After The Awakening | ONC 2023

Chapter Eight

'What's the plan here, Xavier?' whispered Ray as they climbed the stairs.

'In case of a security breach, the building is put on lockdown. We need to make it to -2. There's a service corridor that leads straight to the garage.'

'So what? The building is on lockdown. Are we just supposed to sit in the car and sing fucking show tunes?'

Xavier didn't even turn at her sarcastic remark. 'When the second team arrives to provide backup, they'll enter through reception. They'll lift the lockdown temporarily in order to activate the doors, and when they do, we leave through the garage.'

'Shouldn't we be going for help?'

'For a reason I don't understand, I think this is due to you. The vamps want you. And that means we need to get as far away from here as possible.'

Ray's step stumbled, but she righted herself quickly. Mari had never said it, but that didn't mean she was blind. The way they'd lived. The close calls with vamps. They'd been hiding from something. But it hit home when Xavier said it out loud.

A bang echoed above them, and the sounds of shots and snarls rang out for a moment before the door banged shut again.

Xavier didn't hesitate. With his gun raised high, he motioned for Ray to step behind him.

Following his orders, she shuffled behind him; her own gun raised and ready.

They slowed as they neared the door to -4. The door that would lead them to the containment unit. Though she'd disliked the guard Davidson, she wondered where he was.

In a blindingly fast move, Xavier shot upwards and an answering scream responded. The scream cut off, and they heard a loud thud.

As they reached the door, she saw an agent sprawled out on the floor. Her stomach had been ripped open. The now dead vamp had been feeding on her.

Xavier stopped her from rushing forward. He shook his head, holding a finger to his lips before pointing towards the door. But he didn't need to warn her.

Vampires had incredible hearing. They were lucky that whatever was happening beyond the door had drowned out his gunshot, but they couldn't risk any more sound.

Xavier kept his gun trained on the door as Ray advanced a few steps in front of him. He reversed backwards up the steps until he lost sight of the door.

Once again, he took point as they made it to another floor. The door on this level hadn't survived the attack, it had been ripped off its hinges, its final destination a mystery.

Ray looked at the bodies on the floor just outside the stairwell, all of them unmoving and bloody. Her hand holding the gun grew sweaty, and she had to look away. She focused on her breathing and Xavier's back as they made it up another flight of steps.

Halfway between floor -3 and -2 was a human sized hatch two feet above the floor. Guided by Xavier, she opened it and stared at the corridor made of steel and concrete. The sounds of more intense fighting from above made her decision to step inside much easier than it would otherwise have been.

Xavier closed the door behind them, plunging them into darkness.

She clamped her mouth shut, keeping her scream to herself, as Xavier took her hand and put it on a rope line at shoulder height.

Her breathing evened out as they followed the thin rope through the corridor, though she cringed whenever her foot encountered an obstacle. In her mind's eye, she was stepping over bodies, carelessly thrown by hungry vamps that lurked at the end of the tunnel. But the more rational part of her mind knew it was only rubbish bags.