Audrey flew up the stairwell, finally coming to a landing. She suddenly paused, hovering in midair. Jason looked forward. The door before them was labeled "thirty nine". A floor below their own quarters. He looked at Audrey and said, "Um...one floor up?"
Audrey shook her head. "Listen."
Jason listened. He didn't hear anything at first. Then his skin prickled as heard a distant noise. Gunfire. Muffled but he could tell what it was. It sounded like it was coming through the door they were currently hovering in front of.
"Ah shit," Jason growled. "Those people...whoever they are...they've already gotten in."
Audrey nodded. She hovered closer to the door and slowly lowered Jason to the floor. Jason stumbled out of her arms, gripping his wounded arm. "Hey," He said. "What are you going?"
Audrey swallowed. "We have to stop them. There's people in there. People who they might kill. We have to stop them." She took a step forward. The muffled gunfire continued.
Jason stepped in her path. "Wait, wait hang on." He raised his good arm. "I don't disagree but just us? We need to get the others. Get our equipment. Plus..." He pointed at his wound. "I got shot. I'm not exactly in tip top shape. Let's go to the room first and-"
Audrey gently prodded him aside with one of her massive fingers. "I'm sorry. No. I can't. Can't wait." She strode forward and ripped open the door, ducking and squeezing through, moving into the floor.
Jason stared after her. He looked up. Just another floor and he could make it to the others. But...he looked back. Audrey was going to face those men alone. She was strong, tough, but she wasn't invincible. And she was right. The staff members, doctors, security guards, all the people who had supported them were in danger. Plus...the medical ward was on this floor. Yet...he was hurt. He didn't have his costume nor his gadgets. He was going against those soldier guys, who had guns. What was he...what was supposed to-
Then he heard more gunfire. And a far off scream. He gritted his teeth, grinding them together. He looked at the stairs going up. He looked at his bleeding arm, dried blood slithering down his arm like snakes. Jason cursed "FUCK!" and kicked the railing. God, this was gonna suck. But his choice was made. In fact...there was no choice at all.
Jason charged down the hallway after Audrey, running as fast as his legs could carry him.
He ran down the narrow hallway. Audrey was at the end of it, hunched over slightly, looking left and right as the hall diverged. Jason stopped beside her and nodded. Audrey smiled down at him. She licked her lips, her antennae twitching before looking left. Jason looked, staring down the twisting hallway, multiple doors lining it. Jason recognized the hallway. The medical ward wasn't far from here.
He heard gunfire. Closer. Louder. Coming from somewhere down the hallway. Audrey instantly trudged forward, moving as quickly as she could, which unfortunately wasn't very fast. Jason jogged a little ahead of her, pressing his hand against his bullet wound. It hurt but he endured it. Not much else he could do anyway.
They moved quietly down the hallway. As they did, one of doors suddenly opened and a janitor burst out. She was wielding a bucket and with a wild scream, threw it at Jason. He ducked, the bucket flying over his head, and it smashed against Audrey's chest, shattering into several pieces. The janitor blinked, breathing hard, her face red. She stared at them for a moment before her knees buckled and she collapsed onto the floor.
"Oh god..." She sounded almost like she was choking. She rubbed her hair and looked up at Jason, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "I thought...oh god I'm...I'm so sorry...I thought you were them." Her lips trembled and she gripped her face, trembling.
Jason looked at Audrey. The beetle woman just stared, looking sympathetic but she wasn't saying anything. Probably too nervous to or unsure of what to say. Not that he was much better with these things. Jason leaned down before the crying janitor and cleared his throat.
"Hey," He said. The janitor continued to tremble, staring off into space. "Hey!" He said that a bit louder. The janitor looked at him, seeming to see him now. "It's alright. We're going to stop these assholes. Can..." He searched for the right thing to say. "Can you move? There's...a..." Jason waved his hand for a moment, his mind going blank for the right word before it came back to him. "A bunker. Um, you know where that is right?"
