SCREAMS and electrical explosions rang throughout the corridor as they continued to empty out their ammunition with reckless abandon. When the last grenade launched out of Harriet's weapon to crack against the tiled floor, they could see numerous bodies lying on the ground. Teresa signaled for them to get down low, which they did, and listened carefully for any sign of movement from the other side.
"I think we got 'em all," Cassandra whispered loudly, inching forwards slowly to get a better look at their fallen adversaries.
"Everyone move along the walls, stay on the side," Teresa instructed lowly. She turned around and her blue eyes went wide with apprehension when she saw Helenus ambling towards the middle of the hallway. "Lenny, no!" she groaned. "Get back here!"
From the corner, Eve moved to reach out to him but she recoiled when intense white spotlights erupted in front of them. Everyone cried out in surprise as they covered their eyes and there was a loud pop. Cassandra managed to open her eyes a fraction and watched as a crackling hot grenade collided with Helenus' head. He let out a strangled scream as he fell forward to the floor, his body convulsing violently under the highly charged volts coursing through his veins.
"Holy shuck!" Cassandra cried out, army crawling her way forwards and extending her hand towards him. She pulled away sharply when the electrical current jumped onto her fingertips, sending a minor jolt through her own nerves.
"Everyone reload now!" Sonya yelled and there was the sound of Launchers cocking all around them.
Teresa and Harriet managed to edge their way to the front of the group and started to fire with pistols as grenades launched from behind them. The electricity lit up the hallway to offer some visibility to take aim. Cassandra waited until Helenus' body stopped twitching and the blue currents that sparked through his skin and hair diminished. She then pulled him towards the side and out of further harm's way. Frypan stormed through, once again flinging explosive shells in a haphazard pattern. A few people had gotten hit by enemy fire, Archie and Aris being two of them as they fell to the floor behind Cassandra.
She took cover behind a support column on the side of the hallway and shot barrages on the shifting shadows that scurried in and out from the ring of light glaring at them. "Someone take a shot at that shuckin' lightbulb!" she shouted over the cacophony.
Teresa glanced at her and redirected her aim, expending her bullets towards the center of the luminescence. There was the piercing sound of glass shattering and the floodlight immediately went dark, plunging them back into the murky red of the emergency strips along the walls.
Sonya whooped loudly, "You go, Teresa!"
Suddenly, a figure passed by Cassandra and she looked up in surprise to find Helenus walking forwards. She called out to him, then watched in amazement as he threw a smoke grenade in an elegant arc through the air. It clattered on the other side of the corridor, sending out a hiss of grey mist over the entire area. He then picked up Aris' discarded Launcher and started to hurl grenade after grenade as he casually walked down the hall.
Teresa's hands fell slack at her sides as she gaped at him in awe when he single-handedly took out the rest of WICKED's armed guards. When the last of their foes fell heavily to the ground, Helenus stopped and slowly turned around to address them. "What are you guys waiting for?" he asked. "Come on."
"What the shuck just happened there?" Frypan asked in bewilderment.
"Electroshock therapy..." Teresa murmured beside him. "The grenade hit him in the head." She looked to Cassandra with widened eyes. "What if it re-wired his brain?"
"Whatever it is," Cassandra said with an incredulous chuckle, cocking her Launcher. "I like it. Come on, let's go before the cavalry arrives."
The others nodded in response and they started back down the hallway, passing the fallen guards that littered the floor. There was another sound of glass breaking and a muffled shout, loud thuds resounding from beyond the gloom ahead of them. Cassandra picked up her pace anxiously, rounding the corner to find another room with a single window that was broken from the inside. Helenus could be seen tying up a few injured but conscious guards with some rope.
"Who is this guy?" Frypan started again in astonishment.
"That," Cassandra pointed, "is Nick's long-lost brother."
"Oh, damn. Nick was a badass before he got stung," he told her.
Teresa bent down in front of a female guard who was propped against the wall and raised her pistol to the woman's temple. "Where are the rest of our friends?" the girl demanded. "Where's Thomas?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," the woman said and Teresa struck her across the face with her gun. A gash immediately split above the woman's lip and thick red blood seeped through.
