Nucleic † Dennor

The Trek

As the two emerged from behind the dumpster, the alarm bell rang out from within in the lab. Lukas paused, and motioned for Mathias to wait as he crept forwards and checked to the right and left of the area they had been hiding in. The loading dock had plenty of big things to hide behind, so Lukas was sure they would be safe. The only problem was that they'd have to walk through the city to get to his apartment. It was too late to take the trains, and even if they could hop on public transport, it wouldn't be the best idea. Two half-naked men covered in blood definitely wouldn't get far before someone called the police.

Luckily, Lukas didn't live very far. He biked to work every day, and it was only 30 blocks or so. As he peeked his head out of the loading dock, he looked for cameras.Only noticing one positioned towards the door of the loading dock, Lukas was overcome with relief. It would be easy to sneak off.

As he headed back over towards Mathias he heard a clanking noise. His heart rate increasing, Lukas ran back and shoved Mathias back behind the dumpster where they had taken out the tracking device. Mathias stayed on the ground and Lukas peered out as he heard footsteps in the distance.

Lukas continued staring out from behind the dumpster as he heard the footsteps coming closer, followed by heavy breathing. It was only a few seconds before Lukas saw the chief walk pass the entrance of the loading dock. He was breathing heavily, sweating, and was definitely in search of Mathias. He seemed to be holding a tranquilizer gun, and was frantically looking around. Lukas quickly darted his head back behind the dumpster as the man's eyes searched the loading dock. After a few seconds of observing the area, the chief decided to go elsewhere, and Lukas waited until he could no longer hear the man's footsteps to get out from behind the dumpster.

"That was close" Mathias exclaimed, his voice gritty as he tried to ignore the pain emanating from his back.

"Follow me closely" Lukas commanded, helping Mathias up off the ground as they emerged from behind the dumpster. The two stayed silent as Lukas led him towards the clearing. Once out of the loading dock area, they swfitly walked along the backside of the building. Lukas knew they had to leave as soon as possible, but he didn't want to risk getting seen on camera. He wasn't exactly sure if there were any along the outside of the buidling.

The two continued to walk until they heard another clanging noise. Lukas paused and Mathias followed. Lukas's heart nearly stopped as he heard more footsteps. Panicking, he grabbed Mathias by the wrist and ran as fast as he could into the lab's arboretum. Although in the city, the lab had its own patch of nature in order to perform experiments in a natural environment.

The two hid behind a few bushes until they couldn't hear anything. Lukas motioned for Mathias to follow again and the two headed through the arboretum undisturbed, knowing they were in the clear. As soon as they had reached the end of the small green space, they were met with a gate. The arboretum was surrounded by the gate in order to keep the public out.

Lukas began to climb, but as soon as he jumped over to the other side, he realized Mathias hadn't moved an inch. "What the hell are you doing?" Lukas whispered, looking over at the Dane, who had his hands positioned to climb the gate.

"My back..." the Dane began. Lukas groaned. Climbing the gate required mobility, and Mathias was certainly limited.

"Either push through the pain, or you'll be a guinea pig for the rest of your short life" Lukas, warned. Mathias clenched his jaw. He thought about it for a moment before taking a deep breath and hoisting himself up onto the gate, grinding down onto his teeth as he felt the incision tear open slightly. Although in pain, he pushed through until dropping himself over the other side.

Lukas stared at the ground where Mathias had landed for a while. The man was crunched up in a ball, breathing heavily as he shook. Lukas could tell he was pushing the limits of this man's pain tolerance. He knew Mathias wasn't going to last much longer.