are pleased with the fact they will be getting paid many overtime hours to play cards, watch TV or sleep for the foreseeable future. In fact, several of them have decided to stage sightings in the area every week or so to keep the Director worried and to keep the easy money flowing.

They all thought overnight shifts were a joke before. With two of them, all they would have to do is go through a short list of tasks and sleep the rest of the night. Tonight, they divided up the tasks between the ten of them and were done within a half an hour. Since then, five of them have been playing poker, three have been watching movies and two have been sleeping in the recliners.

After a particularly costly hand, a technician gestures to the person to his left.

“I’ve lost enough money for a while. We should probably go on rounds.”

Before he can respond, one of the technicians across the table interrupts.

“Don’t bother. Everything is locked up and nothing ever happens here. Keep playing. I’m sure you’re luck’s about to change.”

“No, I have been looking forward to going on rounds. I’ve been meaning to check on one of the transfers from Gunnison.”

He gets up from the table and the technician to his left gets up as well.

“Yeah, that’s right. I just wouldn’t feel right if we neglected checking up on that transfer. Plus, at least this way, you’ll know the place is secure.”

They walk out the door into the main hallway. The technicians remaining at the table watch them leave with incredulous looks on their faces.

“Don’t worry about it, guys,” the technician from across the table states, “those Gunnison guys have always been a little high strung. They were probably just upset about losing all of their money.”

The two who left the room walk to the stairway next to them on the left. They walk down joking to each other about how much Penelope has probably missed them over the last few days and how they still need to return the gifts she gave them the day she tried to escape.

Arthur, Jasele and Haley continue down the stairway. They look up to see James watching them. Arthur and Jasele already know they are very close to where the others are located. The scent grows stronger with every step. Once they arrive on the next level, they conclude all of the others are in this hallway.

The hall is well lit and very quiet, like the floor above. They see no signs of technicians anywhere.

“James told us to wait near the rooms and be ready.” Arthur reminds the other two. “I think we should sit under this last portion of stairs where it is fairly dark and wait. There we will at least have the element of surprise if a technician does come by.”

The other two agree and they all move under the stairway and sit on the floor. From this vantage point, they are able to see the entire length of hallway in both directions and would easily notice someone coming down the center stairway. They seem to be in perfect position for any situation that could arise. Now, all they need is to wait for the doors to unlock.

They sit for nearly ten minutes without anything happening. The place has been absolutely still the entire time. They are beginning to wonder if anything might have happened to James. They expected to see the doors open several minutes ago, but the hallways continue to be silent.

Suddenly, Arthur and Jasele become alert. Down at the end of the hallway, the end farthest from where they entered the building, they see two figures coming down the stairs. The scent hasn’t quite reached them yet, but Arthur believes they look familiar. Jasele feels the same way; Haley observes the hair on the back of Jasele’s head and neck stick straight out.

They figures walk down the hallway coming closer with every step. Arthur is now sure they are from the Compound. Haley whispers for them to wait until they are near the stairs, so they won’t see it coming. Arthur is tense and ready to move, but he remains in place.

The technicians stop at the door to one of the rooms. As one of them searches a key ring, the other gives the door a light knock and moves aside a metal slider revealing a small opening.

“Hey, Penelope,” whispers the technician who knocked. “We haven’t seen you in a few days; we know you must be missing us like we’re missing you.”

At that instant, time seems to explode and slow down simultaneously. Arthur lets out a roar louder than Haley has ever heard before. The entire hallway seems to be shaking with the power of his voice. His body appears to grow before her eyes as he rises to his feet. His face is a mask of blind rage and his eyes are filled with the desire to destroy. In the time it takes Haley to raise her arm and attempt to reach out for him, Arthur has leapt into the hallway and is already several feet away from her. Her face whitens in fear as she is forced to watch him stampede towards them.

