Chapter 6

Blair and Arlow had regained enough strength to lift the gurney once more and continued down the corridor. They were approaching a bulkhead much like the kind that'd be found on a typical military submarine. Arlow set James down gently then started to examine the door. It had a wheel that he turned to crack it open. It creaked lightly as he pushed it open but before he could step inside he heard sounds coming from the corridor. Blair gasped silently when she saw two shadows at the end of the hall coming their way.

Arlow was quick to lift the gurney and lead Blair into the room he had just opened. He closed the door behind them without locking it in fear of creating too much noise. Blair was relieved to discover it was a first aid room equipped much like a nurse's office with two desks and a cot. Her relief was short lived as the sounds in the hallway seemed to be approaching the doorway. Blair and Arlow quickly laid James down behind one desk then hid together behind the other. The single ceiling light glowed with amber like color that was interrupted by the white light from the hall as the bulkhead door was pushed open.

There were two people who stepped into the room. Arlow could see under the desk that one of them appeared to be wearing a pinstriped suit and some black and white dress shoes, while the other wore a long trench coat that seemed to be dragging on the ground. Blair could make out that they were speaking to each other in low hissing like voices. The one in the suit had a shaky male voice, "I just need a fix. A little EVE would even hold me for a bit. Just some EVE, that'd be good." The other had a female voice that stung the ear drums when she spoke, "EVE!? That's not good enough! I've been without ADAM for a week now." "Well you're not going to find any in here dear," the man replied.

Arlow was hopeful that with that observation the two might leave but it sounded as they were going to continue to scavenge the area. The male went on to say, "I know I left a stash of EVE here somewhere. Where is it? WHERE IS IT!?" His anger erupted without warning as he started to throw objects around the room. Blair looked to Arlow then pointed at the gun in his right pocket. Arlow checked the chamber and saw only a single bullet then his eyes widened when he remembered that the other bullets were with Jordan. Still he pulled the gun from his pocket and held it as he cocked the hammer. The cocking action made a light CLICK.

"What was that!?" the female shrieked. The pair turned towards the desk that Arlow and Blair were hiding behind. A couple more clicking sounds were heard as the man in the suit and the woman in the trench coat readied their weapons. Sweat ran down Arlow's brow as he started to shake. Blair sat curled up with her hands over her mouth. Arlow jumped up hoping to surprise the attackers while he yelled a battle cry at the top of his lungs, "AHHHH!" The woman in the trench coat actually stepped back and tripped over a fallen IV pole. Upon landing on her back her shotgun fired shooting the man in the suit and taking his head off. Blood blasted on the wall and splashed Blair in the process, causing her to scream at the top of her lungs.

The woman, still on her back, leveled her gun on Arlow. She screamed, "You son of a bitch made me kill Jeffy!" Before she could fire Arlow got off the first shot. The bullet hit its mark in the woman's chest but she seemed unfazed by the attack and fired her shotgun at Arlow. The buckshot ripped through his left side knocking him against the wall. It was then that Blair jumped from her hiding place screaming at the top of her lungs and jumped on top of the woman. Blair got both her hands on the shotgun and the two women struggled for control.

Just then Jordan came to the doorway. Once he made sense of the madness in front of him he stepped into the room and started laying his boot into the crazed woman's face. Again and again he kicked her while Blair continued to try to rip the shotgun from her hands. The woman in the trench coat seemed to be taking the abuse really well and didn't seem to be losing her strength. It wasn't until Jordan saw the IV pole near the woman's feet that he stopped kicking. He reached down lifted the pole and pulled it from its stand. He turned and, in putting all his weight into it, dropped the end of the pole into the woman's skull.

For a moment no one said anything. Jordan remained with his hands on the pole as he stared at the twisted face of his victim, then suddenly without warning he let out a blood curdling scream. Even Arlow who was losing consciousness against the wall was wide-eyed at his friend's breakdown. Blair jumped back against the desk and covered her ears. Jordan's screaming continued till he ran out of breath and once it returned he spoke, "This city can fuck itself. I won't let it take me." His words were barely audible, but they were still the last thing Arlow heard before passing out.

Jordan explained to Blair what had happened out near the fish market with the little girl. He also explained his failure in finding Keira, while he assisted her in lifting Arlow onto the cot where she proceeded to operate. "I can see why you're freaking out then," Blair said as she used tweezers she found nearby to pick the buckshot from Arlow's chest and arm. She explained, "I think he'll be alright, all the shot that hit his chest luckily didn't get through his ribs and the ones in his arm missed his arteries." She paused briefly and glanced down at James before stating, "James on the other hand, I don't know what to do about. I've looked through this room and there seem to be no antibiotics of any kind. I'm pretty sure he's coming down with an infection and with our luck, so will Arlow." Jordan shared a look of frustration with her before he started searching the room on his own.

