Chapter 7

The team had ventured out of the first aid room with somewhat restored optimism. It turned out the woman in the trench coat was wearing a rucksack with a few candy bars labeled as "Pep Bar's" and a few shells to her shotgun. Arlow was now carrying the rucksack loaded with the first aid kits, the flashlights, and the rations they took from the sub. He carried the shotgun loaded and ready in his hands. Jordan had the pistol, now fully loaded with a variety of colored bullets, and the bullets in his pocket as well as the flare gun with its last flare in his waistband. James held a curiously redesigned "Tommy" gun, but as they failed to find any ammo on the man in the pinstripe suit, it was really just for show.

They all decided to stick to the idea that Keira would have made her way towards the lighted area of the city so they continued in that direction. After walking through several corridors of metal hallways they finally game to another bulkhead. Arlow worked the door open while Jordan was ready to provide cover fire in the event of another attack. The door opened into a long tube that traveled along the oceans floor to the next building. The team stopped to debate.

"Do you really think Keira would have come this way? Wouldn't the door already be open?" Blair insinuated. Arlow replied as he studied the door itself, "I think these things close themselves. It looks like there's a pneumatic system connected to the hinges." Jordan stepped out into the tube to have a look around as James scratched his chin and commented, "I don't really know how much of this building was searched. Is it possible she's still in… what did you call it Blair, Neptune's Bounty?" Blair nodded but Jordan was the one who answered James' question, "I've been in most of the building, a lot of it was blocked off so, unless she went back to the sub, this is the way she went." Jordan gestured with his arms spread wide, "From what I can see out here, this is the only way to the next building. There's no other standing connection to Neptune's Bounty." Everyone sided with Jordan's argument, so the team carried on towards the next tower.

The passageway between the two buildings was made of an incredibly strong semitransparent material. Every ten feet there were metal bindings connecting one section of the material to the next. The team walked on a grate that was fastened to the metal bindings and hovered above the pipe like floor to create level ground. Through the glass the ocean floor was visible as where a variety of deep ocean species of plants and animals. Blair's eye was caught by one in particular.

She stopped without a word to the rest of the team as she was captivated by what looked like a football sized red slug. The reason it was so interesting was the manner in which it glowed. It wasn't glowing brightly enough to emit much light but the red bio-luminescence reminded Blair of something she couldn't quite put her finger on. James, who had noticed Blair's absence from the group, stepped up beside her and said, "You know it really would be nice to have time to study some of this." Blair didn't respond with anything more than a silent nod.

The team reached the bulkhead on the other side of the passage and when they opened it they found themselves stepping out into what appeared to be a city street. Parked, burned up cars lined the street, and street lamps lit a sidewalk covered in loose luggage and long since dead bodies. As the street seemed to end at a wall to the left, and had walls on both sides everyone headed up the street to the right. Jordan kicked over luggage and maneuvered around the corpses as he traipsed on. The others followed until Arlow stopped and pointed out, "This is just too bizarre, all these cars and this stretch of road, for what? It's not like they could possible drive any further than the building is wide."

Everyone except Jordan stopped to consider Arlow's thought. Blair was the first to come up with an idea. She shrugged then suggested, "Perhaps it just helps create a sense of normalcy." Jordan, who was a good ten meters ahead and standing atop a rise in the road, turned back and yelled at the crew, "Or perhaps the road can go further than you think!" When everyone had caught up to Jordan they saw what he had meant. After rising the road dropped down below ground level and appeared as though it traveled under the ocean's floor. James thought aloud, "Amazing, they tunneled a highway connecting some of the structures. I would reason the ones that are more open to the public than the rest of the city."

James' theory proved to be correct. As the team continued onward entrances to places like "Sinclair Luxury Apartments", "Poseidon Sky View Place", and "Rapture Residential" appeared on the sides of the street. After the sixth apartment complex Jordan stopped abruptly and turned to the others, "This is impossible." His head dropped before continuing, "Keira could be inside anyone of these places. How in the hell are we going to find her?" Blair had a look around the area as she ran her hands through her hair. Her eyes went wide when they fell on one apartment complex in particular. "What about in there," she said as she pointed towards a sign that read "Triton's Favor". Arlow read the sign and responded with a shocked, "Unbelievable."

