This chapter's a bit shorter than the rest I see

Yet I'm still doing this rather than writing my lab reports- oh well

I apologize for switching PoV in the middle of a chapter, it just seemed like the best way to tell that part

Anyway, enjoy

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(Intelligence's PoV)

Anger still walked behind me whenever we would go somewhere.

Slouched over slightly like a caged feral animal, trailing behind a few steps like I had beaten him like a misbehaving dog. Or rather, like he simply didn't want to be near me. Reclusive as always, silently scowling and lurking in the background as he leveled glares at whoever wished to pass by him at the time.

I was still wearing his uniform jacket that he gave me. Slightly stained with blood on the left shoulder; the gray fabric was a bit heavier than my own, for just as well it was a bit larger than my own. It hung down against my waist, and its sleeves covered over the joint of my thumb. As we walked down the adjacent hallway to the room we had just been lying in, I kept looking down and staring at the scarlet red gem pinned to the lapel of his uniform. I kept wondering why he decided to give it to me. Maybe he was trying to compensate for the one I ruined. I don't know why I gave my jacket to him either, to be honest. It was just like… When he wasn't conscious, and glaring and snarling all the time; lying there on the floor looking vulnerable and unprotected. His face was clam and placid; an unusual display on his countenance that made him look much younger than his scowling visage before. So I guess I just felt a bit of reason to give him a small amount of comfort; even if only a folded jacket under his head. I wasn't being kind to him though, really. I still hated most everything about the man; I just had enough morale to do this for him.

I glanced over my shoulder with absent haste to see the sulking man behind me. Red stained the left side of his white dress shirt; but I found the color to be quite fitting for him. I was distracted by this opaque stain of scarlet when it startled me.

The thump that resonated when it hit against the glass was starling; the sound seeming to vibrate the very pane itself; making my body flinch of its own flight over fight accord, my head turning to quickly take in the source of the horrid sound. Of the atrocity screeching at my existence from less than a foot away; its gaping mouth full of crooked, sharp teeth snapping and biting at my form. The sight of it made me uneasy, made my jaw tense together without thought. But I knew it could not get me. The hall we were currently contained in was made solely of thick, solid glass that was made to stand up to quite a bit of blows and pressure. To my right over looked the main entrance room where those… creatures still resided; still reacting to seeing us through the glass with vicious, animalistic hunger to tear us completely apart.

It was 'them' now, as well. I had noticed it when he first entered this hall. The missteps and general destruction the first creature brought with it had damaged some of the other hulls as well. Some of them, those who looked like the first escapee, moved so quickly I could hardly keep my eye on their forms as their bird like forms darted among the other hulls and large lab tables. There were maybe two of those that escaped- or three. I could hardly keep track. But there were others now too. Ones that slithered from their glass containment hulls that looked… different than the first.

Claws curled like hooks scraped harshly across the glass before us; the sound creating a horridly high pitched noise that made me shudder involuntarily, like a chilled finger slid down the course of my spine. That was one of the new creatures. It reminded me of a dog; its skin gray and taunt, its curved torso pressed against the cold floor. It had no legs. Its entire waist looked like it was torn off; leaving tattered skin and flesh dragging behind it along with the bloody remains of the bones of the lower vertebrae. But where it lacked in legs it made up in its arms. They bent up at their elbows far above the creature's upper skull; thick and strong in appearance; with large ungainly hands that pressed against the floor firmly. I had already learned it used these appendages like levers; propelling itself forward through the air in a manner that it should not be able to do with only those two limbs. Another atrocity- and there could be more.

I wondered if they were once people. Tortured and torn apart- put together in interesting, unusual ways. But then I thought more of it. If they were once normal beings, they were dead before this happened to them. The signs of death were apparent in their grotesque, bloated features. The hollow, taunt skin, ashen gray in its color; the partially swollen flesh that hung off their bodies. Human beings who died, and were attempted to be reanimated. But the affects of these experiments were obvious; their failures were obvious. Failures that had now escaped- that were now out to cause their untimely deaths. Wonderful.