The janitor just stared at him. "I...I saw...them...they came out of nowhere..." She shook her head, her lips quivering. "We...were...I was just talking to Jack and then...they came and start shooting...I heard all these alarms...so much..." She covered her ears. "Noise...noise...I just ran. I didn't see...didn't see what happened to Jack." She grabbed her ears tightly. "Oh god. Oh god. I...I...can't...I...he's d-dead isn't he..."
Jason snapped his fingers in front of her face. She jumped slightly but her hands fell away from her ears and she looked at him with more focus. "Hey," He said. He tried to act calm, to act tough. Be authoratative, like he had so often seen Max or the Director do. "We're not gonna let them kill anyone. We're gonna stop them. But you..." He pointed at her for emphasis. "You need to get out of here. Those men are coming. Do you know where the bunker is?"
She shook her head vigorously. "No. No. No. I...don't...can't...please." Tears streamed down her face. "Please. Don't make me move. I can't. I just can't."
Jason looked at Audrey. The beetle woman bit her lip but didn't say anything. Another muffled burst of gunfire rang out. Closer still. Jason looked back at the janitor and said, "...Okay. Um. Can you hide in there?" He pointed at the open closet. "Lock the door and stay put. We'll come get you when we take care of those men."
The janitor nodded. She crawled, pulling herself into the closet. Quickly, perhaps too eagerly, she slammed the door shut. Jason heard a loud click. It was locked. He sighed and stood, gritting his lips as another flash of pain went through his arm. He stumbled slightly and Audrey caught him, pulling him back on his feet.
"You okay?" She whispered.
"Yeah," Jason flashed a forced grin at her. "Peachy." He pressed his hand harder against his wound, almost willing it to go away. He thought about arguing again for them to go back but...no. Seeing that janitor...nah. He couldn't. "Now..." He cocked his head down the hallway. "Let's go and kick some ass."
Audrey stared at his wounded arm, looking worried. But she turned away, staring off to where he indicated and nodded. She trudged forward, massive hands clenching into fists. Jason rubbed his wound, sucked in his breath, and ran after her.
They reached the end of the hallway, the hallway twisting right. A man lay against the wall. His chest was torn to ribbons, full of bullet holes, blood splattered all around him. He was dressed in a janitor's uniform, a dropped mop lying nearby. Jason could see a nametag on the guy's chest, barely visible beneath a copious amount of blood. It read "JACK."
"Ah geez," He muttered, halting. Audrey stopped dead in front of him. She trembled slightly. Jason looked at the dead guy, shook his head, wrinkling his nose. A bad smell was filling the hallway. He had smelled similar scents before, in New York, Washington, and Chicago. This sort of thing, for some reason, didn't phase him much anymore. But...it was sobering to see. Someone, a staff member of the Agency, someone who had just done his job, who had helped make them comfortable day in and day out at a place Jason considered home, was dead. It...Jason didn't know quite how to process it.
Audrey turned around. She looked a little green in the face. Jason sighed. He raised a hand and put it against her arm. "Hey, hey! Don't...its...I..." He couldn't find the words. Audrey began to sniff and her antennae drooped. She looked back at the dead janitor.
"They killed him."
"Um...yeah. I...think they did."
Audrey's face tightened into a glare. A murderous expression. She stomped forward, Jason slipping off her arm. She stomped forward and snarled, her voice a growl, "I'm going to kill them."
She moved past the dead janitor. Jason took one last look at the corpse. He whispered, "I'm sorry dude. I really am. I'm gonna try and protect the other girl. She's in a closet...she's..." Another burst of gunire echoed from the deeper down the hall. Jason's head snapped toward it. He squeezed his good arm and ran after Audrey.
They darted down the hallway, passing by more doors before seeing a sight at the end. Several security guards were hugging the walls, clutching machine guns, wearing basic riot gear. From the corner past them there were a loud bursts of gunfire and one section of the wall exploded. One of the security guards briefly broke cover, firing a burst from his gun around the corner before flattening himself back against the wall.