"That ain't gonna work," Sonya said, standing in front of the guard and raising her Launcher in the air so that it was in line with the woman's head. "I'm gonna fry your brains if you don't tell me where my brother is in three...two..."
"They aren't here!" Another man on the other side of the room exclaimed. "They've already escaped through the woods."
"Through the woods?" Cassandra questioned suspiciously. "Where would they even go?"
"Back to the dorms, maybe?" Harriet suggested. "Maybe they went through the Trans."
Cassandra shook her head. "I'm not buying it. Minho wouldn't leave me behind. They wouldn't leave any of us behind."
"Maybe they thought we'd already gone," Eve spoke up. "Hey, don't you guys have like that telepathy thing with them?"
"WICKED can block it whenever they like," Teresa said with a frustrated sigh. "We need to get out of the facility to communicate with them, that's the best shot we have."
"Yeah, I agree," Sonya stated. "So which way was it to the hangar again?"
"It should be right down this hallway outside," Teresa told them, weaving through the group and out the room.
They continued to move and Cassandra found herself behind Helenus. She glanced at him with concern on her brows, surreptitiously taking in the bruises that adorned the skin of his face.
"Hey, you okay?" she asked.
He turned his head in her direction and gave her a lopsided smile. "I've never felt better. It's like...I've been liberated."
"You have." She reached over to grasp his arm in reassurance. "I'm glad to hear that."
"Me too," Teresa spoke up, looking over her shoulder at the both of them. "You've probably figured it out by now, but Tom and I were your wards. We were each assigned to the both of you. In the beginning, Aris and Rachel were assigned to someone too but...they didn't make it. The two of you are the only known Halfies in the entire world."
"Wow, I feel so special," Helenus deadpanned.
"What does that mean though?" Harriet asked with an arched eyebrow.
"It means that there's still hope," Teresa replied. "But not with WICKED, not anymore. Everyone's gone mad. I think more than half of the management and upper brass have gotten infected and it's only getting worse."
"Damn," Cassandra remarked. "Were you even close to finding a cure?"
"We got really close," Teresa told them with a tinge of remorse. "But it's too late now. I'm not letting them kill you—any of you. No one gets left behind again."
Cassandra gave her a determined nod and they picked up their pace towards the hangar. After a few more turns, Teresa pointed towards an opening ahead of them. Their group emerged into a large open space where two Bergs could be seen parked in the middle of the landing pads. It was completely deserted save for two pilots who were standing next to a pile of crates nearby.
Sonya cocked her Launcher and aimed it towards them. "Hey!" she shouted to get their attention.
The men turned around to look at them in surprise and Cassandra's eyes widened when she recognised the Hispanic man that was among the two. "What are you kids doing here?" he asked them.
"Hands in the air!" Harriet barked at them as she and the others surged forwards to surround them.
Jorge and the other pilot immediately raised their arms to the sides of their heads. "Whoa, whoa. Cool your jets, guys," the blue-eyed pilot told them.
"We only need one of you to fly the plane," Cassandra said, throwing a menacing glance towards Jorge.
"Come on, hermana, we never meant you any harm," the man said.
"Do you think I care?" she snarled, grabbing her Launcher and striking him across the back of his head. Jorge grunted out loud and fell to his knees with his hands grasping the back of his head. "Grab the other guy and let's get the hell out of here!"
"Exactly my thoughts," Teresa responded and nodded towards the others. "Everyone on the Berg!"
Sonya and Harriet grabbed the remaining pilot and pulled him away towards the large aircraft with the others close on their heels. Cassandra turned towards the entrance of the hangar when she heard footsteps echoing up from the adjacent corridor. Her heart skipped a beat in her chest as she hoped against all hope that it was who she was waiting for.
"Cassie, what are you doing?" Teresa called behind her.
"Hang on a sec!" she shouted back just as the Berg's engines started up with a heavy mechanical hum.
