Ultima Ratio

Chapter 58: Glass House

Akira wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't the homely aura that engulfed her with warmth as soon as she stepped through the doorway.

First, it was the greeting party: an old golden retriever and a young black pitbull that only fought to see who could sniff the most people first. The most aggressive thing about them were their rapid tail wags, and they innocently licked each member of the Aegis Squad as if apologizing for being the ones that blew their cover.

Then, it was the decor. The worn wood floor was covered with a hodgepodge of vibrant knit rugs, and the rustic furniture was topped with lace doilies and handmade pottery. Along the walls were an array of photos and paintings in mismatched frames; amongst them was a clay slab with two different handprints and paw prints.

"Leave your shoes on," the rancher gently told Akira as he ushered them through the entryway.

Akira hadn't realized she had been struggling to take off her boots using only her feet. Even with the homeowner's explicit permission, she still winced as she stepped onto a striped cream and green rug with her filthy soles.

"Jack?" a groggy voice asked from above them.

Another man squinted down at them from the stairs landing while dressed in a baggy shirt, boxers, and fuzzy house slippers. "What's going on?"

"We're opening the station, dear," the first rancher, Jack, cryptically explained. "Get the first aid kit."

The other man's eyes widened as he nodded before he ran back up the stairs.

Jack led them through the kitchen and to a small, walk-in pantry where he knelt down. After shifting some of the canned goods aside, he reached through the opening he made and pulled firmly at the back wall. With a low scratching sound, the lower two shelves slid to the side, revealing a half-meter-tall and one-meter-wide opening to a small backroom.

"It'll be a tight squeeze," Jack said as he glanced over Navin's bulky frame. "Sorry, but it's the best we've got."

Navin went first, sliding inside with surprising flexibility before accepting everyone's packs. As one of the next largest, Quyen went next, then helped drag Danya inside before Akira immediately followed.

A tight squeeze was an understatement. While it was larger than the opening they slid through, it wasn't by much. The ceiling was just over a meter high, and while Quyen appeared relatively comfortable as she sat upright with her knees to her chest, Navin wore a tight grimace as he hunched over with his head and neck forming a horizontal line. The floor space was probably the size of a mattress—one meant for kids, and not six adults with weapons and six bulky survival packs. Eventually, Akira had Danya's upper body leaning against her own, and the rest squeezed in where they could.

"Lock the door once I close it," Jack said once they were all inside, and he handed them a first aid kit. "And try to avoid the walls; any pressure could affect the camouflage."

Navin waited until Jack left to let out a frustrated sigh as he curled up even more.

For several minutes, the compact confines were filled with stiff silence. Elodie moved next to Akira to tend to Danya's wounds, relying primarily on her own supplies but grabbing from the offered kit when necessary. It wasn't long before Akira could feel an intense heat radiating from Danya's body, and Elodie provided Akira with a cold compress to hold against Danya's skin.

At the sound of a short siren, they all froze. Almost immediately after, Danya released a pained whimper, and Akira dropped the cold pack to clamp her left hand over Danya's burning mouth.

They waited as the sound of heavy footsteps thumped over wood, then as muffled voices replaced them. When the footsteps picked up again, the voices continued, and the heavy clumps faded in and out for several long minutes.