I was pleased to leave that glass hallway behind; even if it was in favor of another small room, darkened by shadows and lit only by the constant, screaming glow of the quarantine lights that hung up above the doors in seemingly every room. Like a looming death that kept reminding us of its presence. Of the situation we were in.

I was frustrated with this place, to be frank. Right now I should be in my dormitory, simply resting or writing or just trying to relax before work tomorrow. Trying to remember or to forget; but not to be here. In this dark and dampened space that held the horrible odor of disinfection chemicals and the reek of dead flesh. If it wasn't for the fact I knew I was quite stubborn, I probably would have just sat down and waited for GLaDOS to fix everything. For she would. I knew she would; she'd figure it out, she wouldn't just leave us here. I know everyone thought so poorly of the woman, but she really was not so bad, yes? After all, if it wasn't for her I likely wouldn't be able to stand on my own.

I looked back at the ghostly presence lingering behind me in the dark room after the metal door had slid shut on its hinges. We hadn't been walking for too long now, but maybe we left too soon, I thought. For the black haired male behind me already seemed a bit tired; though I could plainly see how he was attempting to hide it. He still stood ramrod straight, and his angled jaw was tense as ever. But I could also see how his chest rose and fell out of any particular rhythmic metronome; and how his left hand absently gripped at his right brachial, as if steadying it would keep it from throbbing in pain. Maybe it was expecting too much of him to be moving so quickly already after having just woken up from a death-like unconsciousness from loosing blood like he did. Though the wound was not terrible, I suppose logically he would be weakened. Though it seemed strange to me. I never really imagined Anger as being even able to show weakness. He was always so damn vehement and cold; always wearing that same expression of distaste. It was weird to see him weakened in any manner; I was unsure what to do with it.

Letting a small sigh pass my lips, I turned around fully. "Come on; let's sit down for a minute." As I told him I would, I moved my hands as I spoke. I'll admit, I was having a bit of a difficult time remembering some of the sign language I was taught while under the vigilant care of GLaDOS when I first woke up after the accident. It was a skill I had never needed to use just yet, so I had to truly attempt to recall some of the more specific gestures. There were times when I even could not, but hopefully that wouldn't matter too much. I just needed him to know a little bit. A few basic things so it wasn't impossible to understand him all the time. Though I didn't like it, I knew under these circumstances we needed to work together on this; so I at least needed to be able to understand his input.

Anger regarded me with a small scoff of indifference; and attempt to show he didn't really need the break I offered. But he wasn't refusing it. I sat down on the metal floor without thought; the place was clean enough so I thought little of it. Though the floor was cold, the metal sapping heat from the back of my folded legs without mercy. But I'd deal with it, it wasn't that bad. Anger sat down as well, as usual keeping himself a small distance away from me as if I would lunge out and bite him or something. Though honestly, shouldn't I be the one hoping he wouldn't assault me? He was quite the unpredictable individual, after all.

I watched as the wounded man absently peeled back his collar to look at the bandages tapped to his arm; as if checking to assure they were still there, or that he was not bleeding excessively once again. I waved a bit to get his attention; scarlet hues snapping back up to my visage. In a rather spontaneous burst of thought I pointed at him; then raised my hand up before my face- before pulling my hand back a bit and curling my fingers down almost like claws. Those eyes narrowed a bit at me, expecting of an explanation of this new gesture. I shrugged,

"Well, it is meant to express an emotion- but in all purposes I suppose it is your name. Anger," I explained. Said man curled his lip slightly and glanced away to express his obvious dislike in this. Maybe just dislike in the code name he was given at this place. I never considered he could have been offended by it; but, it was what he was to be called. I knew not of his real name. No one did, we all just followed the rules and kept our true names to ourselves. I don't even recall my own true name since the accident, so I suppose I can't understand his dislike in it.

Anger looked back at me finally and pointed at me now. I arched a brow slightly, "My name?" I asked, attempting to follow the line rail of what he would want from me after what I had given to him. The ebony haired man nodded. Shrugging and seeing no harm in it, I curled all my fingers on my hand in save for my index finger; placing my finger against my brow before sharply pushing my hand away from my face like a salute. Once more the man nodded and slowly went to repeat the gesture I showed him. Now he could at least refer to me properly when he wished to, I mused.

