Calculatingly Wise

48

The group ran into the warehouse. Argent opened the door slightly and raised his paintball gun. He shot the camera while Tessa, Malia and Scott knocked out the guards.

Argent motioned for the teens to enter. "Thermite charges will take care of the weapons. Just make sure you're clear before they detonate, okay?"

Lydia and Tessa followed Argent while Scott and Malia walked in a different direction.

They walked into the surveillance room and Argent knocked out the guard with the butt of his rifle. Malia took out the remaining guard in the armory door.

Lydia turned to face her friends, a worried expression on her face. "Did you hear a gunshot?"

Argent and Tessa exchanged a look and he said, "No, we didn't hear anything."

"I heard shell casings. I saw your windshield crack and then I heard it shatter." She sighed. "I think you were right. We should've called this off."

Lydia winced, hearing more sounds. "We all have to get out of here."

Argent frowned. "Do that and we lose our chance."

"Scott and Malia could die. It's not worth the risk."

"Ten minutes ago, I would've agreed, but right now we're in it and we need to weigh the risk versus reward carefully. If we stay, we could succeed. If we go, we know we won't get another chance. Since one risk is known and the other unknown... We go with the known."

Lydia turned to Tessa. "You're the tiebreaker."

"Great. You're both right. But I think we should go with Argent's idea. This is our only chance, so let's do it."

Argent and Lydia nodded and he keyed a button on the control board, releasing the armory locks.

They looked through the camera to see Scott and Malia walk up to a door and they pulled to open.

Tessa frowned, seeing a wire that looked concerning.

Argent's eyes widened. He pressed a button and said to Scott and Malia, "Guys, get out of there now." He paused. "Guys, you need to leave now."

They kept pulling on the door and Tessa yelled, "Guys, no! Don't open that door!"

The door opened and a blaring alarm sounded. The doors to the armory closed and locked.

"Di Immortales," the demigoddess cursed.

Lydia and Tessa looked to Argent who shook his head as a console continued beeping. "Nope. Everything's shut down. They're locked in and we can't do anything about it."

"Di Immortales!" Tessa exclaimed.

Lydia frowned at her as she pointed to a flashing light. "What's this?"

"A motion sensor," Argent informed.

Lydia tilted her head, looked at the sensor. "What does "H2100" mean?"

"H stands for halon. It's a fire suppression system. It'll pull all the oxygen out of the room to put out a fire."

"All of the oxygen?" Tessa questioned. "How long can a werewolf hold their breath?"

Argent looked between the girls. "I think we're about to find out."

Scott and Malia were looking around for Jiang and Tierney. Tessa bounced her foot nervously, slightly worried as to what they might find.

Argent stood at the desk. "Communications are shut down and the room is soundproof."

"We need to warn them," Lydia said.

"We are." He pointed to the pipes. "One of the pipes leads in there."

Argent banged on one of the pipes and Tessa asked after a moment, "Anything?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

Lydia noticed them looking around; Scott especially. "I think he hears you." She paused a moment. "What are you doing?"

"Don't trip the sensors," Argent warned.

Scott and Malia avoided the sensors and jumped onto one of the racks. Malia landed on top of Scott.

Argent tried to rewire the control board. "If I can bypass the system, I might be able to reset the console."

Malia started to stand up and Lydia frowned. "What the hell is she doing?"

She swung across and reached the lock, missing the sensor sweep. She knocked down the lock, but a small piece fell to the ground, hitting the beam. Smoke entered the room and Scott and Malia fell from where they were laying and breathed heavily.

Lydia stared at the screen. "How long do they have?"

"Minutes," Argent answered grimly.

Tessa clasped her hands tightly, praying that her cousin and friend wouldn't die.

A hunter said from outside, "We found Anderson unconscious. We're moving in."

Another hunter said, "How many are inside?"

"I don't know."

"What else can anybody see?"

Lydia glanced at Tessa, who clasping and un-clasping her hands. "We have to do something."

"Shoot to kill," a hunter said.

Argent threw a grenade and rounded the corner, shooting the lights above the corridor which sent sparks down on the confused hunters. Tessa followed him, knocking the hunters out. They managed to knock most out.

Lydia made her appearance and threw a bag, distracting a hunter. She kicked him, sending him sprawling.

They ran through the unconscious bodies and halls to a door and Lydia said, "You said the doors were solid steel."

"I said they'll stop a bullet, not a Banshee," Argent said, leaving to pick something up.

Tessa nodded. "You've got this, Lydia."

Lydia pointed her hands and the door and screamed, bending the door and it soon crashed to the ground. She stood outside panting while Tessa ran in. "Scott! Malia! Are you two all right?"

Scott glanced at Malia and smiled at Tessa. "We're okay."

Back at the McCall house, Tessa was laying on her back on the couch and her phone buzzed. It was a text from Stiles asking how Beacon Hills was.

To: Stiles

Normal. How's your internship going?

From: Stiles

I hope you're telling the truth. The internship is great, but I miss you. I can't wait until you're on this coast

To: Stiles

I miss you too. Don't worry, I'll see you soon

From: Stiles

I'm counting down the days

Agent McCall entered and Scott and Malia walked downstairs.

"Dad?" Scott called.

The agent smiled at his son and niece and nodded a hello before replying, "The guns, they've all been distributed legally to the citizens of Beacon Hills. All of them and at no charge."

Tessa stepped closer to them. "He gave them away just like that? No, that doesn't seem right. He's up to something."

Argent shook his head. "No. You're right, Tessa. He is up to something. He's raising an army."

Lydia stared outside and her face contorted from a blank look to one of panic. "Get down!"

Guns started firing. Tessa shielded Lydia, as that was who she was closest to. The demigoddess mentally cursed seeing a small hole in her leg.

A few minutes later, the gunshots stopped and the red lasers vanished.

The smoke cleared and a bloody hand lifted into the air. Tessa stared at the hand, feeling the panic set in.