Soldier jumped to the ground and quickly checked each direction. Bodies but no one alive besides the rest of the team. "Clear!"
"No shouting," snapped Heavy.
Demo messily swung a flashlight around. "There's a hall."
Soldier covered the rear. He wasn't going to let anyone sneak up on his team. Case in point, there was a man in a mask coming out of that room. Soldier fired. The man fell down, dislodging his mask. Soldier blinked at his misshapen face. "What is that?"
"Facial tumors!" said Medic with a grin. "Quite a few of them too! This is why you always need to have any strange bumps and lumps examined."
"Found another tape recorder," commented Sniper.
It wasn't Scout. It was a nervous sounding man. "Can't-Can't get out. They'll kill me. I know they will. They'll rip me apart and laugh and laugh and I'll be dead and-and I can't let that happen. I won't die-I won't. I'll kill anyone who tries to make me dead."
That sounded sensible to Soldier. He heard a clicking sound and quickly turned to see Spy going through one of the doors. "It appears to be uninhabited." Silence for a moment. "I do believe this is a shop of some kind. It's been closed for some time considering the amount of dust." Some rummaging. "…It's a bookstore."
"Hudda?"
"Was. All that's left is scraps."
They started moving again. The group suddenly stopped. "Huh?"
"What the Hell?"
"Ooh!"
"What on Earth?"
"Interesting."
Soldier was curious enough to glance over his back. There was a red wagon with a couple of jars of fireflies and a radio in it, and children's drawings in chalk around 'Welcome' on the floor. Pyro started playing with one of the jars. Engineer picked up the radio and turned it over. He popped it open, tinkered with the inside for a moment, closed it, and hit the switch.
"That you-"
Soldier grabbed the radio before Scout could get any farther. "You are in a heap of trouble!"
"Soldier?!"
"Get ready to be court-martialed so hard that your grandparents will feel it!"
"What the Hell are you doing here?!" Scout shouted so loud that it caused feedback.
Spy snatched the radio. "Your leave was denied."
"Dammit!"
"If you voluntarily give yourself up, you may escape with your hide intact," continued Spy.
"Can't."
Spy frowned. "Can't or won't?"
Scout was silent. "You can't wait for me at the lighthouse?"
"No."
Scout sighed. "I gotta do this. Even if it kills me."
Spy shrugged. "Suit yourself. Don't expect us to go easy on you."
"Whatever…How'd you get here anyway?"
"Your sister."
"Oh…Wait a minute. Wait a minute. How did you get the radio frequency I'm using? Masha wouldn't know that."
Spy looked to Engineer. Engineer shrugged. "It was just set on that frequency."
"Crap! She knows you're here! That means they know you're here!"
Spy frowned. "Who is 'they'?"
"The Family."
Spy raised an eyebrow. "A crime ring?"
"A cult. Please tell me you sent the bathysphere back up."
"Why?"
"You didn't, did you? Crap…they've probably dismantled the bathysphere. We'll need another way out…"
Spy rolled his eyes. "Scout…"
"There's a bunch of bathyspheres in Fontaine's Department store. Engie, do you think you could piece one together?"
Engineer raised an eyebrow. "Probably."
Soldier snatched the radio. "You are not the one asking questions!"
"Guys, please. This place…" Scout's voice cracked. "Rapture is Hell on Earth. If I never had to come back here… Even you guys will have trouble surviving. You need to get outta here. I know you're not happy with me right now, but I know how to get around Rapture."
"And why should we trust you?" asked Spy.
"Well, you're stuck at the bottom of the sea in a ticking time bomb. You'll need help from someone if you want to know where everything is."
And even Soldier can't argue with that.