He hesitated slightly before he went to replicate the gesture of his own 'name' I showed him before, as if to ensure that he could do it properly. As I claimed, he was good as his observational skills even if he didn't wish to show them; he managed just fine, and I nodded in approval. I supposed we could do this. Whenever we had the opportunity to, I could directly show him words and phrases that he may need to know. To make his learning go a bit faster, so I could show him what I did know. My only question being why no one ever taught him before…

I was surprised when Anger stiffened all of a sudden; as if he was a dog hearing the high cry of a dog whistle. He stood without thought, only just sparing a glance at me. Hesitating, he pointed his index fingers up; then forward in a quick motion. It was one of the gestures I had used when I was telling him we needed to start walking again. 'Go'. I studied him, and shrugged, before I went to stand myself. But he stopped me, shook his head and pointed only at himself. I raised a brow, "You want me to… stay?" I asked tentatively, searching for his words. He nodded. "Will you come back?" A question I felt the need to ask of him, not even thinking of it. Like he would really consider just leaving me here. I knew we didn't get along, but thinking logically, we needed each other to get through this place. I didn't expect him to just leave me here.

Once again, Anger nodded, and I relaxed slightly. I had a hard time trusting him normally, but I suppose when I thought about it, Anger never really lied. He was honest to a horrid, offensive point at times. So I nodded and let him leave; watching as he turned and walked across the room. I could just see his darkened silhouette walking to the back of the room, before disappearing though a metal door that was locked into an open position due to the quarantine rather than a closed one. A small mishap likely from damage no one had reported or bothered to fix before now. Likely not expecting something like this to occur, I thought.

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I wasn't really sure how long it had been since Anger left, or when I first really started to notice it. I honestly should have expected it. This place is full of chemicals; even the air by now likely doused in the evaporation of the chemicals spilled from the hulls in the main room, and the chemical cabinets those atrocities likely knocked over, spread by the vents. Things that were very likely flammable; turning this place of metal into a fire waiting to occur; spread through the air and trails of spilled chemicals; to combust more chemicals stored in cabinets close to the vents as the air temperature rose due to ignition of the evaporated flammable substances. All it would take is a spark, or concentrated heat from a machine still running in this part of the facility.

I suppose I was distracted; but I should have thought about it from the safety lessons we learned about these situations, or when I noticed the heat in the air and the metal floor I was seated upon. Not before one of the slightly ajar cabinets in the room suddenly caught fire with the sound of shattering glass.

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(Anger's PoV)

I was listening to the voice coming from the small device hidden in my ear when I heard it. The horrid sound of shattering glass and the whoosh of heat crackling the atmosphere; drowning out the voice coming from the ear piece I had hidden on my body. The little device cackled in static under the sudden addition of heat pressure,

"-'s going on?" They ask these things as if I can answer them. They know I cannot; they just talk at me and tell me what to do. Probably just habit that made him spit out these words; but I snarled at him anyhow, turning round in the dark room I had entered. The orange splash of color coming from the next room was enough to tell me what was going on. I worked with the storage and movement of the chemicals here; I knew how dangerous they were and how easily flammable some of them were. How even their gases can cause the spread of heat and flame through open rooms in the facility. Only two recognizable fires had happened in here before, but I knew how easy they could occur. Especially under a situation like this one in quarantine.

My first instinct was to put a door between me and it and close the vents to prevent evaporated flammables from continuing to pour forth and turn this place into a waiting explosion. As I was trained to react, of course. But then I thought about the poor lab worker who likely hadn't a damn clue what to do in a situation like this one; with a possible fire as big as this one. Damnitt.

Past my better judgment of my own self-preservation, I went to step back through the door of the room I had just left; feeling the sudden suffocation of heat hit my body and the smell of smoke and burning compounds. Along with another body. I growled habitually when the other figure hit against me straight on; the man barley managing to keep himself up right after hitting the obstacle before him. I watched the blue-eyed man step back and focus his gaze on my visage; dark hues reflecting the bright slash of the orange light of flame. I had been coming to fetch him; and I wondered if he ran this way to fetch me as well. Hm, I shouldn't be so egotistical. This was probably the only way out- which means I needed to back track myself.

