Spliced

“What do you see?” Sirius whispered to Amanda as she peered around the corner.

“A lot of soldiers. There’s a staircase just outside. It looks like it goes up to the next floor of the same room.”

“You think we can get to it?”

“I think so, no one’s looking this way.”

She slipped around the corner and walked as quickly and as quietly as she could towards the stairs. Once she’d gone up the first few steps she stopped and waited for the other two to catch up. They made it there without drawing any attention from anyone inside the room.

Just as Amanda had predicted, the stairs exited into a long hallway with a balcony that looked down to the room below. About every five metres giant pillars were driven through the balcony floor, from the ceiling all the way to the lower floor. Each pillar was large enough that two people could easily have hidden behind them.

“What are they doing?’ Sirius asked in a whisper. He glanced nervously back down the stairs. If anyone came out of the room and looked up they would be discovered.

“Nothing. They’re just standing around. I think they’re waiting for something.”

“Can we move in there?”

Amanda studied the pillars. The first one wasn’t quite as far out as the others were apart. She nodded and crouched low. Keeping down, she snuck along the back of the balcony and then crawled forward behind the first pillar. Sirius followed and crept up next to her.

Kass glanced back down the stairs much like Sirius had earlier then repositioned herself at the other side of the doorway so she could see the room without turning her back to the base of the stairs.

“We should get out of here,” She hissed at Sirius and Amanda.

“Not yet.” Amanda shook her head.

“What’s that in the middle of the room?” Sirius asked.

“Looks like a woman and a child.” Kass replied. She might need glasses to read but her long distance vision was pretty spot on. “Maybe the ones Cat said she found. The ones whose dreams she was in.”

“They look dead,” Sirius observed.

“They can’t be,” Amanda replied. “She wouldn’t have been able to enter their dreams.”

Sirius shrugged. “They still look dead.”

“Maybe unconscious?” Kass suggested.

Sirius shook his head. “Look at how pale they are.”

“There’s something not right about their skin” Amanda agreed then shook her head. “They’re too far away to tell.”

“What do we do now?” Sirius asked.

“They’re waiting for something.” Amanda replied. “I think we should see what it is.”

Kass counted the soldiers while they waited. She was glad they weren’t sneaking around at least. Sirius could walk amazingly quietly; he was like a breeze over stones. Amanda wasn’t exactly loud but she lacked the light-footedness of Sirius.

Kass had had training years ago, on how to step without making a sound, no matter what the footwear, even heels. True stealth was more than just walking quietly though. Diversion and misdirection all played their part as well. Kass could change how she walked, how she presented herself. If one normally walked loudly, then others were even less likely to suspect you sneaking up on them. There was also the ability to blend in even when others could see you. Sirius was good at it. Kass wanted to ask him if it was something he’d been taught. Possibly it was just a product of his upbringing. Cat was always so good at making herself stand out by comparison though. Perhaps that was exactly what she wanted, just a good diversion.

They waited for what seemed like ages. Kass was good at waiting. She leaned against the wall and shifted her body position ever so slightly to keep the blood flowing. Sirius didn’t seem to move at all. He was so still and his coat just the right colour that he almost blended in with the floor and pillar. Amanda was a stark contrast. The bright red hair that didn’t blend in anywhere and she couldn’t sit still. She kept fidgeting with her fingers, and the pillar. She poked her head around the corner every few minutes. Kass wanted to tell her to stop. She was sure they were going to get caught. But the soldiers below obviously weren’t paying much attention, as none of them said anything.

Indi ran towards the elevators, hoping to catch Cat before she got back down. On her way there she ran past an office with its door open. She skidded to a halt and turned around. Hadn’t that door been closed before? She walked carefully towards it.

“Cat?” she asked.

She stepped inside. It was a small office, only one desk and a computer. Some plastic plants sat around the room on several shelves. There was a closed door in the wall behind the desk. Indi walked into the room further and around the back of the desk. She tried the doorknob. It was locked. She turned to see what was on the computer screen and was surprised to find it logged in. She sat down in the chair and began to explore the system.

She had just discovered an interesting folder when someone wrapped something around her neck. She gave a loud yelp which was quickly cut off. Whatever was around her neck was cutting into her windpipe and she couldn’t make a sound. That was the least of her problems though. It was also cutting off her air. She struggled and tried to get her hands under whatever fabric it was but it was too tight. The room started to melt into little black spots with rings of light. She kicked out and grabbed behind her but it was no good. All she managed to do was bang her leg against the desk.

Then she was falling. The whole chair fell over. Indi found herself on the ground, her vision was still dark but she could hear and feel. The rope or whatever it was had fallen off her neck but her throat still felt tight. She tried to breathe and managed in a little bit of air. She lay on the ground clutching at her chest trying to get her breathing to return to normal half aware that she should probably be trying to run away but unable to focus on anything but getting air. Nearby she could hear crashes but she couldn’t see anything. She closed her eyes tight. She had no idea what was going on.

