Stage One: Hope in Darkness

Hope (Lara)

Bodies littered the hallways. The bodies pile up in a clear path forward. Still we move with caution, we don't want to get caught in a bad situation. Some of these bodies were.... Frightening. Literally torn apart and thrown everywhere. Like an imitation Jackson Pollock but one done in blood, sinew and entrails. Good thing this wasn't carpet.

Slowly the trail bodies leads us through the base. We encounter no living being as we traverse the halls. Coming to a door, smashed keypad leaving it permanently open. Inside is a large hangar. It is filled with planes.

"Holy shit" Someone whispers as we all, yes even me, stared in awe at the amount of artillery this one room had. Realizing that the room is void of life, and undead, we split up. Light spills into the hangar from a giant opening. I stare off into the light. I can make out a giant black blob, haloed by the setting sun.

The figure shifts. Turning from one blob into two. Now I can tell one is definitely humanoid. The other is a quadruped. The two move closer, the sun behind them still obscuring their identities from me.

When they hit the entrance of the hangar and step into the shadows I can see everything. Belle. I run, throwing myself at her. Hugging her and laughing, "We did it!" I yell in celebration, I pull away just enough so I can look her in the eyes.

"Please tell me that was you screwing with their radios?" raising an eyebrow at her. It felt like we were children pulling pranks and I couldn't stop smiling.

One of her hands comes up and she starts signing something, no doubt seeing my confusion she thinks better of it and just nods instead. A large furry thing pushes against my back. What in the hell is that thing?! Hannibal continues to nuzzle at me as if the wolf isn't face to face with me.

"When did you get a bear?" My joke gets me a lick from Hannibal. Belle smiles and shrugs. She pulls out that notepad again.

I think it has something to do with the serum. He started changing after he inhaled some.

Ah. Shit if it did that to the wolf what was it going to do to the rest of us? Well no point overthinking it now. We had already been exposed.

"Come on let's get you inside and find everyone else. Shadow will kill everyone if he doesn't see that you're okay." Pulling her along with me as I head back into the main building.

As we enter the now broken door just down I see that familiar head of black hair. Speak of the devil. Shadow practically tackles Annabelle into a hug. He squeezes her so hard she might pop. She hugs him back, not as tightly though. He starts to whisper none to quietly into her ear,

"I don't know what I would have done if you had been hurt. Wait actually I do know, but it would not have been pretty." Belle smiles. Huh now isn't that an interesting development. That psycho did have a heart under that rough exterior. I clear my throat, trying for all I am worth to hold back giggles. Belle pulls back first, her cheeks a little red. The look on her face says it all, she wanted to hold on a little bit longer.

Feeling a little bad for having to end their little moment. Still, the city is not totally empty of enemies. Then there would have to be a clean up effort. You know before all the bodies started to stink real bad. I did not want to live in a city littered with dead rotting corpses.

I smile at them, moving through the winding maze of halls back to the front entrance. Everyone will make their way here eventually so we can just wait out here.

"Lara?" a voice crackles out of the radio hanging on my hip. I pull it up and listen closely,

"Lara this is the Sargent," Ah got it. I answer it this time.