After passing an open metal gate and climbing a set of stairs the group found themselves standing in what appeared to be the lobby of a fancy hotel. The walls were not lined with metal but instead hardwood paneling. The front desk, also made of a dark hardwood, sat in the middle of the room. A set of arched stairways on either side climbed up to an upper level that over looked the lobby. Behind the desk, above a collection of mailboxes, was a wall mounted camera with a small blinking green light on top. The camera panned until the group was standing directly in front of the lens.

"It looks like they have working security here." Arlow observed when without notice an alarm begun screaming and red lights started flashing. The room was immediately filled with chaos of light and noise. "Oh fuck, what now?" Jordan asked to no one in particular but his question was soon answered by a strange humming sound that was reminiscent of a toy gas-powered helicopter. From the upper level two machine guns mounted to the bottom to some props came floating over the railing and opened fire on the crew. The first volley of bullets from one of the guns fired down the middle of the team. James and Arlow dove to the sides while Jordan managed to make his way over the desk. Blair was to slow to react and took a bullet through the leg.

She dropped to the floor screaming in pain. Arlow returned fire and his first shot hit one of the floating gunships. After a small explosion in the gun's housing it dropped dead to the floor. Meanwhile the other gun was opening fire on the desk where Jordan was taking cover. James in a sort of brave stupidity ran up behind the turret and started swing his "Tommy" gun at it. Arlow pumped his shotgun as the turret turned its sights on James. Before the turret could open fire Arlow's buckshot filled the gunship full of holes. "YEAH!" he yelled triumphantly over the sounds of the alarm. As he kicked the machine on the floor he screamed, "You know what you are? You're fucking Swiss cheese!" Jordan stood up and was about to congratulate Arlow when he was interrupted by the sound of more humming motors.

Like before the turrets came floating over the railing on each side of the lobby. Before they opened fire once more James threw himself on top of Dr. Swanson. He screamed as bullets riddled his back. Arlow started yelling as he loaded two more shells into his shotgun, "Shit! Someone get that damn alarm off!" Jordan took a shot at one of the turrets with his pistol. The bullet hit its mark causing a flurry of sparks to start flying from it. The electricity from the bullet shorted out the turret and it fell to the ground still attempting to fly but failing. Arlow, after watching Jordan, noticed that the camera above him was watching the whole the thing. Arlow pointed to the camera when he yelled towards Jordan, "Take it out!"

The remaining turret opened fire on Arlow who dove aside. Jordan glanced up then pointed his gun straight up and pulled the trigger. The bullet passed right through the camera and into the ceiling above. A shower of sparks fell down on Jordan as the alarm went silent and the lights returned to normal. The turret opened fire once more in Jordan's direction but it too was soon Swiss cheese by way of Arlow's buckshot. After pumping his gun once more Arlow turned towards Blair and James. James was on his back bleeding out while Blair knelt beside him clutching the wound in her leg.

James took a deep breath as the needle was put into his arm. He shot up taking a deep breath as a dozen bullets fell from his back and the wounds closed themselves up. Arlow readied another syringe as he knelt next to Blair. She swatted the thing from his hand, "You're not going to shoot me up with that shit!" Arlow looked at her with frustration, "We gotta keep moving and you're going to make it really hard to do that with a bullet in your leg." Blair's eyes filled with tears, "I just… I don't… Have much choice, do I?" Arlow went and picked up the needle and sorrowfully apologized, "I'm sorry." He put the needle into her leg and pushed down the plunger.

A look of ecstasy came to Blair's face as she pulled in all the air her lungs could take. The bullet in her leg fell out and the wound closed leaving behind only a small scar. "Oh my god." She said somewhat flustered.