Resist

40

Brody's POV

It didn't take much force to pry open the door on the first floor, its weather beaten surface flaking under the metal of the spear I had pried with.

"Thanks," I told Jeremiah as I handed the weapon back to its owner.

"You going first Brody?" John asked as he peered around me. It was a dark, dank hallway at the base of the castle and I had a feeling that this area was one Xavier would rarely see, instead treating himself to a luxurious area on a higher floor.

"Why not," I declared, stepping in heading and towards the first door. "Remember guys, search everywhere. And let me do the talking should we meet anyone."

The first door led to a storage room, old bags of grains and slimy crates of long perished foods within. We ducked around the goods, making sure the room was devoid of human life (although rodent life seemed to be in abundance). Demetria searched into the shadowed corners, coming back empty handed. "I can't believe they have all this food just sitting here wasting when the city is literally skin and bone, this is horrible," she said.

I nodded my head in agreement, letting her walk out the door in front of me, the two of us brining up the rear of the group. "Jeremiah, hit up the next room," I called ahead, the others already further down the hall. He nodded and turned the knob.

"Oh hey," he said when he opened the door. We all froze, immediately realizing there was someone inside. "Sorry man, didn't realize anyone would be in here," Jeremiah back tracked, trying to close the door quickly without raising too much suspicion.

There was a moment of silence in which I waited to hear footsteps or a chair being pushed back, the sounds of someone coming to investigate us closer or worse, attack, but the sound didn't come.

"S'all good man," a rough voice answered from within and Jeremiah nodded his head before clicking the door closed. He turned to us, a nerve induced sheen of sweat across his face and the color lacking from his complexion.

"Nice work," I whispered, clapping him on the shoulder as I moved to the front of the group again. "What was that room by the way?"

"Not sure, just a room with chairs and tables and some tankards. I think we're in the living quarters for the Xave or something."

I glanced around, taking in the lack of lighting, slimy walls, and cobwebs. "Lovely," I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice. "Let's keep going moving then, finish this hall before someone catches on to us. Doesn't seem like a good place to get caught if soldiers are living here."

Tucker's POV

We had come in through a lower window, forced to kick in the bars that laced it. My foot hurt as they clattered to the floor and we all froze, hoping no one had heard the clang. They sat crouched at the window and I on the floor below in a similar position, all still as stone.

"Tucker, what do we do if someone comes?" Stanley asked in a hushed tone from behind me.

"If there is no way to talk ourselves out of it, we kill them and hide the body somewhere it won't be found until we're out of this castle." An easy enough answer, we were used to dispatching The X.

More silence and no sound of footsteps assured me that we were safe and I turned and beckoned everyone else through the window. Bower hopped through last, bending his knees on impact and then straightening up to face me, silently asking what next.

"Start looking," I told them.

We swept the room we were in, a large chamber with a stagnant inch of water on the floor. It was a maze of small halls, alcoves galore to peek down.