Licensed Apocalypse

*twelve* Not Like Him

"You ready?"

"Of course. You?"

"Always."

The two dropped down the metal chute. Lucis landed into a roll but Eric wasn't so graceful. He winced in pain as he stood up, knees stinging. At least nothing's broken. Eric thought as he followed his friend through the hallway. Both had readied guns aimed and raised ahead of them.

"Left!" Lucis ordered at a crossroads. The two turned sharply to the left and kept walking forwards. Lucis stopped, making Eric bump into him. "Sorry." Lucis whispered as he crouched down.

"It's fine." Eric said, looking over him at the thin bars of the vent hatch. People walked underneath talking. They wore white lab coats and their boots clacked along the floor. "There are human's in here? I thought it would just be zombies."

"Me too." Lucis said in a hushed tone, watching the people walk past. "How haven't the zombies gotten to them yet? They don't look like they could fight off some zombies."

"Maybe they control the zombies." Eric said, making Lucis look at him. He shrugged. "It's just a theory." Once all the people had passed by (Eric had lost count) Lucis popped open the vent grating and dropped down. Eric followed, this time with a little bit more grace. Lucis glanced behind him to see if anyone was coming. Once everything was clear he beckoned to Eric to follow him. They both walked forward silently, ears perked for the sounds of boots. Lucis turned the corner and instantly jumped back behind it. Eric stopped behind him. Two people had walked out of a room and now were walking towards Lucis and Eric talking in loud voices. They passed Lucis and Eric without looking at them.

"What was that?" Lucis asked as the two rounded the corner.

"I have no idea." Eric said, watching, like Lucis, the spot where the two people had rounded the corner.

"We have to move." Lucis said. Eric nodded and turned to follow his friend.

"You both look too young to be in the protection squad. New recruits?"

The two froze.

"Unless you're trying to steal from us."

The two turned to see a man standing behind them.

"I think the latter seems more correct." He said.

"We're cadets." Lucis blurted. The man's mouth formed a silent 'oh'.

"That makes sense." He said. "Well, cadets, get back to your stations immediately."

"Yes sir." 

Eric led the way around the corner and away from the man who was still watching them.

"That was close." Eric said.

"Protection squad?" Lucis said. "What's so important to have a protection squad?" They found out shortly. "What is that?" Lucis asked, dumbstruck. Eric didn't say anything, his mouth slightly agape. They were standing in front of a giant machine.

"Cadets!"

Eric and Lucis shot up in attention, wanting to look like they belonged as much as possible. A gruff looking man stepped in front of them, eyes rooming them.

"So they sent two cadets to guard the thing we're trying to protect from those imbecile survivors?" He shook his head. "The lab's plan was supposed to work. It was supposed to malfunction." He just then remembered that there were two boys standing in front him. "Hopefully you can do a good job protecting this machine." He left.

"'Those imbecile survivors', was he talking about us?" Eric asked. "And by lab does he mean the lab where the first zombie was created?" Lucis nodded.

"It seems like the whole world is against us."

**

Lucis and Eric spent a long time studying the machine. They had made out two pilot control systems and boosters. There were also giant machine guns.

"Why don't they want us to have this?" Lucis muttered to Eric as they stood at the edge of the room.

"Cadet's at the ready!"

Lucis and Eric obeyed by shooting up. This time two people walked in front of them.

"How long have you been here?" The younger of the two asked.

"A couple hours at the most." Lucis answered, his eyes sterling past the two in front of them.

"What are your names?" The older one asked.

Lucis said, "Eric" at the same time Eric said, "Oliver".

"Well, Cadets Eric and Oliver, good job." The older man said. "You've officially been caught." Multiple adults with guns stepped into the room, all guns raised at Lucis and Eric.

"What are you talking about?" Lucis (Eric) asked.

"We didn't do anything wrong." Eric (Oliver) added on.

"I know you didn't do anything wrong." The older man said and gestured for the others to lower their guns. "Congratulations, you passed the test."

"What test?" Lucis asked.

"We have received information that two people have broken into our facility." The younger officer said. Lucis and Eric resisted the urge to look at each other. "They went undercover as cadets." The man continued. "You two are the first cadets we've tested."

"Let's go." The older officer said, motioning for the younger man to follow him. "We're done here." Everyone stepped out of their selective entrances. "Oh," The older man said. "Good luck." He left.

"Good luck?" Eric asked, finally looking at his friend. Lucis shrugged.

"Maybe we need more luck." Lucis said. Eric nodded. Unspoken under the message sat it's true meaning. That was close. We got lucky.