“You good?” Foxx asked, noting that the man’s face was even paler than before, and sweat was beading on his forehead.
“I’m fine. Let’s go.”
“Okay, well, I’m guessing the stairs this way are blocked. Which is why they made a hole in the floor.”
“Yeah, I sort of came to that conclusion myself. Fucking stupid, if you ask me.”
“Right? Like, was breaking the floor really a better option than going to the other stairway? Which obviously still works, since they took off that way.”
Harlow stared at him, looking dumbstruck. “Not a single one tried to flee the building?”
“Nope.”
“Well, I mean, we did come into this knowing how stupid these people were, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”
Foxx shrugged. What was he to say? These humans would not be winning any intelligence contests.
They quickly headed back down the hall towards the other stairway. Though quickly may not have been the right word. Harlow was…moving along, but his pace was not quite his norm.
When the man swayed as they pushed into the stairway, Foxx was starting to doubt he was ‘okay’.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” the man repeated.
* * *
Even as Harlowsaid the words to Foxx, he knew for certain he was not fine. He was starting to think he may have a punctured lung…and he just may be losing too much blood from the wound on his back that he couldn’t cover or reach. Bleeding out would explain the woozy feeling, or he supposed that could just be the punctured lung’s doing. But…other than that, he was fucking peachy.
He should have told Foxx, but if the vampire caught sight of the wound on his back, he just knew the man would have forced him to leave. And they couldn’t leave now. The job wasn’t finished. The chance of finding all these people again…was too slim.
Harlow did his best to keep pace behind Foxx as they ascended the stairs. His body was straining though, and Foxx could definitely tell he was struggling. The vampire kept eyeing him suspiciously.
“There are three humans waiting for us a few floors above,” Foxx warned.
He pulled out both his guns from their holster. “If you can take them down quickly without killing, do so. I’m past that point. If they are on me, they are dead.”
“Which begs the question, how injured are you, Harlow?”
“I’m fine,” he growled.
He was completely not fine, and pretty fucked.
“Here they come,” Foxx hissed.
The trio burst into the stairway, and without giving them time to really attack, he aimed and fired, taking two out in a second, right as Foxx knocked the third unconscious with a punch that sounded like it broke a few bones.
Foxx eyed the dead humans. “There is going to besomuch paperwork.”
“Yep, let’s go.”
Stepping over the bodies, they headed up further.
“Halfway there,” Foxx said.
“Thank fuck,” Harlow gasped.
There were an obnoxious number of stairs for each floor—pretty sure it was three flights each.
