It had been a couple of days since the security breach at the ARC. Lester had called a meeting with Nick, Becker and I about it and the very public fight that had happened. Lester explained that the actions would not be tolerated again but he understood the reasoning behind it. He made Becker look foolish for not taking the threat of Helen more seriously. Needless to say, Lester made us all agree to disagree and be cordial with one another.
I sat at one of the tables near Connor going through texts and my grandfathers' journal to see if there was any more evidence on the anomalies themselves. We wanted to figure out how to close them and with the magnetic energies that we had already figured out, we weren't that far away from it. "How did it feel to smack him?" Connor asked breaking the concentrated silence.
I looked up at him trying not to smile in pride. "I'm not allowed to talk about it," I said knowing that Lester was probably hovering around the corner within earshot. "But it was nice," I whispered.
Connor let a smile break out across his face. Before he could say anything else the alarm went off, signaling an anomaly. Connor took the lead in rushing over to the computers to see where it was at. I followed closely behind and as he searched for it many of the others came to attention as well. "It's a hospital," Connor says looking at the screens.
Connor and I looked over to Nick who just nodded as we all scattered knowing what we needed to do to get ready. Nick and I grabbed what we needed and walked out to the cars. Nick and I sat in the car before Abby and Connor came into the garage. "I feel there is something I need to share with you," I said as I pulled out one of Stephens' handguns from my waistband.
"Skyla, why do you have that?" Nick said looking concerned. I held the gun in my hand, remembering the first time I had held it on Stephens' and my date. I felt a pang of jealousy from my past self.
I looked over to him before I place it back in its holster, hidden by my shirt and waistband. I looked out the window seeing Becker and his men get into their car. I knew he took his job seriously and after our meeting with Lester, I knew he would be taking extra precautions. Neither one of us had spoken to each other, not having anything to say really. I noticed Abby and Connor walking towards us. I let out a sigh. "With the threat of Helen being around, I can't take the risk of her hurting one of you. You can never be too prepared." I said as the others got into the car. Nick looked at me knowing there was nothing he could say and put the car into gear.
We walked into the hospital, it seemed that everything was going fine as far as hospitals were concerned. No one was really screaming about seeing a creature or running around trying to find a way out. It was oddly calm. "Becker, take your men. Look for any creature activity." Nick said as we crowded around the front desk. Becker walked past me with some of his men, I could feel his side glance to me as he continued to walk on. It was peculiar. I thought I would be able to feel the tension as he walked by, needless to say, it wasn't as strong as I was expecting.
The lights began to flicker as Connor, Nick, Abby and I stood there. "Power cut," Nick said as we all looked up to the ceiling. Sparks came out of one of the ducts for air.
"It could be interference from the anomaly, or it could a creature," I stated allowed, not really expecting an answer.
"I doubt that anomalies could cause sparks," Connor said softly to me. I looked over to him, he had a point but I was just hoping for the easiest outcome.
Nick looked over to the three of us. "Hospitals backup generator should kick in any minute, come on." Abby and Cutter walked off to find the anomaly in one direction. Connor and I walked off in the other.
"Sparks aside, the anomaly could be affecting the electricity. What if there was a bum wire up there and it was sparking due to the interference? It's a possibility." I pointed out to the nerd. He smirked to me and shrugged his shoulders.
"It's the fun of the job." He stated as we continued to walk.
It wasn't that I didn't want to find a new creature from the past, it was the highlight of my job. Just ever since Helen broke-in, I felt uneasy. Felt like something wasn't quite right with the world.
We turned the corner and ran into Becker and his men. "Oh hell," I muttered under my breath.
Becker looked to Connor and I. "We have this side of the hospital covered." He stated.
I looked over to Connor and then to him. "That's great but you guys are looking for safety and creatures. Were looking for the anomaly so we need to check this side of the hospital." I tried with every fiber of my being to be nice and sound at the very least neutral. When I was finished speaking I could hear the hostility in my own voice.
Beckers' shoulders relaxed for a moment before tensing back up. He pursed his lips before speaking. "And if we come across it, we will notify you." The sternness of his tone made me tense, knowing that this was going to head into another argument.
"We should really concentrate on finding the anomaly." I heard Connor say behind me as I stepped closer to Becker. "We could always join forces." The last part barely came out in a whisper.
"Or we could take a look ourselves. Remember you are the Braun we are the brains." I said not holding back any of my emotions.
Before Becker could say anything a scream came from a room down the hall from us. It was like someone flipped a switch as Becker, Connor and I all began to work together. "Check that hall," Becker told his men pointing to an adjacent hall. He held up his gun and lead the way to investigate the screams.
As we neared where we thought we heard the screams, a pregnant woman walked out of the door. I pushed past Becker and walked over to the woman. "Are you alright ma'am?" I asked grasping her arm in my hands for comfort and support. She looked at me her eyes wide. "There was something in my room." her voice shook out. I looked up to Becker and nodded as we walked to the woman's room.
Becker opened the door slowly not knowing what to expect on the other side. "It went through a hole in the wall, there." She said pointing at the wall, her other arm still in my hands.
Connor walked over to where Becker was standing to inspect the hole in the wall. "What did?" Connor asked.
I walked the woman over to her bed and let her take a seat. "Thank you." She said looking to me then over to Connor. "I don't know. A ratty, chipmunk, beaver kind of thing." the woman said.
"Well, that narrows it down," Connor said and pulled out his mobile. He looked over to me as he began speaking on the phone. "Cutter, we might have a problem."
I walked closer to where the men were, Connor walked towards the door continuing to speak with Nick. I bent down and look at the hole. "Careful," Becker said. I couldn't tell if it was a genuine warning or sarcasm.
I glared at him before giving my attention to the hole. "Those are teeth marks," I muttered to myself. I looked into the hole wanting to see how far it went. Surely it couldn't have a maze of holes yet? I looked over to Becker and his flashlight. "Let me see your torch." He looked like he was going to say something smart but handed it over. I shined the light into the hole. It was deep, deeper than I thought it would be.
Before I could say anything or investigate more into the mysterious hole Nick was at the door. He walked over and inspected the hole nodding to himself and motioned us to follow him. Beckers men joined us as we walked down the hall discussing what we know so far about this anomaly. Apparently, Nick and Abby had found it in a separate wing in the hospital where there was an identical hole like the one we were just looking at. "Okay, so how did she describe this creature, apart from the whole 'ratty, chipmunk' thing?" Nick asked.
Connor answered since he had spoken with the woman more than I had. "Right, about so big. Protruding teeth, large and some claws." He said using his hands to demonstrate the size.
Becker walked up next to me as I walked behind Connor and Nick. "We've had three other reported sightings," he said. I couldn't help but glare at him as he walked next to me.
I shook my head of my childish acts and spoke my thoughts allowed related to the anomaly. "So we're looking for some type of large rodent that can literally chew through walls," I stated the only thing we knew about the creature.
The lights began to flicker again stopping us in the hallway. "Well, there could be dozens of them in here. Okay, I need you both to get this place evacuated, now." Nick said looking to me, Connor and Becker.
Connor and I nodded to our fearless leader, more like a mentor. "Sure," Becker said as he walked off with his men. Nick continued walking in the direction we were going as Connor and I began stopping people in the hallway, letting them know we needed to evacuate the hospital.