Skinwalker

Using the computer system that is a blueprint of the area, I’m successful at locking the three guards in the breakroom for now. The guard that was monitoring the hallways is trapped in a cell block I haven’t released yet. From somewhere I left unmonitored another guard appears and I’m unable to divert him with doors because he’s moving along the path that is our exit route. I lock a medical tech and a security guard in a cell with the subhuman they were assessing.

As the cameras filter from one location to another I see subhumans rising from the alarm, most are too afraid to approach their cell doors for fear of being electrocuted. Their fear puts Cassandra into action, and she heads in a safe direction to being releasing subhumans who are too afraid to free themselves. It doesn’t take long to lose her in the shuffle. Tala is fighting with a guard I hadn’t accounted for in the hallway, Logan is nearing the exit with Levi, Alexander remains in his cell too weak to help himself, and Catherin has drained the guard meaning she is much stronger than she was but also more dangerous.

The girl is starved, and her thirst will drive her to kill others this morning if she can’t suppress the urge. We’re all in danger, especially subhumans. Our blood smells and tastes different than that of a human. It can be more appealing to some vampires, and if memory serves, that was true for Catherine. She told me once, that hybrids were the most intoxicating for her.

At the time, I didn’t have to be afraid of her because her diet was well balanced, and her thirst was under control. In the last couple of weeks she has been left unnourished except for the two cups of pig’s blood I’ve supplied and now the security guard Tala set her loose on. Her thirst is nowhere near controlled, which means more people will die tonight. This place is a smorgasbord of delicious specimens to choose from.

As subhumans begin to realize they’re free, the hallways become more crowded. There are people carefully milling around all over Genetics Incorporated, afraid of being found and unsure of how to escape. They need someone to get them out of here.

The flash drive has lagged. It’s been three minutes and the transfer seems to be stuck at 25%. I use the mouse to click on the screen, of course this does nothing. So, I click several more times around the screen even though I don’t expect the outcome to change. The dial doesn’t even move. It’s stuck and suddenly I feel the chance of escape shrinking.

I could leave here without the flash drive and complete half of the mission. We could all walk away with our lives and freedom but only for now. Genetics Incorporated will still have their cure, they may have to start over with test subjects and equipment, but the data will still be theirs if I leave this stupid flash drive and save my own skin. We would never be safe again. They would come after us.

I have two options, sit here, and wait for the flash drive to finish, or help people escape and come back for it later, and pray it’s finished upon my return. Both run equal risk for screwing me over.

Instead of sitting and waiting to be cornered, I decide I’d rather be of real assistance. When I stand, I turn and face Neut, who is standing inside of his cell, watching me, pale and looking like death. My muscles jerk and it feels as if I could have jumped out of my skin. I’d completely forgotten his posh cell was right here and his silence, didn’t help. Of course, these alarms would have woken him.

What am I supposed to do with him? He’s cured, he’s a newborn human with nothing extra special or threatening about him anymore. He looks weak and ill, and the exact opposite of someone I need to worry about. Then again, he’s been here since the beginning, and he probably knows things that would help someone else resume this project in the future. What needs to happen is he needs to be given to Queen Scarlet.

The safest place for him right now, is inside of that cell. When I return for the flash drive, I can return for him as well. He says nothing, he just stands there and watches. Perhaps he feels as bad as he looks? Perhaps he regrets what he did to himself?

In the block where Catherine once lived, I find the dead security guard with a torn-out throat and wasted blood spilled. The people of this block, aside from the three subhumans I released, all remain in their unlocked cells, too afraid of Catherine to attempt an escape and too certain their cells would protect them if she had a desire to come after them.

The first occupied cell I come to is that of a young adult, I don’t know what he is other than terrified and attempting to hide next to his cot. He’s got his knees pulled to his chest and he’s watching me carefully. I pull his door open, and this perks up his attention.

I walk toward him and extend my hand in his direction. There’s hesitation but he does grab it eventually and allows me to help him to his feet.

“We’re free?” he asks, peering into the hallway.

Shaking my head I say, “Not yet, but you’re closer now than you were an hour ago.”

He nods his head, seemingly understanding that there is still a fight to be had. That there are still obstacles in this building that will attempt to keep him from his freedom. But he can finally feel his freedom returning, he can finally believe he will make it through the doors of Genetics Incorporated with his life and his ability intact, and that gives him the confidence to let go of my hand, hold his head a little higher, and walk out of his cell.

Others follow his example.

I lead six of them through the hallways slowly. The further we get through, the more commotion we begin to hear. Most people have made it towards the exit at the front of the building, but it sounds like they’ve met an obstacle. It sounds like more security guards have arrived.

I hadn’t put much thought into what a battle with our captors would look like, but now that it’s splayed out in front of me, I realize I assumed it would be more clearly cut. I thought it would be subhumans verses humans but instead it’s a wash of people fighting for what they believe in, disregarding what side they’ve been on up until this point.

Tranquilizers and subhuman abilities are being used as well as hand to hand combat. There is blood splattering the environment and sounds of pain and exertion coming from everyone. My allies are nowhere to be seen. Not even Catherine, the one who would find this opportunity difficult to pass up. I hope that Cassandra is safe somewhere as her magic isn’t within her control, I’d left the bracelets on her wrists unintentionally.

