The One-Seven

Chapter 26: Thinly Made It Be

It was only years of active combat experience and hard training that allowed him to maintain his composure. Whirling around from the desk, Percy rounded on the pair of shellshocked guards, who were gaping in abject awe and horror at the flashing emergency sirens in the ceiling.

"Armory!" Percy barked, unwittingly dropping back into the role he'd once filled in the Legion.

The guards jumped in fright, and turned to face him. The nearest, a kid who couldn't have been more than nineteen, babbled incoherently at him. Growling in frustration, Percy stalked towards the men,

"Where is the armory?" He asked again, taking care to speak more slowly and to carefully enunciate each word.

"W-wha-" The young guard stammered,

"The armory son!" He barked, his frustration boiling over at the sheer incompetence on display before him, "Where is the godsdamned armory! I've seen the schematics; I know this island has an armory in every building. We need to lock it down before any of the inmates can get there first!"

He also needed to furnish himself with a weapon. While he was more than capable of defending himself from some psychotic thugs, he couldn't exactly go around showing off what he could do in a facility with more cameras than bathrooms. While he still had his hidden backup sidearm in his hip holster, he would feel an awful lot more comfortable if he was packing something with a bit more heat to it.

"Sector three!" Squeaked out the younger guard's frightened partner, who looked to be nearer to Percy's age, and only slightly less rattled than his partner. "By the barracks."

"Move it! We need it locked down now!"

"Wait!" A packed voice cried out before the guard could respond, and the receptionist barreled back into the room. She was looking hysterical, her eyes wide in terror and her hair already looking in disarray.

"Take me with you, please! I-you can't leave me alone with these animals!"

Percy almost groaned, but nodded all the same. he wasn't thrilled about the prospect of babysitting civilians, but he wasn't about to leave the poor woman alone with the inmates, lord only knew what might happen to her otherwise.

"Stay close, and don't wander off," Percy ordered, and the frightened woman nodded, scooting as close as possible to Percy, who ignored her and turned his attention back to the guards.

"Are you two armed?" He asked,

"J-just stun batons, sir," The older of the guards answered,

"Day just keeps getting better and better," Percy grumbled as he pulled his own side-arm from its hidden holster and he loaded in a magazine,

"How did you-" The older guard started to ask, then seemed to think better of it and fell silent.

"Stay close and point me in the right direction." Percy ordered, and the older guard nodded his head shakily and they proceeded off at a careful, but quick pace. Percy was leading the small party, his weapon drawn and scanning the empty corridor, with the receptionist clutching tightly at his back and the two guards flanking him, stun batons drawn and their eyes swerving from right to left nervously.

As they walked, Percy kept his senses expanded outwards, constantly searching for any and all possible incoming threats. But with the density of the building, the sheer number of bodies inside, the plumbing and the small matter that they were trapped on an island, his senses were going a little haywire. He was almost overwhelmed with the amount of sensory input that was coming his way, but he pushed through his difficulties and maintained a steady pace, but he paused as he approached the next corridor. There were three bodies coming their way, it was difficult to interpret who they were by the shapes of water on their own, but their posture and relaxed demeanor told the story for him.