Relative Strangers (Book 2) No Man Is An Island

13. Apex Predator

"Did I do it right?" Asked Connor through the comms unit.
"Well my watch believes that you did, so I would say yes" answered E.
"Good" replied Connor.
"However, we've now come across a problem"
"What kind of problem?"
"Well, the frequency is too high for humans to hear, and since I don't know which rooms have a speaker in, I won't know which areas I'm safe in and which I'm not"
"Ah, I didn't think of that".
"I can send a map of all the speakers in the building to your phones" suggested Jess.
"That would be great" thanked E.
Although E did not normally have a phone, since they only worked when she was in the present, Matt had provided one for her the last time she arrived, so that she could communicate with them.

"Connor, while we wait for Jess to send us all the map, I need you to do something for me" admitted E.
"What?" Asked Connor nervously.
"I need you to turn down the frequency" revealed E.
"But isn't that the only thing stopping the Predators from killing us?"
"My device works on different levels. It will still slow down the Predators even if it's not at a 100%"
"Why do you want me to turn it down?"
"Because if it's a bit lower I will be able to tinker with the comms unit, and get it to pick up the sound. That way, when we walk into a room we will be able to know if it has a speaker immediately, because we'll be able to hear it".

"But I don't know how to work your device" reminded Connor.
"It's very easy to adjust, you just turn the dial" instructed E.
"Alright, I'll turn it down" sighed Connor.
E smiled and removed the comms unit from her ear.
After a few minutes of fiddling with it, she succeeded, and the second she placed it back in her ear she could hear a strange buzzing sound.
"What's that sound?"questioned Jess.
"I can hear it to" added Matt.
"Oh, oops. I forgot that changing my comms would effect everyone elses. Sorry guys, but you'll have to put up with it until we are done" admitted E.
"Be careful out there" warned Matt as E stood to her feet and made her way out from behind the counter.
"I always am" reassured E.

Her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket so she took it out and had a little look at the map Jess had just send them all.
Once satisfied that she had a basic idea of where all the speakers were, E put her phone back and made her way through the building.
As she made her way into the arcade, her senses alerted her to the presence of Predators.
E clutched her knives tightly in her hands before continuing on, more cautiously than before.
After a few minutes she spotted her first Predator, which was standing a few feet away.
She hadn't seen one in nearly a year, so being face to face with one again made E shudder.

Before she had too much time to think, E threw her knife forward, and it embedded itself into the creatures neck.
E lunged forward and removed her knife, allowing the Predator to bleed out.
The kill was easy for her, especially as she liked to think of herself as an apex predator in her way.
She took down 2 more Predators before exiting the arcade and entering a cafe on the other side of the room.
The cafe had only one door, except for the one that led to the toilets, which made it harder to escape.
As E entered the room she saw the rest of her team barricaded under a large table in the middle of the room.
E immediately began scanning the room for the threat, and found it lurking on the ceiling.
6 Predators glared down at her from on high.
This was when she noticed the absence of a ringing in her ear.

E had remembered seeing a speaker in the cafe, when she had looked at the map. But as she stared at the wall it was on, she noticed that it was damaged, so it was not emitting any sound to slow down the Predators.
She knew that she had only moments, before they attacked her, so if she wanted to survive and get her friends out in one piece, she would have to act fast.
Taking them all out individually was an option, but there was a chance she would get torn to pieces before she had finished killing them all.
E had another way of dealing with Predators, but she didn't like to do it, as it made her feel bad.
However, she wasn't sure that she had much choice.

Once she had learned that there were Predators in the building, E had taken steps to ensure that she could deal with them.
She removed a strange metallic object from her belt and pressed down on the lever at the top.
As she did the Predators began to make an eerie noise, almost as if they were screaming.
E couldn't hold herself back either, as her body was in pain as well, so she too screamed out loud.
Trying her best to ignore the agony she was in, E grabbed an EMD from the floor that was lying next to a deceased ARC soldier, and she shot up at the Predators.

One by one the Predators fell to the ground, but they were in too much pain to fight back.
E then turned on them, stabbing them all individually with her knives, acting like some king of small ninja.
Once the threat was eliminated, E pulled the trigger on her device back up, halting the pain inside her.
But the pain had been too much for E, so she doubled over in agony and vomited onto the floor.
After wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, E straighted and looked over at the rest of the team.
"We should go. There are probably more Predators in the building" announced E.

The team vacated their shelter, and stared at E with confusion on their faces.
"What just happened?" Questioned Becker.
"It doesn't matter" mumbled E.
"I think it does. What the hell did you do to them? And why did it look like it hurt you too?"
"Look, I don't want to talk about it. So let's just finish the job and then rejoin Matt".