Audrey lumbered up to the guards, Jason at her side. One of the security guards looked up at her then at Jason. He nodded and yelled, "Good to see you two!" He jerked a thumb around the corner. "Ran into a squad of the invaders. We managed to push them back from their original position where you lot came from to here. Unfortunately, we're burning through ammo fast than them and they've got us outnumbered. We've kept them pinned for now but-"
"I got this," Audrey said. She moved around the bend of the corner. The security guards paused, staring at her as she trudged forward. The guard next to Jason looked between her and him.
Jason smiled. "I think she can handle this." He poked his hand around the corner next to the guard to watch.
Audrey moved down the hallway, which looked like it had been put through the meat grinder. Bullet holes and other bits of damage were all around. At the end of the hallway, a couch and chairs were piled up as a makeshift barricade. Several of the black-clad soldiers popped up from behind it. One pointed at Audrey and cried, "Meta incoming! Hit it with everything we got!"
The soldiers opened fire. Audrey raised her arms in front of her, gunfire slamming into her exoskeleton and bouncing off. She slowly kept moving forward, enduring the onslaught of gunfire like a living tank. The soldiers broke cover from behind the barricade, backing away, still shooting and doing nothing.
There was a series of loud clicks as their guns ran empty. The men quickly reached for fresh clips of ammo but it was too late. Audrey stepped up to the barricade and her foot crashed through it, smashing the couch in half.
The soldiers cried out in panic and one cried, "Retreat, retreat!" Audrey reached forward, grabbed that guy, and smashed him head first through the ceiling. She tossed him aside, slapping away two more men. They went spinning out of sight down another hallway.
The three remaining soldiers all dropped their assault rifles and pulled out pistols. They opened fire at Audrey's face. She raised her arm, their bullets slamming harmlessly off it. The soldiers all cursed and turned to flee but Audrey lunged forward, grabbing two of them. She kicked the third one, punting him away like a football and he sailed around a corner out of sight. She glared at the last two men, struggling in her enormous hands, before slamming them together. A loud crack echoed through the hallway and the soldiers screamed. Audrey slammed them together a second time, producing a similar sickening sound. The soldiers both flopped unconscious. Audrey dropped them on top of each other and turned back Jason and the assembled guards. She smiled a small little smile and gave a thumbs up.
"Christ," One security guard mumbled. "Wouldn't want to ever piss her off."
Jason nodded. He moved off the wall and pain shot through his arm. He fell to his knees, his quick reflexes catching himself on the floor so he didn't smash on his face. The security guard knelt down by him and said, "You alright?" He sucked in his breath. Jason looked and saw the guy's gaze had alighted on his wound.
"Eh...good as I can be," Jason grunted. "Considering I got shot."
"Hm," The guard leaned down and examined his wound. "Looks like you were more grazed than took a full on bullet. But yeah, still a bad wound. You need medical treatment immediately."
"Heh. Good thing we're on the floor with the medical ward then."
The security guard snorted. "Guess so." He pulled Jason up and made Jason lean on him. Jasob obeyed, sighing a bit as he took the pressure off his arm. The guard helped him forward, as the other security guards moved up, Audrey stepped back a bit, taking a few breaths as she looked about at the downed soldiers.
One security guard moved up to a soldier. He took the man's pulse. "Alive," He reported. He pointed at the man's twisted, broken arm. It reminded Jason of a branch bent out of shape. "But I don't think he's gonna be a problem anymore."
"Any identifying patches, marks?" The security guard helping Jason asked. "Who are these people?"
The other guard searched the unconscious solider but shook his head after a few moments. "Nothing. They're clearly well equipped though." He hefted up the man's pistol with one hand and held it out. "Beretta M9. They didn't get this cheap."
Jason looked at the guard supporting him. His eyes narrowed inside his helmet. "Hm. Not good. We're dealing with professionals here." He nodded to Audrey. "Thank you. I think you probably saved our lives." Audrey blushed and averted her gaze but her antennae nevertheless twitched wildly.
