Experiment VII

Chapter Thirty-Three: Decoy

     Impulsively, I break out into a sprint behind the two of them before anyone has a chance to react. As soon as I step outside, the deafening sound of a bullet ripping through the air pierces my ears. I come to an abrupt halt as Doctor Lopez hits the ground with a thud.

     The winged figure of Chester stands, a smoking gun in hand, and his grave features void of almost any expression.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I demand, jogging over to Lopez. She lies on the ground, moaning in pain. A steady stream of crimson liquid flows out of the bullet hole in her side. The blood seeps through her shirt coating her hands red as she presses them against the wound.

     I grit my teeth together, hating myself as I kneel down to help the woman.

"Just let her die," the voice suggests.

     She lets out a cry as I push my hand onto her side in an attempt to staunch the bleeding.

     A weak smile worms its way over her face. "Not gonna let me bleed out then?" she taunts.

"Oh, I'd love to," I spit, venom lacing my voice.

     We need her, and she knows it, but that does not make this any easier after everything she has done.

     She fails to bite back a scream as I apply more pressure to her wound, more for my own pleasure than to stop further bleeding.

     Footsteps rapidly approach behind me, Gemma kneeling beside the two of us.

"I need space," she commands, shockingly calm as she sets her medical bag down beside the bleeding woman.

     I nod, dragging myself to my feet. I smear my bloodied hands onto my clothes, staining them in scarlet liquid.

     The rest of the team comes pouring out the warehouse door. They each share an expression of shock and confusion at the scene unfolded before them.

"What happened?" Rychner demands, the anger evident in his voice.

"Chester shot her," I state simply.

     Not before shooting me a quick glare, Chester rushes to his defence. "She was getting away."

"You have wings, Chester," I remark accusingly as I return his glare.

     Rychner points his finger toward me, "You, shut up," then turns to Chester. "And you. If you can't obey simple orders then I have no use for you on this team. Ya here me? Pull something like this again and you're gone."

"Won't happen again," comes Chester's flat response.

"Right..." Rychner sighs sceptically. "A'ight, go help Gemma load Lopez into the can and...try not to kill her while you're at it. Axel, Ellie, check out the building again, see if there's anything useful we can use."

"Got it," I nod making my way back into the building with Ellie following behind me.

     My eyes land on the bloody corpse of the man I stabbed mere minutes ago. I linger in the doorway and study his lifeless features. I grimace at his accusing, yet dead, eyes seeming to bore into me, freezing me in place.

"Yes, he's dead. Yes, you did kill him. Get over it," Charthrax states coldly.

     My face begins to contort, my nostrils flaring and my chest releasing a huge breath of air as I struggle to keep myself together at Charthrax's both agitating and frequent commentary.

"Ya alright?" Ellie questions, giving me a nudge.

"Hm?" I snap my head up to look at her. "What? Yeah, yeah, fine," I shrug her off.

     Not wanting to converse further, I saunter over to a giant stack of crates, having to step over multiple of Umbra's men on the way.

     Upon drawing nearer to one of the crates, my curiosity reaches its peak. What could be so important that Doctor Lopez came all the way out here to see? I slide my fingertips along the crate's metal surface, pondering about its contents. I take a grip of the handles, pulling the lid clear of the rest of the box. I furrow my eyebrows together. My eyes land on the crate's contents, or lack thereof.

"It's...empty."

     Ellie ambles over. "What do you mean it's empty?" She approaches, peering into the empty crate.

     I crank the metal lids off of several other crates, yet they too are void of any contents.

"What would Umbra want with a bunch of empty crates?" I think out loud. "They must've made some kind of mistake..." I pause. "No...no, Umbra doesn't make mistakes...but then why were they here?...Unless..." I release the tension in my face as the sudden realization hits me like a ton of bricks.

"Unless what?" asks Ellie expectantly.

"Unless they want us here."

     Obvious confusion clouds Ellie features. "What? Why? Why would they want us here?"

"Hey! Where are you going?" Ellie demands as I bolt past her, headed for the door.

     I sprint out the doorway, my eyes landing on Rychner as he walks in the other direction.

"Rychner!" I shout behind him.

     He spins around to look at me and sighs, "Axel, I thought I told you to-"

"-Listen to me," I cut him off. "It's a setup."

"What do ya mean it's a setup?" Rychner questions puzzled and in disbelief.

"T-the crates, they were empty," I stutter, struggling to get the words out with adrenaline pumping through me at an unhealthy rate. "Why would they risk Doctor Lopez, a person they know you've been trying to catch for months, just for a bunch of empty boxes? They were trying to draw us out. I don't know why, but-"

     Rychner's face immediately drops, his confusion instantly dissipating. "-I do," he cuts me off, a sense of urgency and seriousness in his voice. "We need to get back. We need to get back now."

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! This chapter was surprisingly pretty fun to write, and I'm even more excited to write the next one. Hope you enjoyed it!