Eventually the noise stopped and she thought she heard someone call her name.

“Indi?”

She couldn’t answer. She felt warm hands grab her and sit her upright.

“Indi, are you okay? Can you breathe?”

She recognised the voice now. It was Wolf. She shook her head, although she was finding it easier to breathe now.

“Let me see.” He pulled her hands away from her throat then after a brief inspection he rubbed her back and her shoulders gently. “Just relax.”

Indi did find it comforting, what was even better was that her breathing did seem to be coming slowly back. She opened her eyes and found that her vision was returning as well.

“You okay?” Wolf asked again.

This time Indi nodded.

“Can you breathe?”

Indi tried to speak but it came out in a rasp. She nodded again instead.

“Take it easy.” Wolf got up then pulled Indi along the floor a few feet until so she could lean against the wall.

He stepped away. Indi turned her head to see what he was doing. The office chair lay knocked over and on the other side a man in a dark suit was sprawled unconscious, his head twisted at a weird angle.

“He looks about my size.” Wolf said. “Don’t think he’ll mind if I borrow these.” He started removing the man’s clothes. “Might be useful, and I’m sure sick of walking around naked. It’s not easy climbing ropes with nothing on. Bit hard in Wolf form though.”

Indi nodded and rubbed her throat. She rested while Wolf dressed. She noticed the door that was at the back of the room was now open. That must have been where the man had come from. The tiles at the entrance suggested it was likely a bathroom. She cursed herself for not being more aware. Cat never would have gotten surprised like that.

Wolf sat the office chair back up right then stepped around it and offered a hand to Indi. She took it and let him help her up.

“You alright?” he asked again.

This time she managed to get out a raspy, “Yeah.”

“Ready to go back upstairs?”

Indi shook her head.

“Indi, you almost got yourself killed, if I hadn’t . . .”

“I found something.” she pointed at the computer.

“Found what?”

“Everything.”

Upstairs Falco sat down on the couches that decorated the foyer. He’d found just walking up here had made him dizzy. At least Tanya was looking better. She paced in front of the elevator. Even some of her burns were already fading. He wished he felt half as good as she looked. He just had to give it time. At least her healing had caused some more improvement. He could sit upright and as long as he didn’t shift too much it was okay. He hoped Indi was okay.

“We should get the car ready” Zephyr suggested. He was staring out the window. “So we’re ready when they get up here.”

Tanya nodded then stopped. “Where are the keys?”

“Amanda has them.” He sighed. “Probably not on her though. I think they’d be in her bag.”

“I’m not letting you back down there.” Tanya told him.

“I’m sure Cat can hotwire it in less than 30 seconds anyway,” Falco said.

“I just don’t like sitting here doing nothing.” Zephyr replied.

“Well get used to it.” Tanya resumed her pacing again.

Zephyr peered out the window again. “I think there’s someone in that shack at the gate.”

Tanya stopped her pacing again.

“We can deal with it once the others get up here.” Falco told him.

Zephyr quietly looked out the window for a few more minutes before he decided to do something. ”I’m gonna go see who they are.”

“Zeph . . .” Falco warned but he didn’t have the energy and Zephyr was already out the door.

Zephyr used his super speed to go from the door of the building to the back of the shack, hopefully without being seen. He’d brought the gun with him just in case. He threw open the shack door and pointed the gun.

“Hands up.” he called.

A young, dark-haired man in a soldier’s uniform turned around surprised. He held his hands in the air. “Don’t shoot.”

“You work for them. Do you know what’s going on here?” Zephyr asked.

“I’m just a guard. It’s my day to watch the gate, that’s all,” the man replied. He was young, probably not even mid-twenties yet. Given the average life expectancy for a witch he was basically just a kid.

Zephyr lowered his gun slightly. “You don’t know what they do here?”

The boy shook his head.

“They’re killing everyone. You guys too.”

“Okay, if you don’t shoot me, I’ll help you get out of here. There’s a password you gotta put in from inside.”

Zephyr hesitated.

“I promise. Honestly this job is shit anyway,” the boy added.

Zephyr stepped back away from the door of the shack and lowered the gun.

The boy stepped out cautiously.

“What’s your name?” Zephyr asked.

“Kyle,” the guy replied. “What’s yours?”

“Zephyr, Zeph for short.”

The boy nodded the motioned towards the house.

Zephyr turned and started walking. As they walked he asked Kyle questions.

“So you don’t know what this place was for?”

“Nah, a couple months ago I got a job offer I couldn’t refuse. Good wages, short hours, mostly just training. As long as I didn’t ask any questions. It’s been boring as shit though.”

A loud crack sounded behind Zephyr. He spun to find Kyle was crumpled on the ground and Tanya holding the gun, like a bat, over his head. In Kyle’s hand was a pistol.

Zephyr stared at Tanya not sure what to ask first.

“He was raising a gun at you,” she explained simply. “I was worried he was going to shoot it.”

Zephyr nodded. “That’s not how you’re supposed to use that you know.” It was all he could think of to say.

