Survival

9

I heard Kit shouting from somewhere down the corridor, but my view was blocked by men in suits. He sounded angry. Maybe these guys were pushing their luck being here.

I made my way to the front desk, where our old buddy Carl was sitting at attention in his chair. He spied us out, and gave us a tired groan.

"As much as I love our chats, and spending time with you troublemakers, now isn't a good time" he sighed, shaking his head at me.

"This is important Carl, I need to see my Dad" Carl did nothing, and not even Hi had an excuse to get Carl to waver. We were all still shaken up about the bald man's words. "Please?"

"Sorry Tory, but I can't" as he said it, Kit strode through the doors with two men beside him. He did not look happy. I shared a look with the boys.

"I don't care what you say you're here for, I don't want you disturbing the working environment" he was saying, aiming his words the bald man who had just walked through the front doors. "Your men are charging in during operations and stopping doctors from doing their jobs"

"Sincerest apologies Dr Howard, but while your doctors do their jobs, my men must do theirs. The longer you waste trying to stop us, the longer we shall stay" the bald man snipped, and watched with a dark look as Kit scowled. He said nothing for a moment, before finally nodding.

"Fine. Just hurry up and get off my Island" he snapped before his eyes turned to me and the boys. He frowned before making his way towards us. "Kiddo, this really isn't the best time. We have these government wackos trying to shut us down again" he waved his hand at the men as they disappeared through the doors. Carl sat back in his chair, but I could tell he was listening.

"Mr Howard, you need to hear us out" Shelton said, taking me by surprise. "We found something you need to see"

"What?" Kit asked, but I glanced to Carl. We couldn't say it in front of him.

"Take us to your office, and we'll show you" Kit hadn't even passed comment on Coop standing next to me. He must be really pissed off if he hasn't even thought about it.

"They are searching my whole office for left over documents of Karsten's. I already told them they wouldn't find anything" his words sent shivers of horror through me. They were digging into Karsten's work. He had destroyed most of it thought, right? "Lab One is free; we can go there, although this has to be quick"

Kit led us through the building towards Lab One. I could see the men in black everywhere, they were taking notes, routing through computers and paper documents. They weren't leaving any stone unturned in terms of finding something. Kit opened the door for us and let us in, even Coop. I ordered Coop to sit by the door, which he did. He sat like a guard, sitting sideways on.

"Right, so what is it that you don't want Carl to hear?" Kit noticed the glance I had given Carl. I nodded to the boys, and we opened up our bags and dumped out the contents. Kit's eyes widened as all the cameras fell out onto the operating table. Ben had found five, Hi had found six, and Shelton only three and I had found four and a power pack. Kit eyes wandered over the bundle, and the four of us.

"Where did you find these?" he asked, voice almost a hissed whisper.

"Throughout the whole of the forest along Dead Cat" I answered. Kit frowned deeply. He was confused.

"But LIRI-"

"Don't use cameras, you said so last night" I interrupted. It took a moment, but Kit finally followed my thought track.

"You think these guys here did it? That's why they're here?" we all nodded. "By why?"

"We think they know about us, and are watching us" Hi answered, making Kit's face drop. "These were in all the places we go to on Loggerhead" I gave them a questioning look, and they nodded.