"Alright," The guard barked. He shifted his weight to support Jason a bit more. "Let's head for the medical ward. Robertson should be there now and we'll need his guidance. We can also use it as a holding center and help treat any injuries." Jason glanced down meaningfully at his wounded arm, the wound still leaking blood, although perhaps not as much as before.
The security guards nodding, standing up. Audrey raised her head and stood at attention. The leader opened his mouth to talk again, when there was a loud noise. It echoed through the hallways, booming around them. Jason looked around. He didn't see anything. But he knew that noise. It sounded like...like an elephant?
"What the hell?" The lead guard muttered. He also looked around. His fellow guards swept their rifles about. Nothing appeared. "The fuck was that?"
"We don't have a circus floor, do we?" Jason muttered sarcastically. The guard glared at him. Jason coughed and whispered, "Uh...sorry. Can't help it sometimes."
There was a thump. The ceiling suddenly rattled. The lights flickered. The guards each looked in multiple directions. "Where's that coming from?" One yelled.
"No idea!" Another replied.
"Maybe it's a trick, trying to confuse us..."
"Ssh!" The leader barked. "Eyes front, cut the chatter." The security guards all stopped talking. There was another loud thump. Jason listened to it. It almost sounding like something...something big. It sounded muffled but close.
Thump. The walls rattled. The security guards were holding their positions, aiming their guns in various directions. Audrey moved between them, twiddling her fingers together, looking nervous. Jason kept listening. Thump. It sounded closer. And big. A big noise. What was it? And where was it?
The noise came again. The walls, this time, shook and the floor did the same. The guard holding Jason staggered a bit. Jason pulled himself off the guy and muttered, "You need your hands free." He pointed at the man's machine gun, dangling from one hand. "I can support myself."
The security guard looked at him. He then nodded and clutched the gun. He swiveled his gun about. The noise came again. It sounded almost right on top of them. A loud thumping noise. The entire hallway rattled.
Then it went quiet. The guards stayed in their positions. Looking like statues. Audrey looked around, her eyes wide and staring. Jason listened. No noise. No nothing. Maybe the guards were right. Maybe the enemy soldiers were trying to fuck with them-
Then the wall in front of Jason exploded.
He instinctly leaped back, doing a somersault across the hallway. Chunks of debris slammed into the spot where he had just been. Jason landed in a crouched stance, keeping the pressure of his wounded arm, letting it dangle at his side like a wet noodle. He looked up, the security guards all twisting around and raising their guns.
A massive figure strode through the hall in the wall, chunks of plaster and dust falling off it. It turned to face them. The guards around Jason gasped. Jason swallowed a bit.
The thing looked like an elephant but was standing on two legs like a man. It stood a good two feet taller than Jason, having to hunch over in the cramped hallway like Audrey. The elephant man was wearing a ragged uniform of sorts, looking like something somone might wear in the jungle. Bandoliers criss crossed across its leathery, muscular chest, almost as prominent as the huge scars across its flesh. In its enormous hands it held a big fucking gun, looking exactly like the one Rambo used. The elephant man stared at them, its eyes angry, bloodshot, and looking supremely pissed off.
The guards opened fire. Bullets slammed into the elephant man, tearing into its skin but it didn't even seem to notice. It just glared for a moment as the gunfire roared before letting loose a loud trumpet. It then aimed its gun with one hand, holding it like it weighed nothing, and opened fire.
Jason sprang backwards, jumping behind the remains of the barricade. His eyes widened as the gun tore through three security guards like they were made of cheese. Blood went flying from their bodies as the bullet spray tore them to shreds and they were sent flying to the floor. Two of the security guards didn't get up, while the final one tried to crawl forward, leaking blood from his ripped apart midsection. Jason stared in shock, unable to move, as he watched the man pitifully crawl forward. He caught a glimpse of the man's internal organs, a strand of intestine flopping from his chest and splattering against the floor.
Jason felt numb. He felt sick. He couldn't move. One of the guards screamed, dropping his rifle, and fled. The leader screamed at them, ordering them to open fire again. The elephant man snorted, his angry red eyes narrowing into slits. He stomped forward, shaking the hallway with each bonecrushing step, and was open the leader.