Tanya looked at the gun in her hands and shrugged. “Well I didn’t want to shoot him. I figured knocking him unconscious had the same intended effect.”

“Where did you . . ?”

“I snuck behind the van while you were holding him up.”

“Oh” Zephyr looked around the rest of the yard. “At least he seems to be the only one. Shall we drag him inside?”

Tanya nodded. “You grab his head, I’ll get his feet. I’m surprised you turned your back on him, I thought you guys were trained, even I know not to do that.”

“Yeah, well some of the others are, I’m just, well it’s a long story. Sometimes even I’m not sure how I really got here.”

“What the hell?” Falco asked as they dragged the man inside.

They laid him down at Falco’s feet. Tanya handed him her gun. “Make sure he stays unconscious” she told him. She then turned to Zeph. “Shall we see if we can get the gate open?”

“He said there was something we needed to input inside. Like a code or something.” Zephyr replied.

Tanya gave him an incredulous look. “No, there’s just a button in the guard house.”

Falco laughed at Zephyr then immediately winced at the pain in his ribs.

Amanda had just about decided that they’d waited long enough, when something finally happened. A fair-haired, blue-eyed, man entered through a lower door with a young woman in tow. He walked up to the bodies which lay on slabs in the centre of the room. He approached the woman’s one first. He brushed her hair from her face and then checked her pulse. He turned to the woman who had followed him in and said something to her. It was too quiet for anyone on the balcony to make out. The woman said something back. The man’s next reply was much louder.

“My wife is dead! She is dead. She wasn’t dead half an hour ago. What the hell happened?”

The woman shook her head and mumbled something.

The man paced up and down then walked to the girl. He checked her pulse. He seemed to relax slightly. He turned and paced up and down a few more times then turned and spoke to the woman again.

She shook her head again.

“I don’t care,” the man yelled. “You fix this.”

The child suddenly sat bolt upright, eyes wide open.

The man didn’t see at first. He had his back to her. Instead he pulled out a weapon and shot the woman he had been arguing with.

Then the little girl spoke.

The man turned. His anger seemed to immediately deflate. He ran over to her and wrapped her up in a hug.

“We should leave,” Sirius whispered to Amanda.

“Wait.” Amanda whispered back.

They watched as the man fussed over the child like nothing else existed.

Eventually he pulled back from the child momentarily to yell at some soldiers to take care of the woman on the floor. Two of them grabbed her and took their time lifting her out of the room.

As they exited the room one of them happened to glance up the stairs. Before he could react Kass pushed him and his partner with her mind. She thrust them against the wall by their throats and squeezed. A moment later they lay dead on the ground.

Kass checked back in the main room to make sure no one had noticed but one soldier was already walking towards the door.

“Guys,” Kass whispered to Sirius and Amanda “We got trouble.”

“Shit,” Amanda muttered.

The soldier entered the corridor and looked up the stairs. This one managed to get a yell out before Kass could take him down. More soldiers started to come running.

Another two entered the corridor. Kass felt her body freeze. She couldn’t move. It was like her mind had no control over her limbs anymore. The effects of a mindwalker held her in place.

A moment later she was freed from the mind trap as bullets slammed into the two men in the corridor below. Someone was shooting at them from the other end of the hall. They lay dead on the ground along with the other three soldiers.

The man in the room who seemed to be running the show shouted out orders to “get them!”

Inside the room another soldier had spotted Amanda and Sirius. He pointed up at them. Amanda lit him up like a Christmas tree, but instead of burning up he made the fire bigger, pulled it into his own hands and then he threw a large fireball right back at her.

Amanda and Sirius leaped out of the way as an explosion knocked away the balcony between them and the exit. “Shit, a bloody firestarter,” Amanda swore as she and Sirius started to run along the balcony, chased by a hail of bullets.

Kass was knocked over inside the stairwell. She picked herself up and ran down the stairs to grab a gun. She came face to face with Cat who was just coming up the corridor carrying a weapon of her own.

“What’d you guys do?” Cat accused as she also reached for one of the weapons on the floor. Evidently she’d emptied hers. She didn’t wait for an answer. Instead she stuck the end of the gun through the doorway and fired at as many soldiers as she could. She leaped backwards just as a fireball came flying through the doorway.

Kass ran back up the stairs with her new weapon. She crouched in the doorway and waited for the dust to settle.

“Where are the others?” Cat yelled up to her.

“Inside.” Kass yelled back down.

“How many are there?”

“Eight minus however many you shot” Kass replied. “Plus one’s a firestarter”

“No shit,” Cat replied.

The dust cleared. Kass couldn’t see Amanda and Sirius but the balcony was completely collapsed at this point so they must be on the ground floor. Hopefully not hurt. No one was looking up at her location at least.

“Two coming your way,” she yelled down to Cat.

The four remaining soldiers seemed to be focused on the other side of the balcony. That must be where Amanda and Sirius were. There was now a large hole in the wall. She watched as one of the soldiers burst into a flaming corpse. Another one retaliated by shooting a large spike of ice into the hole. It burst into water knocking everyone on the ground off their feet.

