Is This the End?

Chapter Twenty-Eight

This is officially part two of Is This The End! This release is a little late but I'm in my last semester of college and so can't promise to stay on a strict update schedule. All updates will be on Fridays by midnight EST, the plan so far is every Friday but at the least every other Friday, I'll be posting a new chapter. Without further ado....

Marcus

I stare into the horizon and take in the moon just starting to really shine in the night sky. I take a drag from my blunt before catching sight of the last guard to exit the building. Dropping the blunt, I grind it under my boot before making my way to the door.

Thanks to the delayed-release, I catch the door right before it closes. It's the only door of the HQ that works like that. The Doctor begged the Director for months before having it installed. He was so sure nothing bad would come of it as nobody, but NTSCU had access- bodies the specimens- to the building

I come to the only way into the facility, but thankfully it's hardly the only way out. Walking to the only window along the blindingly white walls, I lean down and double-tap three times on the cloudy glass. It slides open, and I'm graced with the site of girl that is stuck working in this boring ass post. Her eyes light up as I come into view. Giving her a slight smirk, I lean in close until the barrier stops my movement.

"How's your day going, Kitten?" I ask her, making sure my voice has a husky tone that spreads a lovely blush across her cheeks.

"Oh, you know same old, same old," she says with a slight pout, "the Director probably won't be lifting my punishment anytime soon."

"That's a damn shame, I would have loved you in the field with me. Do you think you can do me a small favor?" I ask her, rubbing on the back of my neck. "I forgot my access card in my bunk, and I just don't have the time to fetch it without being late. You think I can sneak past?"

"Oh, I don't know..." she trails off and looks away from me while nibbling on her lip.

"I promise it'll be our little secret. Nobody will from me about this," I assure her.

"Just this once," she states.

"Thanks, Kitten I won't forget this," I tell. She gives me a sultry smile before shutting the glass, and not even a second later, an opening appears in the white room. Without waiting a second longer, I walk through the door and begin the long trek down to the lower levels.

Hopefully, she doesn't get in more trouble once the others realized she helped me, but it couldn't be helped. Most people wouldn't have opened the door, and it had taken me months to butter her up enough to even think about going through with my request. I suppose the NTSCU's lack of ability to recruit people that can use all their brain cells worked in my favor for once. Go figure.

Already my nose is hit with the putrid smell of death, blood, and unwashed bodies. Reaching down, I bring my mask up and cover my nose to filter some of the foulness saturating the air. Once arriving at Ground Floor Twelve, I brace myself before yanking the door open.

I stride down the hall and ignore all the screams of agony as I attempt to reach my destination. Unfortunately, the good old doctor hasn't gotten the memo that I've recently retired from this sort of work. Or he just doesn't give two fucks and is trying to push the issue knowing I don't often say no to money.

A hand reaches out and pulls me to close to the cells that line the wall. I wretch my hand free and swiftly get my gun out and point it straight at the forehead of Zero. His eyes glow a hellish red from inside of the shadows from where he squats. He backs up slowly until his back hits the wall. Sliding down, he bares his mouth in a way that is threatening even with soaked bars in front of me.

"They're going to kill him eventually, you know." He states in such a way that I know it's anything but a question. I nod my head and try not to think of the boy that I had brought here what feels a lifetime ago. Just on the cusp of adulthood and finally learning to enjoy life in our screwed-up world. I lick my lips before glaring at the beast before me.

"And what exactly do you want me to do about that?" I ask. I cock an eyebrow at him, and his frustrated growl is like music to my ears. I turn on my heel and continue on my destination, ignoring the bangs that echo without the thankfully empty halls.

"You owe me, you bastard. I demand you save him," Zero shouts after me. I throw a lingering glance at him through the bars one last time but not before giving him some parting words.

"Save that for a rainy day. I plan on getting that kid out of here, no matter what." I stalk forward though I can feel the glare of his eyes all the way to the door. I don't break my stride as I continue to stride through the metal maze that is the headquarters of the Nightmare Terror Special Containment Unit.

This deep underground, there are no windows but had there been, I'd see the false tranquility of people going about their day. With how much illegal activity goes on in these walls, most wouldn't think the Director planned to settle in the middle of such a bustling city. Though I guess that's what happens when humans are willing to persecute those different from them, this is the outcome.

Agonizing screams fill the air, and my stomach tenses the closer I get to the source. I press my thumb into the lock and let out a slight exhale when it works. Thank god for slow paperwork processing. I walk into the room, and the doctor barely turns his head in my direction before getting back to the task out hand.

He gives a hard twist of his hand, and a fingernail is pulled from the hand being restrained on the table in the middle of the room. I watch as the nearly black blood oozes to the floor and try to calculate the length of time food had most likely been withheld this time. The blood finally reaches the floor and slips between the rubber lining and probably adding to the other stains of who knows what down there.

The Doctor drops the nail into a jar filled halfway with other body parts that I could only hope that he was seeing other specimens today, and the kid hadn't suffered too badly. It'll put a definite wrench in my plans if he couldn't at least limp out of here.

"Marcus, what a surprise. I had thought you'd resigned," the Doctor's voice jogs me out of my thoughts and give him a teasing smirk as I start my walk around the room. I keep his assistant in my peripheral vision and keep my sigh to myself as he starts to cut away into the kid's tan skin.

"Oh, you know how it goes. I file, but bureaucrats fail to do their part, so you'll sadly have to put up with me for another day," I lie through my teeth. The Doctor nods his head and goes back to organizing his newest specimen. "Don't you ever worry the beasts will overhear something they're not supposed to?" I ask, and subtlety takes a glance at the only clock in the room.

Just before the assistant has the chance to finish peeling the kid's abdomen open, I jerk him to me. Using his momentum, I slam him into the closet wall and thrust the knife hiding in my sleeve into the side of his neck. I stuff a piece of cloth into his mouth, glance back, and am awarded with the sight of the Doctor's widening eyes.

He shakes slightly, looking between the door and the kid before turning tail and running out the door. The lock-down alarm blares to life, and I pull my "borrowed" gear on as the room's lights bleed red. Armed agents bust through the door, and I shoot them all in the head in quick procession, not wasting a bullet. Well looks like everything's going as planned.