The Company [Ongoing]

7 - Shadows, prt 2

Their haul had been pretty decent, but James dreaded having to go back to the facility the next morning.

'Hey, what are we going to do about that shadow man?' he asked and sank down on the bottom bunk, letting his helmet fall to the floor.

'Loot?' Dakarai commented.

'Yeah, obviously, but I mean... the monsters, man. We can't just..' He huffed in frustration. 'We'll die.'

'There's at least three other entrances to the building. It's huge,' Bill responded from the terminal. He watched the screen, his back turned on the rest of them.

James nodded. 'Okay. Which one is the farthest away from the main entrance?'

'The one at the back of the building.' Bill glanced over his shoulder at him. 'You okay, James? You seem a bit shaken up.'

He almost laughed. 'Shaken? Yeah, no shit, man.' Running a hand through his matted hair, he looked at Rebecca and Dakarai. 'Any suggestions?'

'I'm... no. I don't wanna go back in there,' Rebecca stuttered. 'I can't. Can I stay here and monitor?'

Bill gave her a look that said he'd accept no such thing. 'We need everyone in there.'

'Oh yeah? And why didn't we need you today? Where did you go?'

'I went in with you, you might recall. I returned with what loot we had, and then I helped you get out safe. Recall that part? I'm gonna do the same tomorrow. It's always safer in the mornings than in the evenings. So the faster we get in and find stuff, the better.' He nodded, as if they had all agreed.

James had no energy to counter it. Besides, it made sense if the part with the monsters were true.

'Let's go in through the back. If we get going fast, we probably won't lose too much time.'

'Might be better with one of the side entrances, though,' Bill muttered. 'The facility is huge and the back door would take a long time to get to. The eastern one is far enough away.'

'Sounds like a good plan. I'm game,' Dakarai said from the floor, where he lay flat on his back. His boots lay discarded beside him, reeking.

To be fair, they all reeked, James thought. 'Yeah, sure.'

Rebecca sighed and nodded in defeat.

The following morning, they left the ship as early as they could, carefully keeping their eyes peeled for the large baboon-hawks and eyeless dogs. The overcast sky threatened with rain later, building up tall and dark while the wind whined around the tall cliffs.

They arrived at the fire exit, high up on a cliff, without any mishaps or monsters. Dakarai was the first to enter, as usual. He pushed the worn, red metal door open and stepped in. The others waited a moment, watching and listening. Then the door opened again and Dakarai assured them it was safe to enter.

James walked with Rebecca this time while Dakarai and Bill teamed up.

Efficiency, and all that. James would have preferred if they could have gone all together. But there was no reasoning with Bill on that subject.

'Don't break the flashlight,' Bill said before they parted ways. 'It's the only spare we have for now.'

'I'll try to remember that when the monsters chase me,' James retorted, annoyed. It wasn't like he'd dropped it on purpose. Besides, a flashlight wasn't that expensive. They could afford a new one.

Rebecca took a deep breath. 'Let's go.'

They headed down a wide corridor that soon split into four. Deciding to keep it simple, they followed the right-hand side, always turning right whenever possible.