#us23

“I vote to send Asshat to get captured,” Alex said.

“Fine,” Shane said. He tossed Najia his gun and began walking around the building.

“Shane, stop,” Najia hissed, chasing after him. She grabbed his wrist and pulled at his arm, but he pulled away.

“Stop being stupid,” Najia urged him.

Shane stopped and faced her. “What’s the matter? Gonna miss me if I get shot?”

“Can you stop being an ass for two seconds?” she hissed at him.

Shane pushed her against the wall with his arm, his body almost on top of her. “Shh,” he hissed.

Najia’s heart raced as she strained to listen. Faint, hissing voices came from the front of the building. Before she had a chance to say anything, Shane had pushed himself off the wall and rounded the corner of the building.

Najia cursed under her breath. She turned to see the others poking their heads around the corner.

“Idiot,” Alex muttered.

Najia froze as the hissing grew louder. There was a grunt and after a moment, she could faintly hear the doors open and close. She stood still, waiting, gasping as Shane’s head appeared from around the corner. He smiled and disappeared once more.

They hurried around the building, following Shane as the door was propped open by three bodies of the Shadow People. They stepped over quickly and into the darkness, keeping close to the wall as Sebastian hurried to disarm the system. Shane and Alex worked quickly to move the bodies and let the door shut behind them.

“This was stupid,” Maru hissed. “Walking through the damn front door.”

The alarm pad beeped and Sebastian let out a breath. “We’re clear.”

“Now what?” Abigail hissed.

“We’re not good at making these plans,” Leah said.

“Everyone shut it,” Gil said. They listened as human voices drifted to them from somewhere in the building.

Abigail followed the sound, pointing at a grate in the floor. “Basement,” she whispered.

Gil cocked his gun. “Down we go, I s’pose.”

“It’s dark as hell in here, you remember that, right?” Alex said. “They have the advantage. They’ll see us coming.”

“Then don’t miss your shot,” Gil hissed at him. He lead the way through the building with Maru close behind as she made her best guess on how to get to the basement level.

Najia pulled at Shane’s gun. His fingers brushed hers as he took it from her.

“Were you worried?”

Najia shoved the gun into his chest. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to see your dumb face again.”

“Oooh,” Shane teased. “Big dumby.”

“I swear to Yoba I’ll shoot you both right here, right now,” Gil hissed.

Shane pushed Najia ahead of him as they followed the others through the building. They made their way carefully down the steps Maru found and into a dimly lit basement. Along the stone walls, temporary cells were put into place. Most of the gates were open, the cells empty. The two voices came from the back of the room, where they found two prisoners talking amongst themselves.

They scurried quickly back to the corners of their cells as the human tactical team approached, still covered by the shadows. But as they stepped into the light, they pressed eagerly against their cells.

“It can’t be,” the man in the cell to the right of them muttered. “How did you get in here?”

“Get out,” the woman in the other cell hissed at them. “Get out while you still can.”

“Where are all the prisoners?” Gil asked.

“Gone,” the man said. “They took them. One by one. And they never came back.”

“We’re next,” the woman sobbed.

“We’ll get you out of here,” Gil assured them. He motioned for Najia who stepped forward and inspected the locks. She pulled two bobby pins out of her hair and began to work at the locks, biting the corner of her lip as she did so. Within moments, they heard a faint click, and the door slid open. Najia continued her work on the next cell, and just as quickly, it opened.

The two prisoners stumbled out. The woman threw her arms around Gil and sobbed into his shoulder. He stiffened, but patted her back lightly.

“There, there, Sweetheart,” he said awkwardly. “But we’re not safe yet.”

In the distance, they could hear the faint sounds of shuffling and hissing. The woman froze in Gil’s arms.

“They’re coming,” she stuttered, frightened.

“We’re all gonna die,” Alex muttered.