The World Of Steam

36

The next night, we arrived at The Black Mark's base, beginning the infiltration. Everything was planned out to the minute detail, giving us an advantage over them. It was terribly small, but at least it gave us some chance of surviving. Our only fear was something going horribly wrong. A couple of night guards could easily gun us down and it would be a swift ending for us both. The gears of my brain worked overtime, trying to come up with an escape plan for anything that we should encounter. Sometimes it was better to flee than to fight. We were ordinary civilians, not military. The back doors leading down into the basements were left unlocked, giving us an easy entrance. The soldiers needed some sort of an escape route should their base be invaded. But that also came with the disadvantage of random people being able to walk inside with no one to stop them. But even then, I was sure that the agents swiftly took care of any intruder. Getting in was easy, it was getting out again that was the problem. We stuck to the shadows and crept through the corridors, slowly making our way back upwards to the ground floor of the organisation. I opened a door silently and closed it again as Jennix got through. We entered the empty laboratory and I looked around for anything useful. The scientists were experimenting on only God knew what, so there had to be some sort of chemicals that could help me. I found a small vial and looked at its contents. I thrust it out to Jennix. She took a light sniff of it and instantly, her head shot back, her hand going for her mouth and nose. She nodded to me. Making my way through the corridors, I stopped by the safe. Pouring the acid onto it, I let it corrode through the locks. The acid fizzed violently and released its toxic gases. The door moved slightly as the locking mechanisms melted. I grabbed the handle, opening the safe fully. There laid the test tube, the cure. Without standing to marvel at it, I took it, immediately putting it into my coat. I looked over to Jennix. "We have to leave, right now." I told her, keeping my voice down. "The Black Mark is of no use to us."

"Before we go, you have to see something."

We entered the laboratory and I looked at the horrific sight, being able to do nothing but stare at the scene, frozen in place in shock. "Jesus." I said quietly as I turned my head to the vats of blood. I climbed up the steps and looked at the pale, dismembered corpse that was drained of its blood. A couple of seconds later, I climbed back down again and stared. Jennix looked down at my hands that slowly clenched themselves into fists, shaking with rage. A door opened up and a doctor walked in, his long white coat trailing after him. He held a clipboard in one of his hands. Looking up, his eyes widened in shock as he saw me striding up to him. I suddenly grabbed him by his lapels and pushed him against a wall. I delivered a punch to his chest, winding him, and then another to his face. I delivered another, then another, and yet another. Blood and saliva flew across the hall, splattering onto the floor. Jennix looked on in a pained expression but made no move to stop me. I ceased my flurry of blows and held him, leaving him suspended by his tiptoes. "You'd best start explaining what the hell it is that you are doing to these people or I am punching you in the throat." I snarled at him.

"Alright, alright!" The intimidated doctor said, blood dribbling down his mouth. "These people are just patients! We are trying to help them!"

"I don't believe you."

"We are trying to find ways to cure them! We are not maniacs! I'm just employed to help these people!"

I looked closely at him, letting him hear my breathing through my gas mask. He stared at his reflection through my goggles in fear. A small moment later, I snarled and released him, letting him collapse to the floor. I walked out of the corridor. Jennix looked down at the bruised and bloodied medic in sorrow.

"I'm sorry." She said and ran after me.

We went down further through the corridors and I spotted a door. I went to reach for it.

"Stop." Jennix told me. I put my hand down and turned to her.

"Why?"

"Trust me, you do not want to find out what's behind that door."

"Which makes it all the more intriguing." Before giving Jennix a chance to stop me, I wrenched the door open and looked at the laboratory. The two butchers lifted their heads up from their work and looked at us both. I stared at the towering vats of blood and looked over to them both. I pointed my rifle at them. "What is going on here?" I asked them. "Is this Karzen's work?"

One of the scientists turned to his colleague and gestured with one hand for him to stand down. He turned back to me. "Yes." He told me. "The meat processing plants have got to get their product somehow. We're just–"

Before the scientist had time to say anything else, I pulled the trigger twice, shifting the bolt after each shot, and in an instant, both of them were dead. Jennix grabbed my arm, but was too late in stopping the murder. She released me and looked at the scene in horror and sadness, not knowing what to say, as I stood in place with my rifle barrel smoking.