All at once there is a weight against my flank and I’m knocked to the side and onto the ground. I roll onto my back, ready to fight, and a female security guard climbs on top of me. Wildly I try to knock her off of me, but her hands counteract my every move, blocking my attempts for freedom. Finally, I thrust my hips to the side, and she spills off me.

I scramble to my feet, but she gets ahold of my ankle with both of her hands and tries to pull me back to the ground. I shake the leg she’s gotten ahold of in a weak attempt to remove her but am unsuccessful. Instead, I lean against the wall for balance, and smash my other foot into her face, immediately freeing myself from her. She rolls over, crying, and clutching her face.

The breakroom door is wrenched open and the three guards inside are released into the melee. Then the power is cut, everything falls into darkness, and silence follows for one split moment before the red emergency lights click on. An explosion rocks the cinderblock building, cracking several of the windows into the cells, and knocking dust and debris from the ceiling.

Where did that come from? What just blew up?

Something is tossed into the middle of the room and gas beings to emit from it rapidly. Soon there are new people filing through the hallways, some are escaping the smoke that chokes us while others are moving forward to join the battle. Some of these people are armed with masks, shields, and weapons, not just tranquilizers. Frantically I push my way through the crowd, back in the direction I came.

In the hallway outside of the room I left the flash drive, I press my body against the white wall that’s shadowed from the emergency lights and catch my breath. There are people searching the small area, looking for more escaped subhumans. They find Neut in his cell, debate if there is anything the need to do with him, and then leave him behind. When they’ve filed into the hallway I sprint into the room and go to the computer.

It takes a moment for Neut to realize I’ve entered the room, that I’m a freed subhuman, and I’m working against them. He has no idea I’m Piper, the girl he threatened a few days ago. Regardless, he begins hollering, attempting to call the guards back to the room. I shake the mouse and the screen wakes. The transfer has completed, and I eject the drive.

This would be so much better if the queen would update her knowledge of technology. The task is painfully slow and at any moment, a new challenge could present itself. The moment it’s complete I shove the white flash drive into my bra and plug in the red one.

When the guards do come back around the corner, I immediately raise my hands over my head. I look them over, glance at the computer screen, and then look back at them. I’m cornered behind a desk, with three guns aimed at me, and a computer system that’s about to go berserk. I’m their prisoner and the organizer of this breakout. I’m the skinwalker they’ve all been looking for.

The screen on the computer turns black, white writing of words and symbols that make little sense to me scroll across the screen rapidly. The next computer over mirrors that sudden change. The cameras die. The backup power begins to flicker.

Seizing the opportunity, I jump the desk and flee for my life, leaving the red flash drive plugged in. When I reach the hallway there is a pressure in my back, followed by the sound of an explosion that echoes in down the cinderblock pathway from behind me. I’m thrusted forward onto the floor, hitting my face hard against the polished cement. My ears ring with high pitched sounds that drowns out almost everything around me.

Someone grabs my wrists and pulls me into the hallway. I’m not sure how but the doors are shut behind me, separating me from the guards and the room I just abandoned. Confusion consumes me. Not blackness. Not rest. Not peace. Just confusion.

I have no idea who pulled me into the dark hallway. Whoever it was leaves me propped up against the wall while the tune in my ear continues to scream. There’s pain in the left side of my face that digs deep into my brain.

Two bright white beams of light are shone on me from the dark. I block them by raising my left hand. Something tells me I should defend myself, but I don’t. Instead, I wait. That’s when a face, shadowed by the backlit beam of light appears in front of me. There isn’t much to make out except for thick, black framed glasses.

Something stings my arm and lights the inside of it on fire. I feel myself gasping for air from screaming but I still can’t even hear myself. The woman in the glasses, her face turns from maniacal to terrified, and she’s pulled into the shadows. There’s a scuffle. One of the lights rolls towards me on the ground, stopping against my foot.

Painfully, I grab the object buried into my upper arm, pull it out of my flesh, and drop it on the ground in front of me. I observe it in the glow of the flashlight. A syringe coated red with a needle on the end of it. Sound begins to come back to me. My heart feels weak as I realize that once again, I’ve been dosed with something, and I doubt it’s another vitamin B-12 shot.

I’m moved and the agony I was in a moment ago could be considered a simple discomfort when compared to the type I’m in now. There’s pressure in my right shoulder, and one strong arm is across the front of my body holding me in place. My lungs burn from screaming and my eyes can’t even see straight. It feels like this person’s hand is inside of my shoulder, tearing apart my muscles, and breaking my bones. Then it subsides, whether from the removal of their hand or the numbness from pain, I can’t tell.

A young woman squats down in front of me, she lifts a beautifully pale hand covered in blood, and sucks it from her fingertips. Then she licks a trail that’s running down her wrist euphorically. Catherine just tasted my blood.

Then, all at once and rather suddenly, she scoops me up from the ground. Leaning against her shoulder, I’m led through the poorly lit hallways, over bodies, passed a scene of people being arrested, and into the thunderstorm that is consuming the morning sunrise.