FIRE [FIRST DRAFT]

Chapter 15: What the End Feels Like

 The man's large and rough hands bound Aimee's wrists behind her back. An agent, with his forceful grip, was walking her towards a steel door. A vertical glass panel above the door's handle let Aimee see into the next room; there was even less light in there than in the dim lit passage they were in – their walkway lit only by the miniscule, far-spread lights embossed in the ceiling.

There was a second agent in their company. She had choppy black hair and a slight humanness in her eye, which saved her Aimee's spurn. Maybe not all of GINM's agents had been let in on Buckley's plan, and those who had been left in the dark were just following orders because it was all they knew. Aimee could only imagine how long they must have been followers to have lost their sense of better judgement.

The woman opened the door and Aimee ogled her wordlessly. Because of that shred of guilt, that humanness, she felt Aimee's piteous gaze, and she did not have the stomach to look back at her. The agent entered the space first and her friend nudged Aimee forward. Left and right, the walls of this new passage were lined with narrow gates, cages, with bars liquid black. On each gate was a slate with a surname, and they were walking past the As. Alcott...Atkins... it was a long way to Whitaker. There were so many gates and rooms and not knowing what they were for was terrifying. The interiors looked like labs or surgeries, taciturn and uncomfortable, each with a single recliner surrounded by various apparatuses. The rooms were empty, but they had not always been; many of the formerly white recliners were tainted with splatters of blood. There were three gates marked with the name Whitaker; two of them were directly across from each other: Whitaker A. and Whitaker AI. – Aimee Isobel. The female agent locked Aimee in her cell, and she and her comrade left her there, but she was not entirely alone.

 Earlier...

Buckley. He looked so crisp and untouchable, dressed in his tailored suit and seafoam green tie, like he was the only member of GINM that Gavin and Stefan would not shoot.

"What are you doing?" hissed Stefan.

Honestly, he was not surprised that Buckley was there, his unsympathetic persona a reminder that he was truly capable of saying and doing anything he wanted to. Of course, he had not been fighting alongside his agents, his unflawed appearance proved it, but he was sure to be there for the clean-up.

"You needn't worry," he told him. "Everyone is going to GINM; we have to evacuate before the building collapses."

Gavin and Stefan shared glances, almost uncertain whether or not to trust him, even though it was clear that they had to leave.

"Valerie told me something about this earlier," Gavin remembered, whispering into Stefan's ear regretfully, as if he did not want to admit that Buckley was capable of honesty.

However, even with Gavin's word, Stefan could not look at his father with certitude.

Buckley sighed, "Stefan, you know, it really wasn't necessary to kill all those men," and he stepped off in the direction of the next room.