The LAB

Chapter 14

"Fuck, this was a mistake!"

Devan stood in front of the door, blocking the exit of a now frightened Audi. She sunk on her suspension and backed up until her rear hit the wall. It was a grave mistake indeed to return, and after a couple days as well. Her jaw quivered and her mind raced, but the Honda only glared her down from across the room. He spoke no words, but his stance and eyes told her everything. The Audi swallowed hard, wishing her thoughts could travel as well as his looks could. She was scared of all the phone calls, the emails, the texts, all asking where she was and if she was alright. She knew she couldn't lie and say she was ill since coworkers had seen her several times. To be fair, she didn't want to return at all and had already placed applications into several places, but there was no way she could say all that now. Still, her return was only for the sake of keeping her apartment, since there was no way she could get by for long on what she had.

"So, you mind telling me why you finally returned? Or are you just going to stay silent and do your work?" Devan half growled out, ending with a heavy snort. The Audi tried not to let him see her frame shaking out of fright, and just looked down. There wasn't much she could say now, even if he would listen to her. Who would believe she saw some mysterious cyborg of a Nissan that told her to never return? It was too silly, worth a shot but a very long one at that. Devan grew tired of such silence and groaned, moving away from the door and slamming it wide open, holding a tire up to point outside to the hallway.

"Just get back to work already."

The usual cries of terror, pain, and overall madness filled the complex. Even though it was all hellish and felt so unreal, it was the normal life of the beasts that lived there. The young trio of beasts stood in their cells by the front bars giving their usual calls of boredom. Cougar let out oddly aggressive roars that echoed down the halls and spooked some of the weaker beasts. Cunner would give out a clicking screech before striking the bars with a tire, keeping those around them awake with annoyed grunts and growls. Jaslo would wait until the other two had done their noise before letting out a long and sorrowful sounding howl that would turn into something of a whale's song. This would go on until Hounds were called in to sit in front of them and snap at the bars to silence them, before the workers were called out to sedate them. It was madness, and they had fallen into the routine of it all. Larry on the other hand was too busy listening to everything else to notice what the children were up to. He ended up snapping back to the attention of the youngsters when workers came over and sedated each one, each letting out a yelp when shot with a dart. Larry shook his front slowly, when would they ever learn that it always ends the same way? Once the sedative wore off, they were back to their usual calls and insanity, and Larry was back to his usual studying of the area.

Soft hushed chatter was barely heard over typing and computers whining under loads of strain. The Audi tried to tell of the mysterious Nissan to a coworker, who also had no idea who it could be. Both whispered ideas to each other, and also shared a short laugh when one computer hissed for a moment. Seriously, did these things ever get time to rest? Both were silenced by a loud "SSSHHHH" from behind them, as if they were all back in school and the teacher was giving a lesson. Still, they took the time to settle down and get back to work, unknown to them that someone overheard their conversation. Not a worker though, as their words were vibrations that carried to the fine tuned hearing of the blind Mustang far off. Larry smiled at this, for he did know who that Nissan was. Now he knew what was about to happen, and he was more than prepared.

Pops, hisses, dull sounding explosions and soon everything went dark. It was night for sure, but the power to the entire complex was gone. Every beast was startled with this, even with huge storms the power had always been steady. Devan rushed out after forcing an electric door open.

"Secure all halls! I want all security measures pulled NOW!" Vehicles and hounds all rushed about getting to their places, orders were literally being barked, as even the Hounds had their orders to give.

"Let nothing enter or exit this place! Not without my say!" Devan stormed down the halls, "I want the source found WITHIN the next HOUR!" His anger was not just in his voice, but his whole being. He wasn't driving down the halls, but half trotting on his tires with his right hand truck behind him doing the same. Every other thud of their tires was matched with a heavy snort as if they were draft horses pulling a cart through the city. Every floor, every level, every inch of the complex was being paced by hounds and workers, and every beast was amazed by the new voices and scents. It was too much for some, as they resorted to hiding in the far corners of their cells.

"Listen to me you three," Larry whispered, gaining the young trio's attention.

"I'm going to knock these bars down. Once I do, follow me and don't fall behind. We're getting out of here. Don't stop to fight either, Got it?" All three nodded, knowing he couldn't see but could feel their movements. The older blind Mustang reared up with a loud booming roar, and with a flash of blue light was suddenly out in the hall, every cell in that hallway had the bars melted down to the floor. Without another signal, and while workers and hounds were still dazed, the Mustang bolted down the hallway with the trio of youngsters close behind, and a few beasts that dared to try and follow. They bolted through halls, around guards, and sometimes right through a couple hounds, fangs and claws at the ready. Yet when a fork in the path came, Larry went left with the pack of beasts and the Blazer oddly went right. Before he could ask, he heard her shout "I'll catch up don't worry!" He could only guess as to where she went, but had faith in the younger SUV, leading the pack onwards.

"They're escaping!" Devan was in hot pursuit with a group of growling Humvees. His chase was slowed down by the slaughtered hounds and blocked areas. Where the beasts could leap off walls to get around, he had to dismantle the barricades. His anger was radiating off him, but his amusement in seeing the beasts get so far ahead was the oddest part. He never thought they'd know enough to escape, unless there was someone else behind it.

"Sir! The Blind one is leading them!" Devan froze, fear hit him more than anger and he personally took down a barricade before speeding off.

"NO! No no no no no no!" That was all he could say. His mind raced, "That blind car was the key to the slow aging strain! The heightened senses and its age alone is a worry! It knows this place without leaving the cell!" He had to get that one back no matter what, and his panic was pushing the group to gain ground now.

Larry had successfully gotten outside the building complex, and he was stuck. His lack of sight and the feeling of soft dirt was not doing him any good. Where other beasts just ran for the gates and ran off into the surrounding lands, he staggered on the grass and dirt. For once, he missed his sight, and a small whine escaped him. Luckily, he had most of his real pack, and with a rough shove from the furred Humvee, and a nudge back into line from the younger Mustang, the trio soon got away from the building. They went rather far before stopping, Larry trying to figure out this new ground and the other two waiting for their fellow pack member.

"We need to get more distance, the hounds will find us." Larry urged, but Cougar stood firm. He wasn't leaving until the whole group was together again.

"Not until she catches up."