Cassandra took a step forward with her fingers gripping the handle of her Launcher tightly. A yell resounded from the distance and her heart sank when she saw the black uniform of a WICKED guard. The cavalry had arrived. Their squadron leader pointed at her and one of the guards aimed his Launcher in her direction. She inhaled sharply and threw her body to the side, dropping onto the ground with a hard jolt as an electric grenade exploded mere inches away from her on the cemented ground.
"Cassie!" Teresa shrieked in alarm, rushing forwards to drag her into cover behind some crates.
"Shuck," Cassandra swore underneath her breath as she pressed her back against a coarse wooden box.
"We need to go now!" Teresa urged, grabbing hold of her arm.
"Teresa, Cassandra!" Aris yelled from the gaping mouth of the Berg's cargo hold. "Hurry up! We'll cover you!"
Frypan shot a couple of grenades at the guards on the opposite side of the hangar. Cassandra paused when she heard a commotion coming from further across the large room and craned her neck to look over her shoulder. The double doors on the farthest side of the hangar suddenly burst open as four figures came barreling through. They ducked behind a pile of crates in the corner and she took another sharp breath.
"Minho!" she shouted. "Newt! Thomas!"
The boys turned to look at her with wide eyes and expressions painted with disbelief. "Cassie?" Minho yelled back.
"Cass! We found you!" Newt and Thomas waved their arms at her before ducking back down when a barrage of bullets flew towards them.
"Hey! Get over here!" Cassandra called to them.
Teresa grabbed the back of her shirt when she attempted to stand, narrowly missing another grenade that cracked against the side of the crate she hid behind. The rough wood was singed by the intense shock of the lightning arcs.
"There are too many guards!" Teresa told her imperatively before turning to Jorge. "You can get to them!"
"What?" he and Cassandra exclaimed at the same time.
"Go, we'll cover you!" Teresa cried before standing up and diverting the attention of the guards to herself.
Jorge wasted no time and immediately sprinted to the other side of the hangar, skidding into cover with Brenda who was also with the boys. Cassandra muttered a few more choice curses and shot a few grenades at the guards, taking two of them down with high-pitched screams.
"Now let's go!" Teresa turned back to her and grasped hold of her arm.
"But the others—" she started to protest.
"We can't get to them!" Teresa said, pulling her towards their Berg. The girl pushed Cassandra forwards and she didn't have a choice but to run into the safety of the cargo hold.
Teresa grabbed the handle by the doorway and cranked it upwards to close it. Cassandra peered out through the gap as the Berg started to pull out of the hangar. The thrusters lifted them up into the air with a loud thrum. She could see Minho and Newt already onboard of the other Berg as they tried to cover Thomas from enemy fire. There was nothing that any of them could do as they watched a Launcher grenade hit Thomas squarely in the middle of his back.
"Oh, my God," Teresa exclaimed softly beside her, a hand reaching to grasp hers for comfort.
Three guards ran up to Thomas as he laid convulsing in pain on the ground, then Minho and Newt were flying towards them. They tackled the guards down, swinging fist after fist at the men pinned beneath them. Jorge ran forwards with a feral yell as he blew the other WICKED guards up with his fire-launcher. Then just before the door to the hatch fully closed on them, Cassandra could see Thomas crawling his way into the Berg with every ounce of strength that he had left.
Then she was enveloped in the cool darkness of the cargo hold as the Berg sped off into the boundless sky.
A/N: omg omg omg hello! first of all, thank you so so much for all the reviews and messages over the last few months. it really meant a lot to me to see them and aaahh i love you guys so much! thank you for all the support and kind words! i'm sorry for not replying but please know that it made me so happy to read them! i know i haven't updated/finished this story in literal YEARS. when i first started this story, i didn't even think i would reach this far. a big reason i haven't been updating is because of my shitty laptop that takes about half an hour just to start up. istg it was a pain but all my drafts are on that laptop. BUT! i recently got a new laptop so i've been spending some time updating this fanfic! secondly, i hope you guys are staying safe and healthy
thirdly! i have a wattpad account opheliaes which i've uploaded an edited (and shorter) version of this fanfic. also, i'll be posting all my new fanfictions and original stories there as well. i started with but i hate their doc manager. come drop by, would love to see you there too!