As Blair was finishing up bandaging him, Arlow started to come to. He asked a mumbled question that no one could really make out. Blair comforted him, "It's alright. Just relax." She put on a weak smile, "You know you're kind of lucky you passed out. There's no anesthetic." Jordan was rummaging through a closet in the back of the room when he pulled a few boxes loose and they fell to the floor. A couple of packages marked "Vitastat" fell out. Jordan reached down and cracked open the packages to find some tin containers each marked "First Aid Kit: General Purpose".

"Hey, I think I found something." Jordan set the box of first aid kits at Arlow's feet on the cot. Arlow sat up with a grimace and a grunt, Blair glared at him for this action but then decided it best to just roll her eyes at his macho attitude. The three of them each took one of the tin containers and popped them open. What were inside were a single syringe and a folded piece of paper. The contents of the syringe appeared to glow red. Blair set down the tin container and read the paper, "Vitastat's general purpose first aid kit: When your vitality is more important than your time." Blair looked at the other two with a puzzled look on her face.

"It says here to just inject the whole thing," Jordan was still reading the paper, "And to repeat if desired?" His arms flopped to his sides as he wore a dumb founded look on his face. Arlow was studying the needle in his hands. He glanced down at Blair, who was checking James' temperature, before shrugging and stabbing his own arm with the needle. A second after he pressed down the plunger he gasped for air like it was his first time. Blair jumped up and Jordan went to Arlow's side. Arlow looked to his friends and with restored vigor said, "Wow!"

Blair had removed Arlow's bandages to find all the wounds had healed shut and all the evidence that was left were the scars. Arlow was now bouncing around the room, "I feel great! A hundred and ten! This is amazing." Blair didn't share his excitement. "Better hope there's no side effects," she said under her breath then she glanced down at James. It wasn't long before the three of them had lifted James onto the cot and there was a debate ensuing about if they should give him the glowing red drug as well. Arlow defended it saying he felt fine while Blair insisted on unknown hazards. "Maybe wait to see if Arlow goes buggy?" After finishing his sentence an image of the 'Buzzy Man' had entered Jordan's mind.

"That's ridiculous! How long can we wait? James just keeps getting worse!" Blair was about to retort but James' arms started flailing on the cot, he was seizing. Arlow reacted by holding his upper body and Jordan did the same for his lower body. Blair was the one left to make the decision. She pulled out one of the syringes and needles and put the two together, then hesitated. "Damn it Blair! He might die from this! Hit him up now!" Arlow's patience was growing short. Blair closed her eyes as she shoved the needle into James' chest.

James shot up, eyes wide and taking a deep breath in a similar fashion as Arlow had before. Then he started yelling, "A rivet? Look out!" The other three stared at James as he begun to calm down. He looked around and had a moment of embarrassment sitting there with everyone looking at him. "What's going on?" He asked as he examined himself and his surroundings. No one bothered to answer until an expression of shock came to his face when he felt the bandage on top of his head.

Blair spent the next few minutes explaining all that's happened to James while Arlow and Jordan were kneeling by the bodies of the insane couple that attacked them earlier. "Look at this," Arlow was saying has he removed the suit jacket from the male body, "He's covered in thousands of bullet holes. It's like he didn't even notice." Jordan nodded as he pointed out, "Their faces are all fucked up like the rest of the loonies that we've run into, and their eyes almost look like hawks eyes." Arlow's curiosity sparked so he decided to open the male body's eyelids and saw that they were much like the eyes of some predatory bird. "Must make them better at aiming," he hypothesized.

After their heart to heart on the situation James and Blair stood facing the other two. "Alright," James started, "Now that I'm feeling… Dapper, I think its best that we start looking for Keira, and then we should focus on a way back to the surface." Jordan stepped forward, "Wait aren't you gonna fill us in? Don't you know anything about this insane city?" James shook his head, "No, All I know is the details that link to the surface. I spoke with one woman who seemed to know a lot but she didn't want to open up about it. In fact, if she knew I was planning an expedition down here, I don't think she would have told me anything. I found the place by following the money trail. All I really know is this city was funded by a man named Andrew Ryan sometime after World War II. He sunk, pun intended, billions of dollars into it. I just wanted to know what he was up to. This… This was unimaginable."

Jordan's rage grew uncontrollable, "That's fucking fantastic… DOC! Do you have any idea what kind of shit storm you drove us into!? There is death everywhere here! EVERYWHERE!" Arlow placed a cool hand on Jordan's shoulder, "Calm down son. Calm down." Jordan cooled it but his face showed distaste to being called "son". James looked disturbed and flustered, "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't know. God help me, if we don't find Keira…" The guilt was visible on James' face.