Kass found the firestarter soldier, lined up a shot and fired. The bullet pierced his skull, he was dead instantly.

She glanced down the stairs to see Cat in a brawl with a soldier who looked to be getting the better of her. Kass gave them both a mental push to the side, enough so they fell apart. She hoped Cat had the faster recovery time. She turned back to line up a shot on the Ice Elemental but was surprised as something large and feathery hit her hard and knocked her off her feet.

She yelped as whatever it was started to grow larger and feathers changed to fur. It pinned her down. She was trapped under it, its weight pushing her into the floor, squashing her. She finally got her wits about her and used her magic. She flung it sideways right through the back wall. She looked up to see Cat had just reached the top of the stairs. Cat gave her a hand up. Kass grabbed her gun and they both peered through the hole in the wall. A brown bear came rushing at them. Cat fired at it randomly, putting as many bullets in it as she could. It just kept coming. Kass pushed it back with her telekinesis, she raised her own gun, lined up the shot, and fired. This time the bear fell.

“Never thought I’d be fighting two bears in one day,” Cat remarked.

“You ever heard of this thing called conserving bullets?” Kass asked as they both looked out the door way into the main hall. “Or you know, aiming.”

“Shit!” Cat swore as she noticed the man in charge making a break for it with the child. She took off down the stairs to stop him.

The Ice Elemental soldier was still in a battle with Amanda. He threw large blocks of ice at her and she turned them into steam. Kass lined up her shot. She fired. Nothing happened. Out of bullets, dammit. She looked down the stairs to see Cat standing in the way of the man and child.

“Let her go,” Cat told him.

The man just vanished.

Cat swore. She looked up at Kass. “Help the others, I’m going after him.” Cat turned and ran back towards the elevators.

Kass ran down the stairs and grabbed another gun. She got to the top again to find she was too late. Sirius had evidently gotten tired of hiding behind Amanda and had run out at the Ice Elemental. Lucky for him he’d managed to surprise the guy. He’d tackled him to the floor and knocked the last soldier unconscious. Kass ran back down the stairs to join them in the room.

“Are you okay?” Amanda asked her as she ran out into the middle of the room.

Kass nodded and looked around the room. It was a mess. Bits of rubble and broken pillars lay scattered amongst the dust. The burnt, shot, and beaten corpses reminded Kass of a warzone. She’d seen worse during her time in the North but that didn’t make this any better. Amanda and Sirius took a moment to survey the devastation as well.

“They were probably just doing their jobs,” Amanda said solemnly.

“And we were doing ours,” Sirius replied “and protecting ourselves. They did shoot first. Not to mention all the other stuff.”

Amanda nodded slowly. “We don’t know what they were protecting.”

“Where’d the other guy go?” Sirius asked.

Kass pointed to the exit. “He teleported out. Cat ran off after him.”

Amanda shared a quick glance with Sirius then started walking briskly towards the exit. Kass started to follow then checked back to see Sirius hadn’t moved. She stopped and waited.

Sirius walked up to the body of the woman on the slab and placed his fingers on her neck, checking if she really was dead.

Kass gave him a questioning look.

“Her skin looks old,” he told her.

Kass walked over to have a look. Sirius was right. The woman’s skin was a strange grey almost green colour as if she’d been decomposing for awhile. Kass reached out and touched her. She was cold. Kass gave her a harder poke. “She’s been dead awhile.”

“The man said half an hour.”

Kass shook her head then said softly “I’ve seen this before.”

She paused then met Sirius’s eyes and explained. “Zombies. He brought them back.”

“It didn’t work though.”

“It worked for the girl.”

“So what, he didn’t have enough sacrifices? All that blood . . . is that what we were here for?”

“They didn’t have a Necromancer.” Kass replied simply.

“How many bodies . . ?”

“Hey guys!” Cat yelled at them from the doorway. “Are you coming? There’s more soldiers!”

Kass and Sirius ran over to her then jogged with her back to the elevator.

“I thought you were chasing the guy?” Sirius asked as they ran.

“I was, but I ran into some trouble. Amanda’s holding them off. Quickly!”

Indi was just finishing her work on the computer when they heard the sound of shooting.

Wolf glanced at Indi.

“I’m almost done,” she told him.

He’d managed to retrieve her laptop thanks to some plans of the facility that Indi had found. Turned out the place they’d locked it in hadn’t been too far away so Indi had sent Wolf on a short mission to break the lock and bring it back to her. She was now in the middle of copying a large number of files over from the desktop computer.

“Do you think it’s them?” she asked.

“I’m gonna go check it out,” Wolf replied.

He walked out into the hallway then went in the direction the sound had come from. He rounded a corner to find a little girl standing near the Splice hole all alone. He stopped.

“Hello?” he said as softly as he could.

She looked up at his with large blue eyes. “Hello.” she replied hesitantly.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m Lily, I’m waiting for my daddy. He’s gonna be back any second.”