His wrist was thin against my palm as I pulled him along. I wondered if I could somehow break him by handling him like this; forcefully pulling him after me and away from the danger behind us. Intelligence always had struck me as a weak character- but then again, I thought of most like such.

Even I flinched at the horrible crack that echoed across the air then; the heat in this room having grown strong enough to boil and combust a few containers of product that someone so foolishly left out for those of Class F rank to be cleaning up for them. The containers exploded into small bursts of flame that ignited against the gases evaporated into the air; a loud whoosh of sound thundering upwards across the room in a sudden wall of flame. We were lucky this entire place wasn't full of the gases yet; or we'd already be dead.

I ignored it when Intelligence stumbled slightly behind me; my gaze was already fixed on our current point of exit. A metal door not yet surrounded by flames; the only way to escape the inferno that would soon be growing stronger behind us. I looked at him when I reached the door, expecting him to unlock the sliding device like he always did. And quickly. But the brunette shook his head quickly- he had noticed what I had not. The identification decide mounted at the side of the door was damaged from a prior accident; keeping the door firmly locked closed. And keeping us locked in what would very well be our tomb.

I snarled at our luck, kicking the door as if that would make it slide open. I felt Intelligence pull at my arm, yelling at me even though I refused to look his way.

"Come on, we need to go, we can't get through this way," he told me, using his immediate logical thoughts right away. I yanked my arm away from him, stepping aside in the hot room over to one of the sturdy lab tables in the room. "Anger, listen to me. The flames aren't going to kill us- the smoke will. We need to leave." I inwardly damned his logical words and decided I'd be much better off just not listening to him. I knew chemical fires better than he ever would- we wouldn't find another exit by the time the gases grew too strong and this entire place engulfed itself. This was our only option- and I wasn't going to die by a fire.

I don't know if he kept talking or not, possibly confused by what I was doing as I pulled a metal ruler off the surface of the table. The metal of the thin object was already hot to my touch, but I was able to easily ignore it in the wake of this situation. I'd rather deal with some uncomfortable heat and red skin than getting killed.

Feeling the heat of flames on my back, I drew back and wedged the end of the thin metal piece into the divide between the panels of the door; feeling the ruler edge dig into my palm as I forced it into the narrow divide. From there I pushed forward on the outward jutting metal piece; forcing the weight of my body and strength into it in a feeble attempt to pry at the firmly closed door. The flimsy metal bent forward under my force- but I expected that. It wasn't strong enough to be used as a successful crow bar, but that didn't matter. I just needed to force it open enough so that I could pry at the panels myself.

A small silver of white appeared between the blackness under the force of the bending ruler. I let the now useless object drop out of hands now in favor of curling my fingers into the new opening, pulling backwards with all the amount of force I could muster into my body. It had to open, it just had to. Just enough to slip though… Yet as I tugged at the panels all I could see was the ash dark smoke that flowed forward and filled the newly made opening; blocking out that bit of white that likely could have been our salvation.

My fingers slipped off the slick metal as I pulled at it; only to quickly return to the door frame and try again; curling desperately against the panel as if this clawed gesture could make it so I could hold onto it better. I could feel the friction of the metal grating against the track keeping it from moving forward properly, keeping it from opening. Once again I slipped, my body stumbling backwards slightly. My arms were aching and protesting against the work I forced them into doing while the temperature of the air grew warmer; and the air grew thinner. It felt like my lungs were being scalded on the inside, peeling and ready to burst. I couldn't draw enough oxygen to keep doing this.

The opening in the door was now maybe the length of the ruler I had used to attempt to pry it open. The narrow way was filling with black smoke; and I knew it would soon have to be closed for my plan to even work. But I couldn't fit through that narrow way. But I knew someone who could. I don't know why it came to mind, or why I cared about it at all. I'm sure even Intelligence was surprised when I grabbed his shoulders and directed him to the door. If he turned sideways, I was sure the narrow man could at least make it through there.