He is already halfway to them before they can even begin to react. They turn to look down the hallway and their eyes widen with fear as they see nothing less than death itself about to rip them apart. As they turn to run, Arthur roars even louder than before, the sheer force of the noise rattling the doors on their frames and nearly knocking the technicians off of their feet.

They have run no more than ten feet when he has caught up to them. Arthur swats the first one across the chest with his left hand so hard he becomes airborne and flies like a ragdoll into the wall. The wall crumbles from the impact and pieces fall toward the ground along with the technician, who lands in a heap on the floor, unmoving.

The second technician has made it to the stairs and is stumbling up them nearly hysterical with fear. Arthur leaps toward the stairs landing within a few feet of him. He lets out a rumbling growl which turns into a roar and lunges. The technician manages to avoid the attack by mere inches and continues to try to escape.

The three technicians remaining in the poker game are halfway through the next hand when they hear what sounds to them like a jet engine coming from the lower level. All eight of the people in the room are quickly on their feet and ready for action. The technician in charge tells them to split into three groups of two and each take one of the stairways. He will take the last guy with him to the office to grab the gun and call the Director. They quickly pair up and are on their way as a second roar is heard, louder than the first.

James is anxiously waiting for the last minute of downloading to finish when he hears Arthur’s roar. He knows Arthur would only sound like that if something bad was happening. He must get to him!

Thirty more seconds.

He pleads for them to be okay until he can help them.

Twenty more seconds.

He is sure time is slowing down to a standstill. He hears Arthur roar again, louder than the first time.

Ten seconds.

Almost there. C’mon, Arthur, hang in there!

Download complete.

James rips the flash drive out of the computer and is halfway across the room as two technicians enter the room and what looks like four more run past the doorway.

James sticks the flash drive into his pocket and prepares to take these two down. He needs to get to the others so he can help them. The technician closest to him lunges. James moves with the attack falling backwards and as soon as the technician is on top of him, James uses his legs to fling the man onto his back. He turns to see the second technician reaching into a drawer and pulling something out. By the time James realizes it is a gun, it has been fired and James’ body explodes with pain.

Jasele and Haley watch in shock as Arthur tears down the hallway after the two technicians. They both are quite aware of what the technicians were about to do and are not sure they would have tried to stop Arthur, even if they would have been able to do so.

A few seconds after the first technician is a crumpled mess on the floor and Arthur is lunging towards the stairs, Haley and Jasele hear a gunshot echoing from above.

“NO!” Jasele shrieks, her face contorting in fear. “James!”

She is running instantly. Before Haley even knows she is leaving, Jasele is halfway up the stairs, racing toward James; he needs her help. Jasele is almost to the top of the stairs when she comes upon two technicians looking a little startled, but ready with the shock sticks and tranquilizers. She just wants to get past them right now and get to James.

She leaps toward the closer of the two and slashes across his chest with the nails of her left hand. She then slashes his face as she pushes him into the second technician and races past them toward James’ scent.

She arrives in the doorway to see James on the floor covered in blood with a man standing over him holding a gun. She also sees a man slowly getting up several feet behind James. She screams in fury and leaps onto the back of the man carrying the gun. She first digs the nails of her left hand deep into his left shoulder and the nails of her right hand into his right hand making him release the weapon. She flips the man over and rakes her nails across his chest in the shape of an X.

She then leaps from his body over to the technician behind James and they both careen into a desk. Jasele slashes his face and digs her nails into his biceps as deeply as she can.

Suddenly, she feels a sharp pain in her back. She releases the technician and begins to turn around.

She feels another stinging pain, this time in her leg. She looks down and sees a dart sticking into her thigh. She looks up and sees the technician she ignored standing in the doorway pointing a tranquilizer gun in her direction. She tries to get on her feet to leap onto him, but she is having trouble standing. She begins to crawl toward James so she can protect him.

She feels another sting, this time in her arm. She is almost to him. She can’t even tell if he is alive. She sees his eyes. She tries to tell him she is sorry, but she is unable to find a voice.