The security leader screamed as the elephant man towered over him. He raised his gun. The elephant man reached down, grabbed the guy, and squeezed. There was a loud crunch and the security guard gurgled, his screams turning into strained gasps. He spit up a bunch of blood, as the elephant man continued to crush him. The sound of bones snapping echoed across the hallway.
Jason continued to stare. His brain was screaming at him to move. But his limbs were unresponsive. He stared at the horrible sight, barely noticing as the remaining security guards also threw away their guns and fled.
Then Audrey stomped past Jason. She let loose a wild scream, her face turning red, and flung herself at the elephant man. The elephant man's eyes turned from the guard in his grasp to her. He dropped the guard and aimed his huge gun at Audrey. She slammed into him before he could fire and the elephant man was knocked back, a burst from his gun blowing a hole through the ceiling.
Audrey swung at his face. The elephant man caught her arm. The two pushed against each other, each not budging. Audrey gritted her teeth, sweat pouring off her as she strained against the elephant man.
Then the elephant man released her. Audrey toppled forward at the sudden release and the elephant man stepped aside. Audrey staggered off balance and the elephant man kicked her, sending her face planting into the floor. She tried to pull herself up but the elephant man struck her shell, knocking her back down.
Jason stared as the two titans clashed. His brain continued to scream at him. Move, you idiot! Audrey is in trouble! HELP HER! He wanted to. He desperately wanted to. But his arms and legs still refused to remove. He remained rooted to the spot, a frozen spectator.
The elephant man kicked Audrey, knocking her onto her back. He swung his gun down at her face. Audrey blocked the blow with one arm, the gun deflecting off it. She slapped the elephant man back with her other arm, sending him staggering into the side of the wall. Audrey pushed herself up, letting loose another wild scream. The elephant man fired on her, the bullet spray deflecting off her chest. Audrey charged at him, fists swinging.
The elephant man raised one arm protectively. Audrey's fists slammed into it and the blow sending him skidding several inches. Audrey swung another fist but this time, he grabbed her arm. The elephant man spun, throwing Audrey forward. She hit the floor hard, ripping through the floor, screeching to a halt inches before the barricade. She grabbed the remains of a chair and threw it at her opponent. The elephant man slapped it aside.
Audrey pushed herself up. Spinning to meet the elephant. And the elephant hit her in the face with the gun like it was a club. There was a wet snap. Audrey's very fleshy, non protected nose broke. Blood spewed from it as she toppled backward, smashing to the floor. Jason's eyes widened. His fingers twitched. Come on...move! Move!
The elephant man slammed his huge foot on her chest, pinning her to the floor. Audrey gasped underneath him as he apply pressure, crushing her. The elephant man snorted, lowering his gun to his side. He then looked up at, right at Jason.
"These are my opponents?" The elephant said, his voice creepily human. He sounded like he had an African accent. "You Americans. All the same. Soft, even when you are supposed to be extraordinary." He looked at Audrey as he said that, his voice full of contempt.
Jason's mouth finally started working again. He staggered forward, angrily raising a fist. "Don't you hurt her!" He yelled.
"I've already done that," The elephant grunted, gesturing at Audrey's bleeding face. "Now I'm going to hurt you."
"No..." Audrey weakly said, trying to raise an arm. The elephant man slapped it back to the floor. Jason snarled and prepared to jump at the monster. But the elephant turned back to the hole in the wall.
"Get him." He said, pointing at Jason. "I'll deal with the bug."
Five of the enemy soldiers emerged from the hole in the wall. They raised their guns at Jason. He stopped and leaped to the side, around to the bend. Gunfire roared behind him.
Jason looked back. He heard the footsteps of the men approaching. He looked forward. This way...this way was the way to the medical ward. Oh god...oh god...I'm so sorry Audrey. But I can't help you, there's too many of them...
Pushing himself up with his good arm, Jason began to run. Hearing the clomping footsteps and the yells of the soldiers in hot pursuit.