“I see.” Wolf took a step closer and was about to ask another question when the lights above flickered. He paused.

The girl looked up at the lights frightened.

“It’s alright. How about I show you the way out?” Wolf reassured her.

“Are you a friend of my daddy?”

“Sure,” Wolf said, “I’m a friend.”

The lights flicked off. The girl squealed “Daddddy!”

While Wolf was wondering what to do another light appeared in the darkness. Amanda, carrying a flame in one hand walked around the corner, followed by Cat, Kass, and Sirius.

Amanda took in the scene quickly and stopped just behind Wolf. “Hello there,” she said to the girl. “Where’s your Dad?”

The girl didn’t reply, she just looked nervously towards the hallway.

Cat hissed quietly at Wolf once she got closer to him. “I thought I told you to get out of here.”

Before Wolf could reply a low growl sounded from near the edge of the Splice hole. They looked in horror as a Mimic climbed up over the edge.

“Time to get out of here,” Amanda said. “Hey kiddo, why don’t you come with us and wait for your daddy upstairs.”

The girl took one look at the Mimic and then moved closer to the only people in the room. She glanced nervously at them and then back at the Mimic. “I’m supposed to wait for dad right here.”

“Yeah well he’s running a little late. We’ll help him out, take you upstairs.”

The girl stopped a metre or two away, still hesitant but obviously preferring them to the Mimic, which was slowly creeping closer. “It didn’t look like you were helping him downstairs.”

“Oh we were just . . . that was a friendly battle.”

The girl looked doubtful, but another glance back at the Mimic pushed her further in their direction.

“Why don’t we just get out of here?” Sirius asked Amanda.

“And leave the kid?”

“Think she’ll stay here with that thing. She’ll probably just follow us. Why don’t you light that thing on fire, get rid of it, might push her this way a bit too.”

“I didn’t really want to scare her,” Amanda replied but she gave the mimic a look and it burst into flames.

Lily gave a shriek of surprise and ran the rest of the way towards them. She stopped short of completely careening into Wolf.

Wolf stepped aside. “Follow my friends. I’ll find your dad, I promise.”

Lily nodded slowly and stepped warily around him. “Don’t hurt him.”

Wolf nodded but he didn’t promise.

“Wolf . . .” Amanda started to protest but stopped with a glance at the girl.

“I need to go get Indi as well.” Wolf told her hoping she’d understand that was all he meant to do.

“What!” Cat exclaimed.

Amanda frowned. “Where?”

Wolf pointed. “Back that way.”

Before Wolf could move another voice shouted out.

“Hey! What the hell is going on here?” Lily’s father had appeared near the Splice hole. “Get away from my daughter.”

He didn’t notice another two mimics sneaking out of the Splice hole behind him.

“How about we talk about this upstairs?” Amanda replied, summoning a flame into one hand, just in case, and to show him what she could do if she wanted.

He shook his head. “None of you are leaving here.”

The Mimics crept closer to him.

“Then why would we give her to you?” Kass yelled at him.

Amanda frowned and watched for the kid’s reaction

“Daddy, watch out behind you!” Lily yelled.

He turned just as the Mimics leapt at him.

He vanished. So did the Mimics.

Before anyone could stop her Lily ran out to the spot where he’d been standing but there was no trace of him left.

“Hey Lily,” Cat said as she approached the girl. “I know a friend of yours who’s outside, you remember Charles, Mr Rabbit? You can see him again if you come with us.”

Lily looked up curiously. Her eyebrows knotted together. “We can’t leave my dad.” She glanced nervously over at Kass.

“We won’t leave him,” Amanda lied to her. “But we can’t help him unless you go upstairs first.”

Lily’s light eyebrows knotted even more. “I don’t trust you.” she replied. Lily looked at Kass again. “She said you wouldn’t give me back.”

“That was just...” Kass started, but a look from Amanda silenced her.

More Mimics started to creep out of the hole. Amanda set them on fire with the wave of a hand. Lily backed away eyes wide and in the wrong direction.

“How are you doing that?” she asked.

That made everyone pause. “She’s a firestarter,” Cat explained with a hint of confusion in her voice.

“What’s a firestarter?”

“She seemed confused about teleportation as well,” Amanda replied. “Lily, you know, magic?”

Lily shook her head and took another step backwards.

“We won’t hurt you,” Cat said inching closer to the girl.

Lily backed away further.

A Mimic leapt out of the dark at her. She screamed as it knocked her to the ground. Cat rushed forward and tackled it. She threw it off to the side, spun around, picked Lily up off the ground and threw her over the shoulder.

Lily yelped.

Cat moved fast.

Once she was out of the way Amanda blasted the mimics with fireballs.

“Get her out of here,” Amanda shouted. “Wolf get Indi!” More Mimics were pouring out of the hole now. Amanda lit a bunch on fire.

Then the sprinklers turned on.

