Reliant ~ [John Soap MacTavish]

LIV. Something to lose

"Really, Alex?" Keegan says, dragging the man who we learned acted as Gray's second hand with us.

"It's fine," I respond, keeping my gaze in front, unworried. "Ghost confirmed it. If not, I'll fix it."

"Keep moving," Keegan demands, pushing the assistant out in front of him, the man's hands tied behind his back. "That's it. See? You can listen, after all."

"Keep it down, Keegan. We still need him," I call out, quickly looking over my shoulder to see the man's face is in full panic mode. "Show us the way. And don't you dare think you can trick us here, because if you do, I won't tell him to hold back again," I say to the guy, his jaw immediately tight.

"Downstairs—basement," he stammers, face turning more pale by the second.

I lower the gun, keeping it by my side but with my finger near the trigger in case some more lunatics come running around the corner. We follow the guy's direction as he leads us down to the bottom floor.

Getting out of the staircase, we're met with a damp, disgustingly dark hallway that leads to a single green door with a light-up sign above it. But the writing on the sign has been crossed out. By paint or black marker, I can't quite tell.

Keegan and I exchange a quick look, both our expressions speaking enough about our apprehension. But there's no time to dwell on this, so we push through, forcing the guard through the door as we keep our guns on it.

But when the door opens, nothing happens.

Quickly, we pass through too, not finding any immediate threat. The room, however, feels incredibly large, even though the absence of any light prevents us from seeing its real size. It's genuinely pitch black out in front, and only the small area around us is lit up by the tiny amount of light coming from the sign.

"Get the fucking lights on," I demand. "Now."

Keegan gives the guy another shove, forcing him to follow through. A few seconds later, a clicking sound can be heard. Then, row after row, fluorescent tube lights show what's hidden in the darkness of the room.

And to say that I'm in utter shock would be an understatement.

There are rows after rows of guards lined up. They stand motionless, their faces cold as stone, their eyes showing no signs of life apart from the fact that they're fully open. They stand in perfect formation, each guard appearing identical to the next, dressed in their uniform attire. It's as if they've been frozen in time, their bodies rigid and stiff as stone, their gaze fixed straight ahead.

It's hard to say how many there are, but there have to be at least more than a hundred.

The sight reminds me of a fucking sci-fi movie.

Anger washes over me, and I turn to the assistant, grabbing him by his stupid fucking collar and shoving him against the wall. "What the fuck is this?" I hiss, hearing Keegan raise his gun behind me. "Hm? Tell me what you fucking know."

"I—," the guy stammers. "Something went—south—with the updates."

"Something went south?" I squint, quite literally not believing the words I'm hearing right now. In disbelief, I release the assistant, shoving him back against the wall while doing so. I reach for the comms button, "This is fucked. Are you guys seeing this?" I turn to the room, making sure the body cam is picking up what I need them to see.

"Got it, Alex. We're moving in," Price responds immediately.

Alarm bells start ringing the second a loud thud sounds from above us. The rest of them have split up into teams, all of them on different paths for this mission. Gaz is the first to give an update.