City of Decay: The Cleaner | MxM

Chapter 5: The Sound of Decay

It has taken hours. But finally, all that is left is to get rid of Constantin... or... well... what remains of him, anyway. For the quadrillionst time this night, I kneel in front of my briefcase. And then I hear it. The fog horn.

"Eon?!" The moment it stops I hear Thomas calling my name from the second floor. I change my gloves for new ones before I head up the stairs into the entry hall.

"I heard it. The forecast didn't mention anything." I don't have to scream, the high walls and empty space carry my voice all up the stairs with no issue. And by the tone of my voice, Thomas realizes that he doesn't have to speak as loud as he just did for me to hear him.

"It really didn't. We won't make it back in time."

"Is the doc still with you?"

"Yes, he's still tending to Mrs. Lane, working through her state."

"Is there anyone else?"

"Besides his apprentice? I don't think so. The staff has been sent home early to not get in our way. It's just us."

Well, wonderful. This crime scene is the worst. Well, it's better than being caught outside by the horn but still. With a silent sigh I get to move, walking upstairs slowly.

Then I turn, darting my eyes at the main door. I know there is someone out there keeping an eye on me. I don't care if they get to safety, but for some reason, I expected the door to open and for them to slip in. But it remains closed.

I know Thayer's elite is highly trained for every situation, whoever is out there will be fine, so I'm not worried about them at all. But something just rubbed me the wrong way the moment I realized that they might get into the mansion.

Maybe they already did. Which is even worse than the main door opening and being directly confronted with their presence. Because if they got in another way, I have no way of knowing. I don't like not knowing for various reasons.

"Are you alright?" Thomas' voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I turn my head back to look at him, standing at the top of the staircase. I nod and finally catch up to him.

"Just wondering about the lack of forecast for the fog. It does make the situation a little more complicated."

Thomas shrugs, almost in an excusing manner, as if he's sorry for how things went down. It's not his fault. It's no one's fault.

"The forecast isn't always right. There wasn't a forecast the day I lost almost half of my lung capacity." I eye him up and down.

We never spoke about it, but he knows that I know about his health issue. And now, I know why he got exposed to the black fog. I've been lucky so far. I can't remember the last time it caught me unprepared.

"We'll better make sure you don't lose the other half. I'll check the west wing, you the east wing." I really don't want to dilly-dally around.

The only person who could tell us if all the windows were closed, all the curtains drawn, and all the doors secured is currently not really in a state in which she could answer any questions.

Thomas nods, before he nods down the stairs, "you'll deal with the ground floor and the vault area?"

"Of course. I'll get the doc's apprentice to secure the first floor." I reassure him. I wouldn't send him near the crime scene. He didn't handle it well before, and despite my best efforts to clean up and get rid of everything, the one thing remaining is still a pile of gore. A pile of gore I can't get rid of right now. He nods and scurries away.

I waste no time and enter the living room straight ahead. "How's she doing?" I need to know so I can get an estimation of our situation, but as I expected the doc just shakes his head.