She manages to pull herself between James and the technician. She tells herself to make one last leap at him, but instead her body shuts down and she falls to the floor. Her world turns to darkness.

Haley is not sure what she should be doing right now. Arthur is no longer visible at the far end of the hallway. Jasele is somewhere upstairs. She has become very aware she has no weapons and none of the gifts Arthur or Jasele possess. She decides she may not be able to do much, but she has to try. Jasele might need her. Arthur might need her.

She gets up from behind the stairway and begins heading down the hallway toward where Arthur disappeared. She only goes a few steps when she hears them behind her. She turns around to see two of the technicians walking toward her. She tries to kick one of them, but he grabs her leg and twists it, forcing her to fall to the ground.

The second technician hits her with the full voltage in the back with the shock stick. She is overwhelmed with a pain sensation and finds herself unable to move. About five seconds later she regains control of her muscles.

“Arthur!” She screams as loudly as she can manage. “Please help me! Please!”

She turns around to see the first technician holding the shock stick like a golf club and swinging it at her face. She is barely aware of the pain as her head is knocked sideways into the wall. She falls motionless against the floor.

On his third leap, Arthur is able to land on the back of the technician running up the stairs. He growls a loud roar at his head before picking him up and slamming him into the wall. He is about to grab the technician again, but he sees two more technicians at the top of the stairs. He adjusts his angle and prepares to leap the remaining stairs and take them both out. Before he does so, however, he hears Haley screaming his name and begging for help.

The anger instantly leaves him and is replaced with fear and worry. He quickly turns and bounds down the stairs and into the hallway. He sees her lying on the ground and two technicians standing over her. He smells blood and sees it pooling around her head.

The rage is back tenfold. His eyes see only a red blur as he races towards them. He is not aware, but his roar is more of a screaming growl now, and intensifies with each step he takes. He reaches them in an instant, grabbing them and slamming them together with such force they are instantly unconscious. He lets out a furious roar and slams their bodies together again, not even noticing the sounds of bones breaking.

He becomes aware of pain to his body. The anger is leaving his body along with feelings of pain and fatigue. He turns around to see two technicians standing about twenty feet away aiming tranquilizer guns at him. He has already been shot with ten darts and when he turned around, they each shot another dart into his chest.

He drops the two technicians he is holding and hurries over to Haley. He can’t hear her breathing. He can’t smell her scent over the blood. She is not okay. He doesn’t know what is happening.

They shoot him twice more in the chest. He leans over Haley protectively. Tears are streaming down his face as they shoot him again.

He doesn’t want to live if she is dead.

He falls over into the middle of the hallway. He keeps his eyes fixed on her as they lose focus and his mind sinks into oblivion.

The pain James feels as he falls to the ground is nothing compared to the pain of the bullet as it was tearing through his body. In all his years of service to his country, he’d never been shot. He finds it interesting it is only painful for a second and then nothing. As he lies on the ground, he feels only worry for the others.

The man with the gun is standing over him now, presumably to finish the job. James readies himself, wondering what death will be like.

All of a sudden, Jasele is on top of the man with the gun, tearing at him. She then leaps over James and he hears her crashing into a desk. While she is behind him, James sees another technician standing in the doorway. He tries to warn her, but his body doesn’t seem to be working right at the moment. He is forced to watch as she is shot repeatedly with darts.

A few moments pass until he sees her crawling between him and the technician in the doorway. She is shot again and falls facing him. He tries to give her any kind of a signal, but he is still not in control of his body.

He is getting cold. He is fully aware of what that means. His body wants him to sleep, but they are not safe, he can’t sleep. He sees Jasele’s eyes are no longer seeing him.

The doorway is darkened with several people. He tries to look more closely. They are not the technicians, they are police officers! He knows they will be safe now. The police will find the flash drive in his pants at some point and everyone will be safe.

He is too cold. He cannot stay conscious any longer. He finds peace in the fact the police are there and they will take care of everything. He no longer fights his body’s will.