Invictus

Chapter 46: Super Weapon

My feet somehow managed to get me down the flashing red hallway. The black tile squeaked beneath the heels of my boots as streaks of blood trailed behind me. It felt like I was moving at a snail's pace compared to the speed I'd been using before, but it was enough to get me where I needed to go.

But something stopped me dead in my tracks before I could make the door to the training room. The sound of it made my blood run cold. A screeching, grinding metallic object was raking itself across the tiled floor; they were claws. Each scratch was followed by an even louder rumbling. I inhaled fear with each difficult breath I took. Whatever it was must have been enormous to be making the walls, floor, and ceiling above shake.

I hid myself behind a wall hoping the thing would pass me by, but it didn't. It kept coming, closer and closer until it started to sniff the air. I closed my eyes, knowing that this very well could be the end.

The sniffing stopped and I heard a voice. "Hunter? Is that you?" The voice whispered.

I opened my eyes, relief filling every part of me. I recognized that voice, it was Kali's.

I slipped out from behind the wall and saw Kali standing in the black suit we'd been given on the plane, along with Peter and Santiago. There were a few gunshots across her body but it didn't seem to be anything fatal. I limped towards her and looked up to see Santiago and Peter following closely behind.

"Moreno, wassup up man." Santiago said, slapping the shoulder Herschel had broken.

I grunted and gave him an angry look.

"Oh, sorry." Santiago's face had a fearful look on it.

The human supercomputer looked in poor health. His eyes had black bags beneath them like he hadn't slept in days and he'd shed more than a few pounds since we'd last seen each other. The jeans and white t-shirt he had on before barely fit him now.  

"What happened to you?"

"They plugged me up to the Algorithm. That building at the western side of this compound is where it's housed. Got a bunch of Freaks like me jacked into IV's and feeding tubes. Helena been using us to try and crack some genetic code for a new super weapon she's building." Santiago pointed towards the training room doors.

"So that's why you couldn't hack into the network where the algorithm was housed. There was a bunch of human supercomputers like you keeping us out."

"Exactly." He said.

"Well what you doing down here?" I asked.

"We came to find you -- " Kali's words were cut off by Santiago, "Yeah, we thought you could use the help." Santiago said with a smile.

"Thanks, but I'm doing this alone. If she takes control of your minds I won't be able to stop you in my current state."

All three of them looked me over.

"Yeah, you don't look so hot." Santiago's said grimly. 

"Thanks." I said sarcastically. "What's going on up there?" I motioned towards the ceiling.

A grin shot across Santiago's face. "Something brilliant. Trenton, or maybe it was Joe, somehow managed to get a coded message to Manuel about this facility's existence. So Manuel being the arrogant man that he is hired his own private army to come kidnap all the Freaks. He wanted to make sure it was done right, so he showed up in person." Santiago laughed. "That idiota. Anyhow, after his men had eliminated all the perimeter defenses -- "

It was Kali's turn to interrupt now, "Joe and his friends swooped in to secure the facility. They have taken this Manuel and are prepared to hand him over to federal authorities. The Freaks who fight for Helena were either killed or tranquilized by Manuel's men so the Underground suffered no casualties. They are waiting for us to join them on the surface once you are finished."

I nodded. That explained who the soldiers were that I'd seen on the video screen in the cafeteria. Trenton had used Manuel's obsession with finding others like Santiago to blow a hole in Ori-gen's defenses. It not only crippled his own army, it allowed Joe to bring him and the other Freaks into custody. It was the perfect plan. There was only one loose thread that needed cutting. 

"Helena's in this room, I gotta finish this." I pointed towards the training room doors. 

"Kya's in there with her, so is that Mud guy. Saw them on the cameras." Santiago said.

"Not Adam?" I asked.

Santiago's head shifted downwards. "Adam... he gone Moreno. Said he didn't want someone taking his DNA and using it to terrorize the world. He burned himself up. Went down fighting though, you would have loved it."

Adam and I were less close than even Trenton and I, but life had taken on a new meaning in the past few hours. Hearing Adam had passed still made my heart heavy. The sadness however, was only temporary. It was quickly replaced by anger.

If it wasn't for Helena, Loretta, Tia, Trenton, and Adam would still be alive. The solution to fixing all future problems was clear: Helena needed to die. The earth would be a better place once she was no longer walking it. 

"You going to kill her?" Santiago asked, breaking my thought. I knew that he could see the bitterness on my face.

I turned to him with poison in my voice. "Yes."

Santiago only nodded. "She definitely deserves it... then again, maybe we more like her than we think."

I shot a dirty look towards him. "What, you feeling sorry for her now? If you came here to stop me, don't bother."

Santiago laughed. "I don't want to stop you. I want her dead as much as you do. All I'm saying is that maybe she ain't the villain we all think she is."

"You spent too much time with Joe." I said.

Santiago laughed again. "He said you'd need convincing not to kill her."

"Yeah, well you can forget that. She needs to be put down and I'm the only one who can do it." I brushed past Santiago and Kali. "You three stay here. I'll deal with gray eyes."

I listened to see if they would follow, but they didn't. They knew entering that room would only pose a greater danger to me.

I prepared myself to walk through the automatic doors, being sure to keep my distance so that it wouldn't open before I was ready. I knew what waited for me on the other side. My whole body was on fire, the fear inside me was a torrent inside my chest. But after a few seconds I closed my eyes and stepped into the white room.

I was shocked to see what I did. This time instead of the familiar floating bullseyes and numbered lines, there were giant glass tubes with massive wires running into them. Inside each of the tubes were large red, veiny masses floating inside a clear, jelly-like liquid.

And standing in front of it all was Helena.

"Welcome Ezekiel." She said.