Secrets From the Grave (Sinister 1.60)

Chapter Eighteen Defender of the People

    "She is on the move!" Crackles come from our radios. I whip around to grab one and respond to Raskel.

    "Who is?!" I demand, and Raskel's radio crackles again, 'no Alpha we sent has been able to contact back.'

    "Aurora," Raskel says, and my heart falls into my stomach.

    "She is moving too fast to be alone, someone has her," Raskel says, and I nod gritting my teeth.

    "Find her, Raskel. Find my fucking daughter!" I snarl, and Raskel's radio crackles again then a long silence.

    "That is the mission, High Beta," Raskel says at last, and then the radio sounds die as if he re-entered the dead zone. I fist the radio wanting to slam it into the table, but I just grip it. 'Are we helping?' An alarm hits the air as the door opens behind us, and a person comes through. When no one reacts I turn around and see Kiki.

    "I have a plan," Kiki says, and I nod eagerly to hear it, and she walks up to my setup and changes the video feed to the north side of the island. 'What is moving that fast?' I look at Kiki, and she nods pointing, zooming in, and when the camera focuses I nod to her. 'They will take care of it, and unlike the Alphas, the chemicals won't slow them down. For Vico and Diana, they would do anything.

                                                                                                   ~

11:00 pm, Diana's POV

    'Pandora wields her spear with such deadly precision I have not had to lift my hand once. And we ran into five attackers, each looking more and more surprised to see us alive. Verifying friendlies from raiders has not been a dilemma we've had yet. But with the rage pumping through me I am unsure if they would not fall victim to friendly fire.' Pandora motions us to follow her through a dark lights-flickering hallway. 'The entire hospital is pitch black, which has led to us running in circles around the fourth floor to find a way down. One not blocked by a Hail Mary door.'

    "Can we have a little light?" I hear a gruff voice snark from a couple of hundred feet ahead. Jules freezes as Phoenix, in his arms, sniffles, seeming like he may cry. My heart fights to leave my chest as Mino and Lemon quietly try the doors looking for a room for us to duck into. Few doors open, but even those have the Hail Mary high-grade metal shield blocking us from entry.

     Peace matches my step and readies his body to fight. Pandora fingers her staff as the voices get closer and the lights flicker again. 'There is nowhere to hide.' Phoenix lets out a soft purring sound, and in response, the men freeze and try to see us in the pitch hallway. 'Not friendlies, most Candyland Alphas can see in the dark. Tony ordered Carnivorous to protect us, and they are all in partial-Berserker form...they would be able to see in the dark.' I nudge Pandora with my hip trying to push her behind me, but she is trying to do the same to me. 'If we cannot hide, then we must go on offense.'

     "We know you're there, you don't have to fear us." The men say, but the way it is said confirms they are not friendly. Pandora creeps forward quieter than a predator, then when she is ten feet from them she looks back at me and nods. I nod back, grip the towel bar, and then slam it full force into a Hail Mary door making a loud clang. Pandora runs toward them and then uses the wall to jump off and attack them from the air. With the flickering lights, I cannot see what she is doing, but though I hear their screams, she is silent as the grave. The only sound coming from her is the sheathing and unsheathing of her weapon as she plunges it into them over, and over. She suddenly flips through the air using both gravity and skill to jerk her hips and snap the third man's neck. His body crumbles and then returns to the ground with a sickening thud. She lands in a panther's pounce watching them for signs of life. They show none, but her spear still whips down across their throats making blood pool around their lifeless bodies.