Experiment VII

Chapter Fifty-Two: Blood and Bullets

I keep my gaze glued to the metal door beside us before giving Chester a stiff nod. "Okay..okay, but if we can we should..go back for him."

"If we survive, maybe."

I nod once more, stumbling past the other mutant to head back down the hall. "If we survive."

The hand tucked under my collarbone does nothing to alleviate the dull ache, but I hold it there all the same. Fragments of Borg's dazed features staring through me resurface in my mind, but I push them back down, forcing my attention to keeping one foot in front of the other.

"..ou good?"

Footfalls snap to a halt as I turn to Chester's hand planted on my shoulder. "What?"

"Are you good?" he repeats, pale eyes dropping to my other arm. "That looks..bad."

I make no effort to repress a sigh. "Doesn't matter. We need to get on with this."

"Oh, I'd love to, but if you pass out and bleed all over the floor? What am I supposed to do then? Fight my way to the Overseer by myself?"

I bite my tongue, the light pattering of blood against the tiled floor doing nothing but aid his point. "Then we'll hurry this up." Ignoring the mutant's cocked brow, I march back to the lab, which doesn't take long seeing how we only got about ten steps.

"Hey- What are you doing?"

Paying Chester no heed, I punch in the access code again and the doors blink open for the second time. Dr Perk's gaze snaps up from his patient, his bloody gloves hovering just above Borg's head.

"Excuse m-"

Storming inside, I cut the man's question short, the distance closed between us in the blink of an eye, and my hand bawled around his lab coat. "Where's the Overseer?"

His eyes widen, flicking between mine. "Who are you?"

Jaw clenching in frustration, I pull my pistol back from its holster. "Tell me! Now."

The man's breath hitches as the cold barrel digs into his cheek. "F-floor six. He'll be in his lab." He hesitates, hands slowly lowering. "Look, if you shoot me, the entire se-"

Blood showers over my face, the gentle squeeze of the trigger sending a bang echoing through the room before the doctor could finish. A light mist of smoke spirals up from my gun as I loosen my grasp on the man, the light thud of his body hitting the floor and reaching my ears a moment later.

"What the hell was that?!"

"That was moving things along." Roughly rubbing my forearm across my face, I smear the blood dripping nearer my eyes. "I don't know about you, but I don't feel like hobbling through every room for this guy." I spare the other mutant no further mind, heading straight back out the door.

"Damn. Okay." Footsteps pick up behind me. "And Borg?"

"Like we agreed. We go back if we survive," I answer, my pace not slowing until blaring alarms echo down the hallways. The lights flicker red, the new, headache-inducing hue doing nothing for my swimming vision.

"The chances of that aren't looking all too high."

I pause. "You still alright with that?"

Chester's icy gaze meets mine for the briefest of seconds as he gives a stiff nod.

"Good. Elevator's this way."

-*-

Heart hammering inside my ribcage, the heavy thud echoes through my ears as I thumb the trigger, finger not quite squeezing the now clammy metal. Pale green eyes stare back at me, moderately widened as they scan between mine, alert, but otherwise unphased.

"Put down the gun."

"What are you waiting for?" A grunt follows Chester's shout as a guard strikes their weapon against his jaw, drawing a thin line of blood. "Shoot him," the mutant says with a growl, head angled to the ground.

My gaze flicks between the two, fingers damp as they readjust their grip around the pistol.

"What is stopping you, hm?" The man behind the desk tilts his head, ignoring me as my gun follows the movement. "Some slither of humanity? Or perhaps you know what'll happen once you pull that trigger."

I take a steadying breath. It's now or never.

"My men will gun you down on the spot. But maybe you're ready for that." The Overseer's gaze shifts to Chester, over by the door. "I imagine he's ready too. But are you ready to watch him die? Or better yet, I find out exactly where the rest or your friends are hiding from him? You know son," he pauses. "I don't think you've thought this through."

Guns click around me as I step behind the man, jamming my pistol against his temple. "You let him walk out of here, or I shoot."

The older man's eyes narrow for a moment, the time between my question and his answer increasing. "You have no guarantee that I won't just gun you both down the moment you lower that thing." He makes a vague motion to my weapon.

"You could've killed me before. You didn't." I pause, ignoring Chester's glare practically boring into me.

"Viktor," he starts as heavy footsteps shuffle from behind. The Overseer points to Chester. "Take him outside. Let him go."

"Yes sir."

Chester's protests fall on deaf ears before the door slides closed behind the pair.

"So-" The Overseer props his legs up on his desk, leaning back on his seat as his eyes stay steady on mine. "What will it be? Are you going to shoot your own father?"

"..What?"