I stalk through, shooting anyone who comes my way, securing doors behind me till I run out of chains. No one’s getting out alive. And trust me, anyone down here deserves what I give them.
As I get closer, I hear muffled shouts and scuffling as people frantically try to collect all the information to dump what they can. But I’m not here for that. I don’t need it. Xav had been syphoning it off for years, creating file storage. We have it all, enough to take down every corrupt politician, judge, and military man. No one is safe, and the ones down here are the heads and the ones who carried out our training and tortured us. They are mostly sexual deviants who get off on ‘training’ children in the ways of combat, torture, and sex. The doctors who tested on us tried to make us superhuman, only to make us sick, leading to some of our deaths.
I lock down more doors when I get to one of the labs. Bursting through the door with both guns raised, Ishoot two between the eyes, dropping them to the floor while another three scurry out the back door. It doesn’t matter. They’re not going anywhere. They’re locked in. I shoot the doctor that’s left in the knee and stalk over to him, dragging a chair in front of him as he bleeds, screaming on the ground. I look over his shoulder, and I smile.
“You made it!” I smile again, and I’m relieved that Xav isn’t going to miss all the fun. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Can’t let you have all the fun.”
I bark out a laugh, and the doctor flinches.
“Hello, Doctor.” I grin. “Missed us?”
Glancing around, his eyes darting everywhere. “Ten, you’ll pay for this. He won’t stand for this insubordination; do you hear me?”
“Oh, we hear you, Doctor. Do we give a fuck? Nah, not one fucking bit. Are we worried? Are we fuck!”
“He’s gonna kill you.”
“Well, we can guarantee you, Doctor, while you are bleeding out, he is most definitely running like the cockroach he is and not heading this way to save your sorry arse.”
I raise my gun and point it at his head. “Any final words, Doctor?”
“Fuck yo—”
I fired the shot before bothering to listen to the rest of the sentence. I head over to the computers to see they’re already in the process of being wiped. The programme is already under way, but no matter, I have it all. I walk through the back door and don’t bother to secure it behind me. There’s nowhere for them to run now. I ensure I’m fully loaded with ammo beforestepping out into the corridor. Two shots ring out, and I drop to the floor, sliding around the corner.
“You missed, Richards.” I bark a laugh.
“Stick your fucking head out again, you psycho. Let’s see if I miss a second time.”
I bark a laugh that echoes around the hallways. While it’s echoing, I slip into the janitor’s closet, pull myself up into the vents, and slip to the halfway point down the corridor.
“Come on then, bitch, show us what you go—”
I drop my upper body through the vent, giving me the height advantage to see them crouched behind the desk at the end of the hall. I double-tap them both in the head, and they drop like dead weights. I wait a second before dropping down into the hallway and returning to grab my stuff.
We grew up down here. We weren’t allowed to have fun or play, so we had to do it all in secret. We know every vent and shaft we can slip into. Admittedly, it’s a little tighter now, but still, they always underestimated us as children. The trouble is they still see us as children. Well, me. I’m the only one left for now.
“Come on.”Xav takes my hand in his. Kisses it, brings it to his head, releases it, and then nods.“You’ve got the rest. I’ll be there at the end.”
“Promise?”
“We’ll be waiting for you.”
I smile. I’m so close to having them both back. I can’t fuck this up.
I retrieve my trolley, adding more C4 as I go. There’s scurrying from the other lab, and I don’t evenbother shouting in there. I just toss a grenade in and wait for the boom. Once the smoke has cleared, I walk in and clear the room. There’s one doctor writhing in pain, his lower half annihilated. I shoot him in both hands so they’re useless to him and walk away, leaving him screaming.
I shrug. “I don’t remember you coming to help me when I was crying, cunt.”
The conference room is empty, but I can clearly see they left in a hurry. I snatch up one of the pastries off the table and wash it down with the lukewarm coffee they left before heading out through the library. There’s no one around, so I head for Father’s office. He’s either here hiding, or he’s gone to the tunnels with everyone else. But I’ve not run into the assassins yet, either.
As I turn the corner to his office, a large body throws itself at me, and I laugh out, rolling out of his grasp, and he draws his gun, aiming it at me.
I glance over his shoulder and wink. His gaze flicks behind him to see who’s there.Fucking dumb ass.
I run and slide tackle his kneecaps in the wrong direction. The crunch is horrific if you’re him. For me, it’s the most beautiful sound. I slide across the floor and snatch his gun, which clatters to the side of me. I pull it up, spin around, and shoot him in the stomach. I smile down at him and shoot him in the shoulder. I can’t tell where one scream starts and the last one ends, and all I do is grin as I shoot him in the ear. Then, in the eye, it goes quiet.
Father’s office is empty when I step into it. He fled like a cockroach that he is, slipping through the cracks. “Don’t worry, Father. There’s nowhere to run, and you can’t hide from me.”