Cat cursed and handed Kass the child. “Here!” she said then followed after Wolf. “I’ll help.”

“I said get out,” Amanda yelled at Sirius and Kass as she saw that they hadn’t moved.

Sirius shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere.” He turned to Kass. “Take the kid.”

Kass had put the girl on her feet the second Cat had handed her to her. The girl weighed a ton. In her surprised state Lily stood frozen. Kass grabbed the girls hand. “Come on.” She pulled the girl towards the exit.

“But my dad!” Lily cried as she half stumbled half ran behind Kass.

“The others will get him.”

Kass didn’t look back. The others would be fine. Probably.

“I think they’re multiplying” Sirius observed as he stood next to Amanda watching her keep the Mimics at bay.

“The sprinklers aren’t helping, I don’t want to just light the whole place up though.” She set them alight in small groups but they moved so fast that the second she managed to slow one down another group appeared. They seemed to have lost their fear of the fire. Perhaps they were just that hungry or perhaps they were running from something else. Amanda didn’t think about it too long. She just hoped the others found Indi fast.

Wolf almost ran into Indi as she was coming out of the office room.

“Ugh who set the sprinklers off?” she asked. She had her laptop back in its bag and cuddled up to her stomach. She hunched over trying to keep the water off it.

“You got everything? Doesn’t matter. We gotta go.” Wolf told her.

“Yeah.” Indi smiled when she saw Cat but her face quickly turned into a frown. “Jeez you’re coated in blood.”

“I’m fine, just wanted a matching outfit,” Cat gestured off-handedly at Indi’s own blood-soaked clothes. She then shot an irritated look up at the ceiling as she tried in vain to keep from getting soaked by the sprinklers.

“Let’s get out of here,” Wolf instructed.

Kass had reached the elevator with Lily in tow only to find the way blocked.

Lily’s father stood in her way. Evidently he had escaped the mimics. Next to him a panel at the door to the elevator displayed a red light. “I’m sorry but I can’t let you leave. Not until you give me my kid. I’ve put the place in lock down. None of us are getting out unless I say so, and I’m not opening it until you give me the girl.”

Kass pulled Lily in front of her, pulled out her gun, and pointed it at the girl's head. She knew Cat and Amanda would probably both yell at her for it later but that didn’t matter as much right now as did getting out.

“I’m pretty sure I can shoot faster than you can teleport. Want to test it?” Kass gave the elevator button a mental push as subtly as she could. She didn’t want to accidently push him and tip him off. He didn’t seem to notice.

“Fine, then we all die here,” he growled back.

The stood starting at each other for a moment. Then the elevator door dinged open. Kass slammed the guy into the side of the wall with telekinesis, knocking him unconscious. She pushed Lily past him into the elevator and dragged his body in after them.

She shut the elevator doors and pushed the button for the top floor. Nothing happened. Shit.

She opened the elevator doors again and found herself staring down the hall at a Mimic.

Her breath caught in her throat. “How’d you get through to here?” she asked as she hit the close door button again. She tried not to think about what might have happened to the others.

The doors started to close at the slowest pace possible. The Mimic walked towards the elevator. Kass hit the close doors button a few more times. She focused on the Mimic. She could push it if she had to. It began to run. The elevator door shut just before it slammed into them. Kass relaxed but only briefly. She pressed the top floor button but nothing happened. Now what?

“Are we going to die?” Lily asked.

Sirius had suggested she blow up the sprinkler itself. Amanda had stupidly listened. Now there was water pouring down in a torrent. It had made Amanda’s fireballs almost useless. She eventually gave up with the small fireballs and finally risked just sending one big flame at them. It hadn’t really helped. Now the building was on fire. To make matters worse the Mimics didn’t seem to die like they had before. It was as if they were immune. The fire would probably get put out by the water soon but the Mimics weren’t stopping. Amanda and Sirius were forced to retreat. Amanda made a quick executive decision not to leave anyone behind so rather than back out towards the exit they instead headed in the direction that the others had gone looking for Indi.

They soon ran into them in the hall.

“Not that way,” Amanda told them.

“What happened?” Cat asked. “Where’s the kid?”

“Sent her up with Kass.”

“Where are we going?” Wolf asked.

“I know another way out!” Indi added in a tone way too optimistic for the situation. “Saw it on the map. There’s a maintenance shaft. It can get us into the elevator. Follow me.”

They followed Indi down a new hallway until they reached a double door. Indi grabbed the handle but the door didn’t move. “It’s locked.” She turned to look at the others expectantly.

“Let me.” Sirius stepped past her and yanked. The doors flew open.

“Uh guys.” Cat said.

They turned to look where she was staring. The mimics were catching up.

“Are they on fire?” Cat asked.

“That’s not normal.” Wolf added.

“Good to know.” Amanda grabbed him and yanked him through the doors with the rest of them.

“It doesn’t makes sense,” Wolf shouted as they ran. “Mimics hate fire.”

“I really wouldn’t have guessed,” Amanda yelled back.

“I don’t think they got the memo,” Cat added.