It was barely enough; but Intelligence managed to fit his way through the crack in the doorway, vanishing among the black smog. I felt my lungs constrict painfully as he did, and I let myself cough as my body finally protested the heat and the fumes more loudly. Yet as I coughed I only breathed in more to compensate for the gesture- only grabbing more burning air to congest my sensitive lungs. I would burn from the inside out in this place- but there was nothing more I could do.

Though that was before the shadowy hands emerged from the blackness and tugged at my body; curling into the shirt I was wearing. I didn't protest it- my screaming lungs not really allowing me to even offer a growl or a hiss in return.

But the air was clearer here, where it released me and let me fall. Though my lungs still simmered from the hot air, there was enough fresh oxygen for me to take a breath; though the taste and smell of burning ash and chemicals still remained. And was still growing stronger with the heat licking at my back.

My heavy head lifted enough to focus my bleary vision on the figure before me; of the familiar brunette man who still stood, his chest rising and falling heavily from the force of exertion. Intelligence had pulled me into the next room- but how…? I glanced back at the opening in the metal door behind me that still billowed with smoke; focused on the divide that was now wider than it had been before. Whereas I had been too exerted to finish pushing the metal apart, Intelligence was able to just push the panels back on their tracks enough to allow my escape from the growing inferno as well. Once again he saved my life- damn; I was going to have to start a list of things I was going to owe this annoying son of a bitch.

But though we were safer than we had been a moment ago, I knew the situation would only repeat itself until the fire was smothered and the fumes stopped advancing. Next time we might not be so lucky, so I knew what I needed to do to ensure it wouldn't occur. I pushed myself back up to my feet, stumbling slightly around to simply bash my hand against the non-damaged access pad on the other side of the door- knowing the false code would make the door automatically close and lock itself. The metal screeched slightly at its first movement, grinding against the edge where it was thrown off track by the force we put against it, before it finally smoothly slid shut with a small cascade of golden sparks from the base of its tracks. The seal of the doors in Aperture keep out nearly all airflow; this should seize the flow of fumes and dark smoke from the blazing rooms.

Yet that was not where I stopped. Next I kneeled on the floor- beside the white industrial vent that as well was still letting blackened smoke spew into the cleaner air of this room. Beside the small vent there was another sort of access panel; one that was smaller and required as well both a card and key. But I knew the code, and my own card would allow me access. For my rank itself was the one that dealt with this sort of thing in the case of a serious vaporous chemical leak.

The ID I kept in my pocket came in good hand at these moments; as I used the card to unlock the panel and type in the needed set of letters to override the system and do what I wished it to do. Which was to completely shut the air vents in this entire part of the facility.

The metal vents stalled slightly as their great panels went to close; this feature not having to be used so often to keep them in well working order. But they were able and working; and the white metal plates soon slammed shut, blocking off the airways completely. Aperture Laboratories was in an odd setting I suppose- underground. These airways were necessary to keep oxygen flowing down here to keep us all alive. I knew there were later consequences to shutting these airways.

"You've closed the vents?" I glanced over my shoulder at the speaking man; nodding slowly as I stood back up to my feet. "That will cut off the air supply, right?" Again I nodded. Intelligence's face was smeared with black; and I wondered if the room he was in was where the original combustion took place. I could see the places where his clothing was spotted with small tears possibly from flying glass, and the small speckles of blood and burns on his exposed skin- on his wrists, hands, and neck. There was a pretty nasty one oozing out blood just over his brow, leaking down just around his eye, just short of blinding him with the fluid. "How long will it last?" Intelligence was smart, but we were dealing with my field of expertise now. I shrugged my shoulders and held up my fingers.

"Eight hours?" He asked for confirmation over the eight digits I raised. I nodded. For what I could average, this part of the facility was large enough that the air supply in here would last us eight hours before we started feeling the effects of oxygen deficiency. Of course, give or take now that the fire had eaten away some of the rooms and the usable air. But it was a pretty good thumb to go off of, I guess.

It just meant that in eight hours, either we got out, or we died.