Wolf paused to say something and Cat gave him a shove. “Keep moving.”

“But the ones we saw earlier didn’t even like the light,” he replied.

“It’s not going to matter how they got that way if you get killed by them.” Cat told him.

They followed Indi down some stairs, through another two sets of locked doors and into what looked like some kind of maintenance room. They shut the doors behind them and shoved whatever they could find up against them.

“Now which way?” Cat asked.

“There should be a small shaft that we can climb up to get into the main shaft, and from there we can drop down into the elevator, or below it assuming Kass has already taken it up.

“That’s going to be a long climb up.” Amanda observed then jumped as something slammed into the room doors from the outside. Smoke started drifting under the door.

“You’d think the sprinklers would have put them out” Cat wondered.

“Let’s just hurry.” Amanda replied.

“I’m looking . . . here I found it.” Indi lifted a hatch in the corner of the room.

“I think the Splice Hole’s causing weird shit to happen,” Wolf said.

“That’s your best explanation?” Cat asked.

“You got a better one?” Wolf asked.

Indi crawled into the hole and disappeared.

“Guys!” Amanda interrupted them.

“Maybe the Hall of the Dead is keeping them alive?” Cat theorized. “Or that asshole majorly stuffed up his resurrection and brought a bunch of dead Mimics back that can’t die?”

“I’ve never heard of that happening,” Wolf replied but he seemed to be thinking it over.

“Get in the shaft!” Amanda ordered.

Wolf did as he was told. Cat shouted out to him as he disappeared. “No, you never heard of the incident at Saltbee Island back in 95? A whole bunch of zombies . . .”

A loud crash sounded and the whole door bent inwards. Sirius shoved it back and held it steady.

Cat caught Amanda’s eye and decided she didn’t need to be told twice. She scurried over to the shaft and climbed inside.

Amanda followed her a moment later. They climbed up a metal ladder with the only light coming form down below through the hole they’d entered from.

Amanda glanced down as she climbed hoping Sirius would stick his head through.

She heard a shout from above and some more light entered the shaft. When she looked back down again she was relieved to see Sirius coming up the ladder.

“Saltbee was the result of an Infuser and a Healer not Necromancy,” Wolf yelled from somewhere up above, “and they weren’t Zombies, not technically anyway.”

“Looked pretty zombie like-like from the pictures I saw,” Cat shot back.

The whole ladder shook. Amanda looked down. Sirius was fighting off a Mimic that had crawled inside. He gave it a boot to the head that sounded like it crushed its skull but it just kept coming.

“Whatever they are they ain’t fucking natural,” Sirus yelled as he kicked at the thing.

“Duck out of the way,” Amanda yelled down at him.

She focused on the Mimic, on its blood and its bones, she condensed heat within it, then she let it go. The entire Mimic exploded.

“Nice!” Sirius replied but didn’t pause. He started climbing faster once he realised more Mimics were entering the shaft.

Kass had initially held the elevator hatch closed tight with her mind when the banging on the top had started. But then she’d heard Indi yelling down.

“Hey Kass, are you in there? Let us in, it’s me, Indi.”

“Indi?” Kass asked suspiciously.

“Yeah?”

“What’s your favourite colour?”

Indi laughed. “Indigo, duh.”

Kass had released the hold on the door and still found herself pleasantly surprised to see Indi dropping into the elevator. Wolf dropped in a moment later.

“Sorry, just had to ask something to check it was really you. Didn’t want to let in a mimic,” Kass told them.

Indi gave her a smile then turned to yell back out the hatch “Hurry up you guys.” She then turned back to Kass. “How come you didn’t go to the top?”

“The elevator won’t work. I think he did something, and there’s a whole bunch of those Mimics outside.”

“It’s weird,” Indi wondered aloud as she investigated the panel inside the elevator, “I can’t even feel these mimics. Even before, when I managed to block them out I could still kind of hear them in the back of my head. But these ones, nothing.” She frowned. “We need to unscrew this.”

“Sirius’ll do it” Wolf said.

“Do what?” Cat asked, as she dropped through the top hatch and landed on her feet.

“The elevator’s not moving.” Indi explained then looked apologetically at Wolf, “I think, we may actually need the outside panel.”

“You’re joking?” Cat groaned. “Can’t you move the elevator?” she asked Kass.

Kass shook her head. That really wasn’t something she wanted to try, not with everyone inside.”

“Is the open door button working?” Indi asked Kass.

Kass nodded.

“I saw some security codes. It may be as simple as putting that in.” Indi replied.

“What’s the problem?” Amanda asked as she dropped in.

Sirius followed her a few moments later and pulled the hatch behind him. They heard a mimic on the roof shortly after.

“The elevator doesn’t work” Cat explained. “What about this panel?”

“I don’t know. That’s the problem. I do know the outside one will work. I’m not sure about this one.”

Everyone was silent for a moment. Just long enough for the Mimic on the roof of the elevator to cause them all to jump when it tried to get in.

“You want to open the doors?” Amanda asked.

Indi nodded. “I can shield.

“Do we really want to take that thing up with us?” Sirius asked as he looked up at the ceiling.

“It’s sunlight outside. Isn’t it?” she checked her watch to confirm. “Any that come up with us won’t last long. Ready?” She asked Indi. “You’ve got sunscreen on right?”

Indi nodded. “Always.”

Amanda hit the button.

Indi put up her shield but there was nothing there, just a dark empty hallway. She dropped her shield down and moved to the panel. She thanked fate or whoever for the gift of a photographic memory and punched some buttons in.

Job done. She glanced back down the empty hallway. A woman stood at the end of it. She took a step forward, an unnatural jerky step.

“Mommy!” Lily cried and started to run towards the woman.

Cat grabbed the girl around the waist and pulled her back inside the elevator. “Indi get inside.” she commanded. Then to the girl, “That’s not your mommy.”

Indi moved. Lily struggled against Cat. Amanda hit the close door button. They all watched as the woman got ever so slightly closer, always keeping at the same uneven pace. As the doors shut she reached out a hand.

The elevator rumbled upwards.

“They weren’t supposed to be immune to fire,” Sirius said. “What makes you think sunlight’s going to stop them?”

Indi’s eyes widened “You think they learnt how to be immune from the sunlight?”

Was that hope in her voice? “You don’t want that Indi, trust me,” Cat told her, “not that way.”

“We’ll blast the building above, bring enough rubble down on the shaft. They won’t be getting out.” Amanda replied.

They travelled the rest of the way up in silence. When the doors opened at the top they were greeted with three guns pointed at them.

“I thought I left you guys two weapons” Cat commented.

“We acquired one more.” Tanya replied with a nod at the unconscious soldier in front of the couch. She lowered her weapon, as did Zeph, and Falco from his position on the couch.

They walked out of the elevator and spread out around the room. Indi wrapped her arms around Falco and gave him a kiss.

“You got the car keys?” Zephyr asked Amanda.

The shocked look on her face indicated it was something that had completely slipped her mind. She recovered quickly then shot an expectant look at Cat.

Cat rolled her eyes. “It’s no problem.” She raised the keys she’d lifted from Amanda’s bag earlier and spun them around her fingers. She headed towards outside then paused and turned. “Did you guys clear the yard?”

“There was just him.” Tanya told her. She pointed to the unconscious soldier.

Cat nodded and left to go start the van. She gave the area a cautious sweep before heading out despite Tanya’s assurances.

“What do we do with this guy?” Kass asked as she struggled to pull Lily’s father’s unconscious weight out of the elevator. Lily, herself, had stepped out of the elevator and was standing nervously to the side, eyes jumping between Kass as the others.

“Where’d the kid come from?” Zephyr asked.

“Long story,” Amanda replied. “We’ll bring him with us. Keep a gun on him.”

Seeing Kass glance tiredly at the unconscious guy, Sirius walked over to him and lifted him up. “I got him,” he told her. He carried the guy outside to the van.

Tanya and Kass followed out after him.

A moment later the van roared to life.

“You want to come for a ride with us?” Wolf asked crouching down next to Lily.

She shook her head. Wolf looked at Amanda.

“It’s okay,” she mouthed to him.

Wolf sighed and left through the door just as Cat returned back inside.

“What are we doing with that guy?” Indi asked, of the soldier on the floor.

“We’ll drag him outside. Hey Wolf!” Amanda yelled.

Wolf stuck his head back in.

“Can you help lift?” Amanda gestured to the guy on the floor.

Wolf nodded and started to drag the guy outside. He paused to look at Indi and Falco. “Are you guys alright?”

Indi nodded and leaned down to help Falco up. Amanda joined her with a quick hesitating glance towards Lily. Cat beat her to it though. She came back in through the door, picked Lily up and threw her gently over her shoulder. Lily gave a surprised yelp.

“I got the kid,” Cat said.

They all piled into the van. Wolf sat on the floor by the door. They dragged the soldier to the shack and left him inside that.

Sirius drove the van out through the gate as instructed by Amanda.

Once outside the gate all of them piled out of the van again, except Falco who stayed in the back and the unconscious man who had caused it all.

Lily got out, curious about what they were doing. She fiddled with her sleeves, a tired and confused look on her face. They stood just inside the gate, all watching the building.

Indi glanced back towards Falco and decided she didn’t need to watch this. She walked back to the van. But as she was about to get back in she realised something was missing.

“Where’d the guy go?”

“Huh?” Falco asked. He tried to lean forward to see but his ribs still hurt a lot.

“He’s gone,” Indi looked around but the unconscious man was now nowhere to be seen.

She glanced back at the others.

Amanda stood in front of the group, between them and the building, red hair glowing like fire in the evening sun. She raised her hands and brought them down with a loud crash. The building exploded. It burst high up into the air then tumbled down into a pile of rubble. As the dust settled she turned and